If I wrote my very own Manifesto of Design...

If I wrote my very own manifesto of design...

I would highly recommend that you learn to manage time

Learning is a privilege

To savour with a zealous edge

Criticism can be good

It will help, or so it should.

Set yourself some principles, live by them come rain or storm

Sometimes it is better to have an ethos than conform

Inspiration comes from others

Young and old, strangers and brothers

Hearing, touch, sight, smell and taste

Don't let one sense go to waste.

Adolf Loos famously said: 'Ornament is just a crime'

But if it is justified, it can be a grand design

Take the time to read and play

Learn a new thing every day

When you research, if you're in doubt

About a reference, leave it out.

Notebooks are a splendid thing, to make a note of all you see

Rummage through the lost and found, keep things you no longer need

Listen to the client's will

Make your project fit the bill

Read the brief a hundred times

Until you see between the lines.

Good ideas are all around, you could find them anywhere

From the latest Stagmeister, to the oldest Rupert Bear

Don't let provocation phase

Let the simple things amaze

Go to places on your own

Step outside your comfort zone.

Manifesto poem written by Cherry Pie (2011)

Bernice Myers

Bernice Myers is an author and illustrator... unfortunately I wasn't able to find out much more information about her than that!
However there is quite a lot to say about her work which is both fun and beautiful. I'm guessing that she works on textured surfaces such as canvas, or maybe she texturises the surface with a gesso... then she uses mixed mediums such as paint and pastels mainly, with perhaps a little bit of colouring pencil?
Her backgrounds are generally very simple, comprised of only a gradient or sometimes even nothing. This is definitely something that I can try to take on board in my own illustration as I have a tendency to flatten my images by trying to include too much detail into the background.

Digi-Art

Here are the final pieces I came up with after experimenting with photography. I layered them up with textured paintings of mine and played around with opacity levels and artistic filters on photoshop. These are both going in the exhibition on series that I shall be participating in. This will take place in France over the Autumn.

Experimentation

I have been experimenting with layering photography and drawings/paintings this summer, here are some of the results:

Love lies bleeding

This is a story I am currently writing/illustrating for my niece who has a rather unhealthy obsession with princesses. Last time I went to stay with my sister and her family, I took along a princess book that I had to read to her every night at bed time, so I thought I would try to make my own one and see whether she's just as keen on it!
Here are some of the illustrations I'm working on. I am trying to keep a fairly consistent style going...

The Rihanna Saga

Some of my friends and I have a constant joke going on involving the singer, Rihanna and her apparent psychosis which she gives the impression of in some of her songs.

So, as a joke I have started making a series of comic strips recounting the adventures

she has when she meets my friends... she ends up putting most of them in hospital!!

Anyway, here is an example of the illustrations I am doing for it! 

Goodnight And Go

Illustration of the song "Goodnight and Go" by Imogen Heap.

Big Fat Duck Cookbook

This is a book written by Heston Blumenthal and illustrated by David McKean. It is extremely big, extremely heavy, and extremely expensive. The illustrations are very beautiful and are made using mixed media such as: Photography, painting, drawing, photoshop etc.
He uses great colour + light/dark contrasts that make the images all very dramatic. His use of line and dirty colours continue his typically macabre style that is so prevalent in all of his work. It is interesting how with most of the illustrations, the type is incorporated into the image itself, which gives it a much more contemporary feel and gives more meaning to the text.

eMOTIONal

"Death to the death penalty" is a campaign that was launched in October 2010 in aid of Amnesty International, who are aiming to abolish the death penalty in the 58 countries that still practice it.
This clip was written by TBWA/Paris and directed by Pleix with the production company, Warm & Fuzzy.
This ad works well as a visual metaphor representing the work that Amnesty International are doing worldwide. It says that this organisation is like the flame in the darkness, melting away the evil around it.

The Princess and the Frog

In this song from the Disney film "The Princess and the Frog", the animators have drawn everything differently to the usual, typical "Disney style".  They have tried to adopt a style that visually represents the 30's jazz movement and the result is much more dynamic and vibrant compared to the rest of the film.

Children's books

I took advantage of the week I spent at my sister's to have a good rummage through all of her kids' books!
Here are some interesting examples of the illustrations I liked best:

"Mummy Mine" is a book written by Tim Warnes and illustrated by Jane Chapman. The pictures are very good as they capture the nature of the animals well whilst still creating a fresh style that appeals to children.

"Lost and Found" by Oliver Jeffers is a beautifully illustrated book. His style is very minimalist but at the same time extremely expressive, this book was so popular that a short 25 minute film adaption was made.

"Hide and Seek Birthday Treat" by Linda Jennings and illustrated by Joanne Partis, has a more experimental illustration style as the images are a mixture of collage, hand drawing, painting and pastels.

I like this mixed media style and I think that it is definitely something I should try experimenting with.

  

Mirror Mirror

Mirror mirror, pretty mirror

Tell me what you see

All I see is desolation

How can this be me?

Mirror mirror, evil mirror

Would you tell a lie?

How can you be so deceitful;

Make me want to cry?

Mirror mirror, woeful mirror

Tell me, is it true?

No one else can see my weakness

None except for you

Mirror mirror, honest mirror

Is this what they see?

I have never met this stranger

Is this really me?

Princes and Princesses

Princes and Princesses is a beautifully animated film by French illustrator, Michel Ocelot. He is also responsible for the famous Kirikou series which started as a graphic novel, then became a film and is now also a musical. Princes and Princesses uses only black silhouettes and colour backgrounds. It is visually very pleasant to look at and the story line is also highly engaging, both for adults and children.

Beautiful Illustrations

I have just come back from a shopping spree at Waterstones and after spending over an hour in the child's section I bought 4 beautifully illustrated books...

Sarah Gibb's illustrations in "The Princess Who Had No Kingdom" by Ursula Jones are a really beautiful use of colour and silhouettes and reminds me of Princes and Princesses by Michel Ocelot in the visual style. The story is quite original seeing as it is in the style of a classic fairy tale and involves princes and princesses as do so many others...

Eric Puybaret's paintings are also very beautifully done in the book "Puff the Magic Dragon" by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton. His style is very curvy and flows a lot. I think that his landscapes work best as he captures distance very well by using fading colours. It is a shame that the text isn't as good as the pictures. The book also comes with a CD of songs to sing along with the book...and they are AWFUL!

Even for kid's songs they are extremely cheesy and predictable...but it has inspired me to maybe write songs to go with my future kid's storybooks as I like writing music.

Lynley Dodd's illustrations in her book "Slinky Malinki Catflaps" are much rougher and quirkier than the other books which seem very laborious in comparison. Dodd's technique is much freer and she is not afraid to show evidence of brushstrokes and pencil lines.

The text is positively delightful, it is very well written poetry with brilliant use of literary tools such as alliteration and using certain letters to create a real sense of rhythm.

R.W. Alley's illustrations in "Paddington"are more like laborious drawing but still full of energy, particularly in the line. The character style is also very effective and they all transmit individual personalities through their appearances. It is interesting how many of the images are deliberately left unfinished. The story is of course brilliant. Paddington Bear is a classic after all...

Megan's Birthday Card

I am now a televised artist! As a birthday card I made for my niece was shown on channel 5's "Milkshake"

Les Suites Vénitiennes

Les Suites Vénitiennes is a French graphic novel about a series of violent murders

committed in Venice in the 18th century. The drawing style is very good, but Éric Raives captures the cityscapes particularly well and his use of line and colour is astonishing. Unfortunately I no longer have this graphic novel in my possession and there are no decent examples of the cityscapes on the internet so you shall just have to take my word for it...

Murder mystery illustrations

Illustrations for a murder mystery story inspired by "Les Suites Vénitiennes"

Rest in peace, my feline friend...

Jonny the cat

Was idle and fat

And he was not terribly bright

He rolled in the dust

And loved to be fussed

But kissing him gave him a fright

Jonny the cat

Had once caught a rat

All he wanted to do was to play

But the rat, he did bite

And he put up a fight

And he frightened poor Jonny away

Jonny the cat

Was asleep on the mat

But his dreams did not last for too long

For along came a child

Who was ever so wild

And made the poor cat play along

Bizarre Creatures

My weird creatures came about when my nephew asked me to draw him a monster to colour in.

Since then I've been working on a few bizarre creatures that could be possible alternative products of "evolution"... Maybe I could make some sort of book with them!

My Bubbles!

Here is a sample of a possible CD cover (back and front) for my next album, which has yet to be recorded! 

Arty Mess

Sabrina Ward Harrison is living proof that if you are going to be an artist, it is essential to be messy!

Loving the colours and explosive layout of her work...makes you want to see more!

She is also an inspiring writer who suffered a lot in her youth... she started creating these visual diaries after it was suggested to her by a psychologist. The idea was to help her express her anxieties and problems and thus, overcome them more easily. She's been doing it ever since!