Sketching from life is one thing (and an extremely valuable thing!), but it doesn’t necessarily provide the visual language, the mark-making you require as an artist, to communicate your vision. In any case, one has to FIND that vision!
For me, the starting point was vintage printing techniques and the superb design that went with them. Many books were printed using silk-screen or at least colour separation in the 1940’s and 1950’s. I love the care and attention given to design in that era (something sadly lacking today), typography and the clever use of limited colour. Then a friend gave me some vintage records. I collect 78’s and L.Ps and many had gorgeous cover art. So I looked at those and discovered the vision of ballet I had dreamed of. These images are all taken from 10 inch long-players from the fifties and I adore them. But now how was I going to transfer this to my own illustration practise, which was a million miles from the retro techniques I knew so little about…however much I admired them?
Leave a Reply