I had some answers to my emails!!

Yay!! two people replied, and this was my feedback:

sorry if you have trouble reading it, i didnt know how to put it up properly :)

Jemima Hunt

Hannah Bagshaw

Questions, questions, questions...

1. WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

I dont realy know, anything odd, from buildings that look like faces to my dog. Interesting and inovative ways of producing art such as intricate little models and strange substances. Other illustrators and artist whos work stands out from the crowd.


2. WHAT AREA OF ILLUSTRATION ARE YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT? WHO INFLUENCES YOU AND WHY?

I am most passionate about Childrens illustration. I like the tales and myths that children get to read about. Myths and fairytales are more my thing, and also animals.
DR. Seuss is my all time favourite illustrator, and has been since i was little, i like the wierd and wacky stories he comes up with along with the illustrations. The artist Dustin Parker is also a personal favourite, his way of painting has heavily inspired the way my traditional portraits appear today,

Blogs that happen to be rather nice..

FIONA SANSOM - Fiona's Blog

I was inspired by Fiona's blog because of how personal she made it, i.e. with the dragon on the title, and her profile photo being one of her illustrations. She certainly made it eye catching and hard to miss her work. She's a little slow with updating work, but what she has uploaded already is interesting.








ROSALIND MARONEY - Rosalind's blog

This blog inspired me firstly for the reasons that it was personalised and i liked the illustration. Then reading the blog, it is also full of self promotion in the form of books she has illustrated as well as art she has created.

ANDREA JOSEPH - Andrea's blog

I chose Andrea's blog as an inspiration because it is a blog dedicated purely to the rough sketches and unfinished work. So it gives an insite into the rough areas of her illustration.

AOI (The Association of illustrators)

AOI www.theaoi.com

The AOI is a large agency established in 1973, to ''advance and protect illustrators rights, and encourage proffesional standards.''

Members consist primarily of freelance illustrators as well as agents, clients, students and lecturers.

The cost to join the AOI as a student is £79 a year, or £6 a month..with a joining fee of £24. With this you can upload up to 20 images at a time on your portfolio,with a free subscription to Varoom magazine.

As an illustrator you can join for £150 a year or £12.50 a month, you get added benefits like exclusive access to the AOI members page.


In the long run i dont think that i would join the AOI, its quite expensive for what it is, even for a student.
Also i dont think my work would be noticed as much owing to the size of the website.
So id rather join something a little more low key.

the agency who suits my work, hip hip horray!

www.umer.si


































They say they are always on the look out for new talent, and leave an email address for you to submit your work. This looks a simple and understandable way to get you work to them.


Theres also a page introducing the new illustrators and photographers who have recently joined the site.



Theres a clear linked area to the contact form. With everything you need to submit work, just fill in a form and click send. It also explains what to send and where.



The about us page explains who, ehat, where and why. Everything is covered in a brief paragraph, and its easy to read.

An agency to suit my work..

I had a look at different agencies to see which agencies i could send me work to and fit my work in with. These are the ones i researched, and the outcomes:


1. Organisart.co.uk

Has a cartoony style, contempory and computer based. My first impression is i wouldnt fit n on this site, my work would most probably be rejected. The illustrations are block coloured, bright and very graphic. Although some of the childrens art is similar to my style.




2. Eyecandy.co.uk
Its well layed out, and a site with a wide variety of styles, but its all very very contemporary ( my art is not). There is a limited list of illustrators which is a good sign of it being a good site. Less people means its more selective and exclusive. However the majority of the images are digital.






3. JellyLondon.com
This looks very much like its more for graphic designers on first glance, and it is definatly not for traditional art so my art probably wouldnt fit in. It is a nice website though, its very up to date with current trends and looks very high profile.






4. Pickledink.co.uk
They have a very wide range of styles. Some of them are similar to mine and would probably mean that mine could fit in with them. Its quite children orientated, again with a small list of artists selected for their illustrations. High standards of work are shown, and the page is well layed out and easy to navigate.




5. Umer.si
It has a very wide range of styles and would be easy to fit my work in. Many of the links are narrowed down to categories and artist, from childrens to science fiction. This i feel would be the best agency for me to put a portfolio of my work on. So i will investigate this one further.

Questions questions and more questions...

I have sent the following questions to a select group of illustratiors, in hope that they will answer them and give me feedback:

1. Did you ever have to have anouther job whils't starting out as an illustrator?

2. Did you have to change your style for different fields of work?

3. Did you have trouble getting your work noticed?

4. Are you put off by competition?

5. Have you ever lost a job you really wanted?

These are the people i have sent an email to:

. Jemima Hunt
. Charlie Gardiner
. Hannah Bagshaw
. Juliet Breese