zabelê by Brazilian illustrator Willian Santiago

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His new body of work Mapping King’s Cross is an outcome of his residency at the House of Illustration, London.  An exhibition of this work opens on 28 January and runs till 6 March at the House of Illustration.

Mapping King’s Cross by David Lemm

For more CenSta articles about David go here.

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Viaggio di carta by Sofia Sita

Job Match by Sofia Sita

Brightly coloured illustrations with a comment on Society from Italian painter and graphic designer Sofia Sita.

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David Lemm is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Edinburgh. He studied animation at Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee, graduating in 2006. Here he talks residencies, maps and printmaking.

I worked on freelance animation/music video projects after Art School, and began developing my practice in other areas; illustration, printmaking and more experimental work. I still do animation, mainly music related and some commercial stuff. I’ve recently made videos for Miaoux Miaoux and Hobbes music, but enjoy working on a broad range of projects including commissions, residencies and exhibitions.

I recently moved to a studio down in Leith. It’s early days, so I haven’t really settled yet or got into the routine of going somewhere different to work. I used to have a studio/exhibition space in Leith, so it’s nice to be based in this part of town again. I’m currently doing a residency at House of Illustration in London, which means I’m down there for a bit each month. Every day is different at the moment!

New Land

Rites

I use a lot of different tools, depending on the project. I always start with sketches and lots of notes, and then develop ideas digitally whilst keeping analogue processes in mind. I’ve been screen-printing a lot over the last few years, and had my first solo exhibition at Edinburgh Printmakers in January. That body of work was a development of a process where I screen-printed directly onto found maps/charts. I layer graphic elements against the original markings, leaving it unclear what marks are original and what are my interventions. The resulting opportunity for interpretation and subjective analysis is a key interest and intention in my work. By printing on maps/charts I aim to create a contrast between the physical mapping/organisation of what we define as real with the unknown, unrealised and imagined.

Shards

I’m currently thinking a lot more about drawing and other hand-made approaches, so that may become more prominent in future work. I did a paper cut-out animation workshop with Atlas Arts on Skye for BBC Ten pieces and I really enjoyed that process. I’ve been interested in maps/diagrams since I was a child and they inspired a recent residency project on Eigg commissioned by lifeoffthegrid.net with The Bothy project. The residency aimed to explore maps as tools of way finding, instruments of organisation but also as material artefacts and repositories of meaning. I was particularly keen to explore the idea that maps fundamentally describe reality through simple abstract lines, forms and motifs, and to consider how experience of a space/place can be represented visually. The outcomes from the residency were recently shortlisted for Association of Illustrators World Illustration Awards.

Bothy – Eigg series

Alec – Eigg series

The House of Illustration residency is for 6 months, with an exhibition of my outcomes in January. There is also a work in progress exhibition between 5-8 November and I’m hosting a couple of events/workshops in September and October. Other than that, I’m excited to be working with Atlas Arts again and will be heading up to Skye to work on a project which should be launched near the end of the year.

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Artist profiles delve into the psyche of the artist talking about daily life, inspiration & art. Read more profiles here. 

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After graduating we got involved in the summer project Somewhereto_ Re:store which was set up to regenerate unused space within Glasgow city centre by creating a creative pop-up venue. We documented the ongoing of the space for the duration of the pop up (one month). This was our first mural together and where we realised we could possibly take it further and start a collective. The name came about as the newspapers were coming and we had to think of something quick – Mairi and her partner had the name Little Book Transfers kept aside for the day they started a band together, but as it had been a few years and they hadn’t gotten round to it, we thought we had to put the name to good use as it just suited what we wanted to do perfectly! (We are still going to have a band one day!)

We work doing illustrations used to create private commissions, illustrated objects, live art and wall and window murals, ranging from small to large (around 25ft!). Our work is often feminine and is inspired by nature and form. It has a surreal undertone and can often be described as humorous and whimsical. We also work with blocks of colour, which we illustrate on and around.

We work together in our office/studio space smack bang in the centre of Glasgow. We normally come up with small, basic sketches, together or apart and verbalise our ideas to each other whilst using Illustrator for mockups. There isn’t much in-between from initial sketch to finished product as we do a lot of our work on the spot and change things as we go when creating mural work. We work in a spontaneous way, making the process more exciting, where we have loose sketches at hand, but it is all very much freehand! We go with what feels right for the space when we turn up to different sites and locations.

The highlight of our career so far would be last year (as we have only been working as a collective for roughly a year) when we had a 5 month long feature in the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow in correspondence with Generation: 25 Years of Contemporary Art. We created a 25 year long timeline which consisted of 25 individual illustrations which we free-handed onto the walls of the GoMA balcony. We montaged and illustrated a selection of world history and art events that took place to create humorous yet informative work for each year.

Our first solo show at The Good Spirits Co. on Bath Street will showcase a selection of large illustrated boards and screen prints inspired by exotic botanicals and the female form. The show will run from 12 March until 19 April.

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See more art & design collectives we’ve featured on the site. Think we should feature your collective? Get in touch.

Self Portrait

When I was 12, I took part in my first exhibition. By 14 I had sold several drawings and paintings. When my friends played football, I drew them and designed their football kits. When I was in a band, I just wanted to make the record sleeves.

I think the reason I’ve began here with my memoirs, is that on reflection being an illustrator has always been on the cards for me. After a few years of flunking out of University first time round and working in a call centre, I finally went to Art School and graduated in 2013.

After living and working in London for a year, I’ve now based my studio in Edinburgh.

My Studio

London can be a great place, but I found myself looking for jobs cleaning or teaching as opposed to concentrating on illustration. It’s an expensive city just to be. Moving to Edinburgh has made me realise that I can make money from illustration now that I’m fully committed to it. I don’t need to subsidise the horrific cost of rent with a part-time job, and subsequently I’ve stopped feeling pressured, I’m enjoying it, and I think my work now shows that.

When speaking about “influences,” it’s hard to nail them down. I think my personal work is a process of reflection. Doodles and thoughts in sketchbooks, looking into the window of the computer monitor at our contemporary landscape of incessant web banners and slogans vying for attention, pop culture’s terminal conveyor belt and the grip of social media. All things associated with modern life’s visual overload and us. I also studied a lot of politics when I was at school, so I like to keep engaged and take references from there if I can.

Life, Death and Prizes

Commissioned work feeds from this, but obviously depending on the job and the client’s needs, it’s not always appropriate or necessary. A recent job for MTV, where I was commissioned to do a wall mural in their Camden offices, was a great example of this. They liked my Street/Pop Art style, which I had developed through my personal projects, but worked with them to create imagery that was appropriate for their needs and the space.

MTV Wall Mural

I think a lot of illustration now is this early 90s, saccharine coated, fluorescent shapes imagery that tends to be more style over substance. That’s absolutely fine, but I like to try and say something about the world in my work. My ongoing collaboration called Mad Quills, where I work with a very talented writer and poet, is a great example.

Facsimile

We’re working together to make a book as well as put on an exhibition soon. Other future projects I have lined up are a few more group shows in London and Glasgow come the spring. But, at the moment I’m working with Warner Music to create T-Shirt designs for Ed Sheeran’s next tour.

Personal projects include finally finishing my illustrated kids book and no doubt playing with iconography, as I expand my illustration print shop.

Jesus Loves Frisbee

In illustration, if you don’t have work, you’re working to get work and I’m looking forward to seeing what it looks like.

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Artist profiles delve into the psyche of the artist talking about daily life, inspiration & art. Read more profiles here. 

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Self-portrait for Movember

Alexander Jackson is a UK based artist, illustrator and writer. He holds a degree in illustration from Edinburgh College of Art. His work has been featured in comics, children’s books, short stories, magazines, newspapers, as well as on forms of commercial art and murals. Here he discusses the realm of editorial illustration work.

Song and Dance Man

Since graduating with my illustration degree I’ve been involved in a number of projects. Most of these projects have taken place within the editorial realm. Shortly upon completing my course, I provided illustration work for The Skinny magazine. I was then approached by The List magazine to provide all of the illustrations for the cover feature of its supplementary guide to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, which took place last summer. The work featured on the front cover and throughout the guide. As well as this, I have worked on several publications for The Other Publishing Company, providing a number of illustrations for some of their short stories. These will be featured in the newly launched Cracked Eye magazine. Recently, I’ve been approached to provide illustrations for a manuscript for a children’s short story.

Log Lady

Saul and Jenny

As well as the previously mentioned commissioned work, I have been in the process of self-publishing a children’s book called Jenny’s Bath, which I have written and illustrated. It was recently acknowledged by 3×3. I have also been recruited by Phosphor Art agency.

I took part in Saltmarket Design’s Fringe exhibition at the St. Andrews Square RBS building in August. I’m currently planning on taking part in their collaborative show with Redcoat in December. At events such as this and along with my online shop, I’ve been able to make my work available to a larger audience, mostly though selling digital prints of my work. My work is very much inspired by pop culture, character and narrative so it seems to engage with a large mainstream audience. My images have been shared on Twitter by celebrities such as Jonathan Ross and Edgar Wright.

Bill Bailey

Despite originally having trained in traditional painting techniques, my work has a fairly graphical style. However, I have still managed to find private commission work for paintings, and I hope to introduce more painting into my illustration work.

Burns Night

My plans for the future include more editorial work. I find these projects can be somewhat simplistic but with a tight deadline which I seem to enjoy. However, I’m still working on broadening my clientele in order to diversify my portfolio, which should bring in some exciting new challenges and add some variety to my portfolio. I’ve also been working on a manuscript for a graphic novel, which I plan to illustrate.

My advice to anyone looking to get into this field would be to put together a good strong portfolio that is easily accessible. Your own website can be accessed by people very easily and has the potential to make you look very professional. People often ask me where they can see more of my work and having a portfolio website is a great place to direct people. Also a strong online presence whereby people can be kept up to date on new work and projects in progress (via social media, blogging etc) can be effective. It also shows viewers that to have a passion for what you do. Most of my work has come through my online presence and using various online platforms to promote my work.

Comment below or on Twitter using #LifeAfterArtSchool & mentioning @CenSta with your experience after art school.

Stay tuned for updates from art school graduates all this week. In the meantime see a what to expect from the upcoming Life After Art School features here.

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Retro Woman is by Verbals Picks, a Scottish based creative who works in illustration, art direction, moving image and print.

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Collect Scotland are a team of Scotland based textile designers. Created by designers Chloe Highmore, Marion Parola, Mhari McMullan and Yvonne Elliott, the team show work twice a year at the Indigo, Première Vision trade show in Paris.

Collect are looking for new talent to work with in advance of their next show in February. Submissions are open to textile designers, illustrators and artists born or resident in Scotland.

Find more information about this opportunity here.

Deadline: 15 November

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Find more opportunities in our weekly bulletin here.

Illustrator Joanne Young took some time to talk with us about her work…

I am a freelance illustrator/Artist based in Ely, Cambridgeshire. I work from my studio in my flat, which I share with my boyfriend and my cat Pippin.

In 2009, I graduated from Norwich University of the arts with a first in illustration, before moving on to study a masters in children’s book illustration at Cambridge School of Art. My work has been long listed twice in the Book Illustration competition run by the House of Illustration and Folio Society, for last year’s Brave New World and for their current brief Heart of Darkness, (the winner and 5 runners up will be announced this September.)

I work in a mixture of pencil, coloured pencil and pen & ink with Photoshop, which I select by what seems most appropriate to the project. I specialise in narrative illustration for editorial and book Illustration for adults and children. Clients have included the Times Eureka Magazine, Walker Books and Black Dog Publishing. I also do pieces to be included in shows, which I primarily show in and around Norwich and Cambridge. My work tends to concentrate on creating atmospheric pieces that play with the ideas of scale, tone, shadow and pattern.

A typical day for me is to get up when my boyfriend goes to work, (potter around my flat for a little bit) then head to my spare room, which my studio is in around 9. If I have a commission on, I will typically work on it non-stop throughout the day and into the night if needed. On quieter days, I will work on promotional material and aim to contact clients, as well as working on personal projects and ideas.

At the moment though, I am taking some time out to work my own picture book ideas, which generally starts with a lot of sketching, playing around with different techniques, until I figure out a direction I want to pursue. I tend to complete a finished image that gives me an idea of the atmosphere, and then I work on the rest of the book from there. At the moment I am playing around with character ideas.

I am also working on a series of pen & ink drawings of buildings, which I am hoping to exhibit soon. They concentrate on experimenting with new ways of creating texture and contrast through stippling. My latest drawing was of an Ely workhouse, and I am hoping to produce more drawings of buildings in and around Ely and Cambridge, as well as a few other buildings from places I have visited, such as the Orthodox Church I saw when I visited Kiev, Ukraine.

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Artist profiles delve into the psyche of the artist talking about daily life, inspiration & art. Read more profiles here. 

Interested in writing one? Contact us