London, here I come!

Well I emailed my friend in London a week ago and I able to stay with him and his partner the maority of my stay which is absolutely brilliant. I'll be staying at a B&B for the remainder of the trip (last couple of days) as they have other house guests.

I have booked my flight tickets with KLM. I shall be leaving the Netherlands on the 26th of March in the morning and reaturning on the 3rd of April in the evening. I have also ordered my Oyster travel pass (pay as you go) and one week travel card which arrived a couple of days ago in the post.

All pretty exciting. I have been doing some research into Shakespearean places in London and have found quite a lot. Brilliant, should make my map even mre interesting and fun to make. Was a bit shocked to see it now cost 12 pounds to get into Westminster Abbey as it used to be free. Ah well, have been saving for a reason :D

I am currently in the proces of writing letters to possible contact people, currently focusing on the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Dave McKean and Neill Gorton.

I'm just really far too excited, can't wait. I was also told by Keith, our friend that he and Patrick live just down the road from the Ealing Film Studio. After a bit of research I have discovered that Doctor Who (the series of the first Doctors: William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton ,1960s-1970s, and a couple of the new episodes from the David Tennant era) were filmed there. I plan on sending them an email to see if I can have a peek inside at the studios. If not, ah well, but never hurts to ask.

Signing of now, shall post again when I have contacted the first people.

Stage Plan

Stage Plan; Imogen Smid; Illustratie 3; 2011-2012; AKV|St Joost, 's Hertogenbosch

-The illustration work fields for which I have an affinity and the reason for this (De beroepscontexten waarmee je affiniteit hebt en waarom)

As in life, the universe and everything I have so many different interests in the illustration work field. My main interests seem to be:

-Promotion for Cultural and Historical Corporations (Think of theatre, museums, historical sites and other such thing.)

-Apparel and Furniture/Furnishings Illustrations

-CD covers and other promotion/merchandise for the Music Industry

-Graphic Novels

-Character Design (think of TV programmes and Films in which characters star along-side humans, so more character costume based than animation)

-Educational in the form of Natural History and History

– The kinds of assignments and activities I would like to do (De soort opdrachten en werkzaamheden die je graag wilt doen)

So yes it's quite broad, but this is one of the main reasons why I decided to study illustration, as I feel it allows for this. I don't really have an order of preference for these different fields and as they lie quite far apart I want my stage time to make clear to me what to focus on.

Projects I want to Accomplish:

-Promotion Brochure

-T-Shirt Design

-CD Cover and Booklet

-Comic Book Cover

-Character Design in 2D and 3D

– The manner in which I plan to express these assignments and why (De vorm(en) van beroepsuitoefening die je voor ogen hebt en waarom)

-Shakespeare's Globe Theatre: A Fold out map which shows historical traces of Shakespeare in London on one side and a full page illustration on the reverse showing the Globe and giving promotional information of the theatre. To be a promotional brochure which can be bought/picked up at local Tourist Information, The Theatre or the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Shop.

-Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Shop: A T-Shirt design for one of the plays. This would fall under product design with the aim to give a better representation than what the shop currently has on offer. The posters in their shop are really great and give a good representation of the plays and the time that they originate from and the t-shirts show a strange contrast.

-CD Cover Design: I would like to reillustrate/redesign the cd cover for Clannad's album Legend which was the soundtrack for the tv series “Robin of Sherwood” broadcast in the 80s. I absolutely love the tv series and the soundtrack included. There are two existing covers of the album, one showing the leading actor from the series the other a photo of a lake. As these are both photographic covers I would like to make an illustrated version. This would include the front and back. The front would open as a booklet, but not too many pages. I would say a spread per two songs, so that makes five spreads. If necesary I would add an extra spread for band details etc. This is something I will know when illustrating. I would also illustrate the inlay under the cd and the cd.

-A Comic Book Cover: At first I had in mind to do a graphic novel of a few pages but now having done this in during general school time I realize that it is practically impossible to realise such a project in a short period of time especially when in conjunction with other projects. Instead I would very much like to illustrate a comic cover. I plan to illustrate a cover for the Hellblazer (John Constantine) comics. It is probably an idea to do this for an individual issue as the bundled book covers seem to be based on the individual issues (the cover Dave McKean illustrated for issue #1 is also the cover for bundle #1 Original Sins – issues #1-9 – ).

-BBC Doctor Who Character: In the programme Doctor Who there are frequently new characters, practically every episode and I don't just love the programme for the stories but I think their creature character design is brilliant!!! I would love to design a creature for Doctor Who, it's a bit of an ultimate dream to work on projects like these in the future. As a finished product I would like to have charcter description, sketches and a lifesize clay bust to show the 3D visualisation. I think that this project will definitely be a challenge but one I will happily undertake as I do believe it is doable.

– The aspects of my artistic, workfieldrelated and hbo-competentions I want to develop and why (De aspecten van je artistieke, beroepsgerelateerde en hbo-competenties die je wilt ontwikkelen en waarom)

I plan to orientate my stage on the British market as this is where I see myself in the future. By the end of the stage I want to have a better insight on the main difference between the British and Dutch markets.

By trying some new things I've never done before and by repeating some, I want to learn what I do and don't like about different illustration fields and whether they're fields I can fit into or not. By having such a broad range of projects I want to have a clearer view where my strengths and weaknesses lie.

Having the time to fully concentrate on these projects I really want to better my skills, particularly in the 3D (clay) modelling area. I really enjoy doing this but have little time to do it otherwize. The character design field for TV/Film on a 3D level (not digital) is something I have always found very interesting and I really want to know if this is a field I should concentrate on or not.

I feel that not constantly having the safety net of asking the teachers about my work will give my critical reflection a real boost in the right direction. As I have tried to do in this period I really want to continue to developing this in my stage.

I want to enjoy what I do and really have fun learning new things and strengthening skills.

– The role that my minor will have in the whole of it (De rol die je minor in het geheel speelt)

I hope that the minor will bring more clarity and a better balance to my work. The printing techniques force to determine fields of light and shadow which I feel will help to make my work communicate more. This developed insight is what I want to put into my stage. Whether I use the actual techniques will depend on their relevance to the projects.

– The practical activities I want to do during my stage/work experience (De praktische activiteiten die je tijdens je stage gaat verrichten)

I'm not quite sure what is meant by this as I feel that I have described most of that already. Apart from that already mentioned, I do plan to go to London at the beginning of stage as this will give me the chance to speak face to face with some of my contacts. I have decided to go at the beginning and not the end as the end date falls too close to the 2012 Olympics (27 July-12 Aug 2012). I don't want to go to London too near this period of time as it will be absolutely chaotic and harder to get done what I want to get done. Going at the beginning of the stage/work experience will also mean that I can do extra on location research for projects such as the Shakespeare Map of London. It's easier to really see the things you want to illustrate than using photos from books and the internet. I still need to arrange this trip and plan to get on to it a.s.a.p. so I won't miss out.

The situation in referenece to the workspace/environment during my stage/work experience (De situatie mbt werkplek/omgeving tijdens je stage)

I plan to work at home, I work the best when there are no other people around me. I just can't comfortably draw with people other than my family near me, hence that I don't often work at school. I have two large desks in my large loft room, decent internet connection, five bookcases full of inspiration and enough art materials. I have already started to reorder my things, my desk now looks amazingly orderly and have done so for more than a week which must be a record, to make better use of my space.

– The scedule layout and planning for the stage/work experience period (De indeling en planning van je stageperiode)

Initially I thought I should run all the projects alongside each other, a whole day concentrated on one project, the next day another. But after having visited Boom Artworks (he reminded us that sometimes you can have a time span of four days to finish an assignment) I don't think that this would be a good way of doing it, I think it would be more logical to tackle one project at a time. There's obviously the week of London at the beginning. Then I would say most projects will take a week to illustrate. The CD Cover and Character Design, as they are larger projects will definitely need longer, at least two weeks each. To be honest I'm really not sure how long the character design will take as this is quite different from projects we usually do so I plan to do this last so that if it needs extra time I can run it over into the summer holidays. It is quite possible that the map could run over into one and a half due to the historical elements that need to be accurate.

– The products I will create in the stage/work experience (De producten die je stage gaat opleveren)

-Promotion Brochure/Map for Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

-T-Shirt Design and printed T-Shirt for Shakespeare's Globe Shop

-CD Cover and Booklet of Clannad's album 'Legend'

-Comic Book Cover for an Issue of Hellblazer

-Character Design in 2D and 3D for the BBC programme Doctor Who

How the guidance and/or marking by the professionals is organised (Hoe de begeleiding en/of toetsing door professionals is geregeld)

I still need to contact the people who will look at my work but below I have a prepared list of people who I can contact for this purpose. I presume we are to hear exaclty how often we are supposed to speak to them.

Appointments/Agreements that still need to be made (Nadere afspraken die je nog moet maken)

-Contact people to look at my work

-Organise trip to London

-Materials research for Character Design (best clay to use etc.)

-Finalise Discisions: which play for Shakespeare t-shirt, which issue of Hellblazer and which creature for Doctor Who

List of possible contacts:

List of possible contacts:

Shakespeare Map Brochure:

-Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

http://twitter.com/#!/The_Globe - @The_Globe Bankside, London

http://www.facebook.com/ShakespearesGlobe

General InquiriesTelephone: +44 (0)20 7902 1400 - Email: info@shakespearesglobe.com

-Illustrator who worked on the Shakespeare Globe posters (still to discover name)

Shakespeare T-Shirt:

-Shakespeare's Globe Shop

Globe Shop - Telephone: +44 (0)20 7902 1588 - Email: shop@shakespearesglobe.com

-Illustrator who worked on the Shakespeare Globe posters (still to discover name)

CD Cover:

-Dave McKean

Linked to him personally I can only find a twitter account:
twitter.com/#!/DaveMcKean - Dave McKean - @DaveMcKean Kent, UK
I did manage to find an email for his agent:
http://www.allenspiegelfinearts.com/information.html - orders@allenspiegelfinearts.com

-Clannad (haha yeah right)

-Omnia or Faun band member (bands of similar genre and we heard from Boom Artworks that when illustrating for CD Covers it's actually usually the bands opinion opposed to the record company that he had to take on board)

Comic Cover:

-Dave McKean (illustrated numerous comic covers for Hellblazer and other comics)

-Menton (hasn't illustrated for Hellblazer but has done some for other single issue comics)

-Doctor Who Character Design

-London, Prosthetics Company that uses freelances

http://www.millenniumfx.co.uk/mfx/contact-us

mailto:info@millenniumfx.co.uk

Unit 6 . Springfield Works

Springfield Road . Chesham

Buckinghamshire . HP5 1PW

-Neill Gorton

Prosthetics Designer on Doctor Who

http://www.gortonstudio.com/index2.php

-Lauge Voight (has worked on some of my ultimate favourite things, it would be great to contact him)

Doctor Who (BRILLIANT), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 (WOW), Lesbian Vampire Killers (NO WAY!), Being Human (OMG!!!)

Voigt FX Tressebøllevej 2 5953 Tranekær Denmark +45 2570 3663 lauge@voigtfx.dk

-Dave Bonneywell

Harry Potter , Hellboy 2, Doctor Who

http://kaduflyer.deviantart.com/

-BBC Doctor Who queries contact:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/faq/form.shtml

My Heroes

While browsing through my blog I realised I hadn't posted my heroes from earlier on in the school period. So here they are:

Dave McKean - Kent
Dave McKean is an illustrator of all sorts of things. He has worked on Graphic Novels (written and illustrated), CD Covers, Posters, Book Covers, Animations and written, directed and designed characters for film and probably a view other things as well. I love his style as it remains very broad and I think his use of mixed media is brilliant. I also find it very inspirational that he does so many different kind of projects as I am also interested in a lot of different things (mainly the same one as he has worked for).

Linked to him personally I can only find a twitter account:
twitter.com/#!/DaveMcKean - Dave McKean - @DaveMcKean Kent, UK
I did manage to find an email for his agent:
http://www.allenspiegelfinearts.com/information.html - orders@allenspiegelfinearts.com



Shakespeare's Globe Theatre - London

Shakespeare's Globe theatre is a theatre rebuilt to match the one which stood in actual Shakespearean times. They put on an array of Shakespearean plays in full traditional costume. I love the real preservation of culture in this Theatre and think it would be amazing to do something for them.

http://twitter.com/#!/The_Globe - @The_Globe Bankside, London
http://www.facebook.com/ShakespearesGlobe
General InquiriesTelephone: +44 (0)20 7902 1400 - Email: info@shakespearesglobe.com
Globe Shop - Telephone: +44 (0)20 7902 1588 - Email: shop@shakespearesglobe.com



Weta Workshops - NZ

Weta Workshops is a Film Studio which has many specialities including creatures workshops and film weapon workshops (now also digital animation and effects in the Weta Digital facilities). They have done amazing work for the fantasy genre! They are the great pioneers who dared to bring the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Chronicles of Narnia to life and did so brilliantly. Although I could never work for them as it is purely based in New Zealand and I do not wish to return there, they remain of of my great heroes of the film world.

http://twitter.com/#!/wetaworkshop @wetaworkshop Wellington, New Zealand - http://www.facebook.com/WetaWorkshop
General and Client Enquiries - Telephone: +64 4 909 4000
Sales Marketing Promotion of Merchandise: Tim Launder - General Manager - Email : tim.launder@wetanz.co.nz - Telephone : +64 4 909 4105



The Doctor - ?
Although completely fantastical and uncontactable due to being, well, fictional one of my heroes is The Doctor. Doctor Who? Just The Doctor :D. He's a Time Lord (an alien from the planet Gallifrey) and he travels through time and space in his spaceship TARDIS (Time and relative dimension in space) which looks like those old blue police boxes.

Doctor Who is a programme broadcast by the BBC. As Doctor Who is an old cult programme started in the 60s it needed a reboost when relaunched in the early millenium. The creation team has made a great balance of the quirkiness of early film effects and modern technologies. I am very impressed with the character design in this programme, creature creations such as these are rarely seen in television and are more a thing for the big screen. Many people who work for the current Doctor Who programme dreamed of being envolved in it when they watched the earlier series. It must be a bit of a bug because it would be amazing to work for the Doctor Who behind the scene team.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/faq/form.shtml