Ducks In Bonnets and Rabbits In Jackets. Laura Kiteley Talks Quirky Illustration, Anthropomorphism and Beatrix Potter!

Tags

animals, anthropomorphism, beatrix potter, children's book, illustration, inspiration

I think that it’s an animal’s inability to be judgemental (except perhaps in the case of cats) that draws me to them. I have never once felt uncomfortable around an animal as I sometimes do with people.

 

As you can probably tell by looking through my section on the Illustration Machine site, I like to draw animals. I can draw other things too, but animals are my favourite. They are a huge source of inspiration to me. There is an infinite variety of colours and textures which make them so wonderful to draw. But it is their personalities which I find most exciting. In the same way as every human has a different personality, so do animals, and I love trying to portray this through my illustrations.

 

 

I draw in quite a graphic style. I use Edding Drawliner pens of different nib widths. My favourites are the tiny nibs which are 0.2mm thick. These are excellent for creating the texture of fur in an illustration. I use Adobe Illustrator to colour in my illustrations as I like the contrast between the flat blocks of digital colour and the tiny pen marks. I also work just in pen, or in watercolour.

I think my biggest artist influence has to be Beatrix Potter. Although our styles are completely different, she shared the same view of animals as I do and found them fascinating to draw. People laughed at her anthropomorphism of animals; ducks in bonnets and rabbits in jackets, but they went on to become some of the best-selling children’s books of all time. Even today some people find the attribution of ‘human’ characteristics to animals ridiculous, but I cannot look at an animal without seeing a human quality in it. When they have so much personality and share so many of the same traits as we do, it seems like the logical thing. After all, we are all animals.

by Laura Kiteley

Socks, Satan and Sticking Out Like A Sore Thumb. Artist, Nikkie Lees Talks Freelancing!

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album art, artist, education, fashion, freelance, illustration, textiles

My name is Nikkie Lees. I am currently working as a freelance designer, illustrator and artist, but I’ll come to how that came about in a short few moments. I have been interested in art from a very young age. Always doodling, asking people if I could draw them, making birthday, Christmas and Easter cards for my family. In fact, I found an autobiography written in my last year of primary school in 1992 the other day. In the ‘what I want to be when I grow up’ section, I said I wanted to be an artist, so, I guess I have ticked that box!

Here comes the education part… I did French, Spanish and Art at college, then went on to do a Btec in art and design. I started a degree in fine art but, for some reason, disliked every waking second of my days there, so I took a rather long ‘assessment’ break, working as an administrator in one of the most awful portacabins known to man. A few brain numbing jobs later, my Mom got re married. I was to be the chief bridesmaid along with my adorable 2 year old sister. Following a few debates with mommy dearest about shape and colour of bridesmaid dress ( HELL NO I AM NOT WEARING PEACH!!!), we decided that I would make my dress, thus choosing my own shape, fabric and colour. This compromise turned out beautifully, and steered me towards a new life path. After slaving away in secret for one evening a week, for a few weeks, the dress looked beautiful, and not a soul believed that I had made it.

I got a portfolio together, and got myself on an HND in Fashion and Textiles. This lead to enrolling on a degree in Fashion, where I majored in Illustration. Always one to go against the grain, I illustrated a post-apocalyptic novel about vampires. Pretty sure I took the wrong course again there! Stood out like a sore thumb in the look book…

The degree did, however lead to a job within the fashion industry. For roughly three years, I designed socks for the high street. I had designs in New Look, Internacionale, River Island, Republic, Topman, Claire’s, House of Fraser, Matalan, and so on and so forth. You never know, you may even own a pair of Nikkie’s..

In short, although I gained an absolute wealth of technical knowledge, skills, invaluable experience, contacts, and a very special friendship. Unfortunately, I also gained a twitchy eye, because, yes, I did, in fact work for a man who I liken to Satan himself. We parted ways early this year, and here I am now, doing it for myself, following my true path, no twitches unless I have been sitting in the design pod for far too long. I love what I do, and I put my full effort into every task I take on.

I still design for fashion, but I also illustrate books, create album art, design band logos, tattoos, draw portraits, you name it, if I can draw or create, I am happy. Recent projects include illustrating a book called What We Never See, by Jasmin Graham, a young talented writer. I am currently working on album art for iKaros, a new and incredibly exciting electronic vocal collaboration, I recently produced album art for Devil Red, a talented local rock band, and I am working on some top secret projects I cannot yet announce, but watch this space, and of course, contact me if I can help you!  

by Nikkie Lees

Teen Fiction and The World. What Inspired IM Writer, Jade Secker, To Pick Up A Pen?

Tags

books, inspiration, jacqueline wilson, teen fiction

From a young age, writing seemed to fill my spare time. Using my imagination, creating new worlds and funny situations was far more enjoyable than most other things that children normally do. I was the child who always got told off for daydreaming in class. I wasn’t ‘present’ they used to say.

I used to read a lot too. Most children are disappointed when they get given books for Christmas; books are up there in the boring present pile with clothes and things you need, rather than things you want. However, books were one of my favourite things to have. From a young age I loved losing myself within the pages of a good book; a past time I still enjoy now.

Teen fiction is what I believe determines whether people will be ‘readers’ or not. By adolescence, you have reached the age where reading is no longer something you are made to do as a taught lesson, there are no grades and assessments; it’s purely for fun. Therefore, if you become captivated by a book during this time frame in your life, I believe for the rest of your life you are in search of another book that offers the same escapism and joy that you found in that one. Consequently gaining lifetime access to some sort of readers club.

During my teen years, Jacqueline Wilson was the one to captivate me within the pages of her books. Favourites included ‘Girls in Love,’ ‘Midnight’ and of course, ‘Tracey Beaker.’ Her style of writing was so unique, that as a reader, you knew whose books you were enjoying without having to look at the cover. I believe that is what makes a good writer. This is something that I aspired to do within my own writing and the more books I read, the more inspired I became.

I met Jacqueline Wilson when I was about fourteen. She was doing a book signing at my local ‘Waterstones’ and I was far too excited. I became obsessed with the idea that if I could get her to read some of my work, she would think it was that fantastic that she simply MUST publish it. The night before I sat up for hours frantically typing, trying to get as much of my handwritten book into a concise format as possible.

At school I was fidgety and irritable; desperate for the day to finish so I could begin my life dream. I queued for hours and hours and strangely I don’t remember moaning about being bored; though I’m sure my mom would tell it differently. I finally reached the front of the queue and met the woman that had inspired me to write teen fiction. I was awe struck to say the least. She signed my book and I handed over the first three chapters of my first full novel. I had safety clipped my address to the top of the page and she assured me she would read it as soon as possible. She thanked me for reading her books and said she was glad that I had found it to be such an inspiration.

I waited for weeks and weeks, everyday my hope for a reply decreasing. Until one day when a postcard was pushed through the door amongst all of the other post. In case you can’t read what it says (it took me a while!) it says “It was lovely to meet up with you. Thank you for letting me read your super story. I think it’s brilliant – so lovely and truthful about girls!”

I think that has got to be one of the proudest moments of my life. It didn’t matter to me that she would more than likely say it was good even if it wasn’t, just to spare the feelings of a fourteen year old fan. It was the fact that she had taken the time to read it and actually reply. This gave me further confidence and encouragement to continue writing and pursue my dreams.

Further inspiration came later on in my teen years when I began looking at the world differently. I didn’t just flick a switch and decide to actually pay attention; it was a subtle change in me that I didn’t realise was occurring. I immersed myself in the world around me and paid attention to minute things in life that were telling a story.

I began to enjoy another of my favourite past times on a regular basis with my mom; people watching. I was fascinated by other people and their actions and behaviour. I remember sitting in countless restaurants with my mom attempting to decipher the family’s story that were sat at the adjacent table. This alone was enough to inspire a whole story; or the basis of one at least. After that, I would just let my imagination take me where it pleased.

Today, my inspirations come from many different things in life. On occasion I struggle to find something inspiring and I struggle to write, but I know that if I put down my pen and take a walk, inspiration will find me. I believe that’s how it should be; don’t go looking for the inspiration, let it find you.

by Jade Secker

What We Never See, ‘Life, The Universe and Everything’, an introduction to Jasmin Graham.

Tags

david icke, everything, graphic novel, inspiration, life, planet nibiru, the universe

My Name Is Jasmin Graham. I am currently a college student and I am poor in society eyes. My college course is extremely rewarding yet overly time consuming. I do hope to achieve a lot from my time and effort spent. I study Creative Media Production, and it’s actually not difficult, you just have to be committed; that I am.

I’m 18 now, a good three years from the first time I put pen to paper and got my first piece of writing done. When I say writing I mean my first piece of independently researched hand written work. I would spend so much of my time with my ears glued to the radio back when I was 15. I loved it, 10 times more than the television, which I knew was just an entertainment for the eyes. A big square object of nothingness as it was back then. To speak about the radio was not completely of topic. It was in fact a link to say that I used to listen to a radio show called ‘The Night Before’ the name of the show giving away nothing to some and perhaps obscure thoughts to others. Well just so we are all clear the show itself had a slogan that never left my mind ‘Life, The Universe And Everything’. What a brilliant slogan. It discussed a different, new and interesting topic every night. This was the ultimate show I had ever heard at this time. It was above all to me. The sort of topics discussed would range from the planets in the solar system and what the scientists really knew. To the way the human mind worked and mind control. Being exposed to such awesome knowledge I felt privileged to say the least. I would never miss a second of that show.

The presenter and the producers worked together on the show to make it come alive. The producers were included in the presenting of the show, which was the point I also first discovered the job role ‘Radio Producer.’ The entire show was so real. Once, the team left their microphones on during a song. They were having a whole conversation. I really don’t think they did it on purpose as they never mentioned it afterward they just went into commercials straight away. I also learned about ‘filling time’ and ‘links’ in radio all from this show. I began to gain so much knowledge I didn’t know what to do. So I decided to write down what I got from the show, what I felt was really interesting and what people love to hear about. Not only did I begin writing, I also began to gain knowledge on what is now my career path.

My greatest inspiration to this day will always be David Icke. I first heard of him on ‘The Night Before Show.’ He has taught me so much, and allowed me to understand what people want. They don’t want to be forced into anything. They don’t want to be told what to believe. They want to gain their own knowledge and their own understandings. I aspire to be just like David Icke and write books with knowledge that will go out to the people. Perhaps one day I will give speeches too.

I come from Moseley in Birmingham and I have lived here all my life. Moseley is known for its strange hippie occult scene, apparently. I love the culture in Moseley though it’s very much alive. I like to see the different types of people that catch the 50 bus as they are not the same as the people who catch the bus in any other area of Birmingham. The people who catch the 50 are off to Moseley or Kings Heath. I tell you, these people are very different in a very good way.

I hope my writing brings about a new question for you. A question of the universe and what it is all about.

What We Never See

“What We Never See” is a collection of short pieces that have been put together over a course of three years. The first piece that was created was entitled ‘The Planet Nibiru’ in 2009 after some research was done into the planet in the solar system. Ever since hearing about the planet Nibiru and its apparent ability to destroy the earth ‘The Planet Nibiru” was revised with even more information in it that the original draft. This marked the beginning of my writing, as I felt there was a need to look into things such as this, things that the majority of people may not have heard of. I wanted to interest and awaken humanity. So I decided to create many more informational pieces from then on.

The most recent piece produced is entitled ‘Human Race’ this piece features in the book along with great illustration to give an idea of what the writing is putting forward. This piece was written to make people think about their life and the world around them, with a fair bit of opinion in there as well.

The intention for this book is that the writing makes people think about the world around them not only that but also to give people knowledge on topics that we are usually kept in the dark from.

by Jasmin Graham

Illustrated by Nikkie Lees

Illustrated by Nikkie Lees

Nikkie Lees

What We Never See is part of The Illustration Machine’s Comics & Graphic Novels range.

Coming soon …

Is Great Children’s Illustration Key To Engagement Or Do We Leave It To A Hamburger? The Illustration Machine Investigates

Tags

books, campaign, children, illustration, mcdonalds, national literacy trust

Well, well, whatever next? McDonald’s is set to become the biggest book distributor in the UK.

I don’t know how I feel about this; happy in one sense but concerned in another as they are tied in with Macdonald’s Happy Meal promotion. Still, if their five week promotion kick starts a few reading habits then the Illustration Machine will hope that a little more exposure to first class children’s illustrations and stories will be, on balance quite a good thing for the industry.

Their planned book give away has just started and will last for a further month and their intention is to focus on Dorling Kindersley’s Amazing World series which has a non-fiction theme, this time around.

Their plan is that in a year’s time the company will have handed out more than 15 million books to children. Yes, I guess the idea is to promote the Happy Meal but there is another side to the campaign as McDonald’s continue to clean up their act after the damaging Morgan Spurlock Supersize Me documentary.

This latest campaign is centred on encouraging families to make reading together a part of their daily lives. After all, somewhat worryingly the latest research from the National Literacy Trust (NLT), is showing that only 50 pc of a target group of 21 000 kids like reading. After all, it seems there are much more exciting things that demand their attention and available time.

The National Literacy Trust.
The only national charity dedicated to raising literacy levels in the UK.

So Macdonald’s comes to the rescue and their tokens can be redeemed at outlets such as WH Smith. So if this works it may well be practical proof that book ownership does actually impact on how well children do in the future. Nowadays up to a third of kids do not actually own a book and many more are simply not turned on by reading.

Mind you if some quality children’s books and illustrators are put in front of children early they may be even more excited than getting some kind of plastic toy alongside their hamburger. The Illustration Machine would very much like to get in on the act and is currently scratching its collective head to think of a suitable partner for such an initiative. Anyone want to suggest a good idea? Do let us know.

Meanwhile we are busy drawing, editing, writing, designing and promoting our exciting new books and we hope you will check back to see just what we get up to in the following weeks.

by Vivienne Neale

The Illustration Machine Breaks Through Traditional Border Control. If You Can Think It We Can See It!

Tags

children's book, illustration, opportunity, pinterest, transformation

It’s fascinating to watch visual culture evolving in the digital age. Every day we are bombarded by colour, info graphics and images. Our desire for visual stimulus appears insatiable. Look at Pinterest for example, it’s a bizarre social medium platform where you share images you have found and ‘pin’ them for others to see and it’s the fastest growing social media ever! I spend ages perusing the boards that appear to have unleashed an addiction I didn’t even know I had!

So, in this age of complex imagery have you noticed how many books are no longer illustrated; interesting isn’t it? Anyone who collects rare books will know and love the engravings that accompanied the most austere of volumes. In fact, in the past books for adult readers would have been illustrated as a matter of course. Yet towards the end of the twentieth century that wasn’t the case and the trend was to drop illustration however popular it might have been. Even with children’s books there began to be a dearth of images. Look at Rowling’s Potter books; there are no illustrations and one might have thought these were ripe opportunities.

Yet it was not to be; much effort is still lavished on covers; although sometimes you do wonder if there is any point with the number of promotional stickers that now adorn books like a rash of spots. Whatever goes on outside the book; if it’s adolescent or adult, illustration is unlikely to  feature between the covers.

 

But if you truly believed this was a fait accomplis you would be oh so very wrong. There is an underground force at work reclaiming the page for illustration and there are some truly exciting yet fairly traditional developments such as graphic novels. These have taken the publishing world by storm and can no longer be dismissed as hobbies for enthusiasts. Graphic novels have entered the mainstream bringing all kind of opportunities for artists with them.

Yet there is so much more; we are skilled at reading images and certainly seem to crave more risks to be taken with our illustration and as the digital revolution continues we see bastions of our culture beginning to understand their days are numbered. Magazines are already becoming digital with no equivalent hard copy. In fact, traditional purveyors of print are being forced to re-invent themselves and keep up.

Therefore you might say this is the time for illustrators to shine and in fact there seems to be a groundswell of talent emerging who are appealing to all ages once again. After all there are brilliant platforms for their work on the new generation of hand held devices that are eminently portable, accessible and brilliant. At last, high resolution and increasingly improved screens mean work can be seen in a vibrant and exciting way that could not have even been imagined ten years ago.

With the sense that time’s winged chariot is always close behind everyone wants to soak up the sense and as we know a picture is worth a thousand words and everyone is looking. With computer games and the development of CGI animation we see as a matter of course what we once understood as publishing has changed. Post modernism blurred boundaries but this new movement combining mash up, hi-jack and kaleidoscopic and jittery change is probably the most amazing time for everyone passionate about visual annotations.

The Illustration Machine understands the need for this transformation and embraces the fantastic opportunities this epoch is creating. Conventional border controls are no longer in operation; if you can think it then it’s likely you can realise any idea and that’s the tenet upon which our cooperative is based.

So if you want to keep up with what’s happening in the world of illustration, then bookmark this blog and if you have something to say, then say it. We would love to hear your experiences and ideas.

by Vivienne Neale