Author: cpascoe

10th December 2014

Nostalgia & Progress: Illustration after the Second World War

The Illustration department couldn’t be more thrilled about the success of Nostalgia and Progress, a new exhibition showcasing the work of major post-war British illustrators, as well as contemporary illustrators inspired by the era. Held in the The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, 12 November 2014 – 28 February 2015.

‘After the Second World War, book illustration needed to adapt and respond to a changing yet vibrant mass market in publishing. Contemporary British illustrators continue to find inspiration in this era, particularly in seeking to emulate the handmade and graphic qualities of post-war artwork. The spirit of ‘make do and mend’ has great resonance today, in an era of austerity. Though some contemporary illustrators continue to use traditional processes, others now re-create these effects using digital technologies. The exhibition will also feature a variety of recent illustrations by artists Emily Sutton, Mark Hearld, Ed Kluz, Louise Lockhart, Angie Lewin, Matthew The Horse, Tom Frost, Alice Pattullo, Jonathan Gibbs, William Goldsmith, and John Broadley.’

Traditional process in a digital age never fails to spark a healthy debate among our students, Nostalgia and Progress highlights and celebrates the relevance of a handmade aesthetic within contemporary illustration.

Not only is it a fantastic showcase of the correlations between past and present illustration, Nostalgia and Progress includes the work of some of ECA’s very own staff and alumni, including Programme Director Jonathon Gibbs.

To find out more:

http://library.leeds.ac.uk/features/409/article/105/nostalgia_and_progress_illustration_after_the_second_world_war

Dec 10, 2014

9th December 2014

Another Oban adventure

by Jessica Kettle (Illustration Artist in Residence)

So, the weather is getting cold, the days are getting shorter and that can only mean one thing, it was time for another drawing trip to Oban.

For the third year running, this November saw a set of enthusiastic ECA students from Illustration, Graphic Design and Animation don their best waterproof clothing and hit the small Scottish town of Oban for 4 days of intensive drawing time.

After a rocky start of cancelled trains and torrential rain to greet our arrival, we finally arrived at the youth hostel late Thursday evening, soaked to the skin but, luckily, with spirits not too dampened!

The students were given a few small briefs to get them started and inspired. A map of Oban with a small red dot on was their challenge for the next morning, to find the place the dot represented and explore it. Each student was also given a collection of clear plastic bags for collecting interesting bits and bobs they encountered on their adventures. These bags returned in the evenings with anything from old books to dead crabs in them and once the sun went down, the tables of the youth hostel’s kitchen were monopolized by students, drawing, painting and chatting about their day’s discoveries.

No trip to Oban would be complete without a trip to the pub so on Friday night we hit our local watering hole, armed with sketchbooks and drawing implements. Needless to say, we stood out like a sore thumb, taking over about three tables, nursing 5 drinks between us and playing rounds of ‘exquisite corpse’, but luckily the locals tolerated us with good grace and we even won a bottle of wine from the pub quiz (could have been the whole quiz we won if it hadn’t been for that damn geography round)!

Saturday, we took a ferry to the Isle of Mull. Commuting didn’t stop us from continuing to fill our sketchbooks (although trying to take a photo did land Astrid with a slap on the arse for getting in the way of an angry woman’s sea view!

Overall the trip was a great success. Students from different disciplines were able to meet, share ideas and techniques and most importantly, step outside the confines of their studio routine to refresh their practise, taking some of that fresh sea air back with them!

Dec 9, 2014

8th December 2014

Emily Sutton: Town and Country

Congratulations to ECA Illustration Alumni Emily Sutton on her largest solo exhibition to date held at the one and only Yorkshire Sculpture Park from 15/11/14 – 22/02/15.

Town and Country incorporates Emily Sutton’s love of pattern and detail, taking inspiration from her recent travels to Paris and Southern France as well as scenes closer to her native Yorkshire. The exhibition features a delightful display of original and intricate paintings and screen-prints, along with a flock of beautifully embroidered birds.

Having only graduated in 2008 we couldn’t be prouder of Emily’s success!

To find out more:

http://www.ysp.co.uk/exhibitions/emily-sutton-town-and-country

To visit Emily’s website:

http://www.emillustrates.com

Dec 8, 2014

7th December 2014

Le Immagini Della Fantasia 32

Today in the Illustration Department we’re very excited to receive the 32nd edition of ‘Le immagini della fantasia’, the catalogue of an Italian exhibition that is currently showcasing the work of many of our talented staff and alumni. Every year Casa Della Fantsia invites illustrators, authors and publishers to represent the international illustration scene in all its amazing variety, and to confirm the value of the illustrated book.

Additionally, this year the exhibition celebrates Tales from Scotland. Triggered by the success of the 29th edition of ‘Le immagini della fantasia’ held in the Edinburgh College of Art Sculpture Court in 2012, Casa Della Fantsia has dedicated an entire section to Scotland, with its traditional fairy tales and contemporary writers. The catalogue includes atmospheric glimpses of Scottish landscapes illustrated by Anine Bösenberg, Anna Forlati, Jonathan Gibbs, Philip Giordano, Kate Leiper, John Manna, Marina Marcolin, Kate McLelland, Domenica More Gordon, Lucie Müllerová, Paschetta Marco, Marco Soma, Emily Sutton, Francesca Zoboli.

Not to mention a wonderful poem written by tutor, Vivian French, following Scotland and its traditions in a thrilling journey throughout the year, each month illustrated by Edinburgh based artists in collaboration with the Edinburgh College of Art, including Anine Bösenberg, Laura Clark, Laura Darling, Hannah Foley, Jonathan Gibbs, Alexander Jackson, Cate James, Amy Johnston, Philip Longson, Kasia Matyjaszek, Kate McLelland, Eilidh Muldoon. (images found below)

Congratulations to all involved. The exhibition is being held at Sàrmede, Casa della fantasia, until January 18th 2015.

http://www.sarmedemostra.it/ita/anteprima-32.html

Dec 7, 2014

5th December 2014

Fact and Fiction

Yet another exciting book has arrived! As you may have read in earlier blogposts, at the beginning of this semester our 3rd year students completed a project called ‘Fact and Fiction’. The year group were split into two. The first half explored reportage illustration, using drawing as a form of documenting information. The second group were given the freedom to produce a fictional comic strip, exploring a theme of there choosing.

To celebrate the success of the project, the illustrated narratives were then collected and formatted into a vibrant and varied book. Enjoy some of the taster spreads below, ‘Fact and Fiction: A collection of comics and reportage for the heart and mind’ can be printed to order from the following link.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/eca-illustration/fact-fiction/paperback/product-21880689.html

Congratulations to all involved.

Dec 5, 2014

4th December 2014

2nd Year Print Project

This semester, our 2nd year illustrators have been given the important task of exploring print medium and developing their printmaking skills. From screen print to intaglio to relief, students were inducted into a variety of techniques, allowing them to make the most of our fantastic printing facilities throughout their time on the course.

To challenge our students further, they were given the theme of ‘Broadsides’. Historically, broadsides were posters, announcing events or proclamations. The students were asked to take the format of a broadside and use it to illustrate a historically important or personally relevant speech. This could conceptual, abstract or literal, as long as the finished artwork was an effective form visual communication.

The students showed the ability to carry out in-depth research and to experiment and develop in there new printed mediums. We look forward to seeing their printmaking skills evolve throughout the year.

Dec 4, 2014

3rd December 2014

‘The Man Who Lived at the Zoo’ Showcase

Yesterday evening our 3rd year students had a fantastic finale to their largest project of the semester ‘The Man Who Lived in the Zoo’. We are happy to announce that this year Edinburgh College of Art and Edinburgh Zoo will been collaborating on several creative projects.

Our students were asked to create a children’s storybook based on Darren McGarry, Head of Living Collections at Edinburgh Zoo (otherwise known as the man who lives at the zoo). Over the past two months Darren invited our students to hear his hilarious stories, meet the animals and learn about the important conservation projects at the heart of Edinburgh Zoo. This was a mammoth task for our 3rd years to take on, designing 12 double page spreads, end papers and a book cover on top of their already busy schedules.

But our students rose to the challenge and each created wonderful narratives, characters and illustrations. Yesterday evening the work was presented to the team at Edinburgh Zoo in the Budungo Lecture Theatre, to a unique backdrop of the chimpanzee enclosure. Everyone had a great evening of reading stories and enjoying one anothers’ illustrations. The ECA staff would like to thank the students for all their hard work and of course fantastic team at Edinburgh Zoo for making this collaboration possible.

Watch this space for exciting further developments on this project including an exhibition of ‘The Man Who Lived in the Zoo’ coming in 2015.

Dec 3, 2014

1st December 2014

Drawing Book – An Orkney Journey

It’s here! ‘Drawing book’ has finally arrived from the printers and it looks fantastic!

At the beginning of this semester our students went on a trip to the lovely Orkney islands, to work with the children of Papdale Primary School. Working with Children’s author, Vivian French, our illustrators and the students of Papdale created an imaginative and engaging narrative, ‘Craigs Gallery’. Over the course of the week this narrative was developed into a beautifully illustrated concertina story book for the children to enjoy.

Students also explored Orkney in it’s landscapes, spirit and community, producing an abundance of observational drawings. These illustrations were collected into ‘Drawing Book’, a collaborative book intended to capture the students experience of Orkney. The book contains beautiful sketches, paintings and photographs of the journeys taken and the people met (as well as a wonderful fold out concertina of ‘Craig’s Gallery’)

To celebrate the arrival of ‘Drawing Book’ we have also filled our studio with lovely rolls of drawings created for us by the Papdale Primary School students. Everyone has had a great time exploring all the different characters, the perfect way to brighten our studio through the winter.

A big thank you to everyone involved and to Allander for producing our little book so beautifully.

Dec 1, 2014

30th November 2014

Christmas Crafternoon

As we revealed a couple of weeks ago, ECA and the National Museum of Scotland have been working on a very exciting and festive collaboration. Our talented third year students have each designed a Christmas activity sheet, inspired by the weird and wonderful world of the museum. A small selection of the student’s projects were chosen to be printed in large batches to be used by groups of children in the museum. However both ECA and the National Museum of Scotland were overwhelmed with the amazing ideas of all the students and wanted to showcase their work on the web. Follow the link below to browse the downloadable activity sheets and print them out at home (a great way to keep kids entertained for the whole of the school holidays!)

https://sites.eca.ed.ac.uk/eca-nms/

Nov 30, 2014

28th November 2014

Last Night’s Book Marks @ ECA

Today ECA is quiet and peaceful as students steadily work away towards their Christmas deadlines feeling encouraged by the success of a last nights Book Marks event. For those who don’t know, this semester the Illustration Department organised Book Marks @ ECA, an Artists Book and Zine fair in celebration of Book Week Scotland.

Students, staff and alumni showcased a variety of creative book form, ranging from beautifully hand bound sketchbooks, children’s storybooks, student led zines and collaborative publications. It was fantastic to meet new Edinburgh based artists and to reunite with our alumni, celebrating their success.

A huge thank you to everyone who came along, to all of our stall holders and to Book Week Scotland for all their support. Let’s do it all again! More pictures to come.

Nov 28, 2014

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