603 - Brief 06 - Visual Research 2

Ferguson is also very keen on my illustration style, being familiar with the previous vectorised pieces through AV8 and my other work this year. He loves the idea of having his own little character of himself which can feature across his various outputs and medias. Similar to my email handler created for PPP this is an impactful way of making a good first impression of yourself when approaching people online (whether its through email or just on their socials) - capturing a bit of your personality within it, whilst the motion engages more of the audience attention immediately.

Illustration styles I'm inspired by:

Mason London - 
being a huge influence of mine I will always relate my inspiration back to him - as his work is detailed, yet delicate; considered yet relevant and intriguing to the viewer.
His style makes use of big blocks of colour (often quite textured - looks almost hand-rendered and grainy which is appropriate for the direction of this project) which create contrast in themselves to create the basic outline of the image. Then he adds the simple detailing through fluid line drawing. He doesn't use much shadow but it is not needed as he creates the perspective of the piece perfectly without. This has influenced my style so far massively, teaching me alot about process and how you can develop a piece so delicately though the detailing and textures overlaid on top of the basic anatomy of your drawing..

Love this drawing he's done of Matty Matheson 

- it is so simply constructed yet the texture and detailing give it this depth and intricacy













Jack Oliver Coles -
is a new illustrator I have been inspired by - his work with coloured pencil employs colour and composition to create sensitive imagery that strives to educate and entertain.

Working exclusively with coloured pencils, after discovering the amount of control they allowed him over his work, Jack creates strong, confident characters with incredible definition and neatness despite the absence of outlines (which is what I am particularly inspired by within his practise - his work still feels considered and detailed yet is even more basic and stripped back than Mason's work). Attracted by the visual flamboyance found in drag queens and wrestlers, the softness and colour spectrum of his chosen medium allows for a sense of play that cleverly juxtaposes the bold characters often central to his work.

The delicate texture and youthful connotations associated with his chosen medium, also bring a sensitivity to Jacks work, which is vital for the deeper topics he dissects. “I think illustration has an ability to help endear people to information they might be otherwise put off consuming” he explains, “I’d love to create more work that helps spread awareness of issues facing queer people”.

      

Petra  Erikson -
The first thing you notice about Petra Erikson’s illustration work is the sheer abundance of colour. It’s this soothing yet bright palette which makes Petra’s work so distinctive.

While her range of subjects is broad, I want to particularly focus on her portraiture, a body of work that evidences the playfulness, attention to detail and ambition that typify her practice. As she puts it, “there are so many small details you can play with in a portrait, tiny adjustments to the mouth or the eyebrows can change the expression completely”.

It’s this freedom to project an idea or feeling onto her subjects that makes portraits such fertile ground for experimentation, though she’s keen to balance the range of emotions at hand.

The scarily accurate representations are too very stripped back yet create this realistic depth to her subjects. The experimental colour is what I want to especially take inspiration from - considering how I can experiment with more vivid and bizarre colouring to communicate different feelings from the piece.

 

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Freya Morgan - 
With a style that’s “predisposed to a world of solid lines and pastel colours”, Freya Morgan is trained as a graphic designer but her signature illustrative style indicates the breadth of her brilliant skill-set. 
Through her consistent use of isometric grids, pale pinks and gradients, Freya seeks out “that strange depthless perspective” that links the scenes she creates with this world, while simultaneously carving out another.

It is the obscurity I want to take inspiration from when I look at Freya's work - it is a very unique style which demands attention and greater inspection.

I am to use what I have looked at through my visual research to inspire and enhance my own illustrative practise - think about how I can begin incorporating these different ideas of detail, texture, colour and style into my work to influence the outcome and feel more experimental / thought-provoking.