My #makeartthatsells bootcamp experience

Hey everyone,

So sadly my “make art that sell’s boot camp” experience has come to an end , time has completely flown by since my eager excitement at the start of the course back in February 2014 this year. Before more months fly by since my time on mats I thought I’d reminisce and blog a little bit about the whole  MATS bootcamp experience to share with you all , whether your intrigued or want to pursue it yourselves in the future.

Bare in mind though this is what I’ve learned and how I’ve developed and felt on the course along the way, everyone’s experience and development will be different but no doubt a positive one :).

What I set out to do in the beginning?

In the beginning of the make art that sells boot camp we were simply asked to think of three things we wanted to achieve through the course.  My personal aspirations were to;

• Build my portfolio
• Better my understanding and skills
• Meet new people

What I’ve learned? 

1. Share your talent – Before I took mats I realise now I was extremely shy about sharing my art with others , in real life I’m quite shy but mats has taught me to share what I do from the smallest of doodles to the most detailed pieces whether good or bad.
2. Don’t think of the end product – I’m not the only guilty one of this but thinking of your end product before you’ve even drawn anything cramps the creative process and in turn causes procrastination. So what’s the cure? Have fun with your art, draw motifs and doodle as much as you want and slowly but surely your developed compositions begin to form.
3. Talk to others – I realised talking about my problems in terms of creative stuff, whether formatting problems, photoshop, scanning or simply just tips with a composition helped a lot. Understand yes you need to know these things yourself and work independently but it’s ok to ask a creative friend for help to.

 

What has been my favourite project during mats ? 

I have to say that without a doubt ” the cuckoo bird project” which was our very first boot camp project has to be my most favourite of all the briefs ( even though due to a bit of water and paddling about in my studio I was unable to finish the last two dangnit 😦 ). Though despite I’ve learned that the woodlands and its occupants that dwell within it , along with a few flower’s dotted here and there are really where my inky skills are at their best. Even though it was cool to challenge myself and experiment differently with themes , colours and briefs I feel that I’ve found my niche.

What  will I take from my boot camp experience ?

A bunch of new creative friends who share the same passions and love for a creative life as I do, being an illustrator can be really isolating work and though you can become absorbed in your own space nothing really beat’s having someone to laugh and share your creative thought’s with. For me this has been a learning curve and for those of you who are wanting to learn about yourself creatively, grow and meet new like-minded people then I’d give it ago .

Kate x

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A glimpse into the sketchbook three #makeartthatsells

Hey everyone !

So this is just a quite small ” sketchbook sneak peek” for  may’s part of my mats boot camp project , this months project was based around the creation of an illustration that voiced ” The benefits of meditation”.

In the beginning we were challenged to lend our creative hand to drawing people, face and features and no doubt like many of you we creatives have one teeny tiny area of doubt when it comes to drawing certain subject matter and mines  people for sure.

I’ll tell you a story that happened why back when in the days of art college where I had quite an old-fashioned illustration teacher. He was a nice chap and probably like many teens I went through the whole loving anime stage , the books and all that jazz so naturally when I was challenged to draw people that’s sort of how they turned out or so it seemed according to my illustration teacher.

My lecturer bless him was all ” Manga is an art by the japanese and its often very hard to distinguish that kind of art in your own style … blah blah ” so basically he wanted me to not draw people like I was but to me I guess that’s how in my mind they looked and how my style then applied.

So without a doubt when Lilla Rogers gave us the brief to draw people my jaw dropped to the floor and I avoided the project for about a week ( simply due to my mind going ” how am I going to draw this without it looking manga like?!?!) . It’s funny how your creative mind can have those triggers no doubt its the same if you can’t draw animals or any other kind of matter really.

Although now I look at it really my illustration is nothing like manga and this is just my own artistic representation of how I’d make a person look. So for any of you fellow creatives out there who are daunted by the prospect of drawing something that’s a challenge or new to you , don’t worry about getting a perfected result just have fun with it and see where your style takes you.

Kate x

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A glimpse into the sketchbook two #makeartthatsells

Hey everyone, So last week I was due my final blog post of national stationary week however life things happen over the course of the weekend that took up all my time and I didn’t get to finish it up and post it. Though I’m a bit gutted I didn’t get to I’m going to finish up the post anyways and pop it up as promised shortly!

So till then anyways moving on  the march month of “make art that sells” is all done, I have to say its been a big test of my skills aswell as kicked me out of my comfort zone to challenge me in creating a wibbly wobbly pudding themed series of illustrations that were to be put into a repeat pattern. Here I put together another ” glimpse into the sketchbook” post to just give you a little insight into how this piece came to be to share the inky fun with all of you.   Starting out like many of you I begin in my sketchbook ( note to self : I never used to start in my sketchbook but tried to visualise an end before a beginning have you found this? However I realise now this doesn’t work and often only results in procrastination and lack of productivity so use your sketchbook 🙂 ).   Then I bring out my fine liner pens ( I use both staedtler and unipin pens)  and begin filling in all the little characteristics and details of my pieces. Speaking of ink my creative chum  Lenny carter called me the inky queen last week and I’m honoured to be given such a fancy title haha though I do ponder if I use the term to much in my posts 🙂 ? Once all my inking and scanning was done I edit everything into photoshop and began piecing together my pattern, it took quite a few failed attempts ( yep they were horrible) until I eventually put together this  little piece. I really love working with sepia browns as my inked line colour even though I draw in black, however I still find adding colour into my work a bit of a challenge so if anyones got any tips or advice I’d love to hear from you.

Kate x

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