I'm exhibiting in Dubai again!

Remember when I exhibited in MEFCC last April? Well I've been invited again!!! Project manager (Somaya aka 'Ka May') is like the best sister I never had hahaha! I'm so excited right now because Networking opportunities! getting in contact with professionals/people from the industry! Wanna look for plane tickets now right now!

I've found a new motivation to get work done! so I can sell sell sell hahah!

Griz and Norm's Tuesday Tips!

A while ago I made a post about this book and now I finally have it and I can't wait to get learning! I'm so excited! I can finally cross this off my book wish list! I really want to contact Griz and Norm - They look like really nice people. Griz and I also have something in common, she's from Indonesia and so am I!

A video posted by Aghnia Mardiyah (@amardiyah) on Nov 30, 2015 at 6:38am PST

Ty Carter's Portfolio Tips

Tylur Carter is an Illustrator and Vis Dev Artist for animated films. Currently working at Blue Sky Studios, on the Peanuts movie. I was suggested to look at his Portfolio tips by Nick and now I feel like I've a lot of improving to do! but I also feel so motivated to try and do new stuff! I'm excited! maybe I should also contact him!

1. Put your best foot forward by concentrating the portfolio content around one area - stay focused to begin with, then can start showing more after you've secured a job.

 2. Art in Animation can be broken down into:

• Design: Character Design, set design, prop design, graphic design.
• Colour: Colour keys/script, moment paintings, colour callouts.  

3. Content should represent you!

• Life experience 
• Inspiration 
• Ability 
• Observation 
• Vision 

 4. Quantity is often associated with quality but when it comes to art, quality trumps everything!

 5. Have both digital and physical copy of portfolio

 6. No smaller than 8.5x11 inches. 11x17 inches can be especially complimentary to an artist applying for environment and layout design.

 7. Portfolio reviews are good - show portfolio often and honestly to professionals in the field.

Nick Kennedy

Nick and I follow each other on Tumblr - I follow him for his background paintings and tutorials, I don't know why he's following me really haha.. but we started talking on the new messaging chat thing on Tumblr (he started the chat actually hehehe) and I decided to ask him some stuff! I asked him about portfolios and he gave me a link to Ty Carter's 'Making A Successful Portfolio' post and I am sooooo glad! I now have a guideline and general idea on what areas I need to improve on! more about Ty's post here.

My Family And The Wolf

wow! I came across this animation whilst going through the motion graphics section on Hallmark's creative studio website, and its sooooo nice! colour, lighting, characters, pace, flow, story is absolutely spot on! The animation is by a Spanish studio called Headless Studio and I think I might just send them a little email to say how lovely their work is! and maybe ask for a bit of advice here and there, maybe even get them to do a portfolio review for me over the web!

Hallmark Placements

Zatul was telling me about this today, and I feel like applying! 

Every experience is a good experience so it would be a waste if I didn't try!

The creative placements themselves are unpaid but they will provide me with accommodation (if requested) and if there is a room available. Also any work that is subsequently selected by Hallmark as a result of the creative placement will be paid for. so not all too bad!

I used some of what I said in my previous cover letter for the animation studios I contacted, but changed it slightly so it would fit this better - I wasn't sure which email address to send it to as there are two on the hallmark website; Laura's and the one on the poster, so I sent it to both. I've also changed my signature image so that it would match with my website and cv - gotta keep it consistent with everything to illustrate my understanding of branding! Also added all my links at the bottom like John said I should, so they can find me else where if they're curious and want to see more:

Now the waiting game begins.

CTN Expo

This weekend everyone - well, nearly everyone I follow on Instagram - went to CTN and its not fair! I am going to make it my goal to one day go there! CTN is very much like comic cons except its more animation based and therefore, where all those animator/character designer/visual development people hang out and I want to be a part of that! I want to make friends with people from the industry!

People like Chris Sasaki and Craig Knowles (both I met in person) went and I'm so jealous! But one day, one day I'll be part of all this, maybe even exhibit my work there. you'll see :-)

Zine, Zine, Zine

Awww lookie! I've been tagged in a picture by someone who bought my zine at ThoughtBubble! I have 2 zines left over from TBubz which means I sold 3! yay!

I had a look through Emma's posts and it looked like she worked at an animation studio at one point which is all very exciting, because that means more connections! The studio she is associated with is an animation studio in Manchester called Kilogramme! I've followed her back and I want to ask her whether she did actually work for them at one point, because it did look like it! I think she did some character designs for one of their animations.. Then I will also contact the studio to see whether they do any placements or work experience or if I could simply come to their studio just to see how it all works!

Yes. Very good.

Website!

I made a website and I finished it.. for now! still waiting for a few images and trying to figure out how to change fonts, but other than that I'm pretty happy with it! Check it yo! amardiyahart.com

ooh! I also made a new little 'logo' thing because previous branding seemed a little too complex. I still wanted it to include my name or initials but something simple that could be easily remembered and recognised, so I came up with this - which is a slightly altered version of my old logo I came up with for my Tumblr header.

Bengal

French comic artist and illustrator Bengal was at ThoughtBubble! and I fell in love with his Spider Gwen piece! The composition, lighting, colour, mood, and details were just so spot on - it felt like there was a strong force pulling me towards it, like it wanted me to buy it and I was so tempted to! but it was raining that day and I had no suitable bag to carry it in if I did buy it, so I didn't.

Then when I got home, I instantly felt regret! I couldn't stop thinking about it haha! so I decided to ask Zatul (who had a table there) if she could buy it for me and she did! bless her, she even got it signed for me and I am a very very happy girl. I need to get it framed asap!

The colour is a bit dodgy in the photo, its way nicer in real life!

Fred Aldous

Decided to visit this shop after thought bubble with Becca since its pretty new and I've not been. It's kinda like Colours May Vary but bigger and also less prints and more products! I liked the colourful bunting, made it very friendly looking and welcoming!

Also found some books on paper cutting! I've been doing some paper cut illustrations for extended practice and theres some really interesting tips and tricks in these books that I want to try out! but going to see how much they are online first, incase they might be cheaper - if anyone wants to give me a present, just buy me books! I want books, but books are expensive!

Art supply heaven downstairs!

Though I think some stuff might be cheaper and more complete in Hobbycraft?

Chris Thornley

Chris, also known as Raid71, is a screen print master!

Amazing large scale screen prints at his table today. Really jam packed and detailed too! After speaking to him, we found out that the secret is to print on coloured paper even if most of the coloured area is black! I guess the process is quite similar to how a CMYK would be printed - black last. This way the other colours would turn out more vibrant and the black would pull it all in and neaten everything up if some of the coloured inks didn't align as well. I think he mentioned having his prints printed in the US, and how screen prints are really big over there at the moment. His prints weren't too bad in price as well actually; they were really quite big prints, maybe A2+ and more than 3 colours (I'm sure of it) for £30/40, which I think is a pretty reasonable price! Do you know how much stuff I wanted to buy today but didn't and couldn't because of the rain?! damn it.

Dom McKenzie

Ok so, the Clint Eastwood piece below is what really drew me in to Dom's table at thought bubble today. Its such a lovely piece, with nice composition and colours and textures. I asked him what his process is like because I was curious how he got that brushy effect and he told me that his illustrations are all done with ink which he then scans in and colour. He told me that he draws with a Pentel brush pen (which everyone uses, it seems! - since I asked some other artists too) so I must invest in one as well!

I really love his use of colour too! I asked nearly everyone I spoke to how they choose colours and they all seem to just pick it out randomly, or just trial and error. I've never really been good at using limited colours and I really want to try but I don't know where to start! Just look at all these lovely cityscapes!

Craig Knowles

CRAIG KNOWLESSSSS!

I've liked his work since so long ago but I didn't even know he lives in the UK! so when I saw him at thought bubble I got a little bit excited and bought two of his books which he signed and I'm so happy! We also talked a little - I asked him if he went to art school and he said yes in Wales but he said it wasn't a very good course haha. 

I then asked him what he's doing now and when he said he's working in an animation studio in Manchester, my eyes nearly fell out of my head! I've been looking at animation studios in Manchester recently!! He works at Brown Bag Films and I told him about my interest to work within the animation studio doing character design and etc etc. too, so I asked him wether they do internships or work experience and he said that he will ask as they are just settling into the new studio. He also gave me his business card (which he doesn't have out on his table so I guess they're for special people only hahah) and he told me to email him - which I will! He said that all positions as designers are all filled now, but said that they will probably need more in Feb! how exciting is that! aaaaahh..

Thoughtbubble

Went to thought bubble with Becca today! was a good day overall, got to talk to a lot more people than I did last year which is good! Also really nice to hear that I sold a couple of my zines! I feel like I should do more stuff like this in the future (zines I mean) since its fairly cheap and pretty quick and easy to produce. Me and Becca also think we should get a table in next year's thought bubble! whilst walking around I noticed that there wasn't any paper art (which I've been doing for extended practice) or anything of the sort, so I really want to be the first one! I think it'd be pretty unique in amongst all the heavy comicy stuff! yes. got dat USP sorted.

Victo Ngai

Victo's talk on Friday was sooooo good! and she was very lovely too!

It's amazing how much of her work I've seen and liked on Tumblr, but I never knew it was her's until she showed us in her presentation! I am utterly amazed! - How she manages to pack all of her ideas into one image really amazes me; there's a real deep story to each one of her pieces - she's really given so much thought into everything and I really don't know how she does it! I also love the oriental feel to her work - its really unique! She kinda looks a little like my cousin too hahaha, its funny :-)

Some of my favesssss:

Alex Wilson

Alex Wilson is a children's illustrator based in Yarm who I have followed on Tumblr since a long time ago because I love his work! I suddenly remembered that he went to thought bubble last year, so last night I decided to ask him if he was going again this year:

And then he followed me on Instagram! aaaa.

I replied back saying that no I don't have the table at thought bubble this year (though I feel like I should now because he said he would love to stop by!) but I also told him about LCA Illustration course having a table! - a bit of promotion there. haha!

He said my work is lovely *cries into the sunset*
I'd like to keep this conversation going with Alex maybe even see him on Saturday and ask him more questions to do with his practice. As he does a lot of figure drawings, I want to ask him if he uses photographs or if he draws from life. He also went to Savannah College of Art and Design and I want to ask him how that was; what studying in the US is like and what made him settle into a little town in England haha and more questions like this..

Portfolio

Have a number of portfolio - categorise/group work into subject areas - have links if on website - Clarity is key. Quality, consistency and balance of content. 10-20 pieces of work in each portfolio - LESS IS MORE

Web:

• Easy to get out - accessible even to those on the other side of the world.
• Website, blogs etc.
• Write a statement - can be playful. Reflective of you and your work.
• Email clients - be concise, can be casual depending on client
• Important to engage them beforehand - think about how you can create a long lasting impression. Enthusiasm? Personality? Humour?
• remember to have have contact detail on email or a live link to your website.

Print:

• What you take to meetings
• No bigger than A3 for my own convenience
• Think about the actual folder itself - corporate black? or something with a little more personality? - think about the type of client.
• Be selective with your work - tailor to client but also add in bits you think they might like, but don't put in pieces of work that you wouldn't want to do.
• Be aware of printing quality - think about stock.

Meeting:

• After looking at your website or email, a client might ask to have a meeting with you.
• Could be face to face or through Skype etc. - be prepared to talk either way.
• Be confident to talk about yourself and your work - professionalism.
• Ask for a bit of input before actually meeting them - e.g ask for a brief they might want you to do - always push for more.

Task for next session:

• Image Audit
• ordering of images
• Bring in 10 images that is reflective of you and your practice.

AyasoB x Pink Polo Fashion Show

On Friday 6th November, ayasoBoutique held it's very first fashion show at the Ghantoot Polo Club in Dubai! - and I am so excited and honoured to have been involved in it! I've only seen the backdrops, which I designed in phone quality pictures from the event on Instagram so far (but they have promised to email me portfolio-worthy photos when it's all ready). It's always so exciting seeing your work used in real life, also my first time working on something quite as large as this! - I wasn't sure how I was meant to create the designs and with what program, but I tried it anyway and it worked! I think I now have a better understanding of using Adobe Illustrator for making large scale work and I'm so excited to do something like this again - if the opportunity presents itself to me again, I would grab it with no hesitation! Photos below are taken from Instagram & behind the scenes sent to me the night before the event - will replace them later when I receive the new ones.

got the pictures! find them here instead: amardiyahart.com

Asian Express Newspapers

Holy guacamole..