Studio Brief 2 - A creative presence - Reasearch/Interview

After being briefed about having to interview a practitioner, I found it quite daunting as I am still unsure about what route I would like to go down when I leave university. Part of me would like to become an Animator for a studio and another part of me would like to become a character designer. I am also drawn to the idea of becoming a free-lance artist, but I am unsure how I would go about this. 

I decided to brainstorm what practitioners I would be in with a chance of receiving a response from. I considered character designers, however a lot of their websites didn't offer a lot of information on how to contact them, and some of them didn't offer a messaging service on their social media accounts.

I follow a lot of free-lance practitioners on instagram and various other social media accounts. I feel as though I am a lot more drawn to supporting free-lance and independent artists over well-known ones. I decided to mainly target Illustrators rather than Character Designers as I feel as though the Illustrators have more of an online presence and more ways to contact them, I also know for definite that I will continue to create Illustrations when I leave uni but am unsure about what route Animation wise I would like to pursue.

I also decided to create a few notes on how I would maybe open my email. I feel as though messaging them through their social media accounts could be a better way to contact them. I would also email them if i am able to find an email address.

Charlavail

Charlavail is a free-lance Illustrator/Designer. I have been a fan of her work for a few years now and I have also supported her by buying some of her prints. She tends to create Illustrations and sell them as prints, as well and creating clothing with her work on. She has also created a couple of stop-motion animations that promote her craft meet-ups around America. I am considering interviewing her to ask how she transitioned into a free-lance artist, and how she managed to get her name out there without the help of a studio/big names.

I decided to contact her via Instagram as well as email her. Because I am aware that she is quite a shy person, and isn't an extremely serious person I decided to be quite light-hearted and casual.

I sent the same message to her Instagram account.

Sad Ghost club

I have followed this group of people for a while now. I enjoy their comics because they deal with serious issues by expressing them in a creative outlet. Their little web comics are probably my favourite thing they do.

Their work is light-hearted and cute, and I feel as though after uni I would like do create things like this and use social media as a means to get my work out there. I do want to become free-lance, however I am unsure how I would go about this after university. In the end I decided not to contact Sad Ghost Club as I couldn't find information on who I would have to address.

Anastasia Tasou

I chose this illustrator as she managed to gain a good following on instagram. Her artwork varies from detailed to abstract and involve a lot of meaning that sometimes I do not understand.

I decided to contact this practitioner as I feel as though our styles are quite similar. We both seem to demonstrate a decent set of practical skills, and our work doesn't come across as extremely thought out.

RubyETC

I found this free-lance Illustrator on Instagram a few years ago. I enjoy her work thoroughly. She creates silly little comics and drawings and has successfully created a large following for herself. I know for definite that I would like to continue to create comics/illustrations when I leave university, so I feel as though she is a good person to contact. 

Again, I decided to message Ruby via instagram but also by email.

If I was to hear back from these Practitioners, I would ask:

• How do you communicate with other free-lance artists?
• From being a free-lance practitioner, how do you manage your work life as well as your personal life?
• What inspires you to create work?
• Do you set yourself deadlines for your own work?
• What key steps did you take towards being a free-lance artist?
• What are the perks/downfalls to being a free-lance artist?
• What made you go free-lance?

I feel as though these questions do need refining before I ask them. I feel as though asking questions about how they got their would be good for me to know because I have no clue how I would go about being a successful free-lance artist. I also am looking forward to knowing how they go about distinguishing their work from their own time.

The Happy newspaper.

"The Happy Newspaper celebrates all that’s good in the world; a platform to share positive news and wonderful people. The first issue launched in December 2015 thanks to 73 people who pledged towards a Kickstarter campaign, which ended up reaching the target of £500 in just two days. This was an extra-special, extra-large edition, encapsulating as many positive stories and inspiring people from the whole of 2015 as possible. All subsequent issues are released quarterly, containing happy news which has been collected over a period of three months."

Emily Coxhead is the main person in charge of this project. I have considered contributing to this project a few times, but haven't really gotten round to it. I decided to email her because her work inspires me a lot, and the idea of having a magazine for creative people to contribute to seems nice to me. I also quite like how it is a collaborative process, and almost like a collective so I feel as though I could pick her brain about how to organise peoples and how she organises herself.

If I was to get a response I would ask:

• How do you manage to organise distinctive bodies of work?
• How do you communicate with other free-lance artists?
• From being a free-lance practitioner, how do you manage your work life as well as your personal life?
• What do you look for when choosing work to include in your magazine?

I feel like overall my choices of practitioners are decent. I decided to choose these people because their main role is being young creatives on their own, and I feel as though I would like to go down this route when I finish university. I like the idea of being a free-lance artist. I also really enjoy character designing so there's the possibility that I could become a free-lance character designer either instead or also. At this point in time I am still quite unsure what I want to do but I hope I here back from these practitioners soon in hopes that their responses can guide me.