Recently our second years undertook a four-day sequential illustration brief with talented illustrator and writer William Goldsmith. The project was named ‘Waverley Stories’ and was a way of getting students to think of themselves more as storytellers and writers, as well as image-makers.

“Using Waverly Station as a setting, the students were encouraged to hone their powers of observation to record goings-on in this complex, bustling space, and to think how directly (or indirectly) real-life observations can inform a narrative.

There was also the task of leading a viewer’s eye across a sequence of images, to build and develop a story. This was perhaps the biggest challenge of all but the students used composition, dialogue and characterisation to good effect in their sequential storytelling.

The first day at the station was thrown into potential jeopardy after a telling-off from the security staff, a pitfall of location drawing which students did well to overcome. In some cases this officiousness actually made it into a few stories. It was also pleasing to see students interviewing staff and passengers at the station and to see the importance of this interaction in the writing process.

We had a real range of styles and approaches at the end – from the viewpoint of an improbable pub raconteur, to a child’s viewpoint, to a pigeon’s viewpoint, even to the viewpoint of the station itself. There were stories of tender, everyday moments, comical anecdotes, and some dark, macabre stories thrown in for good measure.

Hopefully some of these stories can be the starting point for longer narratives in the future – I think everyone should be pleased with their efforts.” – William Goldsmith

Jan 26, 2016

Jonathan Gibbs has been putting together his drawings, paintings and prints for exhibitions in London and Edinburgh. ‘Life is But a Dream’ currently fills two rooms of the Open Eye Gallery. At Curwen and in the Open Eye, commissioned engravings and studio pieces have been intermingled in a display of his current practice.

He just has completed seven wood engravings for John Donne’s The Baite, printed with Lawrence’s letterpress ink in Venetian Red onto a Japanese paper: Arakaji Natural.

These images form an abstracted and symbolic interpretation of Donne with one or two narrative references to the human figure with birds in pursuit of fish; or vice-versa.

Who is chasing whom?

Jonathan’s Landmarks illustrations for Robert Macfarlane are shown, as are those for Claxton.

The ‘Learning to Swim’ woodcut is a change from wood engraving, to give broader marks and a different expressive scope with mallet and chisel.

It employs a version of the Chine-Collé process.

Jonathan carved the big woodblock in his garden last autumn. It is a de-commissioned diving board. This remained in the orchard until its transportation to the gallery in Gus’s big trailer on the long and winding road from Humbie to Edinburgh.

During childhood car trips, ‘Row, row, row your boat’ was sung frequently by the Gibbs family: Jonathan with his siblings in the back and parents up front.

His oil paintings on wooden panels explore pictorial space, architectural structures and organic forms.

The four ‘bed’ drawings represent reality, with rumpled sheets, a story, and a view to the water. However, it is also a place of dreams and a reflected reality: a white room, suspended in time, where life stands still. Beyond the shutters is the distant glitter of a foreign sea and the evening ferry draws in from the mainland.

‘Life is but a Dream’ is open until Monday 25th January at the Open eye Gallery, Edinburgh.

Jan 18, 2016

We are surrounded by print; bus tickets, books, billboards, newspapers, business cards, clothing, timetables, calendars, money, bills, leaflets, crisps packets, wrapping paper, graffiti, tattoos, postcards, maps, magazines, artworks, contracts, instruction manuals, litter, bumper stickers. All are imprints made on the world. Some are permanent, preserved as part of the world forever. Others are temporary, ephemeral, throwaway.

Our second years were recently introduced to this notion by making their own typographic images using a number of traditional printmaking techniques. For their subject matter, each student had to choose a famous speech to respond to, and these ranged from the political – including  J. Robert Oppenheimer’s remarks upon the testing of the first H-bomb and Maximilien Robespierre’s On the organization of the National Guard – to the philosophical, such as Socrates’ “The unexamined life is not worth living”, and famous speeches from film, such as Peter Finch’s rant in Network.

The methods of collagraph, etching, lino-cut, woodblock letterpress and monotype were all employed in what manifested in a playful, vibrant and powerful collection of typographic experiments. Have a look below!

Terri Po

 

Jo Ruessman

 

Sophie Demery

Miranda Smith

Michael Black

Laura Richmond

Dec 16, 2015

 

Friday night saw the opening of six of our Stage 4 Illustrators’ new exhibition ‘Night Swimmers’. These gifted students together make up the new Commontongue Collective.

Using a limited colour palette, format and process, the silk-screen prints in this exhibition present a coherent and subtle examination of theme ‘water’. Yet despite the tight framework, the body of work is wonderfully varied, with responses involving narrative, poetry and abstract image making.

The prints and books are on show until Wednesday 16th December at Gayfields Kiosk, Edinburgh. Do head down and check out this exciting wee exhibition!

 

And a photo of the talented curator, Mhairi Braden with her work, Rockweed.

Dec 14, 2015

Based on a recent trip to a National Library of Scotland exhibition, our Stage 1 students recently designed and printed their own books illustrating selected texts by the great Geoffrey Chaucer. ‘Beautiful Books’, which runs at the National until 3rd March, features illustrated texts from 19th and 20th Century, ‘ edition of Chaucer’s tales, alongside ‘La Hypnerotomachia’ (considered by many as the achievement in publishing of the Renaissance), were the focus of the exhibition.

1st year students used the artefacts of this exhibition as a starting point to examine the history of the book. Students were encouraged to engage with the books on a multi-sensory level, exploring the nature of print and the 3D and considering the effect of an original vs. a facsimile or screen.

In the printworkshop, each student then responded to Chaucer’s ‘Cantebury Tales’, creating a book of their own using relief and monoprinting processes. The results were a strange and uncanny blend of the contemporary and the traditional. Have a look below!

Dec 11, 2015

A sneak peak at some development work of 4th year Illustrator Paige Collins

 

These blue subtle and delicate drawings in blue and red are from a work in progress book called ‘Sleepy Town’.

Can’t wait to see the finished product!

Dec 1, 2015

Stage 2 recently completed a research project all about plants. Herbarium asked students to investigate plants through in-depth observational drawing and associated research, then develop their findings into applied illustration.

The results were a vibrant mix of editorial illustration, product design, decorative work and responses to film and literature. Have a look at the results below, a mix of research work and final outcomes.

Laura Richmond

Josephine Ruessman

Terri Po

 

 

Nov 26, 2015

After studying the work of Modernist designers such as A.M Cassandre and Alexander Rodchenko, first year illustration students have created their own posters promoting event venues across Edinburgh. Each student chose a different venue and headed out to collect research images and sketches.

They returned to the studio to experiment with collage and monoprint, simplifying their designs and incorporating typography. Students created their final pieces using Collograph, a printmaking process that involves a mixture of intaglio and relief printing. This process leant itself well to the simple geometric shapes, limited colour palettes and grid-like composition typical of Modernist poster design. The results are varied and impressive, with each student creating unique and interesting printed posters.

Nov 25, 2015

Thirty three students of Stage 2 Illustration recently travelled to the West coast for a four-day drawing trip in Oban. The ‘Gateway to the Islands’ provided students with a varied landscape from which to draw and collect artefacts, ranging from farmland and beaches to cathedrals and shipyards. ‘Logbook’ was the project they were set, asking them to explore the environment each day and return with their findings for discussion each evening.

To begin, the students were assigned a random spot on a map of the surrounding area. Once in their unknown destination, these 33 illustrators employed a variety of methods to draw, explore and collect. The aim was to promote creativity by limiting each students ability to roam and explore, resulting in highly detailed and unique examinations of particular places.

Sophie Demery came away with a sketchbook full of experiments in rhythm and shape.

Andy Robinson’s drawings from Oban are full of an expressive, nervous energy.

Harry Whitelock produced a number of drawings that capture the sounds and space of a location in abstract line work.

The work is currently up in our studio alongside found objects from Oban.

Nov 10, 2015

Our students here at ECA Illustration recently exhibited a series of film posters for classic Gaumont Cinema films. The exhibition is the most recent in a long line of collaborations with the Edinburgh Filmhouse and the second year running the exhibition has been organised to commemorate the French Film Festival (how many times can you say film in one blog post?).

Judged by members of the French Film Festival, the French Consulate and the Illustration dept., two runners up and a winning poster design was selected. Have a look at them below along with some pics from our opening night earlier this week!

First prize went to Saskia Cameron for her poster for A Nos Amours

Peony Gent was awarded second for her poster for Le Silence de la Mer

And Terri Po came third with her poster for Fantômas

The exhibition runs for two more weeks. So head down quick and see the work!

Nov 6, 2015