Inktober 2017

This October I took part in a social media event called Inktober, the rules were pretty simple, produce a piece of art/drawing/illustration everyday only using ink. I interpreted it how I liked and produced a series of drawings around the theme of movie monsters and here is what I produced using ink brush pens.

As you can seen I have one drawing which is a bit out of place, the dementor (the top image), I found myself essentially doing a lot of portraits and some landscape drawings which were either of the whole character or their face, each had a background when space need to be filled with something, even if its just a solid colour.

Of course none of these are really perfect but the nature of Inktober, meant whatever I produced was often final for me as the pressure of not missing a day and getting my latest drawing posted at the same or a similar time every day, didn't leave me much room for second attempts, though sometimes there was and those were the exceptions. My mistakes came about mostly because the drawings were completely free hand with no pencils used to plan out or structure my drawings. This decision may have hurt the outcomes of my drawings, but it was a learning experience and did produce some interesting results.

This last month was certainly an experience for me and allowed me just to produce work that was just informed by how I was feeling with the theme of movie monsters. It wasn't about mental health or my own feelings with anxiety, that had become all that my Instagram was about. Another thing was it also allowed me to add some colour to my instagram page, which is always nice.    

So please feel free to visit my instagram to see where these were posted, you will find they are cropped in some way but that is due to the space given by Instagram which I decided to make work for my drawings by cropping them in way that was still visually appealing. 

https://www.instagram.com/craigarnoldillart/

My first commission... a Logo for Teddy Bear Mania.com

 

I got a part-time job at the Bear shop in Weymouth and through that job I got my first commission to design and make a logo for their online shop Teddy Bear Mania. It took a lot longer than I thought to get it to the point where the client was happy and then there was waiting to see it on the website, but it was worth it in the end and everyone involved were very happy with the result. 

Illustration Project(s) in progress...

So I've been posting on Instagram for a while now and I've started to see some potential projects come out of it, which could take the form of some prints or zines/comics around the subject of mental health.

I began work on formulating my ideas and hope to get to a point when I am doing some practical work because damn do I miss it. It's great to finally have a reason to do it that continues what I start at university.

All I need now is the supplies and equipment to actually do the practical work that I want to do for these projects but I will figure it all out soon and then I will be away. 

Check me out... I'm on Instagram

www.instagram.com/craigarnoldillart/

It's been 6 months and 10 days since I graduated from University and got my Degree in Illustration

So I've been neglecting my blog as of late, but I do have an excuse, I mean an explanation for it. I am someone who suffers from Anxiety, it can be pretty intense and once I came home, back to my home town of Weymouth. The pressure was on, literally I had a lot I wanted to accomplish and in my mind it had to be done by Yesterday. 

I'm not even joking in my mind everything I wanted to do - Pass my driving test, get a car, get my studio space set up, publish my Children's book, get a job to support myself while I pursue this career in Illustration and Children's books - this had to be done in the first few months of me being back home. 

Eventually I realised I could only get one thing done at a time - no easy task the pressure was on and it never let up - but I managed I passed my Driving test in October last year. I am still struggling to find work but I am back at my local British Red Cross Shop Volunteering - which keeps me sane for a few hours, 2 days a week  - but that is only a very recent change to my situation. 

I went through Months of stress, jumping between Anxiety and Depression to the point that I didn't know the difference anymore. It was a struggle, I was fighting with myself everyday. I signed up with my local job centre to get money while I look for work - that has been keeping the pressure on, trying to get up to 35 hours job searching (which luckily have been reduced to 27 thanks to my volunteer work) - the struggle is convincing employers that I want the job and to hire me, I am not ver good at it.

So as I said I'm back Volunteering that marked the beginning of change for me, because not only did that happen but the follow week I got my first Freelance Illustrator job (thanks to an email from one of my uni lecturers) which could spell big things for the future if I am successful with it. I might actually get a car of my own sorted soon as I recently looked at 3 I really liked.

I'm not saying I am all better now, in fact most mornings begin with some form of a panic attack, which makes getting out of bed a struggle. Anxiety is a big burden for me now, more than it ever was at university. I hope eventually I learn a way to cope with it all. But when good things happen I try to stay in them as long as possible which I am still learning to do. I can't seem to enjoy anything for very long once Anxiety rears its ugly head.

But if I had to say anything to young and upcoming Illustration Graduates who are scared for the future, it would to 'hang in there' and 'don't give up', something will come along which will make it all worth it. I believe it is beginning to happen for me and it can happen for you too. 

Which for those of us who suffer from Anxiety it can be difficult to believe but when it happens you'll know it was worth it....it will, I genuinely believe it...right now in this moment anyway.