Katie Rose Johnston Illustration

India for Christmas

2012-01-15T15:39:00.001Z

Just a few snaps from my Christmas in Goa which was absolutely amazing. It was so nice to go away to somewhere completely different - they celebrate Christmas in a big way and the decorations put english efforts to shame. Every little house was covered in lights and there were grottos at the side of the roads everywhere!

Yayoi Kusama

2012-01-04T12:45:00.000Z

Really nice installation piece. The artist made a room and painted every surface white then let all the children who visited the space use thousands of stickers to decorate it.

Found here

Update on play-o-lgy project

2011-12-14T22:30:00.002Z

Just a little update on the project me and Charlene are doing. We have been trying to come up with a kind of mini company called (a bit tentatively) play-o-logy. A big part of the work has been to come up with a manifesto or set of ideas about what we are trying to achieve. The best way to describe it is that we are aiming to explain complex ideas through play. We want to ultimately build a giant space but this term has been primarily about research so getting to know our target audience, looking at materials we could use and talking to people who can help ie architects, medical experts and teachers. I took some photos of the small models and texture experiments I've been doing and was trying to re-create an Endoscopy in 3D. I would quite like to try and do a small film of this...
We also made a little book called 'what do you know about?' which is for children to fill out as part of research to get to know them better. We have a workshop planned in January in a primary school so we can use these then and we have also designed a set of activities for the children to do so they can learn the process of digestion.

We have been keeping a blog here which has a lot more of our work and lots of research references if you wanna check it out! Hopefully we might have a website soon too!

Fresh prints flyer

2011-11-21T18:21:00.000Z

I did the flyer for the next fresh prints!

Old Boardgames

2011-11-14T23:15:00.000Z

Dioramic Game of the Overland Route to India

The Sun of Brunswick

The Cottage of Content or Right Road and Wrong Ways.

I found these old board games on the V&A online archives. It's quite interesting to think they were designed for adults and were not just for fun but also taught history or geography to the players.

Snow dogs

2011-11-04T17:20:00.000Z

Been thinking about making a set of snow dog christmas cards for the Camberwell Christmas fair. Nice to paint dogs again its actually been a while.

Digestive Diagrams

2011-11-03T17:53:00.001Z

Microscope drawings.

2011-11-03T17:50:00.001Z

More Weaving and texture.

2011-10-20T20:17:00.000+01:00

Weaving!

2011-10-15T00:27:00.000+01:00

Been trying to make lots of texture experiments for the inside of the digestive system. Did some weaving today which was fun!

The Enzyme Game

2011-10-05T13:41:00.000+01:00

Whilst researching I looked at Enzymes and how they work. I remember from Biology at school thinking that it was amazing that each specific enzyme is designed to react with its counterpart substrate. So in order to catalyse a reaction the enzyme will attach onto the molecules in the substrate and change them. They fit together like geometric jigsaw pieces and once the substrate has been altered they break apart again. I made this little game to illustrate how they work. You have to match up the enzyme shapes to their substrate shapes.

Galt toys

2011-10-05T13:15:00.001+01:00

These seem to be popping up where every I look at the moment and they are really relevant to my projects. For my Digestive system project I have been looking at making my research into a game or journey as the system is a chronological step by step process and can be broken down into lots of separate compartments and areas of interest. The Galt connect toy was first developed by Ken Garland and Bob Chapman in the late 60s. Its based on Dominoes but I really like the simplicity of the cards.

http://www.kengarland.co.uk/KGA%20toys%20and%20games/galt%20toys/index.html

W Heath Robinson

2011-10-02T21:49:00.000+01:00

Re-discovered my old obsession for this Illustrator just a minute ago when I had a flick through an amazing Hans Christian Anderson book I have that he Illustrated. If I could learn to use space on a page even just a little bit like this I would be happy.

Being Elmo

2011-09-27T14:55:00.000+01:00

Want to watch this!

Bacteria Patchwork

2011-09-08T20:27:00.000+01:00

Been making these little bacteria cards that show what each bacteria looks like and where it is found in the digestive system.

Research images

2011-09-03T12:49:00.000+01:00

I have been learning lots about the science of the digestive system but the thing that is really grabbing me visually is are the different textures of the different organs. I have ordered a microscope from amazon and want to make up my own slides to draw from. The chemical formulas of all the nutrients and vitamins we ingest are also really crazy. I like the idea of making a kind of weird catagorisation system for my research.

Donna Wilson

2011-09-02T12:52:00.001+01:00

I have just finished a months work in Donna Wilson's studio which has been really nice and a good insight to studio life. I was just giving a general hand around the place, doing lots of ironing and sewing which was good practice. All of Donna's products are really similar to the stuff I love so I was happy to be helping to make them. I also got to help her customise some Ercol chairs for an exhibition in Brussels and I stuffed a lot of trees for another exhibition at the Yorkshire sculpture park in November. And I got a really cute fox scarf as a present when I finished on Wednesday!

http://www.donnawilson.com/

Villi

2011-08-25T17:19:00.001+01:00

Got the GCSE and A-level biology books out and am now offically loving my new project about the Digestive system. I forgot how much of a science geek I used to be... These are some drawings of Villi cells which are the finger like structures in the small intestine that increase surface area and help move the food along the passage. I really want to get a microscope I love the patterns of all the cells. Been enjoying pattern more and more recently.

Saou

2011-08-08T23:16:00.000+01:00

Had a nice holiday now back to work...

New Project

2011-07-19T20:47:00.001+01:00

These are some very rough first visual ideas I've been working on for a new project that Im hoping to start properly soon... Its about a cat (not a dog) and might eventually be a childrens book, fingers crossed. I'm working on it with my cousin's Husband who came up with the character and the story so I'm hoping he wants to go in the same direction with the visuals as me.

I want to try and experiment more with pattern and texture in the images as that has been a developing interest recently. Ive been looking at a lot of interior design magazines and books and collecting bits of pattern that I really like. I think it could be a nice way to create a world for the book and construct the images. Need to get drawing more though now.

Wentworth Jigsaw design

2011-07-15T14:14:00.000+01:00

Website!

2011-06-29T23:00:00.002+01:00

Hooray I now have a website! Phew.

www.katierosejohnston.com

Glastonbury

2011-06-28T11:30:00.000+01:00

(the festival was amazing as usual but the campsite after was pretty fascinating)

Home Grown Shop

2011-06-15T22:16:00.000+01:00

Here are some photos from our pop up shop last Sunday - It was such a fun day and I had an amazing time making the space look nice and doing all my products, it was just such a shame to take it all down at the end of the day!

More shop related stuff

2011-06-09T22:43:00.000+01:00

Just some of my sketchbook things and some photos of the door stops I made!

Flyer

2011-06-09T22:35:00.000+01:00

I made these Flyers and posters for our shop with Charlene's lovely ink drawing!

Coasters

2011-06-09T20:45:00.002+01:00

Some coasters I made for the shop project!

plant pots

2011-06-06T22:45:00.002+01:00

Some pots i made for the shop project.

Shop Project

2011-06-05T22:59:00.001+01:00

Things are in progress for our one day pop up shop event next Sunday - Only a week left! Here are some of the things I have been making for it. Everything has to be about something home grown or hand reared.

wow

2011-06-01T00:58:00.001+01:00

Sketch book work

2011-05-30T17:03:00.000+01:00

Just some random sketchbook images from the shop project. Having a crazily busy time at college at the moment can hardly find a minute to think properly with all the big scary ideas about projects and dissertation for third year...
I have set up a blog for my personal project/ dissertation next year which I've just been uploading research onto at this stage. I just kind of wanted to have a specific place to use as a working journal for the project I guess.

http://theplaytimeproject.blogspot.com/

little linos

2011-05-23T10:51:00.000+01:00

My new puppy

2011-05-20T23:50:00.001+01:00

I wish so badly! His name is Albert and I met him in the car park of B&Q.

Pigs and Donkeys

2011-05-16T18:16:00.000+01:00

Joey's Luck

2011-05-04T19:20:00.000+01:00

Finally finished!

Well that went well.

2011-05-03T18:48:00.001+01:00

Had a hugely unsuccessful trip to LCC to print my book... Just as I arrived the printer broke and the man who runs it thinks it could be three weeks till its fixed. My images all went skewed for some unknown reason and one particular page kept over printing itself. I either have to resize my book smaller so that the blue splodges that are going all over one edge of the A3 paper dont run into the frame of my images or just go somewhere else and pay loads. Fun day ahead tomorrow trying to sort this out... Going to be having some celebrations when I hand this in on Friday if I ever make it.

Helmut Smits

2011-05-02T13:05:00.004+01:00

Football stadium

Acrylic Rainbow!

Really good ideas - Helmut Smits is a multi-disciplinary visual artist from the Netherlands.

http://helmutsmits.nl/

Stamps

2011-04-27T17:03:00.004+01:00

Found a really nice collection of stamps tucked away in Dans room at home... random but they are all well good!

End papers for Macmillan

2011-04-27T00:33:00.005+01:00

I am enjoying the pattern thing at the moment and making the end papers for Macmillan has been a perfect opportunity to try out some more. I kind of prefer working in this less strict, measured way - I didnt use a ruler for it and rather than making a repeat pattern digitally I thought it would be nice if it was more hand done so each individual component is different (in contrast to the James and the Giant peach) It matches the Macmillan drawings too as I used all the reoccurring motifs such as the cars, lamp posts and buildings to tie it all in somehow. Just got to get on with the front cover and printing now...

Where is the peach?

2011-04-15T18:51:00.003+01:00

Shop

2011-04-11T17:52:00.003+01:00

For our next project at college we have to create a pop up shop in a group. I'm so excited about the project. My group has decided to base our project on markets and we are planning on building some stalls and making some really nice things to sell. Here are some of my inspiration photos from various blogs.

Timothy Allen

2011-04-10T14:33:00.000+01:00

These are some close up pictures of some thumbnails from a storyboard idea I did for the Marvin the Mongrel story. They were drawn using the photographs of Timothy Allen (he did the photography for The Human Planet!) who kindly gave me permission to use them! Have a look at his website its really nice: http://humanplanet.com/timothyallen/

One day I will upload my final Macmillan spreads...

2011-04-08T20:07:00.003+01:00

But for now its more developed roughs - the difference between these and the last ones is minimal but they are all totally new ones! Just having to refine things over and over now which is really good for improving my skills at developing roughs - challenging though. I am working on a new spread for the beginning to introduce the character more and have been researching racing dog names. So far the one I like best is flash patch as my dog has a patch...
I got some really good feedback about the text from a family friend who is a graphic designer. He suggested trying to do some hand drawn text to reflect the images a lot more. Because the text is all in one liners I would be able to emphasise different words with size and bold. I'm not sure what the hand drawn text will look like but am going to give it a go. In the mean time I have been playing about with different sizes and effects on the computer... I'm not very experienced with typography yet though so this is all just learning really (don't judge if your a typography whizz)

oooh nice books!

2011-04-07T17:32:00.000+01:00

I was given all these folio society books (and more) from my grandad ages ago as he had a membership and collected them. Have been meaning to photograph them for ages and getting them all out made me realise how nice they all were! Inspirational considering the penguin brief is nearly over (eek).

They all come in a really nice outer shell and I LOVE the colours so much. Makes me want to make patterns!

screen prints

2011-03-31T16:23:00.001+01:00

Went in to screen print on Monday with Dan because (jammy bugger) he and a group of his class mates are selling some screen prints in Pedlars and Selfridges (London and Birmingham) to raise money for the Chelsea graphics degree show. They had to be quite commercial and suited to the type of customer that Pedlars have. I think I deserve a cut though as I did help alot...hah.

A Sammy!

2011-03-26T19:08:00.001Z

This is my new dream dog - their called samoyeds or sammys. When I have enough money to look after it properly I am definitely getting one. They were bred specifically to pull sleighs and keep small children warm at night in the colder parts of the world so require lots and lots of hugs. They are famous because of their smiley grins and massive thick white coat. They also look a bit like little polar bears when they are puppies so I pretty much have to have one.
If you don't like them your weird in my opinion.

More Macmillan Roughs

2011-03-26T18:35:00.002Z

I finally had my tutorial yesterday for the Macmillan roughs. Still need quite a lot of work (which I knew). It has been quite a strange process of doing the elements separately and then photoshoping them together 9hence why some images don't even have the dog on yet...) and the result is that the images don't flow as well as they should and the elements look a little disjointed (dogs and cars etc in funny perspectives and angles) In a lot of ways I am really happy I want through the process of separating the components though as I feel like it gave me a lot of freedom to work out how I wanted the compositions to look. Still thinking a lot about the type face too am going to have a play around with italic...
Now I need to re - do each image all in one, dogs and cars included - going to be a long few days but hopefully worth it once its finished!

Macmillan patterns.

2011-03-24T11:27:00.001Z

These are a few patterns I made with some of the drawings I have been doing for Macmillan picture book. I was thinking I might screen print the dog one at some point as I quite like it as an image.
The book is finally starting to come together now but still need to do a lot of work before I can think about printing!

Macmillan Roughs.

2011-03-15T17:53:00.000Z

These are some roughs I have been working on for the Macmillan competition (not in order of the story). A lot of them are minus the actual main character as I have still got to get him right and am planning on dropping him in over the top so he stands out more. They are all still really rough and I have mostly been concentrating on the composition but I think I am settled on this colour scheme now. I want the final ones to have more emphasis on light and shadow.

Inspirational stuff.

2011-03-09T15:11:00.000Z

Wax relief paintings of tube in the blitz by Henry Moore.

Giacomo Balla

Ludwig Bemelmans - Madeline

L S Lowry

Landscape sketches of Samuel Palmer

2011-03-07T14:40:00.001Z

Some of the images I have been making for research on the new greyhound story idea for Macmillan.

2011-03-07T14:01:00.000Z

Greyhound Racing at Wimbledon stadium. As I have changed my whole book idea again I have been doing some more research for the project and I went to the greyhound racing over the weekend.

I decided to do a more simple image based story (still about a dog) which follows a stray greyhound who loves running more that anything. The story is going to end with the stray accidentally ending up in the racing stadium where he wins the race and becomes a champion dog.

Paintings to follow.

Just came across this monet website:

2011-03-04T23:39:00.000Z

Its weird (but pretty amazing) and takes a while to do but I have never been on a website like it before:

http://www.monet2010.com/en#/

Choose the journey option once it loads.

Marvin the Mongrel and his Magical Fleas

2011-03-01T11:37:00.001Z

So I've been busy making lots of choices last week and getting started on the new projects at college. Firstly we have to enter a competition this term and I have chosen to do the Macmillan Childrens book prize (which involves creating a childrens picture book for up to five year olds)
I have been writing lots of really bad childrens stories all of last week and have finally settled on one (I think) Here are some of the character drawings I have made (these are from various different stories but the sheep dog is Marvin who will be the main protagonist in the one i have chosen)
Its hard knowing what way to make the work for this so I am trying to just get back into drawing in my natural style which is quite fast and slightly messy. The final images will definately look really different from these initial sketches.

Storyboards to come I have to photograph them as I dont have an A3 scanner handy :)

Secondly I have choosen to do the puffin book competition alongside my college work as It is for James and the Giant peach and i literally LOVE the story so couldn't resist. Its a daunting challenge as there is already so much (really really good) visual imagery that has been made about the book so I am going to try to work towards something fresh and different from this exisiting stuff.

The Outsider by Albert Camus

2011-02-17T14:19:00.001Z

Here is some work for a competition I entered over christmas.
I HAVE REACHED MY 100TH BLOG POST!!!!

A Book About Dens.

2011-02-08T21:35:00.002Z

The finished book: It all comes in a little canvas bag with some pegs to aid fellow den builders and a little flag making template with a fabric crayon!

2011-01-31T17:37:00.001Z

A wooden den I have been building. Having trouble photographing it really nicely so the next few days are going to spent waiting for good light conditions!

My bed den!

Update

2011-01-31T17:30:00.000Z

So been having a very busy time the last week or so. I have been working with a group of college friends to make a joint publication which was supposed to be based on something in the "real world". Luckily Peter who is in my group found us a really nice Brewery who have allowed us to used all the material on their website to create a small guide to their beer, how it is produced and where. Our aim with this is that it can be something which tourists and generally interested people can pick up when they visit the brewery. The website is here if your interested: http://www.hawksheadbrewery.co.uk/
I have been doing an image for the front of the book (above) which we are printing using a risograph on Friday. The main thing which I have been interested in with the project is the brewerys location - I've been really enjoying making lanscape drawings using ink recently so have carried on in that way for this. Final image will be green and black.

Ready for screen print... I hope.

2011-01-23T22:01:00.001Z

Here is my( slightly dodgy) photo shopped drawing made from the pictures below ready for screen printing tomorrow. The original is an ink drawing which I scanned and then created new shapes digitally for the colours. I'm hoping that once I have done the workshop with technicians at college tomorrow the final printed image will have a lot more depth than this one but composition wise I'm happy with it. I was playing with different colour combination's so I'm not totally clueless when it comes to it tomorrow. I think I'm planning on doing a mixture of colours in each colour separation so I get a more painterly effect. Have to see how it goes though to be honest. This colour separation business has been a learning curve :)

Photos

2011-01-19T17:59:00.001Z

Went back home to Nailsworth yesterday to take some photos for the publish project. I am hoping to make some drawings from these for my screen printing workshop on Monday so I can learn how to do some nice prints which are going to form the front cover of my book on dens.

The importance of Den building

2011-01-15T15:09:00.001Z

Interesting article about den building and how important it is for children and development:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/apr/15/familyandrelationships.family3

Pasta Book

2011-01-14T15:04:00.000Z

Just got shown this amazing book about pasta on Amazon. Its funny to think that the most random subject matter could make such interesting content/ imagery.

Here is the link on amazon there is a pretty cool video that goes with it...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Geometry-Pasta-Jacob-Kenedy/dp/0752227378/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295017101&sr=8-1

A guide to building dens

2011-01-10T13:49:00.000Z

So this is what I have decided to make my publication on. Below are the guidlines I made as a kind of brief to the project:

A beginners guide to Den building – the publication will explore different varieties of dens and their uses and will also provide step-by-step diagrams and information on how to create these structures.

Aimed at anyone who loves having a place to hide out. It should open up possibilities to a younger audience for building more ambitious dens but will also appeal to the nostalgic older audiences who remember the familiar structures from childhood.

Distribution points will be via a website or blog online, but I also aim to take a few copies of the publication around some small independent art book shops in London and my home town to gain a professional view on the work.

Publish

2011-01-10T13:34:00.000Z

Some inspiration I've been collecting over Christmas for the new project at uni which is due to start officially tomorrow...
I've just been looking at a range of things which are mainly aesthetically geared towards the work I'm planning to make. For example ways of printing, binding, image making that I find interesting or helpful.
I had an Idea that I wanted to make a publication that could have a second use for the user such as the bird menagerie or the play all day pop out toys. I'm not sure If I'm going to do this any more though as I have thought of something else I like more...

Some links to the websites Ive been looking at:

http://lolitas.se/
http://www.wemadethis.co.uk/
http://tatielle.com/
http://www.helpyourshelf.co.uk/
http://www.aisleone.net/

Underground apple

2011-01-09T20:15:00.000Z

i
My friend has started a fashion blog and wants to develop it some more so she asked me to do some fashion illustrations for it.
Visit her blog here if your interested: http://www.undergroundapple.com/

Kareena Zerefos

2011-01-08T14:19:00.000Z

An artist my sister showed me - the work is really cute/slightly creepy in a good way.

Here is her site: http://www.kareenazerefos.com/art/

Father and Daughter

2011-01-05T23:36:00.000Z

I forgot about this short film until today when for some reason I thought I would watch it again. Its by a french animator/illustrator called Michaël Dudok De Wit.
I love it so much and the way it is animated is quite apt for the illustrations I'm making for 'the outsider' competition which I'm entering. My drawings have been either subconsciously or by chance influenced by those in the film and I wish so much they could have the same cinematic feel! I love the sparseness of the ink it looks so beautiful!

overdue pictures

2010-12-22T16:56:00.000Z

These are some watercolors I have been meaning to do for ages for a family friend. They are for a holiday home she has in a little seaside town called Salcombe!

The outsider characters

2010-12-20T18:31:00.000Z

Just did these character drawings for the outsider. They are kind of more like fashion sketches and not really in the right direction for m work on the competition but thought I would put them on here anyways. I forgot how much I enjoy using ink washes!

Taste.

2010-12-16T17:50:00.000Z

Taste from Katie Johnston on Vimeo.

Final Film. For some reason I didn't crop it when I was in final cut and there is about 19 minutes of strange sound at the end - ignore this!

Feedback on the work was good - the lettering was seen to somewhat detract from the food piling up which is more interesting imagery. I'm really glad I decided to just use the voice overs as it made the descriptions much more sensitive.

Taste according to children.

2010-12-05T20:38:00.000Z

This was an exercise I filmed yesterday with two of Dan's cousins. I got them to try all the different foods and then group them into the four taste categories. The rest of the footage went ok but is very different from my original plan and (in a last minute stressful decision) I have decided to just use the voice over from the shoot and illustrate the food in this more simplistic way. I made a short stop frame using the food on a white background like above and I think it came out nicely so am going to attempt to carry on in that vein tonight/tomorrow.
I felt a bit like the footage of the children eating wasn't allowing me to be as creative as I was a bit worried about shoving the camera right in their faces and so didn't end up getting the extreme close ups I wanted. The shots ended up looking more like a documentary and were a bit static.

Visulising ideas.

2010-12-02T00:39:00.000Z

Just been helping out with a pitch my boyfriend and a friend are making to a big record company on Friday by doing some sketches to aid the visualisation of their ideas; I'm actually quite pleased with how they turned out as I'm never that confident with drawing from imagination. They are pretty rough but the middle coloured one was fun. I have rediscovered the pro-marker pens which I got a bit obsessed with last year. I like how the ink sinks into the paper and ends up looking a little like water colour.
Update on fact project : Had a total nightmare this morning with trains due to the snow - Most of the services to my cousins house were cancelled or had severe delays so I didn't manage to make it down to film. I may have saved the situation though as I have found some friends who I can film in London on Saturday. Going to have a hellish few days afterwards trying to edit though. Meh watch this space for the final outcome...

Unrelated animal related sketches.

2010-11-30T15:48:00.000Z

Whilst trying to think of some activities which would be appropriate for a 5 year old to do using food and taste as a starting point I started devising a game which would match foods to the animals that eat them. Got a little carried away however and just started drawing hungry animals with their mouths open...
Maybe not the most constructive exercise in terms of the project but I enjoyed it all the same!

NB I keep choosing sketchbooks that have no hope of fitting properly into my scanner so once again the images are not their best quality.

Old

2010-11-30T15:08:00.000Z

Just found these old photos on my boyfriends camera. They are from the film shoot I did for the Biopic but thought I would stick them up seeing as that was my "directorial debut" (hah) and I am off to Brighton tomorrow to shoot for the new project.
Please excuse the ridiculously unflattering white suit.

2010-11-26T16:18:00.001Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5ovFb-S1p8&feature=related

Watercolour

2010-11-25T00:33:00.000Z

This is one of the observational drawings I did at the start of the project.

Raspberry

2010-11-25T00:13:00.000Z

Some details from some photo experiments I did. I would put up the contact sheet but its to embarrassing... Maybe later when I sombody else lets me take photos of them eating. The taste project is going ok, Im trying to organise going to my cousins house in brighton as she is a childminder and has aggreed with permission from parents to let me film some of the children eating and record thier descriptions of the food. I am working on a set of questions I want to ask them and exploring whether I want the final film to actually show (via animation of some kind) the tastebuds which are engaged when eating the foods. Im tempted just to make it about the children and thier perception/ opinion of the food as I find that more interesting but need to make sure it is "informative enough though.

Type workshop.

2010-11-24T23:47:00.000Z

Was interesting playing with type in a workshop last week, not sure how relevant the last image was but I made a cute animal out of some fragmented tyle and actually it was a nice to use collage and shapes to make images - had never tried it before and I really enjoyed how it all came together out of no where without pre - planning...

Mark Making Workshop

2010-11-23T18:40:00.000Z

This is some of the work I did in a workshop at College which explored our own personal mark making methods and how they can be explored and challenged in terms of expressing things. The first image was made in response to a series of facts about glaciers. It was not supposed to necessarily literally depict a glacier but rather the things that happen in order for the glacier to form. I like that it kind of does look like a glacier coming down a hill though.
The other drawings were in response to the words: STRUCTURE, EXPAND AND CRUMBLE.

RSA Animate

2010-11-13T21:45:00.000Z

Found these interesting animations which relate very closely to the FACT brief because they are presenting factual info in a creative way. They are sound recordings from a series of lectures which have been animated using illustration. The drawing style is not one that i would usually gravitate towards but it works really well to get the ideas across. I like this way of making film using drawing which is not consciously trying to hide the artist. i helped out my house mate last year on a project she was doing where she had to make a TV advert for a known clothing brand and we used a similar technique - need to remember to dig that up!

Fact: Taste

2010-11-09T21:51:00.000Z

So for the new project we have to choose a process or system in the physical world. After some deliberation I have decided to investigate how we Taste, how Taste buds work and the different chemical/ emotional reactions varying tastes have on us. Today we presented a 30 second powerpoint slideshow. It was supposed to be a rough introduction into the subject and we were asked to treat the presentation as an 'artwork'
I sourced some nice imagery of food and grouped it into the four different taste senses: Sweet, Salty, Bitter and Sour. To illustrate where the receptive taste buds for each group were on the tongue I made an Illustrator image of a mouth and highlighted the areas.
I'm looking forward to exploring the subject more and would really like to make some detailed drawings of the mouths. At the moment I'm leaning towards exploring emotions related to food and showing how these appear as we eat - This will probably change though...

2010-11-08T16:53:00.000Z

These are the Lino print and water colour images I made for the final outcome of the 'Fiction' project. I wanted to capture the contrast of Eastern and Western cultures which is the central, underlying theme of My Name is Red. I took a quote from the book which basically describes the joy of painting in the east as a rose that grew and was nurtured by the lands of persia but when influence from the western cultures began to creep into the minds of the miniaturists the rose became tainted and died.

The basis of the images were made using simple lino cuts which I printed at college with a press. I then filled in the details of the images using water colour. The patterns were heavily influenced by the miniaturists styles and the colours were also sourced from works by artists such as Bihzad.

The seed of western influence can be seen gradually making its way into the roots of the flower as the images progress, bringing with it the colours which I sampled from 16th century Venetian paintings ( blues and greens mixed with burnished yellows and golds that were so commonly used in the religious painting of the time.)

My feedback from the Crit was useful. I think the images could work better if I had left out the black fineliner I used to define the patterns and scenes within the flower. The large expanses of black were seen to be a bit oppressive but I actually quite like it. Sadly the images wouldnt fit in my scanner so are quite bad quality (I'm not lucky this year as I was last and dont have a bright, well lit room!) I think I will book a studio at some point and photograph them properly!

My name is Red

2010-11-08T15:26:00.000Z

So Ive been really a bit bad about updating and am now vowing to do it more regualrly.
Firstly these are some more images from my summer project (seems like such a long away now!) Based on the book 'My Name is Red' by Orhan Pamuk.

haaaaaaaaaah

2010-09-08T18:42:00.000+01:00

This makes me laugh so much.

My Name is Red

2010-09-07T18:15:00.001+01:00

Im struggling alot with this summer project just because I feel like with the holiday I seem to have lost any sense of routine and am only just getting it back. It feels like a real struggle to draw for some reason but hopefully this will get easier - I must just be rusty after the break. Forgot how much I missed going out and just drawing though.
I have read My name is Red and decided that instead of using some of the stuff I was inspired by on my trip to Barcelona I would find Turkish/Muslim communities in London and spend some time drawing in these.
I went to the V&A and had a look at the Islamic art sections and was really inspired here by the colours (afterward I went out and got loads of rustic coloured paper do draw on which I'm excited about). The pattern and flashes of vivid colour was something I would really like to bring into my observational work as I think it will help to capture something of the time.
Been making some trips up to Stoke Newington and also been hanging around Whitechapel market (nice). Its so weird how different it feels there especially around prayer time its like another country I like it.
Anyway now I have actually properly started Hopefully the drawings will improve!

Chalet

2010-08-25T22:25:00.000+01:00

Realised I never put this up - Its the final canvas for that painting of the Chalet I did.

Pencil sculpture

2010-08-17T11:08:00.000+01:00

I love these pencil sculptures by Dalton Ghetti. I wish I had steady hands and some sculpting skills to make something like this!

http://kronikle.kidrobot.com/pencil-tip-micro-sculptures-by-dalton-ghetti/

Air Bear

2010-08-07T17:09:00.000+01:00

This is so cute and such a clever idea!!!!
Its by Joshua allen harris but Charlene showed me (of course its bears.... ha)

Argh if anyone knows how to get the whole picture on would be a great help - I always have this problem!

2010-08-02T22:44:00.000+01:00

Another dog painting. This one was absolutely MASSIVE in comparison to my other ones and so has been a challenge. Whilst I think it worked in the end I definately feel more comfprtsble working on a slightly smaller scale.

My dog obbsession has become progressively worse this summer and coupled with a slight addiction to ebay has led to some very strange purchases - the worst of which being an oil cloth table cloth covered in dogs....I didn't read the measurements for this and I'm not sure which table its supposed to cover but not one that I own.

More to update soon with some research on the summer project for college. I have chosen (although this may change) to read a book called "Ny Name is Red" by Benim Adım Kırmızı. I went to Barcelona and then up into the Spanish mountains and attempted to sketch some things inspired by my reading (the book is set in 15th century turkey, not Spain but the rustic farmhouse I stayed in provided some influence I think...)

Up back to London at the end of the week so think I'm going to find some bustling markets and draw influence from these too.

This may all change though but for now I think Im just going with it!

2010-07-05T19:32:00.001+01:00

Been trying to get started on some painting for the summer. I did this one for my uncles birthday and have a few more doggie ones on the go too. I decided to try setting up an Etsy account and have put a service for personalised pet portraits on it. Check it out:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/50586756/custom-pet-portraits-210x270mm

2010-06-28T13:31:00.000+01:00

So Been pretty mad the last few weeks but here is an update.

These are the things I created for our show at House gallery in Camberwell. The theme was loosely based around "property" particularly that of Camberwell. I painted/illustrated these bird boxes in the same style as the houses found in the area. They are for sale for £25 each, if you wanted to buy more than one then I think we could strike a deal...

To go with the bird boxes I also made a small booklet for the estate agents who lists the houses. These a some of the pages from it - I printed it on nice Brown, Grey and green paper though so they looked a little different in real life.

Ok off to sleep now - Just got home from an amazing Glastonbury!

2010-06-01T20:50:00.000+01:00

The Theatrical Tale of Oscar Wilde from Katie Johnston on Vimeo.

Here it is! The finished film.
Got a pretty busy week getting stuff ready for hand in but will try post up some "making of" pics!

screen print

2010-05-25T18:01:00.000+01:00

Just some recycled images Im using to screen print some fabric tomorrow.

Backdrops

2010-05-13T17:12:00.000+01:00

Here are a few pictures of my backdrops - had a bit of an issue with the strange camera angles they are absolutely massive so I had to stand on a chair to take the photos - When I have them mounted upright I will be able to get some better ones, especially when i have the lights right too!

Really Cute Dog.

2010-05-13T11:48:00.000+01:00

This is a dog who lives back home at this amazing mirror shop.

Been so busy this week preparing to film the biopic project. I will hopefully have lots of pictures of the process to put up next week, and some of the paintings and props I have been working on too!

2010-05-12T01:51:00.000+01:00

If there are any fellow Harry Potter fans (which I know there are...) this made me laugh today as I was getting off the tube in Oval - obviously someone working there is also a great fan - Quote of the day is by Albus Dumbledore. Hah.

2010-05-09T17:20:00.000+01:00

These are some sketches I was trying out for a Toni and Guy competition - Not sure if they answers the brief entirely yet. They are supposed to capture the feel of London fashion week but the brief had an emphasis on designers sketches so might try a couple more this evening in brush and ink to give a more painterly, sketchy feel with a bit more movement.

Rune Guneriussen

2010-05-08T11:27:00.000+01:00

http://www.runeguneriussen.no/

Found these really nice photographs on a blog (http://www.lolitas.se/index.php/category/konst/page/6/) and really liked the artist.

Petra Freeman

2010-05-02T16:03:00.000+01:00

We were shown some really nice animations the other day at college. This artist in particular caught my eye - If I hadn't already planned to do a film I think this style of working by painting on glass would be something I would interested in using. I will remember it for next time. I cant find the actual animation we were shown on youtube but it is on this website: http://www.animateprojects.org/films/by_date/2009/tads_nest

House

2010-04-26T13:35:00.000+01:00

Did this little sketch a while ago and decided to have a play around with it on the computer - Im thinking of making Some t shirts soon and want to play around with images like this one for them. I want to do a set of t shirts based on old fashioned beach scenes like the images I did for the costume project. I think this style might be quite effective on t shirts but just need to try stuff out really.