Been extremely busy this week so these are all just sketches. I'm gonna have a lot of free time though over the next month, so I should be able to share some finished work with you lovely people.
Why the title? Allow me to explain. The other day I was talking to a close friend of mine, who is an illustrator, about the amount of drawing we both been doing as of late. Now at the moment we're both in simular situations as the illustration field isn't our main source of income, so we both work at jobs doing shift work for ridiculously low pay. Now anyone who has ever done any kind of shift work (retail, fastfood, etc.) knows that it leaves you utterly exhausted by the end of the day, both physically and mentally.
Dispite that I always end up doing some kind of drawing everyday, be it a complete work that I post on 'Ant Can't Draw' and 'The Prophets of Illustration' or just a quick doodle in my sketchbook. I'm pointing this out because my friend ask me how I do it? Because of our situations we both feel like death when we get home and he said he never has the energy to to do anything, let alone draw and couldn't get how I manage to knock out a new drawing every couple of days. So he asks me, "How the hell do I keep drawing?"
My answer was pretty simple. "I love to draw, that's how I do it."
And I do love it. I been drawing for as long as I can remember and it's one of the few things I will brag about as far as my skills go. I went to college and university to do creative courses because I wanted a career doing something I love doing and not once have I considered it a chore. It is a great field to get into as you're always doing something different and seeing a piece you created either on display, printed, in a magazine, etc. is one of the most gratifying feelings you'll ever get. On a person level it keeps me sane as I use it as a way of escaping if I've had a rotten day at work or if I've had an argument and immerse myself in what ever I'm putting on the paper (which these days is a lot of Spider-Man drawings).
Someone once said if you do a job doing something you love then you'll never work a day in your life and I believe that. I mean when ever I get a comission I never see it as work and I enjoy doing. Drawing, illustration, animation, graphic design and whatever else you can put under this field is my passion.
That's what I studied at university. Graphic design.
For those of you who aren't quite sure what graphic design consists of, it actually covers a wide spectrum of skills. These include illustration, animation, web design, magazine design, advertising, layouts, typography, logos, book covers and corperate identities. Just to name a few.
My cover design for 'Love is Suicide' by Nik Dendera
Studying graphic design does teach you various skills and you get to try out different fields to find your specialised field. The problem I had with it was instead of finding my field, I became a Jack of all trades (I'm good at everything for those who don't know cockney) and can't say I'm particuarly good at a certain skill. I could pick one out, but I enjoy all of them so it's quite hard to say what I do in graphic design.
Logo for the band 'Young Influential' that I designed.
Although it's hard for me to pick out a speciallity, it has given me a variety in my portfolio and it's always great looking at the expressions on peoples faces when they look throught it. One page could be an illustration, the next a book cover and the next a logo. You never get bored going through the stuff in my portfolio it has to be said.
Part of my 'Death and Me' series.
I can really only show so much on here what I can do and graphic design is about. But to be honest you see it everywhere you look, be it an ad on TV, that packaging of your favourate crisps or fyers for your favourate band or recording artist.
My version of Penguin's "Short Short Stories" book cover.
My 'RW' typeface I designed.
I do recommend that if anyone is interesting in venturing into graphic design then go for it. There are times when you are pulling your hair out, but you have so much fun and can get so creative with it that that it is well worth some of the stress you go through.
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