New Year, New Ventures!

Well, I can't say that 2011 was the most productive year i've had, but I can say that it was certainly a year of making decisions and starting new ventures. I'm happy to say that 2012 is looking a whole lot more hopeful in all aspects of my life. I have entered the year with a lot of good ideas and the drive to push them.
My colleague and I  have established a mural company called Paint Splat which focusses on transforming children's playspaces and creating an environment which fuels their imagination. It's been thoroughly enjoyable to do and we're hoping that 2012 is going to a year of 'Paint Splatting' Liverpool. Check out some of our designs and follow the link above to see our Facebook page.

Willy Russell

My Willy Russell figure has been on display in Liverpool City Centre for 8 whole weeks. I'm very proud to have been chosen to display my portrait and to also receive an email from the man himself showing his gratitude, yet concern for the positioning of his character outside McDonalds on Whitechapel, being a vegetarian of course. I agree that the location probably isn't ideal, but i'm not going to complain. Some passers-by were quite amused by me posing to have my photograph taken with a lamp post and asked why.... I had to point out the art work 6 ft above me. I just hope that the exhibition inspired people to find out more about Liverpool, and maybe take an interest in my city's wonderful contribution to the world of Arts, Sport, Politics, Science and entertainment.

Commission Time!

I'm happy to announce that I've won my first public art commission. As part of Liverpool Discovers  (an artist trail across Liverpool) showcasing Liverpool greats, I've been commissioned to create an image of Willy Russell to be part of the public exhibition. So, December proves to be a busy month of painting the portrait and getting my website up and running again in time for the exhibition in February 2011. I will keep you posted on when the exhibition is and hopefully you'll come along!

Clove Hitch Craft Fair 17th October 2010

Well, it's been a while since I last posted on my Blog, as I have been quite busy lately doing bits and bobs of freelance work.  I've also turned my hand to textiles lately too. I began to make a little things from recycled materials, just to see what they would look like. I was happy with the result. I then thought..'Hmmmm, other people might like to buy these'. So I've been building up a stock of plushies, xmas decorations and purses. I've got a few other little ideas to develop also.

My good friend Becka Griffin is a veteran craft fairer, and persuaded me to get involved in the clove hitch craft fair. So I said 'Yes' and began a production line in my house. Sewing and sewing and getting various members of the family involved in cutting out and stuffing etc. I even taught my mum to sew so she could help out.

Above are some of the decorations I made to sell at the craft fair. I was aiming to make at least 2 an hour but at first it was more like 1 an hour. Once I got into the perpetual sewing motion, I was a lot faster at producing them. 

I've learnt a lot about doing craft fairs from seeing how professional the other stalls were, and how slap dash mine was. I still managed to make £30 profit, which I'm told is ok for a first fair. I know now what i'd do differently. Presentation is everything! You could have the most fantastic product, but if it's displayed in a crappy way, no-one will want to buy it. I'm a lot more prepared for the next fair which will be on 4th of December in a local school. I'll update the blog with details if anyone's interested in coming along. 

RESULT!

Well, my academic hurdle has come to a close, and I can happily say I am now the proud owner of a 2:1 BA Hons in Graphic Arts (Animation). What a relief after the months prior to hand in, when the house was burgled and all of my hard work was taken with my Macbook.

The degree show went very smoothly, and resulted in taking advantage of the extremely cheap wine. It was call for celebration and that is exactly what I did. Now is the next chapter of my life as a struggling Illustrator/Animator haha. I'm not quite at the Withnail & I poverish stage yet. Here's to making it!

OMG! Uni is nearly over

Ok, so it's been a journey, and epic journey to say the least. After 2 years of study prior to University, 3 years later I working on the finishing touches toward our Graphic Arts Degree show. On Thursday, I will get my grade, along with 1 thousand other Art and Design students at the faculty. Hopefully the show will develop some interest from clients. Now, it's time to get out there and spread the word and hope for some interest. I will be posting photographs from the show and some of the work exhibited. Heres to the future....it will be bright.

Catastrophe!

You know....there is never a good time to have your house burgled, but... one week before all of your Uni work has to be handed in, is most definitely the worst time! On saturday 24th April, my house was broken into and camera and macbook were stolen. I was more bothered about the 6 months of my life poured into making my animation (final piece for 3rd year), along with all of the time i had spent talking about my work to other people and prioritising it! What a waste of time. Fortunately for me, i backed some of the work up on my external hard drive after being prompted to do so after three people in uni had issues with their hard drives and lost all of their work. Even so, i still have to redo some of the work which was due for submission. The show must go on!

Hey Bloggers!

This is my new blog. I will be regularly updating the home page with up and coming creative ventures and ideas. Basically the home page will be used to update you all on what i've been up to, what interests me lately and what i plan to do in the near future. So subscribe....you know you want to haha.

I've been asked to give good and bad examples of a specific artifact relating to my current research. I have been looking at different characters, most of which have been cartoon and for children/adolescents. I find it quite difficult to think of any characters which are bad that I've come across whilst researching. This is because if they were bad characters then I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be known or even successful enough for a handful of people to know who they are. I have interpreted this part of the brief in this way and can only specify in a hypothetical sense. I will state a good and bad formula for creating characters that appeal to a mass market of children/adolescents:

Good

• Easy to relate to
• Colourful/interesting to look at
• simple design and interesting story line
• diverse selection of co-stars
• humour
• Originality and imagination eg. sponge bob square pants is a sponge who can speak and lives in the sea. What an original idea.
• can be adapted into other marketable forms such as games, clothing and toys etc.
• Be a positive example and moral in characteristics
• Explores original use of media and experiments with methods of production which are original and individual
• Is aesthetically pleasing

Bad

• A character which is very similar to an existing character aesthetically and in content
• not considering colours and personality traits eg. very dull colours for a very happy character
• UN-interesting story lines (which purely depends on the nature of the character)
• not considering who the characters target audience are
• unjustified immoral behaviour
• a character that is so specific it cannot marketed
• is unintentionally ugly

The above bad examples are a theory alone, as i cannot see how anyone would unintentionally create a character without consideration or purpose.

"Graphic Idea" background research

For the Iteraction project i will be creating a character who can be adapted to various different situations. I have been looking at the following existing characters for inspiration and ideas in developing my own: Southpark, Spongebob squarepants, Sarah Fanelli, Max Scratchmann, Henrik Drescher, Hannah Barbara characters, Jonathon Burton, Quentin Blake, Pete Fowler's Monsterism, ect.

What i am trying to do, is create a character which is relatable, funny, simple and colourful. This character must be marketable also and possibly have friends which viewers can also relate to. There are so many ideas that i have, and i must learn to choose one option and develope it to a good standard. I will be looking at many cartoons and comic strip characters and also look at how they have been merchandised for the consumer market. As part of this Research i will be looking at some of the artists named above and seeing how they have appealled to a market.

I came up with the following character animation. Ronnie Barko from the Bronx.

Fred astair puttin on the ritz

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-_o9pXLZKtM

text to accompany the Light Bulb painting.

This is the second painting i did, afte Ann Bukantas at the Walker Art Gallery said that "ave where's my undies" wasn't acceptable to be temporarily displayed. She said that due to copyright laws and the impression that David Hockney's studio want to portray the image may be classed as offensive. I thought it was quite funny and if i was Banksy i would have ignored these statements and probably would have put the painting up anyway. In this case i am trying to do Banksy the legal way, which in some ways is more difficult as there are so many restictions that i must obide by. I have began my journey legitimately and must continue my project in this way.

"Dave Where's my Undies"

"Dave Where's My Undies?" is a mock of the David Hockney painting "Peter getting out of Nick's pool" painted by Hockney in 1966. This painting is in the Modern Art section of the Walker art gallery. My contact at the gallery has allowed me to put it up on the wall temporarily in the same room as the Hockney painting. As you can see the lightbulb represents the figures instant thought about where his underpants are. It's not an exact pastiche of the original painting as i've cropped the image and i've also (puposely) missed out the garden chair which would feature on the left of the figure. This is so the focus is on the figure alone. I will be putting this painting up at the Walker Art Gallery on Friday 19th October and videoing the viewers reactions to it.

Email Back from Ann Bukantas (walker art Gallery)

Dear Sarah,

I have spoken to colleagues about your proposed project. In theory we are OK about you doing this but these are the restrictions within which you would have to work with regard to the filming:

The camera would have to be a hand-held and not a tripod camera (otherwise you would have to be supervised by a member of our press team) and there can be no trailing wires etc.
The film could not be for public broadcast.
Any (adult) members of the public you wanted to film would have to be asked for permission and made fully aware that you were filming them.
Any children you wished to film: you would have to have consent from their parent or guardian, and they would have to be accompanied by an adult. You would not be able to film unaccompanied children.

You have not mentioned where in the modern galleries you would wish to place the work – is there a particular place you had in mind (eg a gap you have your eye on)?

I would also need to see a copy of the text you plan to put up, in advance.

I’d also need the proposed date and time you plan to come in so that I can notify our security staff.

Once I have this info from you, I can give you final consent and notify staff here.
Sorry if this appears very restrictive – we do want to help you!

Look forward to hearing from you.
Ann

Banksy Article in the New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins

Banksy museum video

email to Walker Art Gallery

Hello
My Name is Sarah Broadfoot (Broady) and I’m studying Graphic Arts at Liverpool John Moores University. I’ve been assigned a project, were I have to re-create an object in the style of a chosen artist. I will be researching Banksy who specialises in Graffiti and installations. The object I have been designated is a light bulb. Part of the project is to really get into the mind of the artist and try to envision the world around me in the way that he would, this explains my abbreviated name (for the duration of the project also).
I’ve discovered that it’s quite difficult to re-create my object legally as he is renowned for putting work up in galleries without their permission and videoing unknowing people looking at the work, as well as graffiti which is completely out of the question. I have an idea for how I will overcome the graffiti obstacle although I was hoping that The Walker Art Gallery may be able to co-operate with me on my instillation idea.
I have done a painting of a light bulb in a contemporary style which I would like to be able to put up in the modern art section of The Walker Art Gallery. I do not wish for it to be there for a long time, but long enough for me to video a few people looking at it. The painting is 20cm X 20cm and I plan to fix it to the wall with blue tack. There will be some text which will accompany the painting, basically explaining it’s purpose , media and size, which will not contain an obscure materials.
The deadline for my project is the 26th of October and I would really like to be able to partake in this part of my research in the next week, so that I have enough time to check I have everything necessary for submission.
I would really appreciate it if you would consider my proposal and please get back to me with a decision as soon as you can so that I can consider other options if you decide not to collaborate.
Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon
Sarah Broadfoot

proposal for Banksy Reasearch Project

Proposal

When I was researching Banksy most of the information obtained was from the internet. I thought it would be suitable to do a website of my own documenting my research and showing videos and photographs of the work I’ve done. I intend to use the light bulb image as a symbol for “Ideas” or “Thoughts” I have about society and the general public. I will use humour as a tool for acknowledgement. I will place drawings done of my object around the city and in public places as Banksy would do, and take photographs and video the process.