Print research

In response to a recommendation in my progress tutorial, I looked at the Central Illustration Agency (CIA) in search of some more reputable practitioner research. 

Christopher Brown

Christopher Brown studied illustration at the Royal College of Art, and has since worked as an illustrator, printmaker, artist and lecturer. He has worked alongside Edward Bawden, 'the master of the linocut' and has exhibited his work at a number of prestigious places. 

I like the subtlety of the colours in the top print in particular - they are playful and unrealistic and the use of pink and orange in the top left contrasts subtly with the more dull grey and black in the bottom right. Playing with scale and positioning of the people in the image has been successful in my opinion as you don't notice them at first but they obviously have some significance in the surroundings to blend in so well. It is only after a while that I noticed the small dark blue figure by the blue building. Although small, this looks quite ominous which suggests something is not quite as it seems. 

This next print is clearly set at night time. The strong yellow light from the tower compliments the deep purple sky. The use of the red is something I am not sure about, I probably wouldn't have put red with purple in this way because I think it makes the tower stand out more than it should when it is existing in the background. Composition and foreground, mid ground and background is something which I haven't explored in great detail yet with this brief. I think I need to start thinking about composition and colour together in more depth and trying to understand how this partnership can be used to create deeper meaning.

Brian Grimwood

Print Magazine credits Brian Grimwood with 'changing the look of British illustration'. He is a very influential practitioner worldwide and is the founder of the Central Illustration Agency. 

I love working with ink and a brush so Brian Grimwood's work immediately appealed to me. I love the fluidity of his brush strokes and how little detail he includes in his figures an portraits but still manages to convey an atmosphere and character. I have been trying to stay away from using ink in this way because I wanted to push myself and see what else I could do in this project. At this point of exploration, I think going back to using ink and a brush might help me to think how I could push my current drawings and designs forward. It is a really quick and comfortable way for me to draw so I don't want to become too reliant on it. 

Working in this way will hopefully loosen my images and help me to get all my ideas out onto paper in a different way than to using a pencil. It will allow me to be more expressive with my mark making and maybe push my work in a more abstract direction which could lead to something interesting as I don't normally work in this way. These images below are very abstract, I can make out what some of the drawings are but there is no clear way to piece them together and think of a definite meaning. This might relate well to the theme of solving a mystery in Agatha Christie's work.