Brief Intro

As a starting point for the 'Research for Professional Context' module, I have pulled out my intro slide. It gives a very brief overview of what my practice looks like and who I am. I will be using this to inform the first presentation we are due to give in roughly four weeks time, as much of the information will be the same - I'll just be adding in further detail and will have more solid research for my intentions over the year.

The outline for this slide was to include the following:

- Name and where you're from

- 4 Key words describing themes of your work

- Photo of you in your favourite place

- 3 x images of your work

- The last book you read/looked at

- Goals for the end of the course

 

I'm Sophie and pre pandemic, I was local to Leeds. Now I'm back in my hometown in Robin Hood county.  

For the photo of myself in my favourite place, I've selected one from my trip to Disneyland Tokyo - because I'm a big kid and love that characters and associated worlds have now become something that we can physically experience and enjoy.

My practice over the last few years has been split into two - one side of it has been very commercial and I've been lucky enough to gain a broad range of experience through that. The other side feels much more like "me" and I'm excited to have the opportunity to explore it further. 

I'd describe my practice as playful because I try not to take myself too seriously when I draw. It's explorative, as I can't stick to a single process and I'm constantly trying to improve my skills one way or another. It's character driven, which is integral to most forms of narrative and apologetically feminine. 

The last book I read (or am currently reading) is the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas. I've tripped and fallen head over heels in love with fantasy books lately, which I know will have some influence on the choices I make over the next couple of weeks. I'm also reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab. I read a lot, so I'm sure my work will be informed by the characters and worlds I visit on the pages of whatever books I can get my hands on.

I've listed Babs Tarr as one of my favourite illustrators. She gave a talk at a Creative Networks event a few years ago, and she said something along the lines of: "I just want to draw hot girls" - which I thought was hilarious and it really resonated with me. At the time, Tarr was working on the Bat Girl comics, along with Cameron Stewart and I felt that her voice opened up the comics to a wider audience. Having read/studied things like "the male gaze", I'm really interested in how people that aren't cis males can diversify characters/stories/content we use for entertainment. 

My goals for this year are currently quite broad. I have a few ideas I can use as starting points for my research, but ultimately I would like to produce either a graphic novel or an illustrated novel. In my head, these are two separate things... The former being presented more like a long comic, the latter more heavily writing based. I started exploring writing over the last year or so, and would love to see how I can combine it with my illustration practice. I'll be looking into how realistic this goal is, to ensure that I can meet expectations I set out for myself, as well as methods of publishing - whether that's approaching small/large publishing houses, or various methods of self publishing.