Hello! I am sorry that I have not posted any updates since May, it has been a very busy and stressful time, and unfortunately despite my efforts I have had to postpone the completion of my MA and the printing of my Cock Robin book, until May 2019.
The illustrations have been taking so much time and energy to get right, I simply was not capable of completing them all in time for exhibition this month, especially not alongside the myriad less creative concerns that have sapped away at my time. The good news is that this should allow me enough time to make the final product as good as I possibly can, and much closer to my vision than it would have been had I rushed it for the prior deadline.
I will be posting some updates in the coming days, updating this website with a new dedicated Cock Robin page, and I am thinking about putting out more regular in depth blog posts about my experiences as an artist and the wide variety of ideas and influences that I draw upon in my work. It may well be utterly uninteresting, but I think I would get a lot out of writing some things out! I have not decided whether it will be part of my scrobb website or could be it's own, disassociated and more mysterious platform.
Thanks, Joseph
From the set of Cock Robin illustrations I have so far finished, a choice selection from the series of 15 paintings, to whet your appetite!
Cock Robin is dead.
Who killed Cock Robin?
"I" said the Sparrow,
"With my bow and arrow,
I killed Cock Robin!"
Who will make his shroud?
"I" said the Beetle,
"With my thread and needle,
I shall make his shroud."
Who will be the parson?
"I" said the Rook,
"With my little book,
I shall be the parson."
All pieces are painted with watercolour and gouache on paper.
To see the rest... well, you'll just have to wait for the book!
Thanks,
Joseph
It's been a busy few months since I last updated the blog, but it has been time well spent. I have finished the first set of 9 paintings from the Cock Robin series, and exhibited them last month at Aberystwyth School of Art for the first of my two Masters exhibitions. Work on these illustrations has been exhausting, enthralling, frustrating, challenging, and immensely fulfilling. This project has become an all encompassing journey, and several of the paintings have been the most difficult pieces I've ever completed.
I received a lot of really positive and engaging feedback at the exhibition, and I am really proud of the outcome; the consistency of the images, the advancement of my technique and abilities, and the weight of emotion I feel that I have poured into them. It was really exciting to get them framed and hung neatly on the gallery wall.
I now have the daunting task ahead of me of completing the final 6 pieces, and designing and printing the book itself for the second exhibition in September. Details to be confirmed.
I will upload a gallery of several of the paintings from the first set, though I shan't be putting all of them online, as I'd like to preserve the experience of seeing them in the book or on the wall!
Thanks for reading!
Joseph
