Turn it off and back on again
I’m starting over. Going back to basics, turning off my illustration and turning it back on again. I’m calling it, not-very-creatively, The Reset. It’s something I have wanted to do for a long time…
But I didn’t know where to start. I still don’t, so I’m just going to start.
I have a very specific set of skills. Sadly, they don’t quite align with Liam Neeson’s, and if any loved ones were ever kidnapped I’d have to hope someone else could step up to that plate because I’d be useless. They do lend themselves very nicely to creating illustrations for a variety of purposes, however. The thing is, my official training is not in illustration. It’s in medical art and animation, which have all the necessary elements to translate into illustration (and I’ve plugged whatever gaps were left with extra online courses and self-teaching), but over time, the bits and pieces of training have left a lot of gunk up the sides of my brain, and a lot of weird elements in my portfolio, and a bit like a computer hard drive, I need to run a defragmentation. (I have just checked and you don’t have to do these any more unless you have a very old computer. If you’re reading this and you’re under… 35 you’re probably absolutely baffled, so let me explain) It’s like all the pieces of my training are stored wherever my brain could find space, and that meant it split things up into weird chunks, and put little pockets of training all over the place, so it takes ages to find all the necessary bits and put them all together again. The hard drive gets tired and hot and the fan’s going at a million miles an hour and eventually we all just have to call it quits and turn the whole system off. And back on again. Defragmentation brings a lot of the same types of files to similar locations, so the little buses don't have to go as far to pick everything up. If I remember correctly. Anyway, even if that's not what it actually did, that's what I need to do, so it's the metaphor I am sticking with.
I thought it might be fun to share the defragmentation process with you. Sharing it might also be scary (mostly for me) and a bit garbled as I find my way. There will still be drawings and there will be facts so in that respect nothing really changes! Plus you’ll get to hear a bit more about my behind the scenes process type stuff for a while (which I don’t talk about loads because I feel like there’s plenty of other illustrators who do a spectacular job of that, and also because up till now, I feel like I have lacked a process, as such).
So, for the next 8 weeks, I’m going to be spending my working week revisiting some old illustrations, trying out some different drawing techniques, finding my process, my groove, learning how I draw different subjects, topics, tackle challenges. I’ll check in here once a week and will try to include some sciencey fact-based goodness, but please bear with me if I don’t quite manage. And if you want extra? I’m doing a 100 Days Project over on Instagram, we’re 50 days in so I’m going to have to start using some of these new drawings to fill in the blanks in my stamp collection. At the end of the 8 weeks the 100 Days Project will be finished, I will have attended two amazing Tea Green Markets (more on that in a second) and it will be time to start talking about Christmas. So we’ll see where I’ve got to, if more defragging is needed, or if it’s time to keep working in a groove I’ve found.
The lab assistant loves a post-it, and has become pretty covert about acquiring them. I didn’t notice that hand until way too late.
These changes also mean that the prints and products you can currently find in the Lab Shop have suddenly all become limited edition. I am taking this restart very seriously, I want a portfolio and print collection that I am proud of, that works together, that looks like me. That’s not to say I won’t re-release some of the ideas once I’m happier with my process (because this work is never really finished…) but the existing prints will not be re-ordered. What I have… is all there is. Now, I will be popping up with my current prints at the V&A in Dundee for the Tea Green Market there next weekend, the 26th & 27th July, and at the National Galleries Scotland on the 23rd & 24th August. You can see the whole collection as it stands in person, we can chat about science and facts and defragging hard drives till the cows come home, I would love to see you. Or, you can shop the collection via the Lab online shop. With an increase in printing costs and materials costs and general living costs which I’m sure you have all heard about, I have had to increase the price of my prints. But, if you use the code “DEFRAG”, you’ll get £10 off orders over £20. The code is valid throughout The Reset, so until the 13th September. If you quote it to me at either of the Tea Green markets, I can honour it there, too.
I’ll be back next week (or later this week if you start your week on Sundays), with at least some scribbles, if you made it this far know that I love you.