Critical Review - February

Book:
'How to be an Illustrator' from the college library. I had taken out this book before but wasn't in the right frame of mind to appreciate the advice it was offering. But this time i have a more professional mind set, rather than just wanting to draw pretty pictures. The three chapters i found most helpful were: self-promotion, invoices and contracts. On first inspection it has the feel and layout of a boring school textbook, but it is written informally asthough the author is speaking to the reader; which makes it very readable.

Film:
Fantastic Mr Fox. I remember listening to Fantastic Mr Fox on cassette at bedtime when i was little, i'd always fall asleep before the end so all i remember is his tail geting shot off. The story itself is a classic but for me the best aspect of the film is how it's been made. It has a Tim Burton feel to it, but without the slightly scary, dark mood. The animal puppets are nicely stylised and move in a very unfox-like way. They managed to film it almost how a book reads, it announcees new scenes or chapters with the title and a still "illustration" of where the chapter will be set.

Exhibition:
China: Journey to the East at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield. This wasn't an illustration specific exhibition as half of it was pottery and ornaments but there were some prints, posters and some VERY intricate shadow puppets made from donkey hide. The tiny detail of chinese artwork is almost disturbing when you consider the amount of time and effort that must have gone into each piece. Which contrasts with the minimalist loose strokes of their paintings. The fantasstic and striking advert artwork design was by Manchester based Jonny wan (www.jonnywan.com) who features in the March 2012 issue of Computer Arts magazine.

Article:
March issue of Computer Arts magazine (198).The article i have chosen is called 'Design Happy' written by Stuart Wood. The article is about how design can bring happiness into our lives. At one end of the scale is a boring and depressing form to fill in, at the other end is a well designed, tactile book or album cover. He talks about how, if everything was well designed our lives would be easier and happier. This made me think about my own work and how i can often get bogged down in details and technicalities, when the main thing should be: Does is look good? Do you enjoy looking at it? Conveying some sort of message can come secondary if an image makes you feel good by just looking at it.