02 / Inspiration matters
Jim Flora, Nala Sinephro, Picnic, scribing, illustration awards & more
Read
I discovered the art of mid-century illustrator Jim Flora as a student and was lucky enough to pick up a copy of the book 'Mischievous Art of Jim Flora' at the time. I love dipping into it and soaking up the wildly controlled approach Jim had towards creating his artworks. His love of jazz music and his depictions of it being played are full of energy and wonderfully capture its spirit.Listen
For those that have listened to my Illustrated Tapes playlist or Studio Speaker shows, you'll now that one album that's been on heavy rotation in my studio is Space 1.8 by Nala Sinephro. My personal mission is to see her perform live at some point. In the meantime, I've been enjoying a deeper dive into her world by listening back to her NTS Radio series where she curates several gorgeous hours of thoughtful, minimal, spiritual jazz.Attend (in Birmingham)
I've been helping, from afar, get a new illustrator meet-up up and running for Birmingham. If you're local to that area and want to meet with a friendly group of illustrators then go follow Picnic and sign-up to their first (free) gathering, happening late April.Attend (online)
Over the years I've taken on a few live scribing jobs. If you're not sure what that is or you want to learn more about it, then it's well worth attending this online talk by Jules Scheele. I'll be there, soaking up his wonderful knowledge.Do
Write down what you've achieved this week. This is a wonderful bit of advice that I've been trying to do more of. There's more brilliant tips like this in a wonderful resource for creatives, which you can download here.Apply
There's a number of illustration awards one can enter. I've attempted to compile a list of them here. Have I missed any?
Use
Once I've drawn out some thumbnails in my sketchbook or on scraps of paper, I photograph these and use my iPad to produce a more detailed and tidy rough for clients. To help my drawing posture, I use Sketchboard Pro which is a brilliant stand that I can slot my iPad into. I can't recommend enough. (not a sponsored post!)
I really love your advice in "Use"! I have all these little drawings on scraps of paper and they just sit in stacks on the ground next to desk. I need to try this! Also not sponsored, but I also have the sketchboard pro and my neck and upper back are grateful!