A Film Review....PULP FICTION.

To put this in context, I am 38 years old and I have to say that this is the best film I have seen without doubt and I don't expect it will be beaten as far as I am concerned. Obviously times move on, and I acknowledge that due to its violence and one particularly uncomfortable scene this film is not for everyone, but I still remember watching it for the first time, and it blew me away. Anyone who watches it now has to remember that it actually changed the history of cinema. In context- it followed a decade or more of action films that always ended with a chase sequence where the hero saved the day - you could have written those films yourself. Pulp had you gripped and credited the audience with intelligence. There is not a line of wasted dialogue and the movie incorporates a number of complexities that are not immediately obvious. It also resurrected the career of Grease icon John Travolta and highlighted the acting talent of Samuel L Jackson. There are many films now that are edited out of sequence and have multiple plots etc but this is the one they all want to be, or all want to beat, but never will.

Ethical Issues with Parkinson's Disease.

There is always going to be someone who feels that there is a moral or ethical issue with anything. This is my opinion only and I am trying to make sense. As to this specific question, there are moral issues with the way people treat PWPs (people with Parkinson's) and there are certainly moral and ethical positions about the PD research.

Obviously there are issues about ESCR (Embryonic Stem Cell Research) And these objections are actually shared by people within the Parkinson's Disease community as they hope for a cure. They feel that the use of the embryonic stem cells although predominantly obtained from fertility clinics which are about to discard (throw away - dispose of - rubbish) these unwanted/unused stem cells because of age/viability issues with full upfront disclosure is still the taking of a life despite the fact that disposal will end that potential completely whereas the use of these stem cells in research might actually result in the saving of not just one life but possibly millions.

 (These two images are not my own but by the artists in each corner of each image). I absolutely am not mocking the matter in hand, but as an illustrator, I find these images to be correct in my opinion, and only my opinion.

Photography Studio Time.

In the afternoon of the 11th December, I had booked some studio time to try and improve some of my already finished work. The technician, Graham, is amazingly helpful and always willing to lend me a hand as I am not the best with a camera and such equipment, although I am learning fast from him. It went really well and I was very pleased with the outcome, which I will post pics of once they are printed out.

Deadline Approaching.

Its that time again, 'DEADLINE DAY'. Almost silence is in our studio at the minute with everybody working hard to get their work in on time. These pics are of Ben Couch, Andrew Peake and myself just finalising some work and going through the checklists we have to make sure everything is done. We are the three planners of this project and have managed our time well so we are not panicking at al, just checking or redoing work. We always work well as long as there is a tub of sweets at hand.

Discussion Forum.

Yes the discussion forum had come around again and it was the turn of Holly Bassett and myself. The subject we got given to us was 'Moving animation/illustration'. As I haven't had any feedback on our discussion yet, I am sorry but I can't give you an outcome. I do know that we give it our best shot, (as always), and we did what was intended from us and that was to get the group talking/ debating. For about seven minutes Holly and myself sat back and listened to the group without us talking so I guess we did good?

Final Drawings for Parkinsons Project.

These are my final pieces of art work to go into our publication for the 'Parkinsons Equip' charity project. I had to illustrate a poem from Rays book, (spoke about in earlier blog), and my poem was called 'Its my brain'. It was about how the broken brain controls the body with PD.

My second image was to illustrate an issue of PD that we got given to us. My issue was 'Relationships', and how somebody diagnosed with PD, manages to tell their partners, children, family and friends. I think I managed this with respect and a slight touch of humour, not that PD is funny, far from it but after talking with Ray, he loved it. Absolutely NO offence is intended to anyone with PD or dealing with the awful disease. My own father has it. 

(PD = Parkinsons Disease).

Birthday Boy....

Sorry, I know this isn't anything to do with my work or projects, but, it was in the studio and I had to share with you the kindness of some of my uni friends.

Thanks guys!

WHEN????

Eanie, meanie, miney, mo, I have a feeling that this could have been.........Jo?

Have you spotted it yet?

Tuesday Club Lectures.

This post is about our Tuesday Club Lectures we have on one Tuesday of every month. These are related to the design world in some way, not alway's to do with illustration. I will supply their name's, what they do and then I will rate them in my opinion, on a star scale from zero to five, (zero being the worst).

1.  7th October, JIM WILLIAMS. His published book; TYPE MATTERS.

           This lecture would have been a lot better if Jim actually stuck to telling us about type and his tips in this discipline, but to me he did not do this. He seemed to be promoting his book rather than informing us of type. I have seen his book and it is very good but as for the lecture I give a;

   

2. 4th November, LUKE ARTINGSTALL, lecture on ART IN LIGHT.                                    

Too be very honest, I did not find this appealing in the slightest. Don't get me wrong, he was good at his job but I found this lecture to be boring, sorry Luke i give this; 

      3. 25th November, JOHN WALTERS, Editor of EYE Magazine.

This lecture was on issue 87 in the magazines collection about food. This lecture provided me with a good number of sources and reference's into some avenue's I hadn't even considered yet, so it was a positive talk. When you listen to a lecture/talk from somebody who has obvious passion for what they do, then it is much easier to comprehend. For this lecture I give a;

4. 9th December, VAUGHAN OLIVER, Visceral Pleasures. Art Director & Graphic Designer.

This was the long awaited lecture by myself and many in uni. This man is regarded as one of the six hundred elite designers around the globe in this day and age. He is well respected in the industry and with good reason in my opinion. Vaughan's lecture was not only packed with information, direction and links, he was also very comfortable doing what he does as he had a comical tongue. He certainly knew how to keep an audience enthralled as the lecture was supposed to be only one hour but turned quickly into two hours, (with no complaints). It was an absolute pleasure to have attended this lecture. His inspirations in his earlier days have been Salvador Dali and Roger Dean, which when looking through Vaughan's earlier work, you can see the connections. I admire the fact that he always wanted to produce beautiful record sleeves and he stuck with his dream despite what others told him, and went on to produce numerous of them for several bands, most popular being 'The Pixies'. For this lecture i give a full house, five stars.

     

  

Studio space at uni.

Just thought i would share with the world, my work space in our studio at uni. This is where the magic start's from, ha. I am on the left side, Andrew Peake is next followed by Ben Couch, just incase you see something you like and want to know their name's.

William Grill, MMU Lecture.

On the 1st of December, I went along to another MMU lecture from an outside illustrator. His name is William Grill. He studied at Falmouth and graduated in 2012. I must be honest, I didn't hold much hope for this lecture as he is so young. Boy was I wrong, and so glad i was. He hold's a very strong head for such a young man, with a great work ethic which I strongly admire. William has a published book called 'SHACKLETON'S JOURNEY'. I can't seem to find the right word's to compliment William in the manner he deserve's but I will say "WOW". I do go to as many lecture's as i can, not just the mandatory one's but also outside of my uni time. I try to get as much information about the visual world as possible as to hopefully use this invaluable insight from working in the industry folk, to help my future success. I have been to some very dull lecture's in the past but this one from William, i think, is the best so far. I have moment's in the studio from tutor's, book's, documentaries, film, and so on, that give me that 'Click' moment I call it. It's where something resinate's solidly in my head. I had a few of my 'Clicks' at William's lecture. Plus this was the only lecture i have attended that had a eager queue of student's and tutor's all wanting to pick his brain and see his sketchbook's.

Stockport art gallery

Not many people visit Stockport art gallery due to its size and the fact that not many know it's there. I visited a few day's ago as I often do, to come across an amazing exhibition from Caroline Johnson, the official urban sketcher for Manchester. Her work is amazing. Caroline studied at Harris School of Art in Preston, then a year at Falmouth School of Art, then three years at London's Central College of Art and Design leading to her diploma. After living in Brittany for nine years, Caroline now lives in Lancashire. She couldn't cope with being away from the Northwest of England for too long, as her root's are here. For me, Caroline make's you see beauty in dull looking building's or area's, that you wouldn't normally see. She said“One of the artist’s jobs is to see and to re-present to others the beauty of the mediocre and the everyday:  the patchwork of old pavements, creeping shadows, forgotten doorways and broken fences; the watchful solidity of a gasworks and the resplendence of red brick; the mystery of parked cars, the shape of new architecture.

 And parallel to this, a river of humanity gives life and breath to the city, those anonymous strangers who move with us through its spaces.”