Time after Time: An Artist's Book in the Making

 I am pretty certain that after spending far too long identify the right colour for the backgrounds (not too blue, not too green, not too light, not too dark) and then screen printing 18 plates (with so many others that I rejected) that I have made a mistake with the choice of paper as it does not have the same surface texture as the mock-up, a deliberate change that I now think may be wrong. I am not sure if this is simply the process of testing and refining approaches or whether I have lost all sense of perspective and judgement! Green Mock-up: textile-like surface pattern                                Bluer screen-printed backgrounds, less regular surface pattern  (more sky-like but less variation). Testing how to give surface and colour to the 'earth' (beneath the tree and across all plates) - the ground needs to have tonal contrast with the background (darker) and to offer some visual relief ...

 Last week I finished a book which is still haunting me. Bewilderment , speaks to the times we are living in, the challenges faced by humanity and the anxiety felt by young people, particularly those who are are acutely aware of the current threats to the natural world (the central character, Robin, has a particular way of seeing the world, not unlike Greta Thunberg). The book is an artwork that shines a light on the struggles of the natural world and within the book, another meta-artwork is conjured, a banner created with a great sense of urgency, created to affect change and to offer hope for the future:       'the banner was longer than the two of us stretched end-to-end. And it was covered in paints,                 markers, and inks of all colours. Down the length of it ran the words: LET'S HEAL WHAT WE   HURT... creatures ringed the letters...Strands of staghorn coral were bleaching white. Birds and ma...

There is a real danger that I will completely neglect my Illustration in Context module because I am so keen to progress my Major Project and because social media is not my happy place! So, today has been about reviewing what I already have (an inactive website) and researching websites by other artists and designers, including how they sell their work on-line. I have also set up a new, personal Instagram account that I can use to promote my illustration work and I am amazed that the hashtags work as I have created 3 posts with 'likes' from 7 people who are unfamiliar to me - not an influencer yet as I only have 8 followers at the moment!