Cluny MCR insta takeover

This is how their feed looked after I had posted each one of my images! I think they work well as a 6 and i'm glad I chose the ones I did. I did mock up some possible layouts on photoshop using a screenshot of their instagram page to get a sense of how they would look once I had posted so that definitely helped. Below are each of the individual posts including the captions etc:

What i've taken away from this experience/positives:

• I think I managed to get some good engagement which I was really happy about! Before I had this weird fear that I would get zero likes and feel really embarrassed, or that their followers wouldn't be that interested in my images. but people seemed to like them!
• I gained quite a few followers from doing the takeover! I don't have many on my illustration account as I haven't had it for too long as I always just used a different account. Also I image the type of people who followed me are creatives which is good
• It's actually made me feel quite a lot more confident about my work, I don't feel as nervous as getting my work out there anymore which is a huge positive for me 
• it's been really good doing something slightly out of my comfort zone; I wasn't sure when they first asked but i'm so glad i went ahead and did it
• it was fun! i really looked forward to posting each day

Cluny MCR insta takeover

So before I started the instagram takeover on the Cluny account, I wanted to decide which pieces of my work I was going to use, and come up with the captions to them as well so it was all sorted before I had to post them. They wanted me to post 6 images over a period of 6 days, and told me the best times to post were usually about 8am and 5pm; I thought the most logical thing to do would be to post one image daily.

below are the 6 images I want to post, and some rough kinda captions. They also told me to make sure to hashtag #clunymcr and any other appropriate hashtags to increase interaction, but i'll do these when I go to post!

1st post:

I wanted to post this 3 colour screen print first as for me it was one of the first pieces of my work I was thoroughly happy with, so I thought it would be a good starting point. I love the simplicity and it reminds me of me and my best friend! I thought i'd give it this pink border to jazz it up a bit, as I wanted my images to really stand out on their instagram (i've done the same thing to a couple of my other pieces!)

caption: hey it's @illustrationmarn & i'm a third year illustration student at LAU. I'll be posting some of my recent work on here until Sunday. This is a three colour print I created while trying to get back into screen printing after many failed attempts, & it reminds me of me and my best pal. I'll be posting a couple more of my screen prints over the next few days as it's become one of my favourite ways of image making. I hope you enjoy my takeover!! Lots of love 

2nd post:

I wanted my second image to totally contrast the first, which is why I chose my commission for banger magazine. I wanted to try and keep an even balance between analogue and digital media for my 6 posts, and try and alternate each one after the other. 

caption: @illustrationmarn insta takeover. this was a quick little commission I did for @banger_magazine depicting @moonduobands's album 'shadow of the sun'. Something a bit different!

3rd post:

Next I decided on another screen print, this time my 5 colour screen prints I did in a couple of different colour-ways. I remembered you could do instagram posts with multiple picture which was perfect for this as I could show both colour schemes without having to pick which one to post. It also meant I could post the picture of me holding them which I thought added some character !

caption: @illustrationmarn insta takeover. These are a couple of 5 colour screen prints I did in two different colour ways. I love playing around with shape and colour. I tend to think a lot about colour especially, I think it can make or break an image. These were part of a self initiated brief, I think I just wanted to create something playful & fun. 

4th post:

another digital image for my fourth post! Again, the original of this image didn't have a red border but I wanted it to stand out a bit more. I thought this would be a good image to post as it explores a little bit of typography as well as illustration, so it might appeal to a graphic design audience as well! I was trying to tie in all my images together with the colours I was using, and red, dark blue and yellow are colours I seem to use pretty often!

caption: @illustrationmarn insta takeover. this is from a self initiated project, where I'm trying to explore type and how it can fit in with my illustrations. I'm having fun with these, and it's helping me get into working digitally which is something I usually struggle with!

5th post:

Another multiple image post for my 5th post! a couple more 4 colour screen prints, and again I wanted to include both of the colour ways I used. I thought about putting a border around each of these but figured they didn't really need them, and from my vision of all 6 of my images they might of looked a bit too busy/colourful if I had put one on. 

caption: @illustrationmarn insta takeover. here are a couple more screen prints. These were inspired by a book called 'a dictionary of colour combinations'. I wanted to experiment with colours I don't usually tend to use. 

6th post:

for my last post I wanted to use something quite fun and energetic, which is why I chose this digital image of some dancing boys and girls. It's probably my most simple piece of work but I thought it would be a nice one to end on, and these are usually the most eye-catching. Also, again, I wanted to tie it in with colours you can see within my previous posts!

caption: @illustrationmarn insta takeover. this will be my last post!! Another self initiated piece exploring type and how it fits with my illustration. I created this while working on some ideas for a music related brief and got a bit carried away. As much as I love screen printing (& will definitely be continuing with the process) i'm enjoying getting into digital work a bit more, so I think this is something i'd like to carry on exploring. This is currently my latest piece of work so we'll see what happens next. Thanks for having me!! lots of love

Cluny MCR

Recently I was contacted through instagram by a publication called 'Cluny MCR'! I actually already followed them on there as I noticed their profile a few weeks ago while they were open for submissions! but after a quick bit of research I noticed that it was exclusively for artists from Manchester or living & working in Manchester, and as I wasn't either of these I thought it wouldn't be worth submitting. 

So I was really excited when they contacted me, and this is how the first part of the conversation went:

At first when they asked me what my work was 'about' I panicked a bit cos I didn't really know what it was about, it almost felt like it wasn't really about a whole lot. But then I thought about it a bit more and realised there were themes I tended to stick to, and especially as I use characters and figures I definitely seem to base them around themes of friendships and relationships, and just people in general. Anyway, this is what I replied to them:

Good question! A lot of my work is about people and I guess relationships/friendships etc as you can see it's predominantly figure based and a lot of my illustrations include more than one figure, so I think this is something I'm subconsciously thinking about when i'm creating work. Also, it's weird cos I've actually recently totally changed the way I work, my practise used to be completely different, quite neat and a lot of line drawings with a lot more detail, but I slowly realised I really didn't like working like that at all! I was uninspired and it was really putting me off illustration. So I just decided to stop and try something totally different, which is the work I create now!

Shape and colour are the two most important aspects of my practise for sure, and I've started to LOVE making work again!! I think it's quite ambiguous, I like the fact someone might look at it differently to how someone else might look at it, if that makes sense? I want my work to make people smile and feel happy so thats also something I try and aim for!

Their reply:

I was really excited at the prospect of an instagram takeover, it seemed like a fun little idea; also, a perfect way to get some of my work and my illustration instagram acc out there, & to a creative audience, as I noticed as they had much more followers than I did! I also noticed an illustrator I love the work of (@waldemar_st) had done one before so this made me even keener! I was a bit nervous though they said they'd give me a quick run down on what to do etc, so this made me feel more confident about it!

Adam Higton Talk

I was really excited when I found out Adam Higton was coming in to do a talk as he's an illustrator I have admired for a while now. Every inch of his practise is weird and wonderful and his work is applied to such a wide range of items and contexts. 

• He mentioned that moving home after university can be a big step backwards and if you need to then to not get comfortable. Work towards being able to live away from home and make enough money to get by and usr the rest of your time to focus on your practise
• explore your practise in different ways and methods of image making. for example he makes beautiful little hand-stained wooden puzzles which is completely unique
• he also turns his work into rugs and scarves which are also unique ways of showcasing work
• make sure you know how to deal with clients and complete invoices to avoid getting messed around/not paid
• he often also makes work from his music as well and I feel this link makes his work very personal
• make an image heavy website

Responding to Egle Zvirblyte's call for an intern

Yesterday I saw Egle Zvirblyte make a post on instagram about needing an intern in London to help her out with a painting project. I am a HUGE fan of her work and really admire her practise so this was a perfect opportunity for me to apply. I was actually in London at the time and worked out that i'd be free for these dates as well as having somewhere to stay so I emailed her immediately. 

This was the email I sent to her:

Hello Egle!

I just saw your advertisement for interns on your instagram page and came immediately to email you. 

I'm 21 and currently a student in my third year studying illustration at Leeds Arts University, and have been looking for some internships/work experience, so I thought this was a perfect opportunity for me. At the moment I'm really enjoying the way my practise is going, and something I'd love to get into is mural painting/producing large scale work, so this is a goal for me in terms of my practise. 

I have been a huge fan of your work for a long time now, I love to use shape and bold colours in my on practise so your work is really inspiring to me. My instagram account is @illustrationmarn if you would like to see some of my work. 

In terms of the dates I am available for all of them and I also have somewhere to stay in London.

I hope you consider my email and I really hope to hear back from you! Thanks so much

All the best, 

Marnie Cox

Unfortunately I wasn't successful but I'm hopeful there will be more opportunities like this in the future which I can apply for. I think for future applications it would be better to include my website url instead of my instagram as it probably looks a little more professional. 

Egle Zvirblyte

taken from studio practise blog

Egle Zvirblyte is an illustrator I discovered on Instagram, I'm really enjoying having an Instagram account solely for my illustrations, as it means all I follow are illustrators/graphic designers/creative accounts which means a constant source of inspiration while scrolling down my feed. Zvirblyte's work popped up on my 'explore' page and I was immediately drawn to the bold and colourful nature of it! 

I love how wacky her illustrations are, and how her figures seem to flow so nicely. I think this is something I could take away from her work, as the figures I create tend to be quite rigid lines; I think I need to get lost in my illustration a little more. I also realised I only really seem to draw human figures, which could be holding me back; I almost think the non-human figures have a lot more character. The colours are something else I adore, although she uses quite a vast colour scheme in many of her illustrations they all go so well together. 

Working predominantly with shape can be difficult at times, but looking at work like this shows me the possibilities of it. It's nice to see work in context, as something I struggle with is thinking about how my work would fit in places, but this has given me some ideas of where it could. I think my next step is to think about some editorial illustrations.