Illustration
Of late I have more and more been wanting to get good at illustration. Illustration is very handy in design and although I can do illustrations I have definitely not mastered it.
There are a few things that attract me to illustration. Firstly the expressionistic aspect. I imagine you can just put pen to paper and let your ideas and emotions flow, without need to even have something in front of you to base your drawing on. Secondly I’m a big fan of manga and anime which often inspires me to try it out myself.
This confuses me a little. I did A-Level Art and I think I’m pretty good at drawing real life stuff, especially with the pen. But I’ve never been good drawing off the top of my head. This is not to say I don’t have a good imagination. I can design and have always had a creative imagination, sometimes a bad thing when I watch horror films or Ghost Hunters International! If it is the case that illustrators have such a vivid imagination that helps them draw, I definitely envy them!
On the other hand it could also be practise, much like the BBC programme the other night “The Making of Me: Vanessa-Mae”. It explored the nurture or nature debate and settled on 50/50 which I think I’d agree with.
So there could be hope for me yet! I’ve been thinking on getting some ‘how to illustrate’ books. I’ve always liked drawing so it could be fun even if I’m just recreating characters in the books etc. One things for sure, i really need a small scanner!!! Last time I desperately photographed some drawings, what a crap idea that was…
I have been yearning for a creative project of late so illustrating could feed my hunger. I’ve already had some ideas to do some drawings about chavs and knife crime along with some depressing strap lines, so I’m really pining to do that. Hopefully i’ll have something up here soon.
Earlier I had to do a banner of the 02 arena, I saw a good excuse to use illustration opposed to photographic. Later I stylised it more. I love the combination of bringing it into Photoshop to add texture, giving it an authentic feel. I also experimented with lighting effects (filters > render > lighting).
Here are some nice links for illustrations i’ve noticed lately:
I saw some others but can’t remember where now 
Sorry for the crap list!
O and one last thing, I did manage to get top for Pontefract Web Design! Woo, a small victory, atleast for my ego. Though I didn’t get top for Web Design Pontefract, how bizarre.
