Portraiture commission

A portraiture commission undertaken recently - part of professional practice.
Please excuse the photograph quality.
A2 paper.

Evolution of my Idea - En Hommage to McCarthy

Naturally the project evolved during the course of the unit. But, I feel this time I have stuck nicely to the learning agreement. One of the key changing points for me was in how I was adapting Cormac McCarthy's novel. Initially I was Illustrating it, obviously not all of it as it is so large, but a direct, but wordless, conversion of a segment(s) was intended.

As I kept planning, story-boarding, etc, multiple ideas came and went on what to illustrate and how to end it. Now I would consider my work more of en hommage to McCarthy's work. I have taken the essence of his narrative.

The title of my narrative is a little indication of its roots; the words "The Child is my Warrant" is from a passage of the book

"All I know is the child is my warrant and if he is not the word of God, then God never spoke"

This line just sums up beautifully what I have been trying to portray in the narrative - The idea of the child being the protege, the apprentice which the father is leading endlessly on across the post-apaclyptic world.

This then ties in with how I have ended the book. I have ended with (as in the book) the death of the father; however, the boy is alone after this point and the father is killed (or so we assume) not dieing of ill health as in the book.

The notion being that; after we have witnessed the bond of the father and son, huddled round the fire, sleeping rouch, wandering the land, he has prepared his protege for his eneveatable departure and continuation of the the journey.

Time Management

Overall I feel my time management in this unit has been my best so far for any of my projects (just in time !) Whilst I kept checking my learning agreement I was not so strict on the exact step by steps, I let me project flow. But, when I came to assuring things were completed by certain points, they were, with time to spare. My final book was bound now 2 weeks ago, post production began for that after Easter, with the touching up of some imagery and new imagery production was very little by this point. It allowed me time to focus on some printing that I wanted to indulge in and study some more narrative in the mean time.

I do wish however, that I had done even more drawing with the time I had. I would have definitely liked to explore some scenes further/ some designs further in the narrative. But, to ensure the post production and finishing was done in plenty of time, I had to progress onward as quick as I could this unit (whilst maintaining quality of coarse.)

professional practice is now uploaded on issuu

http://issuu.com/lukemacillustration/docs/final_professional_practice

Website

Current formatting - All recent (third year work primarily major project)

Very early layout and images, primarily second year work - print based.

Over the last few weeks there has been lots of stages, tweaking, and further tweaking to the layout and images that are on my website. I have many many progress screen shots of the stages it has been through. But i think these two best sum it up.

The newer state is much more thought out and considered in just about every aspect I could; the latter is a boring spread of my older work. Thankfully I have put in the time and effort to make it much nicer.

Furthering my online precense.

I have now set up twitter @lukemacmaster

Linkedin - Lukemacmaster

My website, www.lukemacmaster.com

and I also operate this blog. However, I felt a more professional looking blog was needed for the showcasing of new and upcoming work I produce. As this blog is rather overrun with process and "sketchbook" type posts. So, I have set up my tumblr.... to be a cleaner, well presented blog.
So I can now also be located online at lukemacmaster.tumblr.com

Portfolio Decisions.

I have been putting together my physical portfolio lately for hand in. This is comprising primarily of my newer narrative work. Why is that? The narrative illustration/ story-boarding is the type of work I want to push for my primary commercial work. Whilst I love the printmaking side of my practice, and it too can be a means of narrative creation (depending on what medium suits). I feel the most important wokr therefore for my portfolio is my narrative work, if i'm meeting clients, agencies, companies, etc I am aiming for it be primarily my narrative work. My website shows all this work and more, more prints are included here to show a further range of what i can do.

Additionally, the prints I would perhaps like to show in portfolio that arent in it, are far to large to be within the A3 portfolio display box. I would need an A1 box if not bigger, and things would just start to get silly.

There are some wood block prints being put into my portfolio. 1) because they are A3 of can be cut to A3 and still show the image appropriately

2) them being small enough for the portfolio is what has enabled me to use them. Part of printmaking aesthetic is seeing the impressions in the flesh. So I would rather not print out copies of prints to be able to iclude them in an a3 portfolio. This to me is just compromising the nature of the print. I would rather not include the print in the portfolio if it could not be the original impression in the flesh.

Further Thoughts on practice

My practice centers around a discussion between drawing and printmaking; gestural and technical drawing being translated and informed visa-verse from hand drawn to traditional print. I have experimented in a variety of printing processes, having a fondness for woodcut, but primarily plate lithography has taken center stage for me.
Lithography seemed to come naturally, but adding a new dimension and direction. The lithography carries a beautiful luminosity, range of tone and atmospheric texture that I just love. Due to this I find it a perfect medium to carry my figurative studies.
Furthermore it is not just the aesthetic that appeals to me, the laborious nature of Lithography (and printmaking in general) is therapeutic and evokes my craftsman like nature.
Website : www.lukemacmaster.com

Additionally, Drawing is an in all aspects of my artistic working. It is a means to all ends. During the last 6 months of pushing my drawing, story-boarding and narrative have become even more practiced and valuable to me. Printing and drawing feed each other; through composition, lights and dark, drama, atmosphere, etc. Each discipline has helped the other progress, and will continue to do so.

My narrative and my practice - Thinking about my work.

Recently I submitted a proposal for a book to unbinding the book http://www.unbindingthebook.com/

I submitted the existing narrative I have worked on for this major project. This has been a great opportunity to reflect upon my work. In the proposal I had to write about my narrative and its intention.

I have compiled a wordless narrative with an underlying creative conscience. The narrative I have been developing is about a father and son's bleak journey across a baron, assumed apocalyptic world. The narrative is left to some interpretation but a message of a ravaged world is inferred visually, as the narrative will be entirely wordless.

The narrative aims to imply the harsh and bleak reality of life on the road in a ravaged, lawless world. The imagery hopes to be impactive and thought provoking, and to have an epic quality, playing on the juxtaposition of the wandering figures.

Furthermore, the environmental message will be an underlying theme, as we journey across the world we will focus on the intimate relationship and bond between the father and son as as they wander hopelessly on. The eventual demise of the father in the latter stages of the story leave the child to wander the baron world alone. Isolation, loss create further empathy toward the story and the

Beautifully hand drawn in colour pencil, challenging the conception of the medium in producing textural, atmospheric scenes.

Aiming to provoke environmental awareness and conscience through its harsh depiction of a potential reality in the not so distant future.

The wordless narrative creates an ambiguity in the interpretation of the imagery and message being inferred. This realised within a beautifully hand bound book with a bespoke aesthetic will hopefully create the impact and stand out quality the project deserves. I have already began creating/visualising imagery and have undertaken vast storyboarding toward the conveyance of the narrative.

The narrative is wordless, ranging from single image across double spreads, to some panelled imagery in sequence when narrative pacing suits. It is however, not intended to be construed as a graphic novel in format, but a powerful wordless narrative.

My practice

My practice is an ongoing dialogue between drawing and printmaking. Experimental gestural mark-making and technical drawing, feeding woodcut and lithographic prints. In turn feeding and being fed by the high contrasting sharp finish of woodcut and photolithography.

The visa-versa nature of this dialogue keeps my practice evolving ever searching for more effective ways of expressing images both stand alone and in sequence with the drawn line.

My work embodies a visual identity focused upon dramatic scenes and lighting, high contrast aesthetics with a cinematic feel.

Send outs

I have spent the last few days sending out bussiness cards and postcards to a list of companies I found on a film and animation database for the uk.
I comprised my send out list of companies mainly in the south west of england and london - Areas which I will be easily able to travel to regarding any work.

I selected companies for animation and film so that I could direct my storyboarding work toward them and hopefully gain some commissions in that area.

Making promotional post cards !

MORE PRO PRACTICE! I'm a page designer now...

Professional Practice - Design/Arrangement today

Printing Lithographs

So, My book has been bound !

I had my book professionally bound by book binder P.J Wellman in parkstone, poole this week. I have previously bound books myself but I wanted a more durable higher quality finish to this book as it needs to withstand exhibition/assesment, etc.

I am pretty pleased with the outcome - after being given samples of cloth/etc and talking over the intended finish with Paul for some time, I decided upon this beautiful Red cover with Gold foil tooling and a hard back cover.

This now is going to be covered with a dust jacket I have been working on... its all about the attention to detail.

Portfolio Appointment

Discussion with practicing illustrator to exaluate portfolio progress:

• Generally my website was noted to need more content - this I was aware of and will hasten to rectify, whilst being carefull not to go the other way and overload the iagery on the site.
• What am I? she felt I was a little unclear as to what I am/what I am branding myself as.
• In a discussion about the above, I noted I would like to include storyboarding as a commercial area of my practice I would like to pursue alongside my narrative work. 
• (above) Storyboarding examples therefore are needed to be added to my website - under the title "storyboarding"or "Visualisation" perhaps. It was suggested that roughs could be included to show process. 

it is now lukemacmaster.com !

More website work.. making the thumbnails link and size together

I havent posted my Website yet so... Here it is. A work in progress of corse...

cargocollective.com/lukemacmaster/

More work on the website

• Header image created and re-worked 
• Images removed and new ones uploaded.
• Slide show view created 
• 
  TO do - Edit image sizes to all are the same when scrolling.

This is my previous home page with the banner/header image that I re-worked.

The above is my new home page !