New York Commission for 3rd year Illustrator

Securing multiple appointments with editorial giants such as The New York Times and Wall Street Journal is one thing. Receiving commissions from such renowned companies whilst still a student, immediately after showcasing your work to the directors, is quite another.

After a hectic day in New York pitching portfolios to art directors from a broad range of companies, Illustration students prepared to wind down for the evening. But one student, Tom Paterson, secured an opportunity that could be the first step into a successful editorial career.

On the strength of his portfolio presentation, Tom was offered the chance to create an illustration for a New York Times online article, the deadline for which was the next day.

Tom explained: “The article I was sent had a lot of great imagery. When creating editorial illustrations, I always tend to lean towards conceptual illustrations rather than literal interpretations of the text, as the image has to speak on its own but also must reflect the core ideas of the text.”

The piece, entitled ‘The Soul-Crushing Student Essay’, explores the dissolution of university students’ ability to write in a subjective format, the private “I”. On his creation, Tom reflected: “I had a few ideas in mind, most of which pictured the student chiselling themselves out of a block of paper. The final illustration has a more refined version of this concept, as the essay the student writes is being stacked into a shape resembling their head.”

Our undergraduate illustrators have the opportunity in their third year to attend the New York agencies study visit; after returning home, Tom was notified of another exciting prospect requiring his particular skills. The Wall Street Journal needed an illustration for their upcoming Off-Duty summer issue. He said: “In the space of three weeks I’ve worked for two of my favourite publications. I’m going to be constantly networking with more art directors and sending work out to potential clients.

“I can’t emphasise enough how well the tutors on the course have prepared us all for the real world of illustration. I’ve also found that the focus on conceptual thinking and strategies has changed the way I think about creating images. I now spend 70% of the time sketching and generating ideas, instead of focusing all my time on just creating a pretty picture.”

Falmouth Illustration students visit agencies in New York

 

It’s that time of year again – our third year BA(Hons) Illustration students are currently in New York, showing their portfolios. 48 students have a breathtaking schedule of 30 visits underway, including to The New York Times, Penguin Books, Harper Collins and The Wall Street Journal, which has commissioned a number of Falmouth students and graduates in recent years.

To read about the visit, follow the courses’s blog, – https://falmouthillustrationblog.com – where posts are being added throughout the week.

New York exhibition for two Fine Art Alumni

Two of our BA(Hons) Fine Art alumni have just held a very successful exhibition Derailer Derailer in New York.  Amy and Oliver Thomas-Irvine’s exhibition opened on 11 December 2015 and finishes today, 8 January 2016.  It has been rated by ARTLIST as one of the top three must see shows this week in New York.  Amy and Oliver will be returning to their studio in Cornwall soon.

Derailer Derailer consists of a series of duplicated forms, focusing on “ojbects as witness” and minimalist architecture/sculpture, reminiscent of utilitarian structures built for physical use.

 

 

Senior Print Technician exhibits in New York

Bianca Cork, Printmaking Technician in The Falmouth School of Art, was recently supported by the School to attend the 2014 Print Week in New York, where her work had been selected for the exhibition Somewhere and Nowhere at the International Print Center…

The IFPDA Print Fair

I was recently given the opportunity of attending and exhibiting at the 2014 Print Week in New York. During Print Week, galleries around the city host lectures, exhibitions and openings focused on printmaking and its vitality as an artistic practice.

One of the highlights of the week was the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) Print Fair, which featured around 90 exhibitors presenting fine art prints. The show was hosted at The Park Avenue Armory – part palace, part industrial shed – a breathtaking venue in which to view comprehensive and dynamic print works both past and present.

(c) Bianca Cork, Graving Docks, 2014. 68 x 95cm. Original print in a series of 4. Monotype, relief print, screen print.

The Autumn Exhibition at The International Print Center New York (IPCNY) opened during the week of my visit. The exhibition consisted of fifty projects by different artists, selected from over 4,000 prints.

The aim of the show was to promote the greater appreciation and comprehension of fine art print. The work I exhibited within the IPCNY was entitled Graving Docks. It is a study of Falmouth dockyards, combining a range of printmaking processes including mono-type, relief printing from heavily etched steel plates and screen-printing from hand drawn positives.

Whilst in new York, I viewed the collections of many galleries and attended relevant private views; and as well as IFPDA and IPCNY, visited The Met, Guggenheim, MOMA, Pace Prints, The Old Print Shop, New York Public Library, Wave Hill and Paula Cooper Gallery. I engaged with artists, collectors and curators and saw other printmaking studios, which were insightful and gave me a good feel for what is relevant and popular within contemporary printmaking.

I saw the printmaking process used in conjunction with new technologies, processes both traditional and non-traditional merging. This is an exciting way of working and I aim to encourage others to approach their printmaking experimentally. Printmaking doesn’t have to be limited to a 2D surface; my trip showed me prints exhibited within any number of surfaces, including paintings and sculptures.

Now that I have returned to Falmouth, I am looking forward to collating and imparting all that I have seen and learnt.

• www.biancacork.com
• For more of Bianca’s photographs of printmaking and New York: Instagram
• Printmaking at Falmouth: Facebook

Before joining The Falmouth School of Art staff as Printmaking Technician, Bianca studied at Glasgow School of Art and The University of Brighton, and completed her MA in Fine Art Contemporary Practice at Falmouth in 2012.

3rd year Illustration students show portfolios to art directors in New York

Around 50 BA(Hons) Illustration students recently made the long flight to New York to soak up the atmosphere of one of the most exciting cities in the world and to show their portfolios of illustration to art directors from The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, BBH, JWT, Bernstein & Andriulli and many more. This annual trip is one of the highlights for the Falmouth course’s final year students, who find the Falmouth name to be very well known at some of the most prestigious agencies and publications in New York.

Head of Illustration, Nigel Owen, kept us up to date with words and plenty of pictures as the week unfolded, via the BA Illustration Blog

Charles Hively reviewing portfolios in Brooklyn

 

Thursday night at the Standard Beer Garden

Illustration third years visit New York publishers and agencies

Our final year Illustration students have just returned from a successful and exciting trip to New York. All set had diaries filled with appointments at New York’s top illustration agencies, publishing houses and design groups. Some visits were set up in advance using the contacts that tutors have built up over many years, such as the Illustrators agent Peter Lott at the prestigious Society of Illustrators and the children’s book publisher Holiday House. Students were given a warm and enthusiastic welcome and were offered honest and insightful feedback on their portfolios – important advice for their future careers. Other appointments were set up by the students themselves, including with Pentagram, The New York Times, Penguin and for some lucky students, the legendary designer Milton Glaser. The excitement of experiencing the industry first hand was palpable as the students met up in the evenings to discuss their meetings, and all were left feeling inspired by those who had seen them.

Student Hugh Cowling summed up his experience: ‘I have learnt so much from this week and feel that I really made the most out of it. I had 13 portfolio reviews so I have come back with my head full of advice and suggestions on how to improve my options for when I graduate.’