Tag: Design

The Artist’s Studio

This weeks Kick About over on Red’s Kingdom is the perplexing painting –  Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez. I loved the self reflection and self insertion with this painting. I decided to focus on the many frames throughout the studio and, in the same manner, interject some of my own self into my illustrations by adding other photography and drawings within the frames themselves, and into a studio only an artist could make sense of.

The Handmaid’s Tale – Illustrations

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This weeks kick about over on Red’s Kingdom is the colourful compositions, shapely design and bold typography of Saul Bass. Bass’s graphically designed posters and iconic title sequences are utterly transfixing and I wanted to create illustrations in relation to a series that grasps me just as much. The Handsmaid’s Tale is a dystopian series revolving around the roles of woman in a new male dominated world order. The series is directed by Liz Garbus and is based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. The series uses colour and composition in such a visceral way to represent the emotions of the characters, cooling teals and burning reds make up a lot of the series compositions and are splashed alongside more sterile colours, always making for such a striking difference and oozing with ominosity. I made some illustrations revolving around that colour palette and adding some of the phrases frequently used. I think illustrations can be very intriguing when you try take away all the unnecessary stuff and boil the composition down to its core so that it is still completely understandable. Doing illustrations like Saul Bass is tricky as although Bass’s impressive catalogue might look simple, it is hard to know how to get something up to the point so that it looks “right” and although I think my efforts could be better, it was still enjoyable – especially when something clicked and brought it closer to the desired result.••

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Art Forms In Nature

I was spoiled for choice with this kick about with rural Ireland having a bountiful abundance of botany with textures, colours and shapes of all the flora and vegetation, feeling like an endless pick’n’mix. I always find myself thinking about the intricate patterns and shapes as I snap away, mint green reindeer moss looking like bleached coral under a microscopic macro lens and the swirling and meandering of ice a jigsaw of frozen motion, while twigs, branches and petals looking like spores after some careful manipulation. suffice to say I loved this kick about and loved editing, warping and colour correcting a surplus of photos from recent adventures around Ireland to get a photomontage and mimic Ernst Haeckel’s inspiring Illustrations. I have a real hankering to go on and on with creating more designs like this.

The Green Glider Animated Short – Official Poster

The Green Glider Official Poster

I am busy designing a pitch document for a fund with The Green Glider with the first page being an eye catching poster that showcases the story of The Green Glider in one vibrant fun image. I am almost done with the pitch document which was really enjoyable to put my designers cap again and I really like how the poster turned out.