Reflective Presentation Script

Slide 1: 

I started off this course just knowing that I liked making pictures and generally making things. I didn’t really know what I was trying to say and my work didn’t really have a direction. To be honest I think I was a bit too shy for my work or myself to say anything much. I think you can really see this in my early work, it was all really timid and not cohesive at all. At this point I had a few different aesthetic styles and materials I liked to work with and I just was trying to mush them together. I was also very concerned with what everyone else was doing, and insecure that I wasn’t as good as I wanted to be. I had a tendency to make things which I didn’t really like but which I thought looked like what was ‘trendy’ or ‘popular’ in the moment

Slide 2:

Towards the end of first year I’d found my voice a little bit more and was reading a lot of feminist texts such as GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS BY EMER O’TOOLE and BAD FEMINIST BY ROXANNE GAY. Over the summer I really enjoyed just using my sketchbook as a place to talk about these things I was experiencing or enjoying at the time. I think this is where I found that I could combine my own thoughts and my illustrations. I began being more candid about my experiences with feminism and mental health and felt a lot better by making things I actually believed in and liked the ethos behind

Slide 3:

Also during this summer I made these pieces for Girl Gang based on the theme of ‘Reclaiming Pink’. This would turn into my first collaboration with Girl Gang and one of my first experiences with exhibiting my work. The reclaiming pink event was so successful and uplifting and I ended up selling lots of prints there. This in turn gave me the confidence to put myself out there a bit more and I adopted the attitude of applying and submitting my work to EVERYTHING, even if I didn’t  think it was amazing. It taught me to loosen up a bit and not be so hard on the things I was making which is something thats really been a problem for me in the past. I think its made me a lot less of a perfectionist 

Slide 4:

This is around the time that I laughed my Etsy shop, which gave me a great opportunity to get my work out in the open and get feedback on products. It also helped to generate a buzz around my work which in turn helped my raise my following on social media. I began holding giveaways and promoting myself more often on Instagram which is now something I feel I’m actually good at. Having an Etsy shop also pushed me to KEEP MAKING THINGS as I knew now there was a market for the things I was making and I didn’t want the people that followed me on Etsy to get bored at the fact that there was only like 2 things in my Etsy shop. This is one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learnt whilst on this course and something I always try to go back to when I’m stuck, even when I’m feeling rubbish about everything I’m making, its so important for me to keep my momentum up

(insert pic of MAKE THINGS rainbow?)

Slide 5: 

After this through Girl gang I also started participating in markets and art fairs. Seeing people get excited and want to take home a piece of my work boosted my confidence massively. I had to get used to talking about what I was making and why, as well as engaging with the public. Through other subsequent markets I’ve seen that I get a real buzz off networking and social events. I really thrive on being able to talk about and share my work as I think my works quite experiential and opinion led. This often attracts people that share these opinions too and has led to some amazing chats with some really cool people

Slide 6:

During the Hookworms poster brief I made one of my first digital pieces. Although I really didn’t love the outcome, it was my first time using this method, as well as working on a poster format, both of which I really enjoyed. Girl gang saw this piece of work and asked if I’d make a poster for one of their events, which I did. Following of from this a few local feminist punk bands have commissioned me to make similar things. This taught me first hand that by making work that you enjoy making and can talk passionately about people will be attracted by this and commission you to make similar things for them.

Slide 7: 

Also during my COP project and self driven 2nd year project about true crime, I realised how integral working with text is to my practise. I know I cant always get the things across that I’d like in work using just images. I’ve always loved poetry and creative writing, so it seemed like a really natural pairing for me. Over the summer before second year I worked on combining my images and text and had a lot of fun doing it. This is where I developed the honest, approachable style that runs through a lot of my work, as I used my sketchbook as kind of a visual diary

Slide 8:

This realisation led me on to the idea for my Introverts Colouring Book. The first illustration from this that I made was a digram called “the anatomy of an introvert”. It started as a passion project in the summer of second year, but I carried it on it to third year after I began to see a massive response to it on Instagram. This is one of my favourite projects to date as it’s such a personal topic to me, and it’s a product I think I would have bought if I hadn’t made it. It also made me realise interactivity is something very important to me and my work. I like to engage with my audience and the colouring book has proved a very effective way of doing this

Slide 9:

Also during second year i got a lot busier with commissions. I found that due to the network I’d been building by participating in events in Leeds, London and Brighton, my reputation was beginning to build. I was really happy to see that the people who were commissioning me where wanting me to make similar things  to what they’d seen on my social media, and lots of them were projects which were female led or had a feminist leaning. It felt really nice to start to be recognised for making the kinds of work I enjoy making, and that I feel passionately about. Obviously, the money was nice too

Slide 10:

So many of the high points during the last 3 years have to do with Girl Gang. I know I’ve mentioned them so many times in this presentation but they really have helped make me the creative I am now, the work they do is amazing and I found so much more confidence in myself and my work after I found their community. As well as this it’s given me a massive insight into the sort of products and images politically minded young people are interested in buying. Girl gang pretty much encapsulates my target audience which is women, girls and non-binary people aged 18-30 and through interacting with this market in person at events and on social media, I feel I’ve gotten to know my audience a lot better. It’s been amazing to watch girl gang grow into such a successful organisation and to have grown with them too. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt during this degree is how important it is to find your people, get involved in a community that you identify with and to support each other.

Slide 11: 

In terms of plans after uni, I’m really enjoying working on my mental health comics right now and I’m finding making them very therapeutic to make. I’d like to turn these into a graphic novel at some point when I’ve made enough of them. This is the main self driven project I’d like to carry on with as well as exhibiting it at the end of year show. I’d also like to use my work to talk to children about mental health in a softer, more approachable way. I had a chat with Chloe from Plum Pudding at Hanbury and she made me realise that my work is also applicable to children’s publishing which I’d not thought of before. I plan to create a few page spreads for a children’s book based around the discussion of mental health, as well as illustrating some pages from existing books. I’ll be putting these in my portfolio as well as approaching publishers and agents with them. 

Slide 12:

I also plan to work on my self driven practise from home in Leeds, whilst having a job to supplement my start up and overhead costs. I’m definitely going to be carrying on with putting out new products on my Etsy and selling my work at markets and events. I think these real life events will become even more important after university in order to stay in the loop and be in contact with the local creative community. I’ll also obviously be carrying on with commissions and entering my work into any competitions and exhibitions I see along the way. After graduation I’ll also be applying to the Princes Trusts Enterprise scheme to help me with information, guidance and financial help in starting up my illustration practice as a small business. I will be looking to enrol onto this as soon as we’ve graduated, and plan to put money into expanding my range of products, as well as investing in an iPad so I can make my digital work look more polished and work on the go. 

Slide 13: 

I’m finishing this course, pretty knackered, but excited about what the future holds. Along the way I’ve met lots of amazing people, made lots of things I’m really happy with, and learnt a lot more about myself as a person. I know I’ve not finished learning, I’m pretty sure  my practise will change a lot in the years following graduation. But I definitely have the tools to go out into the real creative world and try and chase the kinds of commissions and projects that I really want to be doing, and feel confident while doing it.