AOI Competition

Hello my fellow bloggers!

Over the past few weeks I have been creating a piece of work to submit for the AOI Prize
for Illustration competition. This year the theme is 'Sounds of the City -an illustrated interpretation of urban sound'. The brief invited entrants to visually capture sounds heard in our UK cities in a single illustration.

My illustration was inspired by my walks in the Yorkshire countryside where I became interested between the relationship of rural and city life. It became apparent that urban life seemed nearby, whether that was a car driving by the roadside or the tall, shiny buildings on the horizon. I find it interesting how spaces interlink and change over a short distance. My piece therefore emphasises the entwining relationship between nature and the city by illustrating the layering of sounds, objects and atmosphere.

While creating the artwork for this brief I took the opportunity to document the process, as working digitally is something that I am experimenting with. People that know me well will know how frustrated I've been having not created that much of my own work lately, so this piece was a good excuse to experiment and get producing something in my own style.

All I have to do now is wait till November to hear who has been selected to exhibit at London Transport Museum, read more about it here

Enjoy the images below and as always let me know your thoughts :)
Thanks for your time.

Bye for now. 

Initial sketches and ideas

Final A3 sketch

Development work- Digitally colouring on photoshop 

Development work- Finalising colours and composition

Final image

Hillsborough College Workshop

Hello Everyone!

Over the past few weeks I've been engaging with different universities and colleges with delivering workshops and lectures.
Here's a quick post about my visit to my old college at Hillsborough in Sheffield. It was so nice to go back their and talk to the current students, the college seemed so much smaller than I remembered...

I gave a 20 minute presentation to A level and diploma level art students about my work and experiences. The aim of the presentation was to show the students an illustration pathway that they might not have considered yet. I reassured the students that I didn't know what I wanted to do after college when I was that their stage.
It was actually my college tutor who introduced me to studying illustration at university, I must admit I had never heard of it before!

I took the students through my journey from school to uni- I even managed to find my final college project which I found hidden away in an art folder! I haven't got the heart to throw any of my old art out!

Example of College Project based around Self Image

After the presentation I asked the students if they had any questions and then began the printmaking workshop about lino printing. I gave them a demonstration on cutting and printing and supplied them with hand outs on the process to keep referring too.

The workshop was designed around a commission the students were given by Chatsworth House. Chatsworth commissioned the students to create a unique piece of work based around the environment and surroundings.

By using my paper pop up piece as inspiration, the students collaborated with me to create a new pop up piece about Chatsworth House.

Students used my pop up paper piece as inspiration

All the students were really engaged throughout the workshop and produced some fantastic lino prints. Some of them had never produced work in this medium before so it was great to show them a new process.

If you would like any information about my print workshops that I deliver or would like to book me for your school, college or university then please don't hesitate to contact me via email - jessicarawlings1990@hotmail.co.uk

Thanks for looking

Bye for now

Louise Wilson Interview

Hello Everyone! 

I thought I'd share this interview of the recently deceased Louise Wilson (1962-2014) who was the Professor of Fashion Design at St. Martins. 

Louise talks about her own MA experiences and how education has changed. 

For people that are thinking about studying for an MA in the Arts, I'd suggest to give it a quick watch. 

Hope everyone's having a lovely Thursday afternoon 

Bye for now