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.”

A BA(Hons) Illustration study visit to snowy Bristol!

Our second and third year BA(Hons) Illustration students recently enjoyed a study visit to snowy Bristol.  The focus of the trip included studio visits to two artist/illustration studios; Hamilton House and The Island.

The students enjoyed tours of both venues, at Hamilton House they met with practicing illustrators including Lara Hawthorne, Paula Bowles and Freya Hartas who spoke with the students about their experiences as illustrators since graduating.  At The Island studios, students met with collective ‘Sad Ghost Club‘, a small team working hard to make comics, apparel and merchandise to spread positive awareness of mental health.

Students also had presentations from Lara Hawthorne, Joe Roberts and Laurie Stansfield, who have been working together to develop a mentoring scheme called ‘CAP’ which involves meeting up regularly to support one another with business, including developing projects and setting schedules.  

Falmouth alumni Dave Bain, who graduated from BA(Hons) Illustration in 2006 coordinated all the activities that students participated in whilst visiting Bristol.  Dave also gave students a presentation about his own experiences since graduating. As well as being a successful illustrator, Dave is responsible for setting up illustration studios in Hamilton House and an illustration collective ‘Drawn In Bristol‘, formed in 2011 which supports and profiles Bristol based illustrators.

Before travelling to Bristol, students were given a brief to work too, focusing on the themes of ‘regeneration and collaboration’ and the culmination of their primary research was to formulate visual outputs which were exhibited in the SPACE (Sound-Performance-Art-Community-Engagement) Gallery.

Prior to the exhibition Private View, Tom Newell of Limbic Cinema, provided workshops with the students; Tom digitized drawings from student’s sketchbooks and mapped and projected these onto plinths and walls – he also taught students how to do the same and the outcome was several visual collages projected onto 2D and 3D spaces.

For the exhibition, students created a range of work in response to the brief, from 3D objects, to customised shirts, a video and a 3D mobile.

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First Year BA(Hons) Drawing – A Pop Up Exhibition.

The first year BA(Hons) Drawing students transformed their studio to create a pop up exhibition, curated by John Howard, Associate Lecturer. The exhibition was held in the drawing studios and featured over 100 drawings from the students’ first term of work and covered a wide range of subjects and artistic techniques.

The students worked together to prepare the space for the exhibition. First year student Maria Meekings felt that this process shifted the collective vision from viewing their work as practice pieces, to viewing the pieces in their own right and she was excited to get feedback on her work. “Being able to present work to fellow practitioners and the wider public is gratifying in that it helps you understand that as an artist you are part of a community and that your work exists in a context of both other pieces of art and as something which others can take pleasure or interest in, and not merely as art for its own sake.”

The exhibition also prompted discussion among the students about what they had learnt during this first term of immersion, their response to each-others’ pieces and the aspects of the course that they had most enjoyed so far. Maria says “Being able to explore a variety of techniques and viewpoints has been quite fascinating and useful I feel to understand myself as an artist and the work I want to produce. I think that the understanding in many ways is just as important as the work I’ve produced, if not more, as that is part of my future while each piece finished is automatically assigned to my past.

Reflecting on the process of drawing, Senior Lecturer Peter Skerrett considers that it can be a very introspective activity. “Having the opportunity to share this practice with a wider audience enables the students to see their work from a critical distance, almost like encountering it for the first time. This increases their ability to understand their own and their colleagues work from a more critical and reflective viewpoint.”

Isolde Pullum, Course Coordinator for BA(Hons) Drawing, was impressed with the students’ professional manner and the way in which they worked together to put the show up in a very short space of time. She was also delighted with the quality of the drawings produced so early in the course, during which time they have created work on location during study visits to Tresco on the Isles of Scilly, The National Trust’s Trelissick, Trebah Garden and Paradise Park wildlife sanctuary. They also visited ShelterBox in Truro to prepare for an upcoming project for next term.

There will be more opportunities for the students to develop their professional practice and to exhibit their work, as future exhibitions are planned for the Fox Café on the Falmouth Campus.

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Student exhibition responds to Venice Biennale…

BA(Hons) Drawing and BA(Hons) Fine Art students recently returned from a study visit together to the Venice Biennale, and responded by creating a student-led pop-up exhibition in the attic of Falmouth Campus’s Belmont Studios. Work included drawing, painting, print, photography, sculpture and installation.

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Highlights of a visit to the Venice Biennale

 

Venice Biennale, Hew Locke – photo: Richard Christensen

BA(Hons) Fine Art and BA(Hons) Drawing students recently returned from a study visit to the Venice Biennale.

The visit gave students from the two courses an opportunity to spend time with those on a different course at Falmouth, and the group fit much into their time. 2017 graduate Abbie Hunt, who was supported by Falmouth School of Art and the British Council to undertake a British Council Venice Fellowship, had been in touch with the students to make recommendations based on her experience of working at the Biennale for a month. And exhibiting in this year’s  Diaspora Pavilion were Falmouth Visiting Professor of Fine Art, Hew Locke and fellow Falmouth alumna Libita Clayton.

BA(Hons) Fine Art student Richard Christensen provided his response to some of the highlights, and some great images of the visit:

Venice Arsenale, photo: Richard Christensen

‘Our arrival in Venice was inauspicious, late on Monday evening with a biting wind which made for an uncomfortable ride in the vaporetto to San Marco.  The wind continued into Tuesday, together with plenty of rain, and found its way into the exhibition spaces of the Arsenale, where there were few warm spots for retreat.  But by Wednesday the wind had gone, and for the rest of our stay the city was pleasantly autumnal.

Much of the Arsenale site consists of a long series of halls which must once have been the dockyard workshops.  The exhibitions here were organised into loosely defined themes (‘the Common’, ‘the Earth’, etc)…the openness of the themed pavilions created both variety and dynamism, with a multitude of thought-provoking and visually arresting works in all media.

Venice, British Pavilion, Phyllida Barlow – photo: Richard Christensen

The British pavilion had a painting-sculptural installation by Phyllida Barlow called ‘folly’.  Energetic, exuberant, more than filling its space and spilling outside the building, it was certainly not lacking in ambition.

An area of undoubted strength at the Biennale was the consistently high standard of video art.  Video is now clearly in an age of maturity, with professional production values and themes which speak to their audiences with clarity.  Several works at Venice are operating at the boundary with cinema in terms of the scope of their ambition and their technical standards.

Although there was little live performance art at the Biennale, the one piece which I saw was remarkable for its power and intensity.  The German pavilion was an almost empty space apart from a raised glass floor and glass panels separating some of the rooms.  The audience, on entering the building, hardly knew what to expect.  The four performers, initially positioned around the main exhibition hall, moved together and then separated in successive bursts of energy and slow deliberation, in a loosely structured narrative of encounters and separations.

Venice, German Pavilion, photo: Richard Christensen

At times there was intimacy, at others the threat of violence.  Even though much of the performance took place in and among the audience, at no time was there any interaction with it.  And despite the intensity of the piece the expressions of the performers were impassive throughout – indeed, this impassivity was what gave it much of its power.  And at the end, when the four performers disappeared, their wordless drama, maintained over an hour and a quarter, left the audience exhausted by what they had seen and experienced.

Two and a half days in Venice could never provide much more than a taster of what the Biennale had to offer.  I could easily have spent a whole week or more there taking in the art.  And as for the city… I’m sure I could devote a whole year there just to exploring its endless maze of alleyways and canals.’

 

The Venice study visit is one of a number of optional overseas trips offered to undergraduate students of Falmouth School of Art during their studies. BA(Hons) Drawing have also in recent years visited Amsterdam, and BA(Hons) Fine Art have previously visited Berlin.

BA(Hons) Drawing on Tresco

First year students from BA(Hons) Drawing enjoyed a memorable week on Tresco, Isles of Scilly, as guests of Lucy and Robert Dorrien-Smith. 

The week started with Hurricane Ophelia and ended with Storm Brian, so air and sea travel was exciting. The students made drawings in the Abbey Gardens, did a project in the Five Islands School and enjoyed the hospitality of Gallery Tresco at the private view of Drawing Show, an exhibition of work by Falmouth BA(Hons) Drawing students who have previously visited the Island. You can view the brochure for Drawing Show online here.

Once again the magic of Scilly was inspirational, and students can’t wait to return.

A Gallery of drawings produced by BA(Hons) Drawing students at the North Cornwall Book Festival

Here’s a selection of drawings produced by BA(Hons) Drawing students at the North Cornwall Book Festival as part of their recent study visit:

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Off to Venice!…

Falmouth School of Art has regularly made the Venice Biennale a study visit destination. This week a group of students from BA(Hons) Fine Art and BA(Hons) Drawing are travelling together to spend four days at the 57th Biennale, staying in the heart of the city…

Folly, by Phyllida Barlow at the British Pavilion, Venice, 2017. Photo: Ruth Clark © British Council. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

Falmouth has other connections at this year’s event – our Visiting Professor of Fine Art, Hew Locke and fellow Falmouth alumna Libita Clayton are both exhibiting work at this year’s Diaspora Pavilion.

2017 Falmouth graduate Abbie Hunt, who was supported by Falmouth School of Art and the British Council to undertake a British Council Venice Fellowship, has been in touch with current students to make recommendations to the group, based on her experience of working at the Biennale for a month.

The Venice study visit is one of a number of optional overseas trips offered to undergraduate students of Falmouth School of Art during their studies. BA(Hons) Drawing have also in recent years visited Amsterdam, and BA(Hons) Fine Art have previously visited Berlin.

BA(Hons) Drawing Students enjoy study visit to North Cornwall Book Festival

A group of students over all three years of BA(Hons) Drawing enjoyed a two day study visit to the North Cornwall Book Festival last month.

 

Drawing students were invited to attend to record the event by making a series of drawings exhibited live as the event unfolded. Following the event these drawings were also exhibited on the event organisers digital platforms.

The Festival, now in its fifth year, is a wonderful four days of literature, music and workshops and takes place in the unique setting of St Endellion on the beautiful North Cornwall coast.

Utopia and dystopia at Kestle Barton

Students from BA(Hons) Fine Art, BA(Hons) Architecture and BA(Hons) Creative Writing came together for a 1 day collaborative project at Kestle Barton, a rural centre for contemporary art on Frenchman’s Creek in Cornwall.

Students explored themes of utopia and dystopia in the current show Kestle Barton exhibition, Togetherness: Notes on Outrage. Curator Ben James opened up questions for debate relating to a post industrial landscape; students discussed the themes in small groups before setting out into the landscape of Kestle Barton and its beautiful gardens to make artworks in response to place.

Students took a documentary approach, walking though the landscape gathering a sense of the environment, generating fiction and narrative about Kestle Barton. In small, mixed discipline teams, recording the soundscape of place with high-tech sound equipment that picked up frequencies within the earth, students walked, talked, made drawings, collected sound and film footage which informed their discussions about their relationship to place and site. BA(Hons) Fine Art Senior Lecturer Lucy Willow, said ‘The warm autumn day provided the perfect opportunity for students to explore the possibilities of working off campus, away from the studio, with students from different creative subjects, finding common ground within their practice’.

BA(Hons) Fine Art student Alex Maclachlan shared some thoughts about the day…

‘Kestle Barton was a very refreshing experience for me, and I am very grateful to have gone. The idea that we would be exploring the theme of Utopia/Dystopia throughout is what drew my initial interest in the trip and yet the day turned out to have many more advantages than just aiding me in my current practice. For some time I’ve been eager to partner up with students on other courses at Falmouth, and [this study visit] extended me the opportunity to do just that…By the end of the day, some really interesting collaborative work had been produced among creative writers, architects and fine artists. We were exceedingly lucky with the weather, and the gentle conversation among students, tutors and Kestle Barton staff was all the more effortless because of it. We talked as we walked about the gardens in the sun, enjoyed the homemade lunch provided, all on top of the time dedicated to serious discussion…it was lovely to indulge in casual debate away from the elevated pressure you might find on campus or perhaps the more serious atmosphere you may find in the studio. This was an experience that I would happily participate in again’.

On at Kestle Barton until 4 November 2017, Togetherness: Notes on Outrage celebrates the pioneering work of the architecture critic Ian Nairn, whose 1955 edition of Architectural Review, entitled Outrage, revolutionised architectural criticism. For Outrage, Nairn traveled across England observing and documenting the urban sprawl and ubiquitous civic architecture. Broken into 25-mile segments, Outrage proposes an audit of every facet of subtopian aesthetics, covering subjects ranging from wire fencing, telegraph poles and street lights, to military installations and power stations, culminating in a manifesto and checklist of planning malpractices.

BA(Hons) Drawing take Amsterdam!

BA(Hons) Drawing students recently returned from a study visit to Amsterdam. Second year student Esme Bone and Emma Edwoods share their experience of the trip…

‘We were given the opportunity to go on a study trip to Amsterdam with our course. We spent five days exploring the city and experiencing the culture. We had the chance to visit many of the art galleries that Amsterdam has to offer, including the Van Gogh museum, the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk, spending time in the galleries and museums drawing and taking inspiration from the artists and artefacts.

Our hostel was next to Vondelpark; this was a really great location, because we were walking distance from many of the attractions. It also made it really easy to go and explore on our own, knowing that we could get back in no time if we needed to. The area was beautiful and really easy to get around.

We spent our evenings getting food together as a course or in smaller groups – it was nice to get to know everyone a little better. If you are ever given this opportunity I would definitely recommend it – just watch out for the bikes!’

 

 

BA(Hons) Drawing first year Tresco study visit

First year BA(Hons) Drawing students braved the Atlantic swells for what has become an annual study trip on the Island of Tresco, Isles of Scilly. Students made studies in the island’s micro-environments, from the sub-tropical Abbey Garden to the weather-blitzed moors of the North End.

This experience immersed students in the challenges of drawing ‘en plein air’ from dawn till dusk (and beyond!), setting the pace for the three years ahead of them.

Student Julia Watson provides an account of the trip…

‘We set sail (or took flight!) to the Scilly Isles. Our destination was Tresco, the second largest island within the collection; we were embarking on a week-long trip to see what we could learn as ‘freshers’. On arrival, after two lengthy boat trips, we found the island had a seemingly familiar landscape, except that it was presented in such an alien fashion: parts looked as bleak as Dartmoor, but with beaches which you would expect to find in The Bahamas. This was definitely not our usual territory; it seemed practically exotic, you had to remind yourself that you were only 40km off Land’s End.

Once off the boat, we were driven to our respective housing for the week. The island was run with such efficiency that it brought to mind Centre Parcs or Butlins; island-employed staff maintained the gardens and landscapes as well as manning the gift shop, among other roles. An idyllic job if there ever was one, if you could get over the cabin fever that I suspect a long haul on the island might bring.

We were loaned bikes for the week, free of charge. This brought an odd sense of freedom as the lack of cars meant we could get around without fear of being hit. Though a member of our group did manage to tumble over their handlebars on the first day, injuring both elbows and spending the remainder of the week slightly subdued.

By bike, you could see the whole island in less than an hour. I often found myself confused, as I would think I was setting off for the other end of the island, and find myself where I began without any knowledge of how I had managed it. A quick refresh of my map reading skills rectified this, for the most part. Getting lost on Tresco never felt like a bad problem to have.

With free entry to the incredible Abby Gardens, along with amazing landscapes, there was never a lack of something to draw. We were often tasked with certain drawings to make, but for the most part, we were set loose to explore and make what we wanted.

I took advantage of the sunrises and sunsets in particular. They were consistently astounding; my roommate and I managed to make three out the five rises, at 6:30 am each time. I filmed the majority of them, capturing a lasting memory and primary resource for my work, which integrates drawing and film.

The entire week was beyond description, as it allowed us to make, and be independent whilst in an amazing environment. Plus, the last night at the pub was pretty memorable – a lot of bad swing dancing and drinking. All in all, would wholeheartedly recommend’.

 

BA(Hons) Fine Art in Berlin

At the end of January, students from all three years of BA(Hons) Fine Art enjoyed a study visit to Berlin, arriving in sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow which resulted in their diversion to land at a different airport than planned.

Highlights of the trip included gallery visits to KW Institute for Contemporary Art, The Hamburger Bahnhof and visits to The Jewish Museum Berlin. Students also enjoyed a night at the legendary Berghain nightclub, described as quite possibly the current world capital of techno, named after its location near the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. Visit organiser and first year Course Coordinator Gillian Wylde said, ‘Lots of inspiration is developing out of this exciting study visit, into future art projects’.

Second year students Ella Squirrell and Isaac Aldridge shared their experiences of the trip…

Ella: ‘The first day we spent exploring the city on foot, coming across photographic exhibitions in museum island, and popping into family run cafes to rest our snowy feet. I was very satisfied with the amount of inspiring contemporary painting exhibitions in the city, particularly Tatjana Doll at the Berliniche Gallerie, ‘My Abstract World’ at the ME Collectors Room and Lawrence Carroll: ‘Under The Blue’ at the Buchmann Galerie. These three exhibitions were the most relevant to my current work; however, in a city as artistically enriched as Berlin, I sought out other exhibitions that weren’t as pertinent in their art form. There were many in in Kreuzberg, along Lindenstrasse: commercial galleries with contemporary art, a lot of sculpture, installations and video work.

On the last day, we went to Transmediale, a festival with workshops and seminars, about modern day alienation and technology taking over. These ideas relate to my interest in society coming away from nature, and about being absorbed into a modern society. We also visited culturally historic places, such as war memorials, the Musical Instrument Museum and the Berlin Wall.

I loved the freedom of the trip. Tutors would recommend places, and there were meet up points every day, but everyone very much could build their own timetable, and we shared our experiences over breakfast or as we bumped into each other in the city. The trip was very socially engaging, it allowed the three year groups to integrate naturally, and I got to know people within my course better through shared experience and conversations about the art we had seen’.

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Isaac: ‘In my opinion, our study trips are a gateway into exploring your own practise further than the walls of the studio. I have visited Venice and Berlin in the two years I have been studying at Falmouth. This Berlin trip offered an open-ended itinerary, which was perfect for exploring the city’s heritage and culture as well as the art. I managed to visit all areas of Berlin, seeing the Reichstag Building, the Holocaust Museum, Brandenburg Gate and many more historical points of interest. Additionally, in the evenings I was able to explore Berlin’s famous night culture, catching the U-Bahn all over to interesting and edgy bars (and even a Techno super club!).

The art in Berlin was unquestionably admirable in all senses. From the East Side Gallery where artists had painted the remains of the dividing wall, the Hamburger Bahnhof which holds an amazing collection of masterful works including a personal favourite of mine – Cy Twombly, to the Berlinische Gallery of Modern Art with an array of works in all disciplines from painting to sculpture and massive installations, and the Bauhaus Archive which houses all variations of the art types style of work including the building itself (a long with many, many more smaller galleries and exhibitons)!

I found the most enjoyable part of the trip was the freedom to pick and choose where to visit, buddying up and exploring the city ourselves with a meet up point later in the day at an exhibition to discuss with everyone else where they had been and where they were planning to go. Having the opportunity to see these places has fed my own work in terms of seeing more than just the conventional painters I would generally seek to inform my work, and having a wider breadth of information to work from and to reference in my day to day studio life’.

Images courtesy of Jade Bowmer.

Industry-focused trip for first year Illustrators in London

BA(Hons) Illustration students visiting Artworks

BA(Hons) Illustration are currently undertaking their first year London trip, including industry visits to the following: The Artworks Illustration Agency, Us Two Games Ltd, Pete Fowler, Egmont Press, Human After All, The Folio Society, Arena Illustration Agency, Dorling Kindersley, Macmillan Childrens Books, Harper Collins, and Walker Books.

The trip also includes the annual London Illustration Forum of guest speakers; this year Alice Dunseath, Neil McFarland and Pete Fowler.

Follow the trip through the Falmouth Illustration Blog.

Isles of Scilly Trip a Big Success

BA(Hons) Drawng students at Gallery Tresco

Last week BA(Hons) Drawing First Year students spent six days on the island of Tresco, making drawings in the Abbey Gardens and working from the stunning and varied landscape.  This annual trip once again coincided with the opening of the BA Drawing show at Gallery Tresco and several drawings were sold at the Private View to visitors to the islands.

 

 

 

Reflections on BA(Hons) Illustration Berlin study visit

Earlier this year our BA(Hons) Illustration students made a study visit to Berlin. Their Illustration blog has published a write-up of the trip, and some great photos: falmouthillustrationblog.com 

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.

BA(Hons) Illustration head to London

Falmouth’s BA(Hons) Illustration students are currently in London for a series of visits, including: Faber & Faber, Sparks Studio, Human After All, The Guardian, The Telegraph Magazine, Penguin Books, Egmont, Oh Comely Magazine, Walker Books, The Folio Society, The Artworks, Transworld, Nobrow, Tate Publishing and Dorling Kindersley. 

Students are also looking forward to the course’s annual Illustration Forum, held at The London College of Communication. This year’s speakers are Olivier Kugler, Jonny Hannah and Aude Van Ryn.

Don’t forget to follow the Falmouth Illustration blog, where you can see more pictures from the trip so far and keep up to date with news from the course.

 

BA(Hons) Fine Art visit the Venice Biennale

BA(Hons) Fine Art students traveled to Venice in November for the Biennale, All the World’s Futures, curated by Okwui Enwezor. Highlights included Hito Steyerl in the German Pavilion, Steve McQueen and Isa Genzken.

The 56th International Art Exhibition took place in Venice from 9 May to 22 November 2015 at the Giardini and at the Arsenale, as well as in various venues across the city.

All photos by 1st year BA(Hons) Fine Art student Emily Tapp.

 

Venice – Taking a Trip

Video by Annie Wire, student of  BA(Hons) Drawing, capturing aspects of the course’s study visit to Venice, November 2015:

“We go on a trip to Venice and visit the La Biennale di Venezia – Giardini and I also start noticing the interesting qualities of the people and animals of Venice.”

Annie Wire

BA(Hons) Drawing on the Isles of Scilly

For a number of years, first year BA(Hons) Drawing students have had the chance to visit Tresco in the Scilly Isles. Here they explore the landscape, the beautiful gardens and the surrounding area for inspiration. Megan Fatharly, a first year student, talks about her experience of the trip.

The trip was very early on in the course, but this gave us all the chance to bond and learn from each other. I think for many of us, me included, we were daunted by the idea of drawing outside for a lot of the time. However, since coming back from the trip, this is something I try to do frequently as I really enjoy it! We were set tasks and then let loose on the Island to go and explore and document the landscape.

Throughout the week we were set drawing tasks which challenged our way of thinking and made us work outside our comfort zone. This included a collaborative project, where we captured the landscape in 360 degrees, working in one medium. It meant talking to each other and communicating our ideas so that the drawing was a success.

While we were there we also got the chance to meet Theo Crutchley-Mack, a recent graduate from the course, who is currently doing a residency on the Island. It was great to see what opportunities come from doing the degree. Seeing his work was really inspiring and I’m sure motivated a lot of us to look into residencies after completing our degree.

On the Friday we were all invited to the private view at Gallery Tresco on the Island, where current second and third years have work on display. It gave us the chance to see how an exhibition was put together and displayed. Despite all the work being so different, the whole show was a great success and you could tell real thought had been put into how each work was shown.

I know everyone who went had a great experience. The trip was a real once in a life time experience and I’m already trying to find a way to go back! A huge thank you to Isolde Pullum, Phil Naylor and Peter Skerrett for making it so fantastic!

Below are some more pictures from the trip. We were very fortunate with the accommodation that was organised for us, too! Such a great trip, where I learnt a lot and got the chance to meet more of my course.

Send us on our way…BA(Hons) Drawing

As the rain drizzles down on a dark Falmouth evening, this is a wonderful reminder, by former student Laura McHugh, of the happy, sunshiney times shared by last year’s first graduating cohort of BA(Hons) Drawing.

Falmouth Illustration Blog – follow now!

Don’t forget to follow the Falmouth Illustration Blog, this week blogging from the BA(Hons) Illustration trip to London – giving a fascinating insight into the students’ many and diverse industry meetings. Also read about today’s Annual Falmouth / LCC Illustration Forum, speakers including one of the country’s leading reportage artists, Lucinda Rogers, international award winning illustrator Mark Smith and truly innovative animator Cyriak.

Visits to Nobrow and The Artworks

BA(Hons) Drawing returns to Tresco

Staff and first year students of BA(Hons) Drawing started their year with the course’s now annual trip to the Isles of Scilly island of Tresco.

During the visit, made possible by the island’s owners, Robert and Lucy Dorrien-Smith, the students drew daily, inspired by the natural  habitats and landscapes, and delivered a colour theory workshop for children from Tresco’s Five Islands School.

The trip coincided with an exhibition, Pentimento, at Gallery Tresco, which featured work by Falmouth’s first graduating BA(Hons) Drawing students and their tutors, selected by Lucy.

BA Drawing students on Tresco

Drawing workshop with Tresco’s Five Islands School

BA(Hons) Drawing and The National Trust

BA Drawing students at The National Trust Poltesco

BA(Hons) Drawing Senior Lecturer Peter Skerrett took a group of BA Drawing students to meet Ranger Rachel Holder from the National Trust at Poltesco, a hidden valley on the Lizard’s east coast. Rachel has invited our students to design a wall drawing to be digitally printed onto plastic boards and permanently installed in a recently renovated barn that is to become a new Visitor Centre.

The project will be run as a student competition, with the resulting mural to appear on the wall pictured behind the students, left. The mural will reflect the local history of pilchard fishing.

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

Drawing the Museum

First year BA(Hons) Drawing students and tutors Isolde Pullum and Peter Skerrett spent the day at the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, drawing from the Rashleigh Collection of rocks and minerals, as well the museum’s other collections.

Student Emma Abel said, ‘It was fascinating to view the fossils and rock specimens and also the reconstructions of the settlements.  Most interesting was the rhinoceros tooth. It’s great to have a drawing resource like this just a train ride from Falmouth.’

Falmouth 1st Year Illustration London Study trip

Nine visits have taken place since our last posting. These have included Disney, Egmont, Arena Illustration Agency, ‘Human After All’ (design group), Artit Partners, the Telegraph, Penguin Books, Dorling Kindersley, designer Matt Cooper’s studio, with Phosphor Agency and Walker Books still to come this afternoon.

Yesterday’s Illustration Forum at The London College of Communication was a great success. Catherine Anyango gave a great presentation of her acclaimed Graphic Novel interpretation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Ian Whadcock (who had travelled down from Macclesfield especially gave a fascinating insight into his own conceptual processes while Matthew Richardson delighted both Falmouth and LCC students with case studies of recent work. It was a incredibly valuable day. Thanks to all the speakers and also Paul and Stuart at LCC for allowing us to use the college’s facilities for the day.

I think everyone is beginning to flag a little but it has been a fantastic week and a great ending to the autumn term.

Here are some photos with more to come in future posts.

Students meeting Senior Designer at Penguin, Richard Bravery (who also happens to be a former Falmouth Illustration graduate)

Discussing the ‘Face Stamp’ project with Victoria Talbot at the design group, ‘Human After All’

Looking at Portfolios at Arena Illustration Agency

Students Outside Harper Collins

Matthew Richardson speaking at the Falmouth’s London Illustration Forum (in association with LCC)

Illustration students visit Artworks and Harper Collins

Falmouth students visiting Artworks Illustration Agency

A group of BA(Hons) Illustration students have just had a great visit to Artworks Illustration Agency in Hoxton. Lucy and Alex of Artworks, both experienced Illustration agents, discussed a broad range of issues from their perspective. Really informative. Many thanks to Lucy and Alex for taking some time out of their working day.

Eight students have just visited two senior art directors at the literary division of Harper Collins. Designer Julian Humphries hosted what turned out to be an extremely valuable visit. The visit revolved around how illustrators are sourced, the commissioning process, the role of agencies and more. Many thanks to Harper Collins for giving our students the opportunity to visit.

 

First year Drawing students visit Isles of Scilly

In October, 25 first year BA Drawing students and staff spent a week on Tresco, The Isles of Scilly, as guests of Lucy and Robert Dorrien Smith.

Students made many drawings, including a 360 degree panorama, made as a collective.  Students really benefited from being immersed in the special landscape of the Scillies, and gained much from recording this experience through drawing:

“I loved doing the wide-angle drawing.  We sat up on the hill in bright sunshine on the north side of the island and looked down towards Gimble Porth.  It’s a little bubble of paradise with its own variations.  I am amazed at the diversity” (Minna Gawler-Wright, student, BA(Hons) Drawing Year 1)

Fine Art students and staff visit the Venice Biennale

This week, second year BA(Hons) Fine Art students and staff are visiting the 55th Venice Biennale, held every two years and recognised as the most international, global and vibrant meeting point for the art world.

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.’

First Year Illustrators visit London

Our Level One study trip to London is a professional practice visit which enables students to meet some of the world’s top art directors, designers, publishers and agents. This year, visits included Transworld, Walker books, Nobrow, The Big Orange, Artworks agency, Debut Art, Dorling Kindersley and more. The visit included a very successful Illustration Forum day, held by Falmouth University at the London College of Communication (to whom we are very grateful). The forum featured three fantastic speakers: Nick White, Laura Carlin and Graham Rawle.

The White Cube Gallery

Ulla Pugaard at the Big Orange Studio

Finn Clarks winning Transport Poster

Outside the British Museum

Transworld Visit