Inktober - Day 5

Inktober - Day 5

I felt really bad about Spider being so stupid-looking in the Day 1 picture, so I drew him again. Then added Nettle for good measure.

Also I discovered I have no purple ink. I had to mix it myself like some sort of savage.

While I frantically attempt to get all these goth comics done in... let's see... 19 days, have a bonus character design! This is the support character for the magical goths. She changes her bow to match their outfits, in deference to their darker fashion sense.

Hey, I've been considering studying illustration, and I've been wondering could you tell me what university did you study at? I love your art, it's incredible :)

Incredible? Gosh I don't even know what to say to that! 

I went to the University of Gloucestershire, and studied Illustration. I'm afraid I'd made a bad decision on what to study and swapped to the illustration course about a month in, so I never really compared it to other illustration courses, there may be better ones available. It all depends what you think you need to learn.

In first year we were given a grounding in different tools. I think we had basic lessons in Photoshop, Indesign, animation in Flash and AfterEffects, wood- and lino-cut, screen printing and etching. In second year we were given a series of briefs to work from, then in third year we did two big, self-led projects. I think the way to learn the most skills on the course is just to produce as much work as you can, so you can get a lot of practice and feedback. If you want more detailed instruction (composition, colour theory etc.) it's probably not the right course for you.

BUT. There's one important thing the course was really good for: setting you up for professional practice. In second year you learn to work to briefs, and work quickly, then in third year we got weekly hour-long talks about everything from pricing to invoicing and contracts to what our taxes were going to look like, and frequent talks and visits from practicing illustrators in various fields. There's also a mandatory third-year module on self-promotion, so you should leave the course with a game plan.

I've got friends who did other illustration courses, and none of them got anywhere near as much instruction on how to actually set themselves up as a practicing illustrator, so that's something I'm really grateful for. (Although I don't think I've made the best use of all that good advice...)

Sorry, I've written a bit of a novella! Bottom line is if you want to be taught practical skills or to draw better, my course probably won't help much, but it is really good for getting you to work in a professional way, and if you produce lots of work your skills will improve too.  I hope it's helpful to you in deciding where to look. Good luck with your work!

Next episode, for sure.

If you're wondering why Rin is dressed and Nitori is not, this is the reason: I was so focussed on getting his body type right (less buff than Rin, but still with some muscles as he's still in the swimming team at a powerhouse swimming school and all) that I totally forgot to draw clothes on him. That is 100% really what happened.

I'm supposed to be drawing goth comics and I spend my morning on this. 

Inktober - Day 4

It's Tabitha and her as-yet-unnamed cat! I did this with a brush, which I don't do very often. I think I need more practice, good thing there's still 25 days to go.

Okay usually this would go on my junk tumblr, but I love the look on Levi's face too much not to show this to you.

Seriously he looks one second away from a spit-take.

i did one of those redraw things