Study Task 2 - Networking

These are some networking oppourtunities i am interested in pursuing that i think would be beneficial to my practice.

- Manchester Animation Festival

-Leedsillo
-Gamayo

-Thoughtbubble
-Aesthetica

I also intend to network online, contacting professionals whos work i admire on Linked In, instagram, twitter and through email. I will ask them questions about their work and how they got into the industry.

Study Task 1 - Who am I now?

In second year i learned alot about myself and what direction i would like to take my practice in next. I have definitely become more interested in post production, particularly background design and concept art for backgrounds, rather than animation itself, although this is still something i want to improve at. Over the summer i definitely have improved at drawing, in particular becoming more comfortable with digital drawing and painting, whereas before i was more into traditional.
This year i would like to become more skilled in drawing and animating, i would also like to improve my motion design skills and develop a specialism on this type of animation in after effects.
I deally, at the end of the course i would like to work in a studio or as a freelancer. A position as a background designer or motion designer would be ideal.
As for my social media presence, i have struggled with confidence issues about putting my work online, and because of this i havent made an instagram dedicated to just my work yet, and have instead been posting some of it on my personal instagram. This year id like to develop the confidence to make an art instagram account and upload high quality work regularly.

Showreel

I was quite worried about putting together a showreel at first, mostly because i have a lot of doubts about my work and because i didnt think i would have enough work to actually make one. Because my main area of focus is inbackgroundd design i wasnt sure how i would show them in a showreel, to get around this i brought my digital backgrounds into after effects and slowly revealed each layer so they werent just static backgrounds. I used some animation from first year but the majority of it is from second year. I think this showcases some of my best work but i would have liked to have more actual animation in it.

Study Task 3 - Creative Report

Initially, I intended to interview Tomm Moore for my creative report contact, creative director of Cartoon Saloon, but as I received no reply I found another contact who I think suits my interests within animation better. I chose Steve McCarthy, who I found while researching the background design on Cartoon Saloons 'Song of the Sea.' I am very interested in background design myself and loved the backgrounds in the film, so I thought this may be a good way to find out more about how they were created. I also explored more of Steves work, and I love the illustrative animation style he has developed, which I am keen to learn more about.
The following are the questions I intend to ask:

How did you get into animation/illustration and when did you decide on it as a career?

Do you prefer to work as part of a studio (like Cartoon Saloon) or freelance?

Which technologies do you use?

What inspired your art style?

How do you deal with criticism on your work?

What advice would you give to someone trying to get into the industry and what skills do you think are essential to succeed?

Steve replied to my interview request email, but took a while with the answers, so i sent a prompt email and eventually got my reply. I found the answers he gave really helpful and insightful, and i also saw a lot of what i recognise in myself in the answers. In one of his answers he told me how he didnt even realise being an illustrator was a job until after he had already left college, and thats something that resonated with me because i always feel as though I have to have figured out exactly what i want to do before im even sure what area that might be in. I also found it interesting that he said he prefered freelance work over working in a studio, because i always assumed most artists would prefer a somewhat 'safe' job like a studio provides. The fact that he articulated that his main skill set evolved solely around drawing was encouraging to me, as drawing skill is something i am always trying to improve. I have had to summarise most of his answer in order to make a succint creative report.

Issuu link: https://issuu.com/nicolemeehan/docs/creative_report.pptx

Reflection Presentation

I really struggle with presentations so i always knew this was going to be difficult for me. I made sure to prepare alot for it though and in the end it wasnt that bad, however i definitely still need to improve my presentation skills. I used my presentation to identify how ive changed throughout the year in relation to my work, and it helped me to actually identify how me and my work has progressed, as well as looking into what im interested in for the future.

Study Task 8 - Commissions and freelance

Commissions are something im really interested in giving a go. Because of my lack of confidence in my work, ive never thought of charging people for it when i would draw some things for them, but the seminar we had on this made me realise you have to be ready to charge people for what your work is worth. Before the seminar, i probably would have settled on about £30 for a drawing, regardless of how much time it had taken me or what materials i had to use. Now that im thinking of it in these terms, i think £10 an hour is a much fairer price while im still a student. If i work freelance after i graduate, i imagine this number will go up as i wont have student finance to support me anymore and also i imagine the quality of my work will have improved by then...hopefully.

I found trying to make my own agreement to work and invoice alot more difficult than i was expecting. I dont really have a mind for things like that, and although looking up different examples of artist agreement to work templates i know ive probably missed out alot of things on mine. 

Study task 7- Copy Shop

At this moment in time. i dont actually post much of my work online, except for on my personal instagram account. I havent really ever thought about protecting my work, because i cant see anyone really wanting to pass it off as their own, although i know this is a bad attitude to have. I intend to make myself a watermark when i make different accounts solely dedicated to my artwork, but currently i dont really think it is necessary. My instagram is public and can be messaged by anyone if they are interested in my work, but i should probably advertise more that i would be willing to do commissions. I also realise not having a social media account purely for my work means that it is harder for me to be discovered, but at the minute i really dont feel confident enough in my ability to make one just yet, however this is something i definitely intend to do soon.

Lifes A Pitch

To create a hypothetical animation collective, I teamed up with Ally and Liam Shevill. We each have different skill sets and strengths, mine being primarily background design. We decided on the name 'Wildflower Animation' because we felt this emphasised the brand idea we decided on. We wanted to have a name that shows we are a small, handmade and personal collective. I designed the logo for our collective, deciding on a simple bluebell design. I originally drew a design with quite alot of detail and in the end after talking to my team we decided to simplify the design by only having a few flowers on the logo, which is shown below. I also worked on choosing a colour scheme for our brand.  Forming this group made me realise i actually would possibly like to work in a small collective like this in the future. I know my strength doesnt lie in communicating with others or promoting a brand, which is why i think our collective worked nicely together, because we all bring something different skillwise.

Study Task 6- Cost of Living

Completing the cost of living calculator was really eye opening for me and made me realise how much i actually spend, and that little things you spend money on doesnt seem like much at the time, but over a year it actually adds up to quite a lot. As such, this has made me a bit anxious, but also been interesting to find out how much i actually spend.