Portfolio Visit 1 (email)

After speaking to Tansy Myer, she agreed to taking a look at some of my work, though as she lives in America and I live here in England, obviously would be abit hard and alot of money to meet, especially just for a portfolio visit. So I sent her some of my works via email. I sent her, my Gun, Fruit Machine and Roulette wheel from last year, and some skulls and my twinkle character from the work I had done so far this year. This was her reply.

Hi Becca,

Nice work! I love your use of texture and color in your illustrations. It almost gives them a paper cut or wood block feel to them. The flat perspective also contributes to this wood cut feel.

I think you should go even further playing with texture. Maybe even try textures/patterns that relate to the subject matter. Create your own textures, photograph or scan them in. I can see this being something really cool for you. Would work especially nice for a fashion piece.

Your color palette is very bright and fresh - I really like the pinks/reds contrasted with the silver/grey in killer fashion. Different tones of the same color range give this piece a sophisticated look.

Don't forget that for editorial it needs to be eye-catching and pull you into the story- Junctures works really good for that. I love the color and look of Killer Fashion the most but I wish something a little more "killer" could have come into play besides the brass knuckles. My feeling is art directors can always pull back from what you've given them, so I'd rather go over the top and edit it down. Don't play it safe.

I would also suggest playing around with some layouts that use negative space. Maybe try to do this one with a piece that relates to an emotion or a feeling. Just a thought.

Again, great work Becca. Keep pushing yourself and pushing boundaries for yourself, trying new things and always do what you love. Challenge yourself, but don't force yourself to love something if you don't.

I hope this been helpful.

Cheers,

Tansy

She's given me some great tips and advice which I will deffinatly be taking on board, and I thank her so much for taking some time out to take a look at my work and get back to me, such a lovely women and a fab illustrator!