Inktober 2017

For the whole of October 2017, I did a character design each and every day. This was a great creative challenge as it forced me to draw, even on the days when I didn't really feel like it. There are some images I like more than others, but I think that's just how it's going to be as I keep growing and building my skills. My big mistake here was not crediting all the art sources I used for poses and inspiration, which is something I'll definitely rectify if I do it again this year. I used it more for practice than actual finished pieces, which is fine for me, as it just helps me flex that artistic muscle. I want to keep up that kind of practice - always drawing, little and often, and not expecting beautiful finished pieces from it. I just find it difficult to maintain, but that's why I hope to be able to do it over summer.

Isle of Dogs Internship + Exhibition

Last June I was able to get an internship on Isle of Dogs for a week, which was an incredible opportunity for me to be able to see how the industry I love goes on behind the scenes. Nearly a year later, I went to the exhibition on the sets in London, which was incredible. 

Though I had had the very minimal task of cutting up paintbrushes to look like grass during my internship, I found a few tufts of grass in the sets that I like to think I could have made. This exhibition was so unique and wonderful, and really showcased the intricate nature of these sets. It was such a great showcase of the work, and I feel like it helps open up the work that goes on behind the scenes to the general public. I overhead a lot of people talking about the sets, not able to work out how it all gets made, and it made me really appreciate that I may be able to build something like that one day. 

Mackinnon and Saunders visit

I visited Mackinnon and Saunders with Anna, Amy, and a few others. We got to see and hold a lot of puppets that were in shows and movies I watched as a kid, which was super nostalgic. It was really interesting to learn about the technology behind all the puppets. There's so much involved in it, from little magnets to hold the eyes in place, to large rigs to keep everything standing up on spindly little legs.

Though I love character design and stop motion, I feel like puppets aren’t really something I’m very interested in making, though I don’t want to brush it off entirely. I think I like the creativity and freedom of prop making more, and I feel like puppets are a highly technical feat that I’m not quite capable of. 

I'd love to put some photos here but I was asked not to share any images online. These are some of the puppets I met in the flesh, though!

Study Task 6 - Cost Of Living

I think the thing with doing this cost of living spreadsheet, is that it gives a bit of perspective to the little purchases. The big ones feel big, but little things - getting some bubble tea, buying a new lipstick, and small stuff like that - really add up in the long run. It's kind of painful to look at and realise this is all very real, but it's also important to not lose my head about it. This helps me in knowing how much I should be charging for my work. I'm currently charging 10 pounds an hour for illustration work, and I don't plan on upping that until I leave university. Even then, I plan to take up whatever part time work I can find in order to just pay the bills and be able to live, and then whatever I can get on top of that creatively will be how I continue to build my portfolio and profile. 

Study Task 7 - Copyshop

I mostly use Instagram for promotion of my work, showing off WIPs and finished pieces. I don't use a watermark at the moment, as I feel like it's not really necessary. I know I probably should sign things within my art, and I think for my digital stuff that's readily nickable, I will begin to implement this. Something like this... where the signature is near the middle of the art, or otherwise a part of it, without sticking out like a sore thumb.

In terms of contact, my Instagram is open to messages where I can get commissioned if people are interested, though I should also make sure this is clearly signposted within my bio.

I don't have a website at the moment and probably won't until after I graduate at least, but when I do I'll be really sure in making sure all my bases are covered when it comes to copyright.

I think I do have this slightly problematic attitude of "who would want to steal my work?", which I think will probably land me in hot water when it happens. I think as my work gets more professional and slick, I'm going to implement more cautions to make sure my back is covered.

Study Task 9 - Life's a Pitch (Studio Brief 3)

For this brief I teamed up with Nicole and Liam Shevill to work on creating a hypothetical animation studio. We divided up our work according to each others' strengths, which worked well for me as I was able to focus my attention on social media, clients, and putting together a great looking presentation.  I really enjoyed thinking about animation in a very professional, independent context. I think it was eye opening to realise how much there is involved, and yet how attainable it would be. Though it's not something I'm not interested in setting up, it's definitely something to keep in mind for future work. 

Study Task 3 - Creative Repot/Animation Studio Research (Studio Brief 2)

I initially reached out to Cristina Acuña Solla for my creative report, as I had worked with her on Isle of Dogs and she was the head set dresser/model maker for it. However, she never got back to me, even though I emailed her twice. It may have been useful to call her, however I get some anxiety about ringing people up, and figured an email would be the best way anyway, as English was not her first language.

Once it became clear she wasn't going to get back in touch with me, I contacted a few others, including Jesse Gregg, the lead set dresser at Laika. He got back to me within hours, happy to answer any questions I put his way. I sent him the following questions, trying to keep in mind questions that I would like to asked were I in his position.

1. What got you interested in set dressing to begin with?

2. Where do you see the stop-motion industry in twenty years time?

3. What animation do you wish you had been able to work on?

4. What advice would you give to someone wanting to become a set dresser?

5. What is the hardest part of your job?

He took a little while to respond, so I had to gently nudge him, which prompted him to reply with such juicy answers. I was really impressed with what he had to say, and it was a shame that I had to cut down his responses for my creative report.

I found it a really good experience and helped me overcome some anxieties about talking to people in the industry, as it helped me realise they're a lot more like me than I know, just with a lot more experience.

https://issuu.com/allyhorton/docs/creative_report

Study Task 5 - Social Media Pro

Current social media accounts: Personal Facebook, personal Twitter, personal Tumblr, personal Instagram, art Instagram, professional Linkedin. 

Personal Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram: For connection with friends/family, to share content I enjoy, to create a place for the regular "me" to exist online.
Professional Linkedin and Instagram: To share art and WIPs, to create professional relationships, to get commissions and build a digital portfolio.

I also set up a Hiive account but it didn't seem like a very popular platform, so I would rather focus on having a good quality Linkedin and Instagram since these platforms will find bigger audiences and have a wider reach. 

My art Instagram is mostly focused on my illustration work, though once I start making better set pieces and props I want to share them as well, photographed properly. I'm not currently timetabling posts, though I definitely need to be engaging with these social networks more frequently and posting more often. 

I should aim to post to these at least once a week with the work I'm creating - this will also motivate me to continue to create work, so that I have something to post. 

My linkedin is definitely more "professional" than my Instagram, which is fine, since linkedin is how I will get to connect with industry professionals. 

Study Task 8 - Commissions / Freelance

After the seminar on commissions I thought about my day rate. Since I usually charge £10 an hour, I think that £80 a day sounds sensible, since a working day is around 8 hours.  I think this is fairly reasonable as I am definitely skilled enough to be earning a little more than minimum wage, but I don't want to charge too much until my skills get to the point where I am comfortable charging that much. I think once I graduate this will change, as I'll need to pay for my rent and food (whereas I am living on student finance right now). Through research, it seems like a junior creative should be earning 25,000 a year, which is roughly £13 an hour. However, I also need to consider that I'm not going to be working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week consistently, unless I find a proper studio job right away. I think it's more realistic to pick up a second job in order to pay bills while still developing as an artist, and growing my skillset.

I used a Microsoft template for the invoice as it was the easiest way to get the template, and then just adjusted each part for my own need - putting in my own address and day rate, as well as an example of a commission.

I found the contract really difficult to write up. The examples I found online are ridden with legal jargon, so I tried to write one up that still sounded very authoritative, but still understandable to someone who isn't familiar with legal-talk. I'm sure I've missed an important point or two, so I will have to run the contract by a few people to check it looks ok. It's quite difficult to cover all bases, but I know it's really important, so definitely worth taking some time over to make sure it's perfect.