in Assignment 2 – Research & Process, My Work

editorial illustration #1: reference artists + theme


REFERENCE ARTISTS

#1 Qwaya_ / scottwon1

Here’s a Korean artist I first encountered and immediately fell in love with at the (very inspiring and absolutely life changing!!!) Seoul Illustration Fair last summer. Although he’s not specifically an editorial illustrator, I don’t think that his work would be out of place in a magazine layout or even cover illustration. I love his use of rough oil pastels and paints, as well as the interesting and almost organic colour combinations that result from his choice of medium. It seems as though he mainly does portraits of people and I think what makes his work outstanding is how he always manages to capture their expression and/or mood even with the rough rendering and messy, painterly strokes.

앉아있는 그의 초상 , mixmedia on paper

A post shared by 過夜+Q (콰야) (@qwaya__) on

#2 Teresa Lim / teeteeheehee

Teresa is a local illustrator and textile designer whose work has been inspiring me for years. I think she was one of the first embroidery artists I discovered and I was instantly captivated by  the colours, patterns and textures of her work and the unconventional choice of medium. Since I started studying design I’ve been (subconsciously) moving away from traditional media in favour of the digital, and I think this assignment would be a great opportunity to revisit (and possibly incorporate?) more traditional media into my work.

#3 MARI KANSTAD JOHNSEN

Mari is an illustrator based in Oslo who has created editorial illustrations for atlasmag.dk and morganbladet. I think that the underlying theme for many of the illustrators that inspire me is that they have a great understanding of colour, texture and pattern that help simple images be effective and powerful in conveying messages, meaning and emotions. 


THEME: STYLE

I think my choice of theme was in part influenced by the reference artists I looked at – they all have very distinct styles and I thought that it would be fun to do a highly stylised piece on style. As a designer/illustrator also we’re often told to find our style and although it’s something I would like to do, it’s a really daunting task because everything is appealing and it’s so difficult to commit to one thing. Perhaps this could be a self-investigatory project too?