Katharine Asher

Katharine Asher

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To chloejones2@live.co.uk

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Dear Chloe:

Please refer to my own site

www.kathywyatt.com

if you go to Figurative ..TRADITIONAL

you will see my earlier work which was far more 'loaded'/ realistic.

I much prefer the spontanaeity that water colour gives me .... and I continually evolve my style to stop me getting bored and to keep in lines with trends.

Watercolour ...I use both tubes and blocks - W&N is my preference

What medium I use depends on the job, and the effect I require.

My advice is

• Never stop life drawing
• Never be satisfied with what you are doing
• Revisit your childhood and 'play' with different mediums

good luck K

Chloe Jones

To howdy@illustrationweb.com

Howdy Katharine!

I'm currently studying towards my illustration degree in my second yea. I have been looking at your work recently as I struggle with representing the figure. The way that you can manipulate the shape to do with it what you want/need is fantastic! I work similarly in that I have a lot of white space and use a minimalist approach. I was wondering if you could spare a few minutes to help me with a few points please?

1. Is there any reason that you work with a lot of white space? Are you scared of overloading your image etc.?

2. You work with watercolour a lot, is this your preferred media? Is there any reason why?

3. Your images are very fluid and suggest movement, do you ever work without this quality?

4. Do you work with watercolours from a palette or from tubes? Is there any easier option for you?

5. Do you always work so minimal? Do you have any images hwere they are completely overloaded?

Thanks for your time, I appreciate that you must be extremely busy. If you could manage to respond it would be greatly appreciated and help me towards my studies.

Keep up the fab work) :)

Kind Regards

Chloe

I like the fluidity of Katharine's work. The use of watercolour gives a great sense of movement, which my work does lack. I am drawn the Katharine's work because similarly to me she uses a lot of white space with minimal work. Also, I have a tendency to add eyes to everything I do to turn them into cute characters.

I like the piece of advice where she says not to ever be satisfied with anything that you do. Keep on developing and churning out work to find its true potential.

Jessica Horrocks 2

Yes please I'd love to see! Send something over for sure.

I've always struggled with finding my style, too. Or with sticking to a style! I'm not there yet, though I always tend to gravitate back towards graphite drawings, watercolour washes and pattern. Hmm. Cool, I've traveled briefly through the UK but mainly stayed in London and with some relatives in Buckinghamshire. Never been to Liverpool!

All the best,

Jess

On 24/03/2011, at 4:03 PM, Chloe Jones wrote:

Hi Jessica,

Thank you so much for your prompt response you have helped loads! (",)

I study at Stockport college through Liverpool John Moore's University. I love my course, I'm into everything at the moment and I struggling to find 'me' and my style I seem to be drawn towards more of a collage method, but will dabble in anything. When I'm next in I'll send you something over if you're interested

Thanks again muchly appreciated

Chloe

jessicahor​rocks@gmail​.com

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To Chloe Jones

Hi Chloe :)

Thank you for your email. I'm flattered that you're looking at my work for inspiration! Here's my answers to your questions:

1. You seem to construct your work manually, is this a preferred method for you? If so why?

Yes. It just feels more natural and comfortable for me to work with "traditional" mediums like pencils and paper, rather than digital mediums. I feel like I have more control, confidence and freedom with pencils rather than with a mouse or a drawing tablet. I majored in graphic design before I switched to illustration, and I had been spending SO much time on my computer that when I got the opportunity to focus solely on illustrating I felt a need to get away from the monitor. I often end up scanning drawings and playing with them digitally, to make patterns or more images. Overall, I think a combination of both "traditional" and digital techniques work the best for me right now.

2. Is there any reason why you like to use flora and fauna in your work?

I think it's all the intriguing details and room for creative license. It's definitely more of an aesthetic thing, though often a symbolic or metaphoric meaning will emerge later.

3. Where do you get your inspiration from? Do you trawl through blogs or are there significant artists you like?

Scientific illustrations always inspire me, and they're pretty easy to come by. The ones I find are mostly anonymous since they all fit into such a specific genre, though I'd like to investigate specific artists and their different styles more. Bookstores and vinyl/CD shops usually offer a plethora of inspiring graphics and illustrations for me. I like the tactility of handling illustrations/graphics in print, rather than just viewing them digitally.

4. Do you move about a lot, or are you quite a static illustrator? Does this impact your work any?

Quite static. I find that I have to feel comfortable in a space before I can make something I'm truly happy with. I suppose this impacts my work in that it allows for planning and careful time-consuming detail. My work isn't very spontaneous. I think if I moved about a lot it could possibly take on a more unpredictable, unrestrained quality.

Ok, well that's all. So where do you study? Are you enjoying your course? What kind of work do you make? I'm always interested in seeing the work of others!

Jess :)

On 22/03/2011, at 11:37 PM, Chloe Jones wrote:

Hi Jessica!

I have been looking at your work recently for inspiration on an Indonesian themed project. I like the delicacy of your lines and characters, I was just wondering if you could help me with a few points. I am currently studying in my second year towards an illustration degree and was wondering:

1. You seem to construct your work manually, is this a preferred method for you? If so why?

2. Is there any reason why you like to use flora and fauna in your work?

3. Where do you get your inspiration from? Do you trawl through blogs or are there significant artists you like?

4. Do you move about a lot, or are you quite a static illustrator? Does this impact your work any?

Thanks very much for your time, I understand that you are probably extremely busy, your time is much appreciated. I look forward to your response

Kind Regards

Chloe

In the black and pink image, Jessica uses collage but in a very subtle way. I like the way that her choice of newsprint comes through the artwork but it is not the central point. Jessica tends to use more illustrator collage than actual manual collage which I tend to work with.

As I was struggling for Indonesian reference in terms of art/artists either currently or historically practicing, Peter pointed me in the direction of German Expressionist work. Although not Indonesian in origin, the colour is definitely linked. I have particularly been looking at Franz Marc whose work I really like. I think that expressionist work will relate to the work that I am producing well as I am trying to give the mood of coffee in my backgrounds. When doing an Athens search, I have also found that historically, Indonesian art (although I can't find any) was created on water buffalo hide and a prominent piece of architecture is the Borobudur. Also, Stupa architecture appears frequently as does batik.

This is a Franz Marc piece as has been created with chalk/pastel. This is interesting for me as I need to start adding these materials to my background to add the effect that Rudy (as seen in earlier posts) has achieved.

For my Indonesian inspired project I have been looking at Rudy Gutierrez who uses particularly striking colours which fit with my brief. I have contacted the fine artist/illustrator to see if he has any hints and tips as I was interested whether he works from a dark background and lightens it up with paint or whether he starts on a light background and works to make it darker. This is an important tool for me as I am trying to replicate this for my backgrounds. Here is a copy of what I have sent to him:

Hi Rudy!

I've been looking at your work recently for inspiration on an Indonesian themed project. The colours that you use are striking and fit well with what I'm doing. I'm currently studying in my second year towards my illustration degree and wondered if you could help me with a few points please?

1. You don't seem use a lot of white, is there any reason for this?

2. You don't seem to give yourself any space at all, the images are always really loaded, is there any particular reason why?

3. Do you work from a dark background to light or from a light background to dark? For example on 'She plays with the darkness' the background is particularly dark. Is there any reasons why?

4. What influences your work and are there any blogs you follow etc?

Thanks very much for your time, if you have the time to reply it would be greatly appreciated, I understand that you are probably extremely busy. Thanks again

Kind Regards

Chloe

The pattern on this image reflects the patterns that I have been generating with reference to Indonesia.

Here are a few attempts of my Indonesian inspired backgrounds. I love the effect and the colours, however the white shows through from the paper underneath. As a development I will now try to do the same on dark paper or a paper already with a darker wash on it. Additionally, I will try to add some chalk/pastel to give the background more depth.

Indonesia Research

For the first of our editorial briefs, I have chosen a magazine article from GQ about Kopi Luwak coffee. The idea is that civet cats from Indonesia feed on coffee berries, which pass through their digestive system and out of their anus. This is then washed and dried to make coffee at a whopping £50 per cup (can be sourced at Selfridges if you really are desperate to try this delicacy!) For this article I have started to brain storm ideas and look at research to inspire me and give me more insight into Indonesia.

With Indonesia being in the Far East, it seems to be pretty heavily influenced by oriental design. The colours are fantastic and am looking forward to incorporating them in my work. Indonesian shadow puppets appear to have significant value in their culture and are very intricately crafted. Paper cutting is not something that I have dabbled with before and so could be one direction for my next project to venture into.

Colours tend to be orange, terra-cotta, red and yellow, as can be seen in the images above. I like the use of black and the shadows are very precise, obviously the lighting in Indonesia will be much brighter and warmer than here in the UK!

I didn't have the idea of creating a civet cat puppet initially, although I won't disregard the idea completely at this early stage. It may be worthwhile gathering ALL of my ideas together and presenting them to see which has most mileage to carry forward. This is a lesson that I learned quickly in the last project as I found I tend to chop and change from one idea to the next and losing time and effort along the way. This time I am putting structures in place so that this does not happen. I am listing ALL of my ideas to begin with and then choosing one and sticking to it.

I had one idea of showing a cat metaphorically having flowers and butterflies and elements of luxury and prettiness coming from its rear end. I really like this idea and there is plenty of scope to play around with different elements and do so fittingly in an Indonesian style. Whilst researching butterflies on a simple Google search, I stumbled upon Cissy Cook. Her work does vary from mine. It is very pretty and has elements of beauty whereas I tend to have characters appearing all over the place. However, she does deal with white space in a similar way...

The idea of mixing collage with hand crafted things such as these delightful butterflies appeals to me. She deals with bright colours well which I will need to do for this project to convey that Indonesian origin. I also like the white frame, I think it looks expensive highlighting the hard work and effort that has gone into creating the work and worthy of a gallery space.