Analysis

After all this research into various career opportunity’s and course idea's, I have decided that I really want to be an Illustrator, I truly enjoy illustrating big pictures with backgrounds, it's a challenge but the finished product is worth it. I really was interested in the design for games course as although I wanted to be a character designer and the course was more general than what I wanted it still looked really fun and a great opportunity but although I enjoy drawing non-humans and backgrounds I really enjoy drawing humans and that wasn't really the focus of the course, also designing a character involves a lot of sketches and I rather work on a finished picture. As for Graphic design, I never really was interested in this, it was simply a back up plan in case I couldn't make it into illustration.

After working all this out I decided to have a talk with the leader of the BA (Hons) Illustration course, she told me all about the course and how as I have an understanding of anatomy and especially knowledge of digital art programs I would be ahead of the quite a lot of the class. After having time to think it over I came to the decision that the course would be a waste of three years. The whole purpose of the Illustration course is to experiment with every type of Illustration and make a style for yourself for people who don't already have a chosen style when I already know I want to draw stylised realism and that I have my own style I developed in my free time. This was actually quite a relief as I was worried about the debt from the £9000 course.

Instead of going onto this course I am going into full time work and improving my illustration skill in my free time and hopefully also doing some illustration jobs as well. I am confident I can continue to improve and develop without higher education as I have basically taught myself this much already from what I can perceive with my own two eyes and various tutorials on the internet and in books as well as experimentation with new ways of drawing, sketching, colouring and painting backgrounds. I wont be going into part time work and focusing more on getting Illustration jobs just yet as I want to have a stable job to live off and the illustration market is just to unpredictable, it could range from months to days between jobs and I would rather slowly ease into illustrating to give myself as much time to improve as possible.

In a few years as I get more confident with my art I will look into more challenging illustrations as I don't want to be stuck in a job that I don't like for the rest of my life. As I get more confident in my skills I will also try my very best to get my work out there, I plan to offer schools, library’s and youth centres free illustrations just to get it seen by my target audience, as my work is a bit to contemporary for older people.

Covering Letter

Jodie Pearce

7 Cromwell Road

St Judes

Plymouth

PL4 9QR

Disney Studios

500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521-9722

14th December 2011

Dear Sir/Madam

Application for character design apprenticeship

My name is Jodie Pearce and one thing you should know about me is that I am a massive fan your classics but I have lost passion and faith for the company after your 2D films started to die out and be replaced my films like High School Musical and Hannah Montanna. Like the rest of the Disney classic fans I went to the cinema to see Tangled out of a feeling of obligation to the company for at least trying but when I actually saw it. It blew my mind, it was such a step forward from all the old princess films and it reminded me again why I loved Disney, the animation, score, songs, it was all amazing. After watching it again and again I realised that even though this is an amazing step forward, there is so much more you can do building from it and that is what I would like to do if I ever got the chance to be a character designer for you, push the boundary's. Make stronger 'princesses' who don't have to be saved, villains that aren't just 'evil', side characters not just there for kids to laugh at. 

Although my talent is drawing my passion has always been designing characters. Since a young age I have been in love with fairy tales, books and films and as I perused my career in art my experience from this inspired me to start making my own characters and eventually worlds. Over the years my artistic talent has improved to quite a high level and I learnt important skills like perseverance and creativity as well as broadening my horizons and looking at more than just western films and books. I believe all this has helped improve my character design skills as as my skill increased I realised I could draw more interesting clothing and hair styles which has pushed my character design way up and I truly believe I could really make some amazing characters with the right guidance.

I know you don't offer apprenticeships for character design but I seriously believe we need more character designers as even if the film is beautifully animated with an amazing plot and score it will still do badly if no-one likes the characters, as they are, I believe, the most important part of the film. I would be happy to discus my idea's with you further or even have an interview. 

Yours Faithfully

Jodie Pearce

CV

Jodie Pearce

7 Cromwell Road

St Judes

Plymouth

PL4 9QR

01752 267 136

07535601338

Jpearce5@plymouthart.ac.uk

Professional Profile

Hard-working artist who is imaginative and independent. Organized and intelligent with a strong academic skills including mathematics, writing and science.

Skills

ñ  Creativity

ñ  Maturity

ñ  Illustration

ñ  Open-mindedness

ñ  Writing

ñ  Quick Learner

ñ  Can work independently or in a group.

ñ  Calculation

ñ  Perseverance

ñ  Knowledge of Computers

ñ  Can use different computer programs, for example Microsoft Exel, Microsoft Powepoint, Adobie Photoshop ect.

ñ  Hard-working

Education

June/July 2009

            Lipson community college

                  GCSE Drama – Grade C

June/July 2010

            Lipson community college

           

                        GCSE Textiles – Grade B

                        GCSE English – Grade A                  

                        GCSE English Literature – Grade B

                        GCSE Mathematics – Grade A

                        GCSE Science – Grade B

                        GCSE Additional Science – Grade A

                        Function Skills English Writing Level 2 – Pass

                        BTEC First Diploma Art and Design – A/A*

Work Experience

One week work experience set up by Lipson in Waterstones (Drake Circus) 2010

References

Available on request 

Employment Vacancies and Leads

Employment Vacancies




Looking through the internet I found three job vacancies that would be suitable.

Creative Designer

http://www.totaljobs.com/JobSeeking/Creative-Designer_job52368296

This job is set in Bristol and has a salary of £25,000 per annum, it is looking for someone with a well polished portfolio who is a natural at digital art programs like photoshop and illustrator. They also need you to have a keen eye for typography, colour and layout which will help to pinpoint a variety of design techniques to solve specific design problems. You also need to be good at multitasking and communication. Bringing something new to the job would be a massive bonus as well.

This job sounds really good but I don't think it will give me much creative freedom, also I think it would be aimed more towards graphic designers.

Designer And Artworker - Design & Print

http://www.itjobspost.com/JobSeeker/search.cfm?page=position-description&JobID=183746

This job is set in Surrey and the salary is £ 25000-30000 Per Annum. The company is a supplier of design and print and they have a design studio where they create high quality printed material, they are looking for someone who is hard-working and good under pressure with good knowledge of digital art programs, especially 3D would be a bonus. 

This job sounds more like a following job not leading like the one before, which I prefer as I don't have much experience.

Creative Artworker

http://www.companyexplorers.com/index.php?post_id=161506

This job is based in Waltham Cross and pays £18 per hour, they are looking for someone with photoshop skills on the mac. They also want you to be  highly organised, a good communicator and have good attention to detail. As well as that you need a strong portfolio.


This job seems more flexible than the rest with the whole £X per hour, it also seems like it's based in a studio with macs which I am not used to.




Employment Leads




Disney Character Designer


I have always loved Disney and it would be absolutely amazing to be a character designer there, I have grown up with it's classic films and I loved how even with each style change the movies were so predominately Disney. Although the company had declined over the years and a lot of their films come across as the same old stuff again, after seeing Tangled it feels like the company may be going up-hill again and having a chance to create a princess, villain or comedy relief character with my own little twist or even have an influence on the films style would actually be a dream come true, especially since character design has become my passion over the years.


Studio Ghibli Character Designer


I discovered Ghibli in my late teen's and I fell in love with how the films weren't just the typical prince meet princess story's. Most were about the journeys of the characters. I'd love to do illustrations for Ghibli but they don't really need them, but drawing the designs for the characters would be so much fun, especially since the films have amazing slightly unusual designs even though the style doesn't change like with Disney. Unfortunately being based in Japan would cause language barriers but it is still one of my dreams to work there.


Square Enix Character Designer


Until I actually looked into this company I wasn't really impressed but once I played Kingdom Hearts it opened my eyes to the company I discovered the amazing designs Tetsuya Nomura (Now one of my hero's) for the Final Fantasy games as well as Kingdom Hearts and The World Ends With You. I think my dream job would be Nomura's, he designs the characters for the games as well as monsters and the plot, all his designs are so unique they are one of the things that makes the whole company stand out. I am not even a game fan but some of Square's work is absolutely breathtaking and working there would be a dream come true, although since the company is situated in Japan like Ghibli there would be language barriers.  

Personal Statement

Drawing has been my passion since my early years; I was especially fascinated by cartoons and animations, primarily Disney. The way emotions and feelings were conveyed through the animation really interested me, especially since animation is seen inferior to live action by many. Over the years I moved away from cartoons and developed a deep love of fantasy books as well as taking art up in secondary school, where I experimented with painting, clay modelling, watercolours, wire modelling and textiles, which I was very interested in as I was interested in being a character designer at the time after seeing the costumes in the Lord of the Rings films. When I discovered more serious and mature cartoons like “Avatar the Last Airbender”, an American cartoon heavily influenced by the ‘anime’ style with a great fantasy plot it opened my eyes to animation again and I soon got into anime; the broad range of serious dramatic plots and light-hearted comedies through the genre really intrigued me and I started to experiment with drawing it, mixing the anime art style with my love of fantasy to develop my own style, and using my designing skills to make interesting characters and outfits.

Now at seventeen I have a high understanding of anime and its various styles, my personal favourite anime artist being Tite Kubo, creator of “Bleach”, I love the way he draws men with realistic proportions but still makes them look like anime. Over the years of experimentation my own personal style has developed as I gradually discovered what and how I enjoy drawing the most, although even now I am still improving on it. At fourteen I made a DeviantART account to share my art on the internet and to help myself develop through constructive criticism, I’ve done various “point” commissions on the site for various other members and made many new friends whose feedback has really helped me. Although anime is my primary style I also enjoy drawing fantasy creatures, various landscapes and my own semi-realistic style.

Because of my love of drawing when I finished school I joined Plymouth college of Art on the “Digital Graphics” course as I am a digital artist, I enjoy traditional work but I prefer the control and accuracy you can get from using a graphics tablet in a digital program. When I joined college the course had changed name to ‘Interactive Media and Game Art’s’ which was good as over the holidays I had developed a passion for games like Final Fantasy and was contemplating going into the game industry so it was a good opportunity to try different things and find out what I enjoy best and what career to pursue. Through the first year I got quite into Flash and this year I’ve gotten quite good at 3D modelling, I enjoy doing both these things but I still prefer drawing in general so I decided to become an Illustrator.

Although I feel that I don’t want to go into the game industry, the course “Interactive media and Game Arts” have helped me develop many skills, it has helped me lean how to use many computer programs like Flash, Photoshop and 3DS Max as well as improving my team-work skills, persistence, idea development, time management and focus. Which is a useful add on to my existing drawing, designing and animation skills, also I’m a quick and hard worker which was useful when I first joined the course. If I am accepted into the Illustration course I am hoping to gain a better grasp of the industry through it and develop my style even more through feedback from lecturers and fellow students.

Portfolio research

Today we started researching portfolio's online and I found a good website (http://carbonmade.com) where you can see loads of online portfolio's. I found some really good examples of good and bad portfolio's, most had a white background with clearly labelled buttons for different sections of their work like this http://aitch.carbonmade.com/, this gives your portfolio a nice professional look while also making the page easy to navigate, you can also see a consistent style throughout their portfolio although they have also showcased their various skills, also they have contact information so if your interested you can get in contact.Another good point of this portfolio is the fact they have their own logo in the top left which acts like a home button as well. An example of a bad portfolio comes from http://julldiaz.carbonmade.com, the dark background really doesn't work and the way the one section is in the upper left corner emphasizes the fact that there's only one. It also looks like the artist was too lazy to make any more, a simple thing like having it centred would make the whole think look better as it would look like it belonged there on it's own. Also the about me section is all in Mexican which isn't helpful to any foreign potential employers, also she only has one image in her gallery which isn't very inspiring as you have no idea how she draws other things. The best blog I found was http://cakeandkingdom.carbonmade.com/, a very cool looking portfolio where he doesn't just add a caption to an existing image for his buttons, the text is made part of the art which really draws attention to him and makes his page stand out, even his logo for the homepage is in his artstyle and it stands out a lot. Also his info area has his real name and some background info on him as well as his contact info ect. which helps give his portfolio life and a realistic feel as instead of just a bunch of images on a webpage it's the work of this one guy with a quirky art-style and personality.

Course reasearch

BA (Hons) Illustration (3 year)

http://www.plymouthart.ac.uk/prospectus/Degree-and-Honours/BA-Topup/BA-(Hons)-Illustration-(3-year)/ILFT1A1213

The first course I looked into was the BA (Hons) Illustration course at Plymouth College of art, since my main job goal is to be an illustrator. To get into this course I need:

Minimum 5 GCSEs, grade C or above, from a general range of educational GCSE subjects, preferably including at least one from Art, Design, Textiles or Media. (I have these)
200 UCAS Points (I hope to have 240-280 from completing this my current course)

In this course over the three years you will have to experiment with different mediums and styles while completing a series of briefs. I was quite disappointed to learn that the course is more about finding a style instead of developing technical skills like I hoped.

BA (Hons) Graphic Design (3 year)

http://www.plymouthart.ac.uk/prospectus/Degree-and-Honours/BA-Topup/BA-(Hons)-Graphic-Design-(3-year)/GDFT1A1213

This course seemed to be a good back up plan if I didn't get into Illustration but I'm not that keen on it. The course has the same requirements as Illustration but it is more based around media such as print, TV ect. Throughout the course you will get experience in making a range of things, from custom fonts to whole advertising campaigns, and although this sounds fun and interesting, I'd rather work on a detailed illustration than a logo so this course is only really a back up plan.

BA (Hons) Design for Games (3 year)

http://www.plymouthart.ac.uk/prospectus/Degree-and-Honours/BA-Topup/BA-(Hons)-Design-for-Games-(3-year)/DFFT1A1213

Just like the previous two courses you need 5 GCSE's and 200 or more UCAS points so I should be able to get in after my current course. Design methods looks like a very interesting course and most of the illustrated gallery work is actually more skilled then the Illustration's gallery's work. In this course you work with a variety of different digital programs as well as an in-depth look into the industry. You also get to look more into game mechanics and story lines. This course sounds really really interesting but it's not really the area I want to go into and I think the technical work with 3D programs would stress me out.

There is also an option to go straight into work and pick up illustration in my free time but I'm not really confident in my ability's.   

Job prospects and how to get there

Freelance Illustrator

The first job I looked up was a general illustrator as I am interested in drawing and I view my artistic talent as one of my skills. To become an illustrator you don't need any specific qualifications, although a degree in illustration would be useful. The only thing truly required is artistic talent but skills such as attention to detail, creativity, time management, a variety of styles, the ability to work to a brief and communication skills with the client are essential, especially if the client want's you to go in a certain area. In this job you may be asked to illustrate many things, from medical diagrams to  business cards and you can be based at home or a studio depending if your freelance (at home) or permanently employed (in a studio or at home depending on the size of the job). If you are freelance like most illustrators you may want to hire an agent to find and negotiate with clients for you, unfortunately this costs quite a lot as they can take up to 40% of the payment so they're not the most sensible of idea's. For an illustrator just starting out salaries can range from £14,000 to £19,000 a year but when experienced you could earn up to £20,000 or even £30,000. Earnings during the first years may be patchy and many illustrators take part-time jobs to survive, earnings may also vary depending on the state of the market so it isn't the most stable of jobs, you also might be stuck working long and uncomfortable hours in order to meet a deadline.  


To get this job I would preferably go onto the BA (Hons) Illustration coerce to get more experience and develop my skills, I can get onto this course with the qualifications from the course I'm on now. The skills I feel I'd need to improve on for this course are my semi-realism style, my backgrounds skills, my animal/monster drawing skills and my vector imaging skills as 99.9% of my artwork is bitmap based. To help me improve I have started to study animal anatomy, buildings and landscapes, I hope through practice to keep improving until I reach my desired level.

Character designer

The second job I looked into was character design, it's quite similar to illustration in the fact you don't need qualifications, just artistic talent but there is another main skill you need for this job, imagination and creativity. Skills like the ability to follow a brief, attention to detail, good idea development are important as well at communication with the client, which is especially crucial. Again you could work from a studio or home for this kind of job although input from co-workers would be useful, as a character designer you could be asked to design many different characters, for example game villains or just background characters. An average salary for character design for a year is £20,000 but this really depends on who's employing you, your skill level and the state of the market at the time, quite like illustration. As a character designer you'll have to convert concept art into designs and model sheets (Also called turn-arounds) for the animators to use.

To get this job I would preferably go onto the BA (Hons) Illustration course to get more experience and develop my skills, I can get onto this course with the qualifications from the course I'm on now. To get this job I'd have to improve my anatomy skills, especially with different views of people and my art of non-humans like animals and magical creatures.

Graphic Novelist

The last job I looked into was a graphic novelist, yet again no strict qualification is needed yet artistic skill plays a big part in this job as well. Useful skills for this job include imagination and creativity, patience, perseverance, time management and most importantly drive to finish what you started as this job can really be hard work. There are a couple of ways to get your novel published; either by entering a competition, becoming an assistant and working your way up, pitching a mock up of your story to a publisher, or on the other hand you could publish it yourself, but this is expensive. Or you could publish a web-comic and wait to be approached but this isn't the best idea as it isn't really pro-active and it's really hard to get popular on the internet. As for income it really depends on what kind of publisher but mostly you get a fixed sum per page, which is very dependant on your skill levels.

To get this job I would preferably go onto the BA (Hons) Illustration coerce to get more experience and develop my skills, I can get onto this course with the qualifications from the course I'm on now. I'd also have to improve my background skills and poses. This job appeals to me the least as drawing the same thing again and again would get very boring for me.

My Skills and Area's for Improvement

Skills:

Drawing/Illustrating

Designing

Knowledge of Photoshop

Idea development

Team worker

Independent worker

Imaginative

Quick learner

Hard worker

Focus

Persistent

Quick worker

Can work up to deadlines

Area's for Improvement:

Backgrounds

Anatomy

Animals and monsters

lighting

3D

machines

weapons