Dwayne Bell tutorial in Graphite Magazine No. 6

University of Cumbria Institute of the Arts illustration supremo, Dwayne Bell (33), has a feature article in the current issue of the excellent Graphite magazine, a sumptuous journal dedicated to drawing and illustration.

In his article, Dwayne - famous for his 'on the bus' drawings - shares tips and techniques for capturing on-the-go studies with pen and watercolour. Well worth a read!

The sharp eyed among you might have spotted that Dwayne has wisely chosen the charismatic GRILLUST™ programme leader, Jim Millington (33), as his main muse for this project. However, while Dwayne can obviously draw and colour-in between the lines, his notation does highlight a basic lack of understanding when it comes to colour specification...

'MAINLY GREY' !!!

Dwayne, a stranger to the barber's salon has obviously mistaken 'Ash Blond' or PMS443 for

'MAINLY GREY!' 

You can see more of Dwayne's work here and find out more about Graphite Magazine here

 MAINLY GREY?!

Y3 Illustrator wins top award at comic art fest

 

Hazel Mason (21), aka Hi-Viz Hazel, has beaten off stiff competition to win the top award at this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival.
Hazel, originally from Stoke-on-Trent and a third year BA (Hons) Illustration student at the University of Cumbria, entered the competition to re-imagine the 1940s comic book character ‘The Spirit’.
“I envisioned Will Eisner’s character actually in the Lake District”, she said. “The feedback I’ve had is that the judges really liked it; it was very different from what they’d seen before. I think everyone went into it making an entire comic book, because it's a comic festival, but I thought I’d put my own spin on it.”
She concluded, “Winning made me feel great and now I feel even more confident to enter prestigious awards and competitions in the future.”
No stranger to success, Hi-Viz Hazel’s work has also been recognised in this year’s Cheltenham Illustration Awards. From over 1000 entrants, she was selected as one of sixty successful illustrators to be listed in their 2017 annual.
See more of Hazel's work here.

‘The Spirit’ was a 16-page comic section which ran for 12 years from 1940-1952. It introduced action, mystery and adventure through the crime stopping escapades of its hero ‘The Spirit’ – a dashing, masked vigilante who dispensed justice in ‘Central City’ and beyond.
2017 marks the 100^th anniversary of the birth of ‘The Spirit’s’ creator, Will Eisner, and to celebrate the centenary, the Lakes International Comic Art Festival commissioned the competition in homage to comic book legend.

hazelpmason.co.uk

New studio set-up

 

New furniture in the studio... bean bags and balloons. Tables and chairs are just so last year :)

Another Derwent Prize Winner!

For the second year in succession, one of our BA(Hons) Illustration students has won the coveted Derwent Prize for Drawing. Our heartfelt Grillust™ congratulations go to Illustration graduate, Catt Fearnley, the worthy winner in 2016.

Catt was presented with her prize in the magical surroundings of Carlisle Cathedral Hogwarts School.

From left to right: Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Catt Fearney, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, Professor McGonagall

You can see more of Catt's magnificent work here, and you can find more about Derwent's magnificent range of drawing and colouring media here! 

And, don't forget, a framed example of Catt's work, or pack of Derwent's finest crayons would make an ideal Christmas gift!

Portfolios, Personal Statements & Interviews

As the UCAS season approaches, here's a post that tries to answer those perennial questions about portfolios, interviews and personal statements...

The first thing you need to know is that we're looking for four things…

Passion: Someone who shows a passion for and interest in their chosen area of study.

Potential: Someone in whom we see potential. Raw talent! We’re not looking for the fully finished article!

Personality: Someone who has opinions and something to say. Someone we can work with productively over the next three or four years. 

Preparation: We like to see students who’ve made informed University choices, so, ave you… 
a.     Checked us out? Website, blog, Instagram, etc. 
b.     Visited us? Open day, privately arranged visit, etc. 
c.     Compared us to other centres?

We find out about these four things through your personal statement, the interview and your portfolio of creative work.

Personal statement: It’s your chance to tell us who you are, what makes you tick and what’s informed your University choices. 

Portfolio: We want to see what the you do! It’s an important way to show your skills, ideas, the pride in your work, etc. Also, we feel it would be discourteous to the you and your tutors to dismiss the fact that you’ve spent at least two years working to improve your creative skills. 
Interview: Primarily, it’s the you we offer a place to, not a portfolio, not a personal statement. Of course, all of these things are important, but talking to you enables us to draw out your passion for the subject. It also offers you the opportunity to ask us questions.

Personal Statements

This is your introduction to us.

Make it brief and to the point. Don’t procrastinate. We want to know about you, we want to get a taste of your personality. 
What are your passions, what are you interested in? Studies and extra curricular
Who are your creative influences? Who inspires you and why?
What are your achievements? Voluntary or community work; defining moments, etc
What are your ambitions? Future goals

Write from the heart, edit with the head.

The Portfolio

Remember, this is your chance to show us what you can do. You are in control of what goes in your folder and how well it’s mounted or presented, so remember, a few dog eared drawings or a notebook half filled with copied cartoons stuffed in a carrier bag probably isn’t going to send a good message. Overall we a looking for a portfolio that demonstrates a level of pride in the work and attention to detail – both in the work itself and its presentation – but your portfolio could contain...

Drawing from life – draw what’s actually in front of you; not images copied from pictures or photos, or from your imagination. 
Design projects – with an element of visual problem solving 
Art projects – painting, sculpture, installation, etc. Photographs of the big stuff, that tells us about recording skills, photographic control, pride, attention to detail, etc. 
Sketchbooks – personal drawing/sketching, supporting school or college project work, etc. 
Printmaking – avoid repetitions with minor colour differences 
Photography – Artistic ventures, not holiday snaps! 
Research, ideas and development work – thoughtfully presented as a package of roughs.

Any digital files should be supplied on a memory stick in .jpg or .pdf format, not native files.

The Interview

This is the time we get to find out about each other and we try to make it more like a relaxed discussion than an interview.

Try not to be nervous, we’re trying to get the best out of you, not trip you up or make you look foolish.
We’re trying to find out about you and your passions in life.
We don’t expect you to know it all, but we do expect you to know a little.
You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions.
It’s a 15 minute discussion, don’t be afraid to join in!

Dress code? There isn’t one, just wear what you feel comfortable in.

.

Tom GauldCause and Effect

Tom Gauld just posted these two images on his twitter feed, offering a nice little glimpse into his working process.

If you don't know...
Tom Gauld is a Scottish illustrator with a knack for combining sophisticated deadpan humour with a disarmingly simple visual approach for great communicative and comedic effect. His work can most often be seen in The Guardian, he has a website here and is on twitter here

The Penny Library of room 2017

This is the first in a series (possibly a series of one) bringing you, fine reader, up to date with the acquisitions of 'The Penny Library' of illustration lecturer, Dwayne Bell (33). So called because it's populated with cheap books - often costing mere pennies.

Today we're looking at 'The Three Poor Tailors' by Victor G. Ambrus of Time Team, fame. As far as we're concerned Victor, is one of the best.



This edition is dated 1966 and comes via Amazon from West Bay Christian Academy, Road Island, USA.







Victor's work ranges from 'realistic' through to stylised and childish - depending on his audience - but his line work and material use is consistent, as is his draughtsmanship, for which he famously requires little to no reference (don't think that you can get away with the same - you can't).





Victor's use of ink is legendary.





Look at those colours!

On the X95

Here at Grillust we believe that drawing is at the absolute heart of illustration. Our number one piece of advice for illustration students is draw! Illustration lecturer, Dwayne Bell (33) practices what he preaches and pictured here are his sketchbooks from the last 13 months or so (the eagle eyed amongst you needn't worry, number 14 isn't lost, it's just on holiday).




Dwayne commutes to Grillust Towers on a daily basis and clocks up about 200 miles a week on a public bus. A fate tantamount to torture in most people's view but he's managed to turn this time to his advantage and spends his time secretly drawing his fellow passengers.

Recently Dwayne has compiled his favourite pages and spreads from a 12 month period and printed an A5 booklet of those pieces, cleverly titled 'On the X95' (the bus is the X95. Gerrit???)

On the X95 is on sale from Dwayne's online shop or by simply banging on his office door and giving the secret code word - "Ihavesevenpoundsforyou"

Exhibition 2015

This year's graduates are now busy converting the studio into their exhibition space....

...here we see arch conspirators Sophie Driffield and Jhon Bedoya (both 21) wondering if pushing Edwin Burrow (21) or Adam Reid (21) off their respective ladders IS a good idea.

Call it a Day Book or Ideas Book, but not a Sketchbook

…Sketch? book page, Gareth Sleightholme

"The creatives' notepad, journal, field book or sketchbook is something so invaluable and an integral part of the fabric of the practicing illustrator/designer/creative that it must be encouraged in students.
Students, however, often tend to be terrified and cowed by the thought of it, believing that every mark made by their pen must have value (as they weigh it) and be part of a well-received and finished piece of work.
This of course is not true. It is just another of the varied and unhelpful myths carried amongst the debilitating baggage of the young creative.
The sketchbook is the gym for observation, a workshop for the creatives mind, space to spread out and bang nails into ideas and prize problems apart to look at their innards, and as an experimental place, some elements of it can therefore record failures.
And they should.
Failure is part of the design and personal development process
With this idea of recording failure added to the fear of making marks that do not meet the high standards of the students ambition, is it any wonder that the word “sketchbook” causes the range of reactions from incredulity (“You want me to do HOW MANY thumbnail drawings?!!”) to cognitive dissonance (“Yes, well I don’t really believe in sketching, I like to do the final detailed images first”) and back again.
We can, though, remove some of that fear and perhaps encourage the utilisation of this centuries old artistic and creative tool by simply removing the terrifying word “Sketch” (this alone seems to be enough to conjure up vague traumatising imagery related to the chalk and metal point works of various Dutch and Renaissance masters that they feel they must measure themselves against).
Instead we might call it a “Day-book”, the only threat to self included in that title being the notion perhaps, that it must be used… every day."

Gareth Sleightholme 

Link to Gareth's Blog

First Years, Sixth Project...

...was all about drawing. Actually, that's not strictly true; it was really designed to show the students that drawing has more to do with fully understanding what you're looking at than simply trying to copy 'blindly' the image in front of you.

This was a very important project for the illustrators as it addressed crucial foundation skills which, once learned, can be developed and personalised.

In the wider world of educating student illustrators, there is a fairly large elephant in the room... ...many never learn to draw and are therefore severely limited in what they can do.
 
We tackle this problem head-on, in our usual no-nonsense fashion by challenging the students to take on two of the most difficult subjects that underpin quality drawing: perspective and the human form.
 
Over two weeks many lectures and demos on perspective and life-drawing are given and the students produce piles of work in a project we modestly call 'How to Draw Anything'.
 
Even the Graphic Designers have to get involved as perspective looms large in the world of packaging and exhibition design.
 
Now, on with the show...

First up, Miss Sophie Driffield (21) with a fantastic body of work that exudes commitment, quantity and quality. We don't know yet, if Sophie is an Illustrator or a highly visual Graphic Designer or, she could simply be a Renaissance Woman!

































 
We now come to the work of budding (and talented) illustration student Miss Kianna Poskitt (21). Kianna's drawings are excellent examples of our belief that drawings can (and usually should) show real understanding.


















Mr Reece Crowder (21) is a Graphic Design student and shows an excellent and colourful grasp of various forms of perspective.









 
Finally here's Mr Calum McGhee (21) yet another of our very talented illustration students...