Bad Books-Handmade Books

I really love the stitching on the covers of these books. The pages are filled with envelopes and different recycled papers. When you buy a book, the book doesn't have to be packaged, your name can simply be written on the cover of the book which is pretty cool! The books are carefully handcrafted and personal.

Badbooks

Helen, the maker of Badbooks, also made the books for this travelling journal project that was being sent all around the world to be filled and completed by artists around the globe.

http://designersofcollective.com/archives/369

Easter Plans

I am going away for the first week of Easter so that will be my break from work besides a couple of days when I'll be visiting home. My plan is to stay in Leeds for the second week of Easter to develop my work ready to take into the workshops the third week starting 16th April as they are open then. I am hoping this means I will get a good amount of work done! 

 To do over Easter...

• Email Cargo Collective and look into creating an online portfolio.
• Prepare Grizzly Bear for screen printing onto paper and material.
• Corn Exchange Exhibition, develop illustrations of Edith Piaf and Bruce Springsteen ready to screen print onto paper.
• Grizzly Bear Zine.
• Research and look into Etsy to create an online shop.
• Garnets website illustrations, develop and get feedback off the band until happy!
• Produce designs/prints to become hand bound book covers. 

Other things I need to start to develop and think about over Easter are-

• Work placement/experience for summer.
• CV.

As I do not think I have developed my work enough for the exhibition at the Corn Exchange I am going to get in touch with Emma Fish and see if it is okay to have it done by the last week of Easter when the workshops are open. I feel I haven't had enough time to push this part of my work and I think I can improve it to produce more in depth and interesting portraits. I intend to screen print the portraits.

Garnets Development

I have put together some of the type and illustration I have developed for Garnets. I have kept with the bluey/purple colour scheme as I feel it sort of goes with their music style which is sort of mystical, trancey, melodic, with powerful moments in their songs. This may be a bad description, however, this is what I have put together so far today and need to get their response.

Personally, I feel I can push this further but I am pleased with these images as a starting point and will see what they say. I would like more time over Easter to develop the ideas some more. From putting these together I have begun to think about what I can do further already which is part of the process and is exciting!

Social Media Frenzy

I took the plunge and contradicted everything I have said and got Twitter, something I said I would never have. Family and friends have been telling me for ages about events/opportunities/news that comes from following people on Twitter such as Artists, galleries, collectives etc so I am using it for this purpose and this purpose only. I am trying to get the hang of it, but still don't really understand how to use it, however, I am currently following many of my favourite illustrators/artists and people around Leeds. It does tell you whats going on and is another way to widen knowledge and audience and keep in the know. I hate to admit that, but its true.

I also created a new blog as I feel that this blog is very wordy and is not a good tool for getting my work out there as I use this blog to document my thoughts, feelings and processes throughout projects which is good for me, but not for other people. I felt I needed to create a space I could put my work and keep it clean cut and simple to look at. So I have created a Tumblr. I am not planning on using this to reblog and blog other people's work very much, mainly to put photos, illustrations and my work whatever it may be up there and to follow artists and people I like. I feel it looks more professional and is easier to navigate.


http://emilyteareid.tumblr.com/

Garnets

My friend's band called Garnets are creating their website and were looking for some artwork to include on their site and have looked at my blogged and liked some of my work! They liked the 'Hello There' bear that I illustrated for the Grizzly Bear series and are going to include it as a greeting as people scroll to the end of their website. (yey!) They also liked the watercolour mountains for their colour and simplicity as a possible image to use at the beginning of the website and I have been talking to them about doing some more original images for them. I chatted to my friend Sam in the band and discussed development from this starting point. The image for the start of the page must include the sentence 'Welcome To Garnet's Home' and include colour. Sam also mentioned that he liked the fact that the images didn't have a border, as the background of the website is white, this style would fit in with the website. He liked the type used for the 'Hello There' illustration.

Some scans of sketchbook pages with initial ideas and development. I want to edit the image and the text together and develop further, this is a starting point. I realize I can get quite obsessed with doing the same thing over and over again, I painted 'Welcome To Garnets' Home' a lot a lot of times!

Key Points to include/consider-

• Use of colour
• No border or bold edges
• Typography
• The style of their music, take influence when approaching work
• The layout of the site 

Letterpress

An interesting video about letterpress...

http://vimeo.com/35688592 

RAG Week Village Fete

The fete was not very busy at all. The cafe was full but it seemed that no one really wanted to come over and look never mind buy anything! I sold a few books and zines and made approx. £10 which I gave towards Macmillan. This means I have lost about £8 as I didn't take any money for materials. I have lots of books left over so I'm thinking it would be good to put them onto an etsy shop which I am planning on creating and getting to grips with over Easter and I will be producing more artwork to put on there as well.

I feel like I worked really hard to make in time for the fete and it was not as successful as I hoped. I think that this will push me to get involved with things outside college which is a point Marianne and I discussed in my last tutorial. It would be good to get involved with events/exhibitions etc that are out of the college domain which may be more eventful and successful.

Sketchbook Pages

Corn Exchange Exhibition Piece

This is the full brief Emma has sent us. I am slightly worried that I am not going to have my work done in time to the highest quality I can produce. I am working on things for the Village Fete and CTS and I have been doing work for the exhibition piece too but I don't want to go and screen print the image until I feel I have produced a high standard of illustration.

Brief.

Illustrate a portrait/shrine to your favourite well-known person, (celebrity or public figure). Use your own personal style to convey the message you want to the public.

Limitations. A3 max, bigger can be discussed but depends on space available. Other than that, anything goes. – Smaller pieces of work, and little bits to sell can also be submitted.

Selling your work – If you’re wanting to sell, I’ll need to know what you’d like to charge by Friday 30^th, this it just to make sure I can get the exhibition catalogue done before the opening.

Dead line – Friday 30^th March.

Bio/blurbs – all write a small piece about yourselves and what it is you do, along with contact details, and a photograph of yourself.  

Exhibition opening Friday 4^th May in unit 23 of the Corn Exchange.

Loosely Bound

I am going to go to Loosely Bound this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it. I have found out about some really cool people that are going to be there already including Memo who were at the International Bookfair (I have started following their blog) and Caribou Caravan who sell art prints/books/zines/jewellery and crafted artwork from their travelling caravan.

I am really looking forward to seeing whats there and will be able to speak to people about their work. I am feeling inspired at the moment, I have lots of ideas flying around in my head and need to make them make sense and develop into more cohesive ideas and get image making.

I am going to set myself some goals for over Easter including looking into develop illustrations into artwork to sell, setting up an online shop and creating a portfolio. Make use of the print/book studio being open on the week commencing 16th April before everyone comes back!

RAG Week Preparation

I have illustrated and scanned some bears and type to create some postcards and posters for people to buy. I thought it would be good to have some smaller things and give more options. In total I have made 31 books! And have quite a few postcards, posters and little cards.

Pricing

• A4 Sketchbboks- £3.00
• A5 Sketchbooks- £1.50/£2.00
• A6 Sketchbooks/Notebooks- £1.00
• Grizzly Bear poster- £0.80
• Postcards- £0.60
• Notecards- £0.20
• Grizzly Bear Zine- £0.50

Money going to Macmillan Cancer Support!

RAG Week Preparation

These are a few illustrations I have completed for postcards for the fete. I am keeping the illustrations simple using black ink, creating marks and textures. I would like to add some colour to the illustrations and continue with the theme of Bears and Mountains throughout the Live Project, developing into more detailed/intricate illustrations and ideas in my work alongside other subjects that I may begin to explore. I need to make sure I don't get too stuck on drawing the same thing over and over again though!

Letter Press

I follow this really cool blog called Print For the Love of Wood, its a small letterpress studio and produces some really lovely work. I really like this recent blog of a Letterpress logo design they did, I love the colour and textured aesthetic to the lettering in keeping with the subject and title.

I have been wanting to try Letterpress for a while now as it is such a traditional and intricate technique, now is the time! I am going to ask Roger about inductions, I think they are on a Wednesday in groups of 5 or 6, I will find out for sure and hopefully be able to learn Letterpress very soon!

http://printforloveofwood.blogspot.co.uk/