Theres this great analogy Christoph uses in the episode when he's talking about the fact that when he first started at art school his teacher used to hate the more hyper-realistic stuff he'd done and favour the more abstract and quick ideas with more life to them. He talks about how confusing this was to him initially but then goes on to say that he can now understand that this was because the quicker illustrations were more about the idea behind them and not showing off with the actual craft which is a good thing. Anyway he talks about how he deals with abstractness in his own practise now, where he imagines this kind of 'Abstract-o-meter'. So when he's trying to communicate the idea of something to and audience there the most realistic representation of it that he could show, that would likely repulse people and would just look too realistic and boring, then theres the too abstract version which is just the bare bones of the thing which wouldn't be immediate or interesting for people to look at and they might not 'get it'. But then somewhere in the middle theres this happy medium, where everything is simplified enough that it doesn't look to fussy, but theres still aesthetic details that make it pleasing to the eye. I'm a person that struggles with abstraction and tends to make everything way more complicated than it has to be, but this little idea made it way easier to understand in my head that this is something that even the best people don't just simply 'do', and maybe when I'm designing in the future, I need to draw something once then see which details I could consider removing and still tell the story effectively.
He also talks about the fact that when he was 11 years old he taught himself to juggle, which was a good skill to have and he enjoyed doing it but the one element of it that upset him was that there was always one ball in the air at any given time. He compares this to life and his practice in the way that sometimes with his job there is things that are way out of his control that he needs to just get around otherwise he won't make deadline. He also actually goes on to make the point that although its scary not always having complete control, its also necessary because whilst you're not planning this really magical thing can happen and it can totally change the outcome from what you'd usually create. I really like this notion and any reminder I can get to just stop planning and worrying and just let my hands make things is good. I need to actively think this more and I think one thing that will help me in this is by pushing myself to try new things that are out of my comfort zone like working with new materials and processes just to take some of the control out of my hands and see where it takes me.
Through the whole episode he is talking about how he's wrestling with this design for the New Yorker cover where it got to show a kind of augmented reality and it should also have some 3D aspect to it, so you hover your phone over the image and it shows you something else. He's really upfront about how he's never done anything like this before and he finds it really challenging to have his work looked at from every angle like that, but he's aware that the audience is always changing so to keep it fresh and to stay employed he must always be evolving his practise. Although I think sometimes its really scary as an illustrator to hear things like this, its also so necessary, because I have to admit I'm a creature of habit, and if I'm not forced to change the way I'm doing things I won't, but I can see that it is something that's going to effect me in my future and an aspect of my career that I'll have to consider. That's why I think at this stage of my education I think its very important that I try to push the boat out as much as I can and not get stuck in any one way of doing things, because not only will that stop being interesting very quickly, it'll make it even more daunting when I then try and change and evolve my practice in years to come to suit the evolving illustration community.
I think it deals with the things that we all think about but don't always verbalise, at the risk of complaining or sounding un-grateful? I know if I talk about how I'm feeling out loud then in my mind, what I'm worrying about becomes more of a problem to me than it ever was before, because now its out there in the universe and I'm not the only one who knows about it. But this episode made me realise that I'm not the only illustrator having these thoughts and whats more, they won't automatically go away when I graduate and go on to get jobs etc. These are things that realistically I'll be dealing with through my whole career and I shouldn't shy away from feeling those things, instead I should confront them and the effect they're having on my work, its kind of my job to think deeply about the way I feel when I make certain things because that can impact on the success or failure of it in a way. On a happier, less deep note I want to end by talking about this quote that really resinated with me from the episode:
AHHHHH this just sums it up really doesn't it? I'm beginning to realise more that in a way theres kind of two sides to illustration practise, in that theres a side of me that is the editor that picks and chooses which best bits of work will be given to the public in commissions and then theres the artist side. The one which will always keep developing new ways of doing things and making and crafting, this side is working more for myself and thinking what makes me happy and what I enjoy doing, but thats not to say that these two sides aren't linked. The careless artist side will be trying her best to make new things in my private sketchbooks that then if they turn out well will be fed into the editor side and put out for other people to see and enjoy, they'll become part of my portfolio. Doesn't mean I can carry on experimenting and changing when I've graduated and go into the real world, just means that maybe deadlines aren't the places to try new things last minute, but its my job to make sure that I carry on playing and experimenting for myself and my practise.
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