Last year I was invited by Paul Burgess (head of Illustration at Brighton University), to come in and give an informal lecture to his current students, view their work so on and so forth. I'd actually interviewed Paul myself for my 'A Level' Art project years back, after seeing a beautiful Textile hanging of his exhibited in our school library. Most serendipitous. He still works successfully as a commercial Artist and has a knack for collage that keeps him in high demand.
As awkward as it can feel to chat about working life, yesterday I felt relaxed for once enjoying the experience as a whole. The campus facilities were hugely impressive with various print-based studios, letterpress, book binding and even a performance art space. I wanted to give a realistic idea of whats it like to be a free lance illustrator, highs and lows, creative anecdotes and appropriate tips. What I hadn't expected was for it to be documented and re-presented to me afterwards in a cartoon strip format by Harley Ross, a second year student. The second drawing depicts my watery eyed relief on describing the joys of working with Art Directors who actually take the time to fully understand what you do.. small victory's.
