Twin Peaks Personal Project

I Finished My Pieces/Yeaboi

just a lil update I finished my pieces n they're going in the art show sometime in January yea boiiiii! I like the audrey piece best (the first one) just because I think the composition is the most sound and has the most feeling and vibe. the other two are cool (I love josie and laura!!) but the compositions are a bit more vague n less fun but I like the consistent vibe of blue/raining/sad/calm vibe. I'm really excited for the show/to maybe sell the prints afterwards as I got a few printed of each. I'm just finding it fun that I've made some work for a lil show! Also it's such a different art style for me, like blue pencil n simple characters, who knew??? I still miss doing the super scribbly, detailed liney stuff but I can just tell it needs refining or something. I'm thinking that I work too small n maybe if I worked bigger and used brush and ink so the lines had more weight and a more authentic flow it might help that style grow. I'll have to see!

Illustrated Books

Fiction Book

Home by Carson Ellis

This book is written and illustrated by Carson Ellis and is all about homes that people/creatures live in. Every page depicts a home and who lives there with a simple sentence e.g. A babushka lives here. I think this book has such a simplistic goal/presentation of a concept (just homes) but says so much more through the illustrations. Each home tells a story and shows a character. The babushka's home is old, wooden, outside the city, a bird pokes it head in without fear. You can tell she has no tv or electricity, she lives alone, she grows her own veg and maybe collects her water from the well. This book creates a feeling and stresses that homes are precious and unique and an extension of the person living their, with very little written explanation. Ellis' uses comparison and simple composition to make sure that her message is clear and while reading this book you think of all the homes she shows, and all the homes you know. I love this book, I think it's gorgeous, I'm going to buy it soon. Her classic use of texture and colour and the effect of her analogue methods (using watercolour/ink/whatever it is) expresses the homely vibe even more. These painted illustrations say everything that needs to be said I think. There isn't a plot/story/names characters but this is still a fiction book because they places don't exist, but Ellis presents them as if this book is a collection of places she has seen and recorded. All these homes seem familiar and knows to us, like 'well of course a fairy lives there.'.

Non Fiction Book

Two Weeks In May by Lize Meddings

This zine is a sort of diary that depicts how she felt everyday for two weeks. This book has a fiction feel because of the simple wording and elaborate illustration, to me it feels like it's telling a story from a very specific point of view (which it is tbh! but it's real and more of a diary). I think it's really interesting because the illustrations don't actually illustrate a particular scene or explain what happened that day, but just express the general vibe of that day. This way, many people can look at this book and read it and feel connected to it and say 'yeah so did I'. Tjis zine is very personal as well and I like it because it seems like Meddings' was just expressing herself through this, not trying to create a specific piece or explore a specific story. It's more about making the zine than the finished product. Her small decorative illustrations of animals or faces embellishing upon the feelings of the day rather than distracting from them.

Self Published Book

It Doesn't Have To Be Perfect It Just Has To Exist by Gemma Flack

This zine is all about creating and the creative process. Flack describes this as ‘it doesn’t have to be perfect, i just has to exist’ is a zine about making things, feelings things, and doing things. it’s a reminder to yourself to be a magic and kind person... to other people, and to yourself.'. I think this is LOVELY, this zine is all about an aesthetic/feeling/vibe not something so concrete or a specific event or person. It seems like Flack is just exploring a idea through this zine and expressing this through her characters she works with as well as collaging plants and other different types of working. There isn't a set way of working throughout this zine, it seems to be more about the idea and concept rather than a specific way of making illustrations. There's bits of text that describe certain things you can do or little statements and this book just seems very simple and blunt about what it's saying in a gentle way. 

Picture Book

Mahō by Heikala

 

This picture book is just a collection of all the inktober pieces this artist made in 2016, all were themed around witches. There isn't any text in this book, no concept or explanation or any specific theme apart from witches. There's alien witches, witches in the rain, witches in the sun, witches who don't look like witches, witches who do, ect. This book is purely a way of showing the work she made in a month. But I think the theme of witches is lovely and this makes a very beautiful art book, and also a way of arranging a body of work that has a theme but not a specific brief or purpose apart from 'because I wanted to draw that.'. Her work is GORGEOUS, each piece is stunning and gives such strong sense of a world and character and emotion. Almost every illustration depicts an environment as well as character. I really want this book, even though it's basically just a collection of art prints/a coffee table book.

Heather Benjamin (EXPLICIT CONTENT)

 Mad Inspo/I Love Her/Aw Jeez

omg so I ADORE Heather Benjamin soooooooo much. I have so much to say tbh, like ugh. so I LOVE LINE. and Heather Benjamin is the queen of cool line. her mark marking is PERFECTION to me. I just love the intricacy, like there's so much going on in her work that most of her illustrations are a but jarring to look at, it hurts your eyes and it takes a minute to decipher what's happening. I love illustrations I can look at forever and keep seeing new patterns and textures and little details, like I still think there's so much I could still find in her work that I haven't seen already. she's even said that he work annoyed her because it's so exhausting to make ad crazy and full and insanely detailed in a tiny way. I love her way of making hair, I love how she draws blood, I love the sense of pattern all throughout her work to make gross grimy spiky greasy textures. I love that she works with ugly, gross, explicit stuff. like yes!!!! girls stabbing themselves looking kind of gorgeous, kind of horrendous is amazing. also I love the vibe of extreme gore and grossness (a LOT of human bodily fluids going on) mixed with these beauty poses and big, fluttery eyelashes and gorgeous long hair. her work is just some of my favourite, and I definitely take a lot of inspiration from her when I dabble into super intricate, detailed, mark making liney work.

Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble was AMAZING!! I bought a lot of stuff including:

Maria Stoian

(luv: the repetitive mark making, the emphasis on colour to make the line and mark making very bold when a lot of the marks are quite soft and small, the colour makes them POP! so fun, love her characterisation and the craftsmanship of all her zines, they have a really nice weight and comic style composition.) 

?????

(this artist sold zines of pin up tattooed girls and bondage girls and so many girls!! she had such a cute, simple line focus style where the weight/curve of the line gave everything a super fun and girly, cheeky vibe. also the fact she drew a lot of different girls who all felt like they could be friends/in the same family was nice because you could see the artist really loved this aesthetic)

Kristyna Baczynski

(I LOVED this artist before thougt bubble so was super excited to see she had a table!!! I died over this large print, all the tiny details and little dashes and dots just described all these plants so well!! like every plant looks so organic and full and alive and cute and curly and wurly and ugh I just love it! also the simple colour choice is really fun I think)

Adam Cadwell

(yo this guy had such cheap comics I almost died! they're spooky and fun and the simple illustration style isn't my favourite but it fit the spooky/ghosty vibe and I just thought they were so cheap I might as well try one. I really like the idea of comics but I don't care about super heroes so I think I need to try more random graphic novels n stuff)

Sarah Graley

(this girl is cool too! all her funny cats and comics about her and her boyfriend are hilarious and poopy and weird. I love the cute blobby cute ugly style is super fun and sweet and I love it. bought a lil badge coz it was holographic)

I also found a few new artists I'm obsessed with and wanted to buy everything but saved their work for Christmas lists. My favourites were Benjamin Wright and Isaac Lenkiewicz. Their work looks like this:

(THESE DUDES ARE MY NEW FAVES!!!! first off simpsons art is my fave I luv it. Benjamin's work struck me because the colour in every zine was so striking and sleek and NICE. made me go ooooOOOOO. both of their work is low fi and blobby and weird, and all the character faces look distressed or sweaty or ALARMED which is just funny. as a duo they fit really well together, they have a cheeky weird nerd vibe I like. they seem like cool guys, I'm currently emailing Ben harassing him to open a shop because I wanna buy a print from him that I couldn't get at thought bubble lmao. I better get that frickin print of a wolf in a sailor moon costume.)

TLDR: THOUGHT BUBBLE WAS THE BOMB.

Applied Illustration

Earrings By Heather Benjamin & Alex Heir

$30.00 

Limited Edition

why I like it:

• I really love Benjamin's art style and I think these two earrings seamlessly work together even though Heir has a really different style. I think this is because of the size of the pieces. They are small and would be exciting to look at but not a massive focus of someones look, I think the details are harder to see so from afar they seem very similar. Also I think the classic motifs of roses/skulls/ women's faces works really well to translate across styles. I like the asymmetric aspect of the earrings, I think there's something very subtle about it and I think it looks cool.
•  I think they are successful because I think that the illustration is strong and isn't lost in the translation of it becoming a product. Because it's earrings the illustration can be the whole product and not be over complicated or hard to see. I think Benjamin also knows her audience and it really suits the style of her other clothing pieces/illustrations. She also used her signature female character as part of this piece which again I think is really strong and iconic to her fans. these earrings r cool n quirky, definitely made for someone who loves the artist rather than ur average jewellery connoisseur, but I think this is fun because she hasn't tried to reach an audience bigger than her own. she's just making art she likes.

Mural by Laura Callaghan

why I like it: 

• like most of these applied illustrations, I think the reason I like it because the most iconic and exciting things about the artists' style always comes through in the illustration. they don't change their way of doing things to suit the place/item/product it's applied to, their work makes the item/place more beautiful and it enhances the illustration. I think Callaghan's scenes full of women, pattern and colour are perfect for this situation because a mural should be eye catching and fill the space. it almost creates a shop window, as if you're looking into the building so it makes this space more fun and exciting. also picking Callaghan to do this piece is important, it will attract a certain kind of person or fans of her work, but her fun bright colours n cheeky characters would also draw in random passers by. people might take a selfie in front of the mural and go into the shop, this is rad.

Plant Pots by Tuesday Bassen

In collaboration with Urban Outfitters

why I like it:

• these r just sweet!! the eyes and lil faces r just so fun and cheeky and simple, like I think they would look v cool in someone's house without looking childish or stupid or weird. I think they're very stylish and subtle but just cute lil guys! everyone and their mother has cacti now so I think making illustrated plant pots was a smart move, they're very topical and trendy atm so that's fun. I think the illustration itself would be a cute print/piece of art but wouldn't be incredibly bold and shocking or exciting. I think that putting these illustrations of a plant pot/home item is clever because it personifies the item and makes it cute n fun, it decorates a boring item, it makes people feel like their home is bespoke and cool. I think this makes this illustration work better as an applied illustration than a art print.

Lonesome Cowgirl Patch by Eradura

Sold on her Etsy and personal website

$54

'Watching an eternal sunset'

why I like it:

• the embroidery/linework is GORGEOUS. the use of fabrics/threads/colours is so specific and reserved and gorgeous, the tan brown and gold and peach tones all work in this warm, dusty, cowboy colour family. the profile staring away from the viewer is lovely, the hat is so sleek and this patch is simple and sweet and classy. it fits with the artists' collection of western themed work and her patches are always so sweet and simple. 
• Eradura only makes her illustrations into pins and patches, not artwork on its own. she makes the choice for her art to be wearable and only wearable. I think this is fun because her work is more like little artifacts, little embellishments for people to wear and carry with them instead of display in their home. I really like this idea of my art as pieces people can wear and decorate themselves with.

Sleater Kinney Gig Poster by Carson Ellis

why I like it

• Carson Ellis started off making concert posters/flyers for her partners band The Decemberists, so I think she's definitely used to working in this format and can fit her illustrations into posters very easily. posters are very similar to art prints, where Ellis can work with illustrations and typography freely instead of trying to conform it to a specific shape. her style is simple and uses strong shape and characterisation. posters are meant to be graphic and show off the style/vibe of the band and I think Ellis' work is just so fun and inviting and magical and works well on a poster. Sleater Kinney is a riot grrl band so I think the fact they chose an illustrator to do their posters is interesting because it seems to fit in with the diy, women working with women vibe they have. the simple, bold motif in the middle that pushes the focus onto the typography to me is really striking and gives a taste of the band (using a magical woman character to represent them) but is still very alluring and ambiguous. 

Twin Peaks Personal Project

 A bar in Leeds advertised that they wanted to host a Twin Peaks art night in January and Twin Peaks is my FAVOURITE tv show ever and I never get to talk about it because literally NO ONE watches it, so I was super excited to try and participate. (I decided I'd make work regardless of whether they wanted my work in the show or not because I've wanted to make Twin Peals inspired art for ages tbh). I started by using my Twin Peaks Pinterest board where I collect screen caps of all my favourite scenes and shots because the cinematography of the show is one of my favourite things, the vibe is so gorgeous and the music is ridiculous I just love it.

(https://uk.pinterest.com/gabriellajoy9/twin-peaks/)

I did some sketching using these photos as ref and came across my first problem. basically I really like my usual liney, detailed, spaghetti hair style but also I really like the pencily more blobby simplified style as well so idk??? which one do I use????? I'm going to try out both but I want to make a set of a few prints and I'm not sure which style I'll choose because I like both for different reasons. SUCH A HARD DECISION. like are the blue colours too cool/but they give a nice cool moody rainy vibe. would pencil look nice but with the colours of the show?? what kind of colours would I use if working in the other way? would it be coloured? I think the pencil aesthetic is stronger or more poignant idk but the other way of drawing would be far more recognisable for twin peaks fans and play on that aesthetic more (luv dat twin peaks aesthetic). Not sure atm but I'll keep recording this process and hopefully the final show/or the selling of these prints. I'd love to make an accompanying twin peaks zine too!! I miss making zines.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Dir. Ana Lily Amirpour (2013)

Meg and I went to the film society showing of A Girl Walk Home Alone at Night and it was soooooo good. The aesthetic was gorgeous, so chill and moody and atmospheric. I really liked that it's black and white, it made it seem very film noir and added to the vibe of 'Bad City' which is grimy and cold and sad. There was a lot of shots I really enjoyed e.g. the moving industrial machines, the train when the two meet up, the note signed dracula, the body pit/mass grave, etc. Overall it was just a really beautiful film and the aesthetic of an almost dystopian city really interested me. The characters were another part I LOVED. The female lead was incredible, so well written and she pulled off the vampire vibe so well but in a way that isn't the usual 'sexy vampire' thing where a young woman is made to be this objectified monster woman thing. She was powerful but odd and she felt like a real character. I also liked how the film played on horror film tropes e.g. the title sounding like a classic horror where a woman would be killed or captured on her walk home, whereas in this film men who walk home alone are killed by a vampire woman who is small and young and doesn't look aggressive or monstrous. I really want to draw some cool vampires now. 

Mikkel Sommer

                         

Mikkel Sommer's work was in our mark making seminar and I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT! I wanted to just write a quick post about why I love it. 

• the one armed lady is so cool as a set of illustrations like I really loved the idea of taking that simple composition and playing around with line and mark making and tone and colour. it's so playful and nice to see how things like shadows or her face are represented in such different ways. I love that the picture changes and the plant changes and her face changes but the vibe and feel stays the same. like the images are all so different but the artist plays around with how you can warp a image through changing line/marks/tone.
• his character design is crazy!!! I just love the shape of his characters' bodies like the round n lumpy and textured shapes, but also the men with super square chests. I could talk about everything so much. the scratchy pencil lines are thick and dark and seem heavy and I love that! and teamed with the line work which has that scratchy quality but are thinner and lighter and create clean shapes.