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At the beginning of ‘Unspoken’ each first year Illustration student was randomly assigned a painting from the Impressionist room at the National Gallery of Scotland. During a visit they were asked study it carefully and later do more research into the story behind their painting and how it relates to the artist who created it.
Based on this research, students developed a wordless sequential narrative in 4 panels, to be submitted as a high-quality digital prints at the end of the project. It was important to be imaginative with the storytelling and interpretation of any research material and to create many recognisable links to the original painting, for example through brushstrokes and colour choice.
The project also served as a first introduction to Photoshop and explored the merging of traditional mark-making and digital applications. The results are wonderfully painterly and deceiving in that they don’t look that digitally-generated at all!
Our final crit took place in public, right in front of the original artwork, and with an unknown audience of gallery visitors. This would be a good reason to be nervous, even for the most experienced of artists, but our first years managed just fine.
So can you guess which paintings our students were looking at?
We’ve just arrived back from another lovely trip to Oban with a mix of second, fourth year and Master’s students. Now in its sixth year, this trip provides students with an opportunity to not only bond with their peers but to also leave the studio and focus on drawing and research carried out on location.
In a place like Oban you have to come prepared for any weather as it changes all the time. Being outside and experiencing a new place in a very physical way through the cold, sun, wind and rain can be challenging and often has an impact on the students’ drawings which in return are full of personal emotion ranging from joy to frustration and display lots of evocative atmosphere. Narratives of people interacting with the town and landscape fill sketchbooks and allow students to discover new stories and build a rich source of material to further develop.
This year our second year student Hannah Riordan reflects on her trip:
On the first main day in Oban we selected a point at random on a map and had to go and draw in that location. I was given an area surrounded by road works and fly tipping: Quite different from the boats and coastline I had envisaged filling my sketchbook with! I ended up drawing some cones that surrounded the road works site. This proved to be more exciting then I had first anticipated. It was interesting to observe the patterns the cones had been arranged in. I then climbed over a wall to be a closer look at some rubbish that had been left there. A rusty washing machine sat there surrounded by plants and flowers. I found the juxtaposition between these two things surprisingly intriguing! It then started to rain so we went to the Oban chocolate shop, which for me has to be the highlight of the whole four days.
We also spent a day exploring the islands. We chose Lismore and left it until the afternoon to visit. When we got there we realized that everything we wanted to visit was too far away for us to get back from in time for the final ferry. So we sketched in the middle of a muddy field surrounded by aggressive cows and an excitable beagle and thought to ourselves “at least its not raining.” I started on a watercolour landscape when the heavens opened. We decided to return to the ferry port waiting room to shelter from the rain. Our group had a sing along whist drawing each others tired and slightly damp faces.
All in all Oban was a great experience. I really felt like a got to know my course mates better. It was also refreshing being able to just draw and not worry about the outcome or deadlines.
And finally, a few more images of crits, drawings and fun at the hostel.
ReimagiNation: ECA students illustrate stories of life in Cumbernauld
Throughout the year Edinburgh International Book Festival hits the road with an exciting program of events and activities called ‘Booked!’. Bringing the excitement and energy of the book festival to towns across Scotland, ‘Booked!’ brings together authors, artists and audiences to celebrate words, images and ideas.
This semester ECA illustration students collaborated with ‘Booked!’ as part of a project titled ‘ReimagiNation’, which aims to capture the stories of people living in Edinburgh’s New Towns. Third year illustration students travelled to Cumbernauld where they took part in a day of illustrating with pupils from four of Cumbernauld’s primary schools. The pupils had written stories with author Mike Nicholson and the illustration students helped them to bring these to life using a variety of art materials and approaches to image making. The subject matter and storylines varied, but all were lively and imaginative. One story saw a wicked witch reveal her true identity in a terrifying twist, while another involved an arcade game with the power to take you back in time…
The final images and texts will be on show at the festival in Cumbernauld on the 20th and 21st May. For more information about ‘ReimagiNation’ and the rest of the ‘Booked!’ program of events visit the website: https://booked.edbookfest.co.uk
In February this year our second year students made a visit to Seven Stories – National Centre for Children’s Books. This fabulous resource had both staff and students melting with delight as they oozed over original artwork for illustrations, sketchbooks and dummy books from the archive collection held at the centre.
The purpose of the visit was to study the process behind producing a picture book, looking at working with a writer, developing characters and habitats for those characters. The dummy book is vital part of the process and really exciting to see, exploring the pace and rhythm of storytelling as an illustrator plans out the pages.
Back in the studio the students were asked to design their own picture book taking the idea of home as their starting point and creating a story with a difficult social issue at the start of it. Some of the complex topics covered included parents with post traumatic stress syndrome, childhood obesity and the destruction of natural habitats for wildlife.
Alice Horn’s Picture book explored a small child’s exploration of cooking whilst his parents left him to get on with itEnter aHeather Charters children’s book imagined a world where domestic appliances had a world of their own
I have been selected to go and work with a group of journalism students on the St Gallen Symposium, a student-run global forum. In May I’ll head to Switzerland for a week to listen to speakers and create illustrations which will go into the official magazine which gets sent out to speakers and attendees after the symposium is over. The symposium has been going for 47 years and i’ll be the first illustrator to work on the magazine team!
I heard about this opportunity in the ECA email list. I had to pitch a few ideas of articles I’d like to illustrate which fit the theme of dilemma of disruption. I mentioned Brexit, technology and the Shakespeare quote “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” because really, not all disruption is bad. Some disruption is just change and interruption. The word disruption has negative connotations.
Right now i’m working on a big illustration all about smart phones and the huge disruption of that technology in our lives.
The very very early first draft of the magazine is underway and it looks like there’ll be a lot of mention of Trump, globalization and technology.
During last year’s summer break four of our third year Illustrators ventured out in the wild in order to paint a mural based on the landscape and history of Glen Coe.
In preparation for the project Eden Reeve, Han Deacon, Jo Ruessmann and Rosie Hawtin paid three visits to the Bunkhouse hostel and met the owners of the hostel and Benjamin Tindall architects who accepted their design proposal and directed them during the process.
The interior was painted using emulsion paint in different sections of the building; to most of the group this meant working in a new way, to a large scale and in collaboration with fellow illustrators.
Alongside being attacked by midges, as we were told, the 4 spent many busy hours completing this bold and evocative mural. We believe it will serve as a wonderful addition to the bunkhouse visitors’ experience of the Highlands.
For the past 5 years the Illustration department has organised a 4 day field trip for its students to Oban, ‘Gateway to the Highlands’.
Our annual field trip to Oban has become an opportunity to focus on collecting and recording within one’s immediate surroundings, often with a lasting impact on the way our students approach drawing and research.
This year the travel group consisted of a mix of 45 second and fourth year students as well as 3 members of staff.
During the 4 days students carried out various activities to help them gain an in-depth understanding of the place. Activities included the random choosing of a location on the map while blind-folded, and then spending a certain amount of time researching this spot. Being directed to residential areas allowed some students to meet locals while others found themselves in the middle of a forrest. In a series of group crits in the hostel students got to present their findings and experience of the day to the rest of the group.
After returning to their ECA studios students were asked to continue developing their chosen line of inquiry as part of a set brief. The outcomes were risograph printed zines for second years and song lyric related work for fourth years, all of which were exhibited at ‘Shaping the View’.
We asked a number of students from both year groups to reflect on their experience of travelling to Oban:
Craig Ewan, 2nd year Illustration
“I had heard a lot of great things about Oban before going there and hoped it would be as exciting a place as I’d imagined. Luckily it was much better than that, I really loved my time Oban. The whole town has such a warm, festive feeling about it that just made me want to draw everything.
The spot I ended up picking at random on the map couldn’t have been better for me. I love nature and peaceful areas so to realise that I had to travel to the top of the hills in the middle of the forest was just perfect. There was so much to capture there and I would recommend this spot to anyone looking for inspiration. I love creating stories and being in the right environment gives me all the tools I need to do this. The forest had some beautiful scenery, wonderful views and incredibly dark areas that I can see being of great influence not only in this project but for future projects as well. I plan to showcase one of the stories that unfolded around me and to perhaps go over this in greater detail when the time is right.
Katrine Lyck, 2nd year Illustration
“The bus ride to Oban already gives you a hint of what awaits you upon your arrival. Golden autumn hills, or ordinary mountains seen through a pair of Danish eyes, with little streams, waterfalls and an old train bridge of stone taken right out of a scene from Harry Potter. Reaching Oban at the shore makes you realise this is not the end of a journey, but a place from which to take several boats to the islands in the distance.
Oban is a friendly little town and I got to chat to a few of the locals. An old widow living in the beautiful former church manse gave me a tour around her overgrown and wild garden, let me draw from her brick-a-brack and gave me flowers to press and feathers from her two regular visiting seagulls.
To explore the islands is a must if in Oban so I left one morning at 6:30am and saw the sunrise from a boat to Staffa. Fingal’s cave which forms part of the island is like a hall of black pillars and its square shapes make perfect seats to draw from. On the boat back we watched the sunset and were quite happy with it all.
Following my research from Oban I’m beginning to form a narrative in my head about the woman I met and her home and how I could combine this with the concept of living in a cave with all of one’s belongings.”
Sarah Parker, 2nd year Illustration
“I’ve never really been one for observational drawing. To me, making art has always been an exercise in escapism, thriving off the flotsam and jetsam that washes up into my mind’s eye from a simple snatch of daydreaming or in the moments just before falling asleep. I’ve never found comfort in taking down what’s in front of me in such an involved way, or even in just sitting and stopping too long. I’m a restless person; I fidget and need to be walking. The drive to move has helped motivate me into becoming an avid runner, but as far as my emotional health goes it does not let me relax.
Holidays are primarily a shift in landscape and routine, but they are also a shift in perspective. They let us discover familiarity in something new, and help us rediscover what excites us about familiarity: people become both entirely themselves and entirely fresh when seen in a different context. Friendship is strengthened when you watch someone brush their teeth and then pick up a book before bed. A beach is beautiful to walk on alone, but combing it with other people, talking and learning about each other, forming memories, is an entirely different experience. Something is heightened.
Observation becomes a communal experience, something to be shared. I’m no longer disillusioned with drawing what I see, because I understand now that it’s a journalistic process, and a companionable one. You don’t have to draw only from your own perspective, you can learn to record someone else’s, and that is often more valuable.”
Elle McKee
“Despite what our non art school peers might think, an illustration degree is not all drawing. We spend a lot of time coming up with ideas, storyboarding, researching and making careful considerations about audience and client. For me Oban was opportunity to leave all that in the studio and get down to some good old fashioned sketching!
Swapping the same static desk and four walls for the outdoors, where there is constant movement and constant unpredictability, gave a much needed looseness to my drawings. You had to be quick to capture the mood of the sea at a particular time or to sketch a ferry, tootling back and forth. If you were looking the wrong way you might miss a lone goat exploring the beach, or a pensioner riding down the seafront on a bmx (both happened.) On top of this there is the constant risk of a downpour of rain that could put an abrupt end to your drawing at any moment. Far more exciting than working from a photograph!
The town of Oban with its bustling harbour, terrible signage and charming museum, is nestled amongst layers of remote islands that fade back into the horizon. It is known for its Oban whisky (tried and approved) as well its brief moment of viral fame when it’s 30 minute firework display turned into a one minute extravaganza when they were accidentally all set off at once. It’s classic Scottish landscape, wild and exciting and an absolute perfect reminder of how lucky we are to be living in Scotland.”
Scott Davies
“Oban is a place worth visiting for those who keep a sketchbook/ journal and for those who want/ need a reason to switch off and just draw, paint, photograph and reflect. Staying in the quaint and unusual seaside town of Oban was a calming escape experience and has inspired me to journey into the highlands more often – photos definitely underestimate the beauty the highlands have, and it’s all so easy to access when staying in Edinburgh/ Glasgow and other northern cities. Being in Oban allowed easy travel to the surrounding islands, right out into the Outer Hebrides and all it’s natural phenomena and points of historical interest. Oban has frequent ferries from it’s terminal to the unusual Isle of Mull with many points places worth a visit within and beyond. Close surrounding islands and castles are easily accessed via small boats and rafts. If you’re lucky and it’s the right time of year there’s a chance to see basking sharks, whales, puffins and seals. I decided to take a trip out to Staffa – to witness and make work in response to the basalt cave (Fingal’s Cave), the experience of travel was great fun, the tours that are arranged weren’t standard tourist traps at all. The drawing trip being in Oban was an opportunity to do all this with fellow students over a short space of time, would urge anyone to go visit Oban.”
‘Unspoken’ is a first year Illustration project inspired by the Impressionist Room at the Scottish National Gallery. Students were each assigned a painting from the room and asked to create a three piece sequential, wordless narrative based on their research; this included a detailed study of the artwork on location as well as more background research into the artist and his times.
Students were asked to explore composition, and the use of colour and mark-making in their assigned painting. Gestural effects, colour palette and Impressionist painting techniques were explored in a series of workshops, one of which was led by artist in residence Joanna Srokol. Workshop results were then scanned and digitally assembled, and a limited colour palette applied in a first introduction to Photoshop.
The result is a collection of vivid storytelling; below are some examples of student’s work alongside the original paintings.
Sherry Ye & Monet’s Boats in Harbour
Kat Cassidy and Cezanne’s Montagne Sainte-Victoire
Claudia Carreras and Sisley’s Molesey Weir, Hempton Court
Geraldine Sawyer and Seurat’s Study for Bathers at Asnières
Vivian Chen and Guigou’s The Olive Trees
Heidi Tamminen and Luce’s Lucie Couturier in her Garden
Our 4th year Illustration students Ann Mcleod and India Pierce are taking over the blog this week to report about their summer travel/illustration experience:
Ann and I went to Malaysia for three weeks and travelled across the north of Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah). We mixed it up by staying sometimes with my relatives and sometimes in hostels, but we experienced pretty much everything from the busy cities to the remote tribal villages.
The highlights for us were probably staying in Gunung Mulu National Park where we went caving and trekking, and also diving on the coast of Sabah. We both sketched loads along the way, and learnt a lot about the local art too, which has definitely influenced our work for going in to fourth year!
It’s New Blood time again! Our students have packed a selection of their work and travelled down to London in order to showcase their talent and skill at this year’s D&AD New Blood Festival. Located in the heart of London, at the Old Truman Brewery just off Brick Lane, this annual event gives graduating design students across the country the chance to have their work seen by the creative industries.
During the next couple of days students will be given the opportunity to show their portfolios and receive professional advice as well as take part in various seminars and meet fellow creatives and potential future employers.
Our Graphic Design and Illustration students are currently in the process of setting up their stands and will later return to the private view, to which industry has been invited on their behalf.
It’s already looking great – but keep looking out as we’ll be posting more images once the setup is complete!
