Sarahfogg - Sarah Fogg Illustration

Inktober - Day 4

It's Tabitha and her as-yet-unnamed cat! I did this with a brush, which I don't do very often. I think I need more practice, good thing there's still 25 days to go.

Inktober - day 2

Are there even any pictures of Nat on this blog? I hardly ever draw him anymore even though I love him very much. He's one of my oldest characters, I think I made him up when I was 14 or so.

I haven't used ink wash in forever either, I am out of practice! 

Character designs for my third comic in the Goth Anthology! This one took me forever to get right, I almost gave up and scripted a new one, but it's thumbnailed now and I can't wait to show everyone when it's done!

It's about goths, who are also magical girls. Their gothic magical girl outfits aren't final yet, but I added them in for comparison with the monstrosities that are their default outfits.

Magical goths. I've never been so excited to draw something! 

Hey, I've been considering studying illustration, and I've been wondering could you tell me what university did you study at? I love your art, it's incredible :)

Incredible? Gosh I don't even know what to say to that! 

I went to the University of Gloucestershire, and studied Illustration. I'm afraid I'd made a bad decision on what to study and swapped to the illustration course about a month in, so I never really compared it to other illustration courses, there may be better ones available. It all depends what you think you need to learn.

In first year we were given a grounding in different tools. I think we had basic lessons in Photoshop, Indesign, animation in Flash and AfterEffects, wood- and lino-cut, screen printing and etching. In second year we were given a series of briefs to work from, then in third year we did two big, self-led projects. I think the way to learn the most skills on the course is just to produce as much work as you can, so you can get a lot of practice and feedback. If you want more detailed instruction (composition, colour theory etc.) it's probably not the right course for you.

BUT. There's one important thing the course was really good for: setting you up for professional practice. In second year you learn to work to briefs, and work quickly, then in third year we got weekly hour-long talks about everything from pricing to invoicing and contracts to what our taxes were going to look like, and frequent talks and visits from practicing illustrators in various fields. There's also a mandatory third-year module on self-promotion, so you should leave the course with a game plan.

I've got friends who did other illustration courses, and none of them got anywhere near as much instruction on how to actually set themselves up as a practicing illustrator, so that's something I'm really grateful for. (Although I don't think I've made the best use of all that good advice...)

Sorry, I've written a bit of a novella! Bottom line is if you want to be taught practical skills or to draw better, my course probably won't help much, but it is really good for getting you to work in a professional way, and if you produce lots of work your skills will improve too.  I hope it's helpful to you in deciding where to look. Good luck with your work!

Meanwhile, as I work on my goth comics, here are some things about anime I've been watching. My reactions to some of the series... surprised me.