Visiting lecturer: Mr. Bingo

Mr. Bingo, best known for his 'Hate Mail', a collection of insulting postcards, recently gave a very entertaining presentation to the 3rd year illustration students in Maidstone - where he was also a foundation student himself.  His talk followed his career as an illustrator from graduation onwards and included a pretty comprehensive list of do's and don't tips!

Turn the Page artist's book fair

Turn the page is an inspiring bookfair focusing on the structural and conceptual properties of the book form. The fair is taking place in Norwich on the 2nd and 3rd of May, with an exciting list of individuals and collectives showing and selling work. Among the exhibitors is the illustration course leader Jane Craddock-Watson. 

An event worth attending! http://turnthepage.org.uk

Image by Jane Craddock-Watson

Visiting Lecturer: Claudia Boldt & Loop Magazine

It's been a real pleasure having author and illustrator Claudia Boldt in the studio with us this week! Claudia talked about the children's books she has created with Tate Publishing and Random House among others, and was very kind to share some of her initial drafts and mock-up books with the students - always great to see the process leading to the final piece!

She also spoke about starting Loop Magazine, a really interesting publication for inquisitive children, with articles, games and playful 'how to' pages.  As one of the publishers, she set an exciting live brief for the second year students and it was great to see some initial ideas already forming on the day!

Bookmaking

The second year students have been cutting, stitching and glueing away during this more advanced bookmaking workshop. After having constructed pamphlets, concertina booklets and perfect bound books, they are now mastering the hard-back!

Talk by Robert Sae-Heng

UCA Illustration graduate Robert Sae-Heng spoke to the 3rd year illustrators about professional life after college and self-promotion. Robert's work can be found in many different formats, including books, magazines, murals, cards and wrapping paper.

His advice to current students:

Check more of Robert's amazing drawings at http://robertsae-heng.co.uk

Recent Graduate - Natalie Charles

Well done to last year's Illustration graduate Natalie Charles for being part of Screentest 2014 Festival!

Natalie's film has been selected for the 10th annual festival which takes place in the London South Bank University between the 21st and 23rd of March.

The narrative unravels in a North London townhouse, rented to immigrants that had difficulty finding housing.

Paris Trip 2013

At the end of November the Illustration course organised its annual trip to Paris and the fantastic Salon du livre et de la presse jeunesse. There were three floors of amazing books from a wide range of publishers, small collectives and bigger publishers alike. Many of the illustrators and writers were there, a great opportunity to have a chat and get books signed. 

We had some pretty tasty dishes and walked into tiny shops full of amazing food packaging and tins.

On our third day we visited the Pompidou Centre, where a really inspiring drawing exhibition from the Florence and Daniel Guerlain collection was on.

...and finally had a brisk walk through the Paris markets!