Analysis of an Illustrator

The illustrator I've chosen is Dan Mumford. He is a freelance illustrator/designer based in London. I came across this artist in one of the disciplines I studied in the presentations. I find his work very interesting and like his visual style. His work is very aggressive and bold using very sinister colour palettes. His images are very dark which gives a Gothic look and feel at times; illustrating very disturbing images like deadly sharks, dead people and scary crows. 

Here are some examples of Dan Mumford's work:

With these specific images and in many of his other artwork he uses limited colours, focuses on one colour that fills most of the image. He uses different tones of the colour to create shadows and light and make the image 3D. This shows skill and expression to his trademark style and gives the artwork more depth and detail.

His most recent artwork has become less sinister and mellower. His recent piece consists of three silhouettes of the same woman, drawn using black lines and colourful images within the silhouettes. Each have different aspects of images and have different colours.

 For me this piece is very attractive and catches the eye. I like the comparison between his works in the past, it shows that he is open minded and doesn't set on a specific theme or subject and can do more feminine, light heart artwork. 

He uses a lot of lines, swirls and splats that create a pattern of sorts which is his theme and trademark. He then finishes his artwork digitally which shows professionalism. 

 Dave Mumford’s work is very flexible yet has his own style. This could fit into several illustration roles and disciplines such as: comic, skateboard design, tattoos, clothing and poster design. Some of these he has already taken in consideration and are available on his website http://danmumford.bigcartel.com/

Two Disciplines of Illustration Analysis

 This illustration role is on Comic Book artists and what they do. It explains what illustration is used for very well in comic books, which is to use visual narrative for the story, set the tone, dynamics of the scene. It also shows a characters identity and its visual attributes. Over all it successfully presents the basics to introduce people to the comic book world.

         

                                                                         

 Comic books are now very popular due to the promotion of successful films and TV shows, the target audience has widened. It gives good examples of famous, well known comics and character. Each show different styles of illustration but all suit the comic book industry and target specific audience.

Here are the older looking comics:  

                                      

Here are what comics look now a days:

                                     

 It shows how comics have also evolved and will keep changing over time. It shows comparison to old comics to future comics. 

A good example to represent futuristic comics is Dave Mackean:

 It explains how the big companies such as Marvel recruit in-house illustrators. However it also explains how less well known companies are an increasing market for comic books and freelance illustrators are starting to become more mainstream.

                                     

This presentation was very well structured and easy to understand. It made my interest in comics grow now I understand the basic knowledge of comic books work and the industries.  

 The comparison to other disciplines is that it has a lot of useful information, breaking down the points and subjects for easier understanding and provides links to other useful websites.


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This illustration job role is on skateboard artists. It consists of designing: skateboards, graphic design, clothing, stickers, websites etc. to help promote your style of work. It shows good examples of the typical styles of skateboards and how they they’re presented.

It presented a famous skating brand Santa Cruz. The style is very bold and crude which was its trademark. The illustrator are Jim Phillips and Lucas Musgrave, Art Director and Brand Manager for Santa Cruz as well as contributing artist Creature skateboards.

                

Jim Phillips.

 Another illustrator who had designed graphics for skateboards is Jon Contino, former designer from New York. He too, has a specific trademark style that fits very well in the skating industry. However he doesn't skate himself which shows not all skate graphics have to be designed by people who have grown up around skating, just need to understand the principles. 

It explains how skateboard designs have grown with many different styles and methods on how to design them e.g. photography, portraiture, screen print, stencils etc.  however there are specific styles that are reproduced more than others, popular images such as: skulls, flames, graffiti and radical colours. This gives a good idea on how to approach the target audience or the basis to start thinking of ideas.  

Other products to help promote skate brand.

 The structure of the presentation could be better compared to the comic job role. It could position or rearrange the images and the text to best suit the presentation.  

 It could've also explained how to illustrate or design on the skateboard, pointing out key factors such as the middle of the board is the most important when it comes to design, and to look out for the 4 holes which is where the trucks are fitted.

SKATEBOARD ARTIST JOB ROLE

The illustration job role we were giving was skateboard/ surf artist.
 This job role consists of designing: skateboard/ surfboard, graphic design, t shirts, stickers, creating a websites etc.here are some examples of skateboard graphics

Santa Cruz is a perfect example of a professional, well known Skateboard brand. His style is very bold, crude and is sick. The illustrator and graphic designer for this brand is Lucas Musgrave, who is also the Art Director and Brand Manager for Santa Cruz Skateboards as well as a contributing artist to Creature Skateboards.

another example of an illustrator who had designed graphics for skate boards is Jon Contino.

a designer form new york. 

here are the decks he designed for the company 'flip'

he is not known for designing skateboards and doesn't skate himself, but his style was appropriate for the skateboarding industry. this shows that not all skate graphics have to be designed by people who have grown up around skating. 

its hard to pinpoint a style that would not work as a skate graphic because in recent years everything has been covered. but there are specific styles that are reproduced more than others, popular images likes skulls flames ,graffiti, and radical colours. 

 Here are two completely different styles and how they would suit specific types of target audience. 

Illustrators like Santa Cruz and Jon Contino are linked to popular retail brands such as Route One and SS20 to widen their network and become more known. This would also link to product design and merchandise to try and sell their brand further. Products such as T-shirts, clothing, stickers, bags, shoes etc. 

they would also consider ways to sell their products by acknowledging methods e.g. discount prices, buy one get one free, and exchanges.

To start a skateboard business you would have to create a website to spread your work.

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MIND MAP

SELF STATEMENT

 I wanted to do an Illustration degree when I enrolled in a Foundation course in Cardiff. Before I wasn’t sure what subject I was going to do but knew my future ambition was always going to involve art. Ever since I enrolled I have been inspired by many new forms. In particular during a study visit to London I went to the illustration agency, YCN and learned a lot about the industry and the process of becoming an illustrator. From that moment forward I was sure I wanted to pursue illustration as a career. The reason I love illustration is because it has so many career choices, so many different styles of illustrations that inspire me. I enjoy using my imagination to express my art and create fictional characters and images. I’m very opening minded and ambitious to learn new methods, techniques and different mediums to widen my style and skills.

 My aim in this degree and in the future, is to be inspired by others and acknowledge any thing that can be transformed into art. I would like to help spread inspiration and creativity to anyone and everyone because art is a very colourful factor in life.

I have been influenced by many artists and illustrators and have turned to their artwork for artistic stimulation. For example artists like; Iain Macarthur, Sara Blake, Sachin Teng, Nanami Cowdroy and many more. I still get inspired by new artists and continue to do visual research and study to help improve my own artwork. My long time dream to be along side all of these artists so people in the future would be influenced by my work.

 The comparison between the Foundation course in Cardiff and the Plymouth illustration course was very different. At first I much preferred my previous degree because I felt it was more comfortable and liked how they structured things. I based a lot of my images at the time using media such as ink and water colours in a large scale, which made my work very abstract and expressive.

  When I first began the illustration course I felt new and not exactly myself, which now I think was normal since I was moving quite far away from home living in a new environment. I also felt, that the first couple of briefs, my style and the way I approached things seemed different. I thought of this as a negative instinctively because I wasn’t used to the sudden change. However I later adapted my way of illustrating things by using pen and Photoshop. My skills using the Photoshop program have increased a lot and ambitious to learn more and develop them. Over all I have and grown to like and enjoyed this illustration course. Hopefully someday I could go back to using ink and watercolours to create images or even collaborate with my new skills in the near future.

LIFE SNAKE

THE HUNGER GAMES BOOK COVER.

Here's my final cover design for stage 2 Art and Language.  

I created a smokey/ flame background which is in a faint grey colour to complement the black. The main image is in different tones of gold with some white. It really works with the background and has a similarity to the original colour scheme. For the back cover i reversed the image and made it as a silhouette so the blurb could fit inside. I chose the font Herculanum as my text. Finally I added a few effects like the blood splat and the red flames. Overall I like the final cover but could have tweaked it differently.