Storytelling is fascinating. If I had an endless amount of time, I would forever read books, watch films and play games, just to experience endless stories and meet new and exciting characters. And whilst this seems a little silly, an impossible whim of mine, it’s interesting to recognise that this endless desire to consume more media does, in fact, help with my Illustration degree.
Every piece of media I experience, good or bad, can shape the direction that my next project takes. This might seem like wishful thinking at first – how on earth could that silly Instagram comic I saw last night direct the entire progression of my university project? But it seems that themes, visual language, even props or objects within a story can change the entire direction that I take my project in.
Seeing how visual ideas actually work within someone else’s creative project might just open up a new world of possibilities for you! It may introduce a different approach that you had never considered before, or remind you of an idea that had been lingering in the back of your mind for quite some time now.
Consuming media itself is actually quite important for an illustrator: keeping up with pop culture and current media keeps our ideas fresh and relevant to the market we work in. And it can certainly help with those sudden eureka moments – inspiring us to mix our favourite things into something uniquely interesting to us.
During one of my critiques, a tutor recommended that I watch the film I Saw the TV Glow, a psychological horror film that explores queer themes and uses dreamy colour palettes with strikingly surreal imagery. I’d been meaning to watch it for a long time, and so dedicated an afternoon to sitting down and seeing what happened next.
It proceeded to impact the entirety of the rest of my project (and probably the rest of my body of work as a whole – even the things I’ve created so far in third year!)
It’s astounding how impactful watching just one film has been for me – the visuals within it seemed to speak entirely to the types of imagery I wanted to create when trying 3D art for the first time. Trying the softwares Blender and WOMP properly for the first time seemed a little daunting – but with an endless bundle of inspiration, and a strong passion to create, this fear was overcome with ambition.
It wasn’t just this one film that had inspired my work, however. Whilst it certainly had a strong impact, I definitely wasn’t immune to the striking variety of creativity all around me in my day-to-day life. Riso prints around the studio, photos my friends I had taken, songs I was listening to during the modelling and texturing process of my project – even feedback I was getting from my housemates (likening my 2D animation to Scooby-Doo! I was very flattered.) This combination of elements helped to guide my project forwards, and without this consistent stream, I’m certain that my project’s progression would have gone stagnant.
Having a consistent bank of inspiration has always been one of my primary sources of motivation when creating – I cannot help but look at the artistic works of others and desperately wish to create something so meaningful myself. I love media so intensely – books and films and games infiltrate my life, my way of thinking and my work so undeniably. I have so many photos of seemingly mundane things that interest me – photos of walls and textures and shiny things. Loving the world and finding it unyieldingly fascinating is an intrinsic part of being an artist.
Simply pick up a ‘Making Of’ book of your favourite games and films and you’ll find a myriad of inspirational pieces of media and real-world sources combined to create a unique blend of genius. Creating your own projects, fuelling your own passions, is just the same. It can be really fun to realise that your project has a distinct sense of ‘you’ imprinted upon its surface; an amalgamation of all your favourite things. Perhaps this combination of all the things that you love is precisely what makes your work so uniquely personal and passionate.
Before starting third year, I vividly remember my tutor telling us to ‘fall in love with the world’ – a piece of advice I will forever treasure as I continue to create. I will watch more TV, read more books, and spend even more time with the people I love, forever learning about myself in the process. Because this is what fuels my work! And, quite honestly, why on earth would I not choose a degree that encourages me to indulge in all the things I love?
