Sperm Whale

Blue Whale

I really like using card and paper so I thought I'd give origami a go.

Pick Me Up

I went to the graphics fair Pick Me Up in London this weekend. It was so inspiring, and made me excited about what the future. I also got to meet Rob Ryan which was a dream come true. I spent £60 on books and other things, but it was worth it. Below are my purchases.

http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual_arts/pick_me_up/

Nick White book

It's Nice That magazine

Rob Ryan laser cut key

Signed Rob Ryan book

Peep Show screen print

Plush

I've been thinking about what I can create for each of the functions and I'd really like to try something different for all 3 areas. I really like making things and I plan to make a plush whale toy. This would probably fall into the decorative function, but I will decide nearer the time.

Below are some of the plush toys I have been looking at which have inspired me to create one of my own, especially the Purple Circle toys as I plan to use felt to make my whale from.

Purple Circle

Lazy Oaf

Finger Industries

Functions Of Illustration

Commentable

Eduardo Recife

Barbara Kruger

Holly Wales

Decorative

Chrissie Abbott

Kate Forrester

Owen Gildersleeve

Informative

Hennie Haworth

Spencer Wilson

Whales Are Rad

I was talking to my friend about what I could choose as the article I was going to illustrate. Sam then told me about the plan to overturn the ban on whaling. This was the perfect story as I love drawing animals, and try and follow animal rights as well. I found an article about the issue in The Times newspaper.

Ban On Whaling To Be Overturned

Commercial whaling is set to return after almost 25 years as Japan moves to overturn the worldwide ban.

Conservationists say that lifting the current moratorium will threaten the long-term survival of whale populations and would be a highly symbolic defeat for preservation. They warn it could “open the floodgates” to far bigger slaughter in the future. At present whaling is carried out mainly in Japan, Iceland and Norway.

The three nations have killed 35,000 whales since the ban was introduced in 1986. In Japan’s case, the killings have been justified as being for “scientific research.” Under the deal being considered by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), hunting would be legally recognised and there are fears that other countries could take part. Britain’s opposition to whaling may count for nothing because Denmark is likely to back the change. This failure to reach a European Union consensus will rule out and veto by the remaining 24 member states.

Proposals will be published this week and a deal will be struck at an IWC meeting in Morocco in June. They are expected to be backed by America and Denmark. The US is worried that if it blocks the plan, Japan will veto any renewal for permission for small-scale whale catching by indigenous peoples in Alaska. Denmark is expected to back it to ensure a quota for its dependant territories of Greenland and the Faroes.

Britain is a strong supporter of the existing ban, but may now be unable to stop the new deal being ratified because it votes in a block with the EU. “The UK’s view, which is anti-whaling, will ultimately not be taken into account,” said Sue Fisher, a policy director at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

The deal would suspend the moratorium on commercial whaling for 10 years and allow Japan, Norway and Iceland to continue whaling within new quotas. Hunters will be permitted to kill whale species that are considered plentiful, including the sperm, sei, fin, Bryde’s and minke- described by a senior Japanese whaling official in 2001 as the “cockroach of the ocean”. Members of the IWC believe that allowing commercial whaling in a controlled manner will lead to fewer whales being killed.

Japan has been accused of using its foreign aid budget to co-op 24 small or landlocked nations on the IWC including Mongolia, Nauru, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada and St. Lucia to bolster its pro-whaling vote. The Japanese embassy yesterday dismissed such claims as “unsubstantiated propaganda”.

New Project.

Brief

Produce one completed visual proposal for each of the defined functions of illustration – commentable, informative and decorative – relating to a topical news item or issue of your choice.

To assist you in this process, a series of newspapers have been provided as a starting point, but your selected topic could equally originate from an existing interest or perhaps linked to a campaign issue that you are passionate about. Essentially, you will need to find a piece of text or texts to enable you to interpret and realise the potential of, in relation to the requirements of this unit.

Consideration should also be given to the ‘end user context’ for each of the visual proposals, which could range from a magazine, book, t-shirt, advertisement, newspaper article, web-site etc., with particular reference and appropriateness to a print or screen-based audience. Ultimately, your final outcomes must be seen within a context, i.e. a relevant newspaper spread, magazine article, website, T-shirt design etc.

Ultimately, your final three visual proposals need to clearly reflect your understanding of the various characteristics of each of the roles that illustration performs.

So long

Blue Tit