illustration Archives - Page 61 of 74

Review: Graduation guide for design students

I’ve just started teaching part time at the One Academy, a local art and design college where I tackle the subject of illustration and the creative process. I have to say that it’s really fun so far – there’s nothing like answering questions on the spot and helping to nudge fellow students on their way (wherever that may be). One of the recurring challenges that they face has a lot to do about what is expected of them when they graduate. While I reassured them that there will come a time when they will be stressing about that, I’m more concerned about them exploring what they like and are good at, instead of giving in to what they think that others want. Not especially when they have a year to go before graduation!

A few weeks back, Moniek Paus sent me a book that she wrote – Graduating Guide for Design Students, published by ~~Norwegian~~ Dutch (thank you Annemarie!) publisher BIS; and as I’m leafing through the snippet of tips and advice that she’s put together, I do a mental nod each time I flip the page. I feel that a lot of the stuff that she’s written down here applies to how a student thinks – something that I appreciate even more after I’ve spoken to my students.

I realize that it must be overwhelming, being a student (in a uni/college) at a time where speed takes precedence over substance; and wrongly thinking that they need to sort things out quickly to get to where they want to be. But there is no shortcuts – not really. I guess once they realize that it’s not time they’re racing against ultimately, they’ll be able to slow down and concentrate on their own craft instead of getting swept up in the flurry of information surrounding them.

And this is the gist of Moniek’s book. She separates her book into 5 chapters, and each of them are reassuringly brief and simple:

How to get started
How to survive
A guide through the process
Design advice
Practical advice

It almost feels as though she’s right there with you as a friend – giving you advice on how not to stress out, and reminds you to take a shower (who knew that running water increases productivity?) Her illustrations go well with the advice that she dispenses, and the spreads are almost like mini posters that you’d like to rip out and hang on your mirror (the book’s dust jacket also doubles as a poster!)

You can get your copy here (Amazon) or via BIS Publishers.

My apologies for the quality of the images, which were taken on my iPhone (3GS!) instead of a digital camera.

Painting the invisible

Ana Ventura coordinated a workshop at the Museu da Marioneta, in Portugal with a very creative, imaginative idea.
The participants had the opportunity to give life to the walls of the museum. Based on her collection “(in)visíveis” (invisibles), she proposed to everyone to look at the spots on that space and transform it into something new. Many different animals and characters are living now at the cloister of the puppets museum and became an ephemeral, beautiful and delicate exhibition. I’m so inspired by this idea that I feel like doing the same everywhere I go!

I have a friend who participated on the workshop, Andrea Ebert, and she was the one who told me about it. Obrigada Andrea! : )
You can see more pictures of the workshop here.

[box icon=”heart”] ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Deborah is known in Brazil as Tartaruga Feliz (Happy Turtle). She’s a self-taught illustrator and animator who is born in Brazil. She travels the world while working, and attributes it to the best experience she has had in her life so far. You can see more of her work on her website, and she just launched a new website, Garatujas Fantásticas with 3 of her friends that has exclusive content for kids in Brazil! [/box]

Eric Hanson: Brain moving exercises

Love this quote by Eric Hanson:

[quote] I have an exercise I do sometimes, to get my brain moving, to get the ideas from my head to my hand to my pencil. I draw a face. I draw an oval, or I draw the arrangement of features. Why are they always arranged the same, like a place setting? There’s no law about that, so I rearrange the furniture, put the ear where the nose usually is, or insert a spoon or an automobile in its place. What is it saying to me? Usually nothing, but it opens a door to resemblances that we train ourselves to ignore. Rule-breaking is the first rule of art. The world isn’t two dimensional but the paper is. The offbeat equations we make don’t need to be outright surreal to be interesting. The brain is who we are, so why not draw it into that space? Is he asleep, or thinking, or dead? Sometimes the best drawing is inconclusive. ~ Eric Hanson [/quote]

He makes a lot of great points about thinking on paper, and his blog is a treasure trove of thoughts and snippets of his own processes that’s absolutely priceless.