Replies which came to late

I have had a lot of problems getting feedback on my portfolio, recently I've been getting replies from the practitioners I decided to contact but they have come to late.

Miss Wah took a quick look and said she loved the use of colour in my work and how the subject matter is a mix of cute and dark.

Lyn Bannister got back to me but made no real indication that she wanted to meet me at all.

Leo from Identity Printing Manchester got back to me towards the end of last week so it didn't leave me enough time to arrange anything. But I will be going to visit him regardless because I could really use his feedback.

Hopes and fears

In this blog post I will be talking about some of my hopes for what I want to achieve post degree and some of the fears I have.

Unlike some of the others on my course my aim isn’t to go into editorial illustration, instead I’m building a brand which has been the goal even before I took this degree. The course has helped me come up with new ways to do this and has also let me see what alternative paths I could have taken. It sounds like I’m just set in my ways but I can tell you I have given each avenue suggested to me plentiful consideration. I have come to the conclusion building my own brand is the best way to get to get my work to its intended audience and maintain my artistic integrity while doing so. With my style of working I can’t wait around for art directors see that my style does have a place in their publications.

 One of my hopes is that I will become a better salesperson; it’s something I will need to work on. The course has helped me build confidence in my work, now I just need to become more socially confident. One of my fears is I could set up my brand in the wrong way since I don’t know much in terms of registering a business and how small businesses are taxed. To remedy this fear I intend to take a short course in business to help me market and properly set up my brand, since I’m not going down a more traditional illustration route there are gaps in my knowledge that need to be filled.

The course has also helped me step out of my comfort zone before I would have been hesitant to email people but now I find it a lot easier and know that the skill will be necessary to contact stockists.  Due to my anxiety I would often catastrophize things like sending an email or asking someone to give me feedback on my work but through repetition it’s getting easier. This takes me onto a fear of mine I’m afraid my anxiety will get in the way of potential opportunities, there are techniques I have learned to help with my anxiety through the past few years which will hopefully help me in this regard.

Another hope of mine is that through my brand I can help de-stigmatize mental illness and work with mental health charities to help fund services for people suffering from mental illness and raise awareness of what people can do to help those who struggle with mental illness. Mental health is a subject I have often brought forth in my practice and I fully intend to continue to do that outside of university.

I think a lot of people leaving art and design courses have a fear of getting sucked into jobs not related to their preferred field, I can say that in my case I’m not scared of having to pick up a day job to support what I want to do. If anything I’m actually looking forward to having that experience. I don’t think I will ever be able to stop making work which is why I don’t feel threatened by having to do other things to get by. Being an illustrator is not a stable job which scared me a lot at the beginning but I’m not limited to just being an illustrator. With that I don’t fear failure because I will never stop trying and that’s the only true way to fail.

The fear I have had is that my direction is a lot more fluid than others; it can come across as me not knowing where I am going because there is not as many boundaries to what I can do. There is no need for me to limit myself to just doing t-shirts, prints or books. The thing about creating a brand is you can explore many different outcomes under that umbrella instead of limiting myself to just illustrating other peoples book or articles. Creating my own content suits me better otherwise most of the time it feels like I’m forcing my style to match up with content that it doesn’t go with.

Visiting Practitioners: Group portfolio feedback

On 20/04/2016 I went to Cake and Doodle and asked if any of the illustrators there could take a look at my portfolio and give me a bit of feedback. Most of my feedback came from Luis Gainzarain who is a Graphic Designer and comic artist from spain and Marta Gonzalez 

Luque who is a freelance photographer who also dabbles in illustration and animation.

Feedback from Luis Gainzarain

You should think a bit on the Why? What? and Where?

Why do you do the work you do? Is it self expressive? Does it have a message? Are you pursuing a stylistic ideal?

What are you going to do to convey what your work is about? What form will best convey what your work is about? What audience do you need to market your work to? (Who will appreciate what it is about).

Where can your artwork go? Where is your audience going to be? Where will your work be seen by the right people?

There isn't a right or wrong answer to these questions you just need to know what your answers are so you can take a step in the right direction.

Reflecting on the feedback

For why I create my work I would say it is primarily self expressive but I would also say I was pursuing a stylistic ideal but I have gotten to a place where I am happy with my style but I still like to play with different mediums it keeps my work fresh and exciting. 

Not all my work has a message behind it and I've come to terms with that. I think in the illustration world right now creating decorative work is frowned upon and seen as fluff in a way. But maybe I just want to create bright and cheerful work sometimes that doesn't particularly have a hard hitting message behind it, I don't think it is wrong to do. There is a Japanese principle called "ma" and I think ma can explain why I do my work the way I do. Ma is the space inbetween the action, if you want to see ma in practice Studio Ghibli is a great example. So my work which is mostly for decoration is my ma as you will, it is the break I need from my hard hitting work. In terms of studio ghibli ma comes after important parts of the story to help the information sink in and to transition to the next plot point. Ma comes in the form of mundane details for example a girl has a hard day at school lots of bizarre things happen. The ma could be she goes home and runs a bath and just goes about her normal routine before she is thrown into the next set of ordeals.

 But I do also create work that does have meaning to it, I mostly focus on mental health and opening up that conversation and making the whole subject less taboo. That work is often very introspective and it takes a lot of energy to translate it into an image.

The what for me it to make prints, to make stories and t-shirts, I basically want to make the topic of mental health as accessible as possible. The more people are exposed to it the easier it becomes to talk about it. And I want to approach my decorative work in the same way, if someone wants to wear my designs doesn't want to wear a t-shirt about mental health instead they want something a bit lighter in tone I can also supply my customers that option. My main audience is 13-25 I think the younger end of my audience will like my work for it's style and the older end will appreciate the message behind some of my pieces.

I think in terms of where I could sell or display my work I think there is quite a few pathways I can explore. Comic conventions are where I have had the most success up till now and I think with me producing t-shirt they are going to continue to be one of the best places to sell. I've had varying levels of success when it comes to selling my work locally, children and teenagers are my main buyers when I sell locally. I have recently started to see a raise in street artists taking an interest in my work and I feel like paste up's might be a good way to reach that audience. I think selling my work online could work if I concentrate on actively advertising, as of now I have had no success with it but I think that is all down to me not giving my etsy and redbubble enough exposure.

Marta Gonzalez

Sometimes you need to experiment with platforms and what you are creating, the best thing you could do is just try things to see what is a viable option or not. And I would recommend just getting a regular job first because it helps you develop as a person and helps you gain confidence.

(when I mentioned Fig Taylor and her feedback regarding my work) Even professionals can give bad advice sometimes, just because one person tells you something won't work for you doesn't mean they are right. I don't see why you couldn't do editorial illustration for more alternative magazines. Don't let one person tell you what you can or can't do.

What might be unpopular now might be popular next week or next month, trends change so don't base your decision on where you want to go with your work on what is popular right now. What is selling now might fade out of fashion in a few months, what has faded out of fashion a few mouths or years ago might have a resurgence. If it is selling even if it's not selling much keep doing it, if it isn't selling at all that's when you need to consider shaking things up a bit. Just keep doing what you love doing and keep developing it.

Reflecting on the feedback

I think Marta really helped me realise that just because my style isn't popular with art directors at the moment it doesn't mean it never will, and maybe it's not worth worrying about how popular or unpopular my style is. Sometimes you just need to go with the flow.

Other thoughts

When I mentioned Fig Taylor I quickly found the people who did know of or have encountered her have a rather low opinion of her. One woman said when she was a student Fig Taylor gave her feedback and she said it was useless to her and ended up being completely off. She said Fig had been out of the industry for too long and didn't really have much of a grasp on what is currently popular. and to take what she had to say about my work and what direction I should take it with a pinch of salt She also said Fig was the one approaching universities to do these feedback sessions not the otherway round which it's a very good sign. 

Cake and Doodle 20/04/16

I attended Cake and Doodle again it has been awhile since I last went.

This weeks theme was Oliver Twist, I didn't really get much doodling done but I went with a friend of mine who is studying illustration at Salford university, he was previously studying animation but switched courses.

The great thing about Cake and Doodle is that it is every week, each week there's a new theme and they feature a different artist every week. They often share the work produced on facebook and twitter if you choose to tag them in your drawings. The themes are something new since they weren't doing it the last time I went, you can work to the themes, do your own thing or use the time to continue with something you are working on.

It's also a good place to get feedback on your work, since I was struggling to get replies from the clients and artists I contacted I used this as an opportunity to get some group feedback on my portfolio. This will be detailed in another post.

This week I swapped facebook details with a few of the artists so if you are trying to make contacts within the industry it is a good thing to take part in every once in awhile. I plan on attending more frequently after I finish university.

Client: Lyn Bannister

Lyn Bannister is a local art director and artist heavily involved in our annual art trail, this year she has managed to secure a piece of Banksy's Dismaland for the festival and art trail. Since she is close by I thought it's worth a shot and if I do get a response from her I will have at very least made myself known to her.

Hi Lyn,

I'm an illustration student living in New Mills. As part of my course I have been asked to contact art directors and gallery owners to get some feedback on my portfolio. Please let me know if you can help me with this. 

Thanks in advance
Sophie

19/04/2016
Lyn got back to me she said she could possibly take a look at my portfolio as long as it doesn't require her to write an essay which I reassured her that wasn't the case. So hopefully I'll be able to arrange to meet with Lyn in the next few days.

Contacting artists: Miss Wah

Miss Wah is a manga inspired street artists which I have been a loyal follower of for years and I've seen her grow from being a small artist on youtube to a successful street artist. She has a website where she sells her prints and stickers. It's been very inspiring to see a female street artist gain such an audience.

The email is quite casual since I have actually spoken to her before and she has previously given me advice on how to get into street art legally. So I thought I would contact her again since she was very helpful last time.

Hi,
as part of my course I have been asked to contact artists in a position I aspire to be in to give me a bit of feedback on my portfolio. I have a small PDF portfolio I can show you that isn't very long and won't take much time to look at. I would really appreciate it if you would take a look. I think your work is amazing I have been a follower of yours for years (from before you started doing street art) seeing you grow as an artist has been really inspiring to me, so your feedback would be really appreciated. 

Thanks in advance
Sophie

20/04/2016
Miss Wah got back to me unfortunately she is quite busy at the moment so her feedback would be after the blog deadline. I will still send my pdf portfolio to her anyways because I am very interested in what she would think of my work.

Contacting Artists: DestinyBlue

DestinyBlue is an artist I often see at the conventions I attend and occasionally sell my work at. I absolutely love her artwork and would love to be where she is in a few years time. Unfortunately she is quite hard to contact since her facebook messages are closed so I had to leave a wall post instead hoping she'll give me a business email.

Hi Destiny,

I'm a big fan of your work I'm a proud owner of one of your prints and hope to buy more in the future. At university we have been asked to contact artists who are where we aspire to be in 2-3 years time. The aim is to get some feedback on our portfolio's. If you have a business email I could send you my PDF portfolio it's only 6 pieces long so it wouldn't take up much time, so if you could spare a few minutes I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance

Sophie (RaelDanger) 

I will update this post if and when I get a response. 

Client: Art Director Tyler Resty

This client was a bit of a serendipity thing so you won't find him on my lists of potential clients. I post a lot of my artwork on instagram and a user called Tyler Resty would keep popping up and liking my artwork so I checked his profile and it says he is an art director from New York. So I thought why not contact him? He's already expressing an interest in my artwork of his own accord so I might as well give him a try. My email to him is a lot more laid back since I think it fits the situation a bit more than going in with a very formal email.

Hi Tyler,

this is RaelDanger from instagram. My real name is Sophie Stratton and I'm an illustration student from the UK. I noticed you have been liking my artwork and as it happens I have been asked by my university to contact art directors which may be interested in my work to get some feedback on my portfolio. I have a PDF portfolio I can send you it only has 6 pieces of artwork in it so it won't take up much of your time. I would really appreciate it if you could take a look, some of it will probably look familiar to you.  Since you have been expressing an interest in my artwork anyway I thought it couldn't hurt to ask.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Sophie Stratton (raeldanger)

I will update this post if/when I get a response. 

Client: Hang-Up Gallery Director Ben Cotten

The hang up gallery prides itself on helping young artists, and with big names like Banksy on their roster of artists who wouldn't want these guys to look at your work. In this email I'm trying to hard sell my work a bit more while still remaining professional and polite.

Dear Ben Cotten,

I'm Sophie a BA Illustration student in my final year at MMU. As part of our course we have been asked to seek out industry professionals which may be interested in our work. I have attached a PDF portfolio to this email it contains 6 pieces of my best pieces work. If you could spare a moment to look at it and give me some feedback it would be much appreciated.

You have an amazing selection of artists such as Takashi Murakami, Invader, Dsceet, Herakut and of course Banksy. And by looking through your roster of artists I feel like my work may interest you, it's in the same vein but at the same time something a little different. Just to make clear I'm not looking to display my work only for you to have a look and see what you think.

I eagerly await your response.
Sophie Stratton (RaelDanger)


I will update this post if/when I get a response.

Client: Phil Harwood ascot studio's

Phil Harwood seems like one of the more approachable art gallery directors I have contacted, he already has some of Chris Pegg's work in his gallery which is manga influenced like my work. So that's already a good indicator that he might be interested in my style of work. With the email I sent to him I thought I would try being a little more informal and making sure he knows I have looked at the work he has on display and what he is about.

Dear Phil,

I'm Sophie a university student studying BA illustration at MMU. I am currently in my final year and we have been asked to contact gallery directors, art directors and other industry professionals to get some feedback on our portfolios. I have a PDF portfolio I could send via email it contains 6 pieces so it won't take up much of your time.

I stumbled across your gallery online and had a browse of the work you have on display and noticed you are displaying some of Chris Pegg's work and feel like my work is in a similar vein.  As an art buyer I would be interested in hearing your take on my work.

I hope to hear from you soon.
Sophie Stratton

I will update this post if /when I receive a response.

Client: Sam Thorne Director of Nottingham Contemporary

This one is pushing the boat out a bit, Sam Thorne is a very experienced as both a critic and gallery director. To be quite honest if he replies I am going to be scared of his response.  

Dear Sam Thorne,

I am Sophie a BA illustration student studying at MMU. I am currently at the end of my final year of my degree, as part of our course we have been asked to contact gallery directors and other industry professionals to give us some feedback on our portfolios. I can send my portfolio via email and it contains 6 pieces of work so it won't take up much of your time. I wanted to contact you because of the varying styles of artwork you display at Nottingham Contemporary and how the gallery is doing a fantastic job of inspiring young up and coming artists.

Kind regards
Sophie Stratton

Will update once I have received a reply.

Client: Stephen Hayles Director of the Upfest Gallery and festival

Today I contacted Stephen Hayles the Director and founder of the Upfest Festival and Gallery in Bristol. I once attended one of the Upfest festivals with my parents and wholeheartedly plan on attending again on my own. My artwork as of late has taken on an urban art feel so I thought I would try my luck.

Dear Stephen Hayles,

I'm Sophie a university student studying BA Illustration at MMU and I'm currently approaching the end of my final year of my degree. As part of our course we are required to seek advice from gallery directors and other industry professionals such as yourself. I have had the pleasure of attending one of your Upfest Festivals and was in awe at the work which was on display and I feel my work is in a similar vain. I wondered if you could take a look my portfolio and give me some feedback, it contains 6 pieces and can be sent over email and won't take up much of your time.

Kind Regards
Sophie Stratton

Will update when I have received a reply.

Client: Richard Goodall Gallery

I had to contact Richard Goodall through the galleries website, this is what I sent.


Dear Richard Goodall

I'm a student studying Illustration at MMU. I am in my final year and as part of my course I have been asked to find gallery owners to give me some feedback on my portfolio.

I have visited your gallery before and I love the collections you have and feel that my work is in a similar vain, so I knew that I had to contact you.

It won't take much of your time I could either bring my portfolio to you or attach a pdf portfolio containing 6 pieces to an email if you would prefer.

Best Regards
Sophie Stratton


I will update this post with any correspondence I receive.

Client: Identity Printing Manchester

One of the clients I'm approaching is identity printing Manchester, I'm not sure weather it is above board but one of my Dads friends owns identity printing Manchester so he contacted them on my behalf.

Leo the owner created the very iconic "On the sixth day, God created MANchester" and now runs a t-shirt business selling his own and other designers work and printing t-shirts for everyday folk and designers alike. He has worked with many musical talents and with an interest in music and designing merchandise for bands this further convinced me I needed his input on my work and how it could be translated to t-shirts.

Website
http://identitymanchester.com/

I will update this post when I get a reply from Leo.

Update 17/04/16
My Dad drove past Identity Printing today to find they are now just called Identity, so it is possible they have now dropped the printing part of the business which might explain why there has been no replies since I was looking to get some t-shirt samples printed up as well as getting some feedback. But if I get any replies I will update this post but it is looking unlikely.

Client List part 2

So thinking further into my artwork and how it fits into the industry I have decided Art Directors are the wrong people for me personally to be going to. A lot of them are quite adverse to hiring anyone with a manga influenced style. So the next port of call is small independent gallery owners.

Richard Goodall Gallery

I have visited this a gallery in person and felt like my work would fit in with the other artists work. They display one of my favorite artists camilla d'errico who has inspired me a lot through out my degree.

Gallery owner Richard Goodall



Nottingham Contemporary

Looks to display a variety of work on their about us section  they say "We work to attract new, diverse audiences to contemporary art through innovative educational activities, our communications and our events." and that "Our audience is relatively young – around 50% are under 35" which is around the demographic I am aiming at.

Sam Thorne Director


ascot studios

As soon as I looked on the website I saw a manga inspired piece of artwork under the category of urban art.

Gallery Director Phil Harwood

From the website "Phil writes for a number of Arts & Culture Magazines, curates the exhibitions held at the gallery, and represents over 20 artists – including established international painters, mid-career artists & talented emerging artists based in the North West of England. Having gained the respect of international collectors and with an impressive client list here in the United Kingdom, Phil has earned his reputation as one of the most influential and successful art dealers of his generation."

Hang-Up

After searching for urban art galleries this gallery popped up and the art they display seems to be in line with what I do "an East London based contemporary art gallery located in the vibrant and bohemian neighbourhood of Stoke Newington. The gallery presents a dynamic exhibition program of fresh and forward thinking work from our roster of artists, photographers and makers. We show both young artists at the early stages of their careers alongside established names from the art world. We tie it together by seeking out and showing only those who are inherently creative, artists whom in some way break the mould from the traditional, pushing the boundaries either in terms of their work, their message or both."

Gallery Director Ben Cotten 


Upfest Gallery

"Situated on North Street, Bedminster is Bristol’s longest running urban art gallery, with the largest range of spray paint colours and Posca paint pens in Bristol. With regular exhibitions from some of the top Bristol, UK and International graffiti and street artists, the Gallery offers Bristol’s widest selection of Urban, Illustration and Contemporary artwork alongside a bespoke framing service, limited run artist t-shirts, and a fine selection of Street Art, Graffiti & Bristol books." The upfest gallery is another possibility especially since I am considering getting into selling t-shirts.

Gallery and festival Director and Founder Stephen Hayles


Identity Manchester

I have always wanted to branch out into t-shirt design since my A-levels when I printed a t-shirt (via  Identity Manchester) for one of my final pieces. I feel the time has come to revisit Identity Manchester. The owner Leo is a friend of my Dads and for what he doesn't have in qualifications in design he more than makes up with his experience.

Even though a bit unorthodox my Dad sent Leo an email on my behalf he didn't discuss this with me prior otherwise I would have contacted him myself. 



Will definitely looking into more ubran art galleries to contact.

Thoughts For Final Show

Recently I have been thinking a lot about the final show and what I want to display and I feel my uni work is just not making the cut for me personally. So I have started to produce work outside of uni that I would rather display. 

I want to display work that I genuinely enjoy making because I feel that it really shows in the finished pieces. I am setting RaelDanger up as a brand rather than just me being an illustrator and the degree show will be a good place to showcase my brand. After Fig Taylor came in I felt like I was left with very few options with where my work could take me, but after thinking about it for the past few months I have decided I want to put my artwork onto apparel. I feel like the graphic and vibrant nature of my work really lends itself to t-shirts, dresses etc.

Brands I feel that are good examples for what I would like to do is 

Iron Fist

Carries a lot of bold and vibrant designs aimed at teens and young adults.

Emily Strange

Emily Strange is a particularly good example since not only is Emily Strange a clothing brand, but they have produced comics, books, figures, plush toys, prints etc. And the brand is centred around a character called Emily Strange and her four black cats. Much like my work

"She first appeared on a sticker distributed at concerts, record stores and skate shops to promote Cosmic Debris, the clothing line founded by artist and skateboarder Rob Reger, racecar driver Matt Reed and Nathan Carrico, who designed Emily in 1991 for Santa Cruz Skateboards in Santa Cruz, California."

I can see how my brand could work in a similar way since my artwork is very character centric . 

Graduate panel

Back in January we had a panel discussion with Chris Madden, Barney Ibbotson and Emma Reynolds.

It wasn't all that useful in terms of advice for me personally because my work isn't really suited to editorial illustration. They didn't have much experience selling online and were rather negative about selling online. It left me feeling panicked about what I can do with my art.

On a positive note they brought some events to my attention, cake and doodle being one of them along with draw northwest. And attending cake and doodle made me aware of exhibitions and other events which are taking place.

Cake and Doodle 17/02/16

After the Chris Madden, Barney Ibbotson and Emma Reynolds talk (which will be detailed in my next post) I looked into Draw Northwest and some of the other artistic gatherings which take place in Manchester, this lead me to Cake and Doodle.

This week I decided I would attend the Cake and Doodle gathering. It takes place every Wednesday at Ziferblat on Edge Street at 7:30pm, Ziferblat is a unique venue in the fact that tea, coffee, cake, soft drinks, juice, biscuits, cereal etc is free you are charged based on how much time you spend. The rate is 6p a minute so that's £3.60 an hour. So if you are planning on attending keep in mind you will be charged for your time spent.

The gathering is a good way to make industry contacts in fact one of the women who attended works with Emma Reynolds. It's a very open environment and you will often be asked what you are working on and given advice and critique if you express you are open to it. It's a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere. And in addition it's a great way to find out about exhibitions and events around Manchester and it isn't just limited to illustration. Through this weeks Cake and Doodle I learned about O!PLA 2015 which is a night of polish animation on Friday 4th March 7:30 -9:30pm at Ada house, 77 Thompson Street, Manchester. It requires a ticket since seats are limited.

I would definitely recommend attending Cake and Doodle not many attend every week so just come along if you happen to have a free evening.

Exploring Wonderland Exhibition

On the 8/02/16 I visited an show in the Manchester Craft and Design Centre called Exploring Wonderland which was a celebrating the 150th anniversary of Alice's Adventures in wonderland. There was a large variety of work including home decor, jewellery, illustration, installation, sculpture, ceramics and paper cut.    

Since I did a project on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland last year it was interesting to see other peoples take on it especially since the work on display spanned so many disciplines.

I especially loved the paper cut by Fairy Made Paperart

More of her work can be found on her facebook page FairyMadePaperart

Gallery Visit: Richard Goodall Gallery

Yesterday I visited the Richard Goodall Gallery in Manchester. I was really impressed by the work on display and I could see my work fitting in there. They sold work from a range of artists and my parents ended up purchasing a print.

I discovered two new artists the first being Jay Ryan.

Jay Ryan is an American artist specializing in screen printed posters for rock bands and concerts. I love the quirkiness of his characters, they are cute but not overly cute and it inspires me that he has actually produced artwork for bands and he has even produced album artwork and track illustrations. Being a big fan of music I would love to produce work for bands.

The second artist I discovered goes by the name of Daniel Danger.

Daniel Danger is based in the New England region of America, I love his use of colour and the subject matter of his work. I have recently discovered that I find old abandoned buildings absolutely fascinating so his work instantly appealed to me. His work is almost akin to documentation, you will find many urban explorers love to document abandoned buildings before they get demolished and are gone for good. By the looks of his instagram @tinymediaempire he does dabble in urban exploration.