At
North Nottinghamshire college I studied Art and design, In the past focussing deeply
into illustrational pottery and dabbled with cross stitching, however I always
felt more drawn to illustration as that was where most of my ideas came from. My
Artwork is mostly occupied by black and white Noire illustrational style using
ink and a mixture of watercolour. I enjoyed using Biro and Ink pens mainly
because of the freedom you could have. While developing my style I took heavy
influence from artists such as Daviderankore and Tara Booth, which I found
while looking for artists who use heavy black and white illustration usually
involving the human form. In this course I particular enjoyed contextual
studies and through learning about the different art movements I developed a interest
in the Pre-Raphlite .Though my extensive research into the Pre-Raphlite era I
discovered Antioio Rossetti, whom I loved for his use of lush colours and
beautiful body forms. I began to look at the way he portrayed human form,
especially the female aspect; this then began to help construct my sketching
and placement skills. Research throughout out this time was developed by my
love of Playboy and Penthouse vintage magazines dating back from the 60s, which
were used for drawings, and sketching references, in many instances I would
borrow poses. I enjoy observational sketching whether that is at college or at
home. Many of these sketches have influenced my Work helping create polished
final pieces. One example was using an image drawn on the train as a FMP piece
while incorporating a given theme. I investigated deeper into how the body was
perceived and built up my own feelings towards the subject matter. Over the two
years that I have been studying life drawing I thoroughly enjoyed drawing the
human form. Over the past three-years I have worked at a local gallery working
with both children and adults aged 5-80 years old. This work was carried out at
my local art gallery alongside a experienced artist who specialised in
illustration similar to me, this made working with alongside her more rewarding
as I gained more knowledge of the industry that I would have otherwise not
achieved from college. At the gallery I would help stock paint supplies, set up
workshops in advance by putting out equipment, help students with any artistic
problems they may have had including constructing sculptures or making finished
pieces, also finishing my own work when I could. I clocked over two hundred
hours of work experience while there and felt this was a massive part of my
progress and a great chance to have a first hand look at one of the most
important roles in the art industry. I worked on a project
alongside other students where we were given the task of making vinyl
decorations for worksops new bus station. The designs I forwarded were curtail
to the development of future work as I had never used Photoshop or illustration
prior. This experiment process was lengthy and had been influenced by
psychedelic artists like victor Mossoro who’s attention to detail helped to shape
my understanding of how black and bold colors could merge in perfect symphony. Another
thing to add was 2 years ago I worked on a commission given to me by a former
Art therapist whom had whished to have a painting similar to the works of the
late Jackson Pollock, After speaking to him about the colours, and the size of
the canvas he wanted the finish piece to be on, I began to make experimental
pieces using drastic and bold colours to try and simulate the daring pieces
Pollock had made before When I had completed the work a week later the work was
received and well reclaimed. I would love to be a part of the university life
for both the great opportunity’s that can be had and the possibility of being
surrounded by other artists and illustrators like myself who want to expand in
the art industry, continuing to develop my work and my own approach while still
experimenting with materials.
