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Today we were delighted to welcome Simon Grennan, comic maker and scholar who came to deliver a comic workshop and talk to our students.
The practical workshop was an amazingly easy and exciting hands-on introduction to visualising and making comics. Students worked through three different techniques to making stories with drawings. All that was needed were coloured pencils – hippos, lions, zebras etc were provided!
Later in the day Simon gave a an Introduction to Comics Studies to the whole Illustration department raising the question ‘What do we talk about when we talk about comics?’ He provided an accessible, engaging and entertaining introduction to the global conversations about comics, their history, production, readers and thinkers.
Simon Grennan is author of the graphic novel ‘Dispossession’, a Guardian Book of the Year 2015 and Research Fellow in Fine Art at the University of Chester. http://www.simongrennan.com
Hello! Having graduated from Painting at ECA in 2014, I have come back to haunt the illustration department this year as an artist in residence. Since graduating, I have taken part in several exhibitions as well as developing a range of greetings cards (and also work as a picture framer).
I have a polymathic approach to making, learning and using many different processes from drawing and painting to model making, zines, animation, and printmaking. I usually make work that has a humorous or playful element to it, whether this is conveyed in the subject matter or in the way it is made. I really enjoy work which acknowledges that art can be a very playful and ‘entertaining’ subject, and am hoping to explore how this will meet a design approach within illustration.
During the residency I’m particularly interested in developing my art practice through exhibiting work, and exploring how this will feed in to design projects. I’d really like to create a children’s book and develop my printmaking and animation skills. I’d also like to explore collaborating with illustration students as well as other departments and discover new approaches to making.
I’m looking forward to working with you all so please come and say hello! (I am usually in the studio Wed-Fri)
Having always been a bit preoccupied with magazines and food I thought that now would be a good time to do something with all those years of research I’ve amassed. And so, I’ve been developing a magazine about food called Frankly which is about talking honestly about our food and how it’s sourced. It’s based on conversations I’ve had with various people who are involved in eating, producing and cooking food.
In terms of my materials, I do love black ink, big paper and a big brush. But when sketching out and about that doesn’t always prove to be the most practical or discreet, so in those circumstances I use bright crayons and brush tip pens instead, with a tendency to use a lot of orange.
I enjoy listening to people and what they have to say, especially if it’s something they’re passionate about. I always find that if someone is interested enough in what they do they’ll have something interesting to tell you. I also quite enjoy a good sketching session in a coffee shop (this is where it comes in handy to be a little more discreet), and tend to quote the occasional person I might be drawing. The only place I think you could hear more interesting stories than in a coffee shop would be a hairdresser.
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.”
Today a slightly different kind of life drawing has taken place in the Illustration department. Our studios have been cleared in preparation for the degree show, providing us with lots of space to organise a rather unusual drawing experience for our students.
Our special guests and life models today were Edward the european eagle owl, Bonnie the barn Owl, Percy the peregrine falcon, Kenny the kestrel, Blue the red tailed hawk and Skippy the Australian boobook owl.
Their keeper Archie McCrone introduced us to each bird and its individual character. He spoke about the birds natural habitat, and shared interesting facts about their anatomy and behaviour. Many of our students are involved in character design of both human and animal figures and being given the chance to study this wonderful range of birds from up close was something quite special.
Now in its second year, ‘Bird Day’ has become an annual activity which marks the end of the academic year through a rather fun and at the same time educational event.
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!
Cheerful faces all around, in spite of near Arctic conditions – photo by Lucas Clauser
The annual Illustration trip to Oban is quickly becoming a beloved tradition, and this year our illustrators were joined by a number of Graphic Design and Animation students on their quest to draw, explore and develop their work while breaking out of their daily routines.
Setting off from Waverley Station on a Thursday morning, we arrived in Oban just in time to see the sun dip into the sea (rather spectacularly so) and got a first taste of the short northern Winter days. The good weather was to last, and even though temperatures remained around freezing point, our time in the Highlands was marked by bright weather and, unusual for Scotland, very little wind. We stayed in Oban’s Youth Hostel, which is right by the sea and made a great base camp for the following days.
Perfect drawing conditions – photo by Jo-fan Liao
On Friday Astrid began our stay handing out maps and sketchbooks, and sent each student off to draw and document a different location in and around Oban. Each of them returned with cold fingers, a diverse range of drawings and evidence of where they had been, and a starting point for further exploration of the area.
Saturday students were free to take their drawing further in a location of their own choice, with the majority catching the ferry to Mull and set off for Tobermory, Salen or Duart Castle and making the most of the stunning weather outdoors. The conditions for drawing were great, with warming sunshine and lack of wind, and nobody lost any fingers in the cold.
Duart Castle on Mull – can you spot the illustrators in the distance?
Sunday, our last day in the area, saw most students explore the the town and its immediate surroundings further, with some walking to the hills and forests and others heading for the local cafes to shelter from the cold. By 6pm everyone had made it onto the southbound train, which took 21 weary but happy students back home to Edinburgh.
An exhibition showcasing drawings from our Oban trip will be coming to the Andrew Grant Gallery soon, drop by to see some great work!
