David Foldvari on inspiration and illustration
Hi everyone.
One
of my tutors - David Foldvari - has written a piece of advice for
illustration students. I thought I would share it with you and get you
thinking about what influences play part in your illustrations:
'If
you study graphics or illustration, my most serious piece of advice to
you would be to stop looking at my stuff for inspiration as soon as
possible. if you want to be genuinely inspired or influenced by what i
do, then look outside the tiny and insignificant bubble that is
contemporary illustration. watch films, read books, look at other forms
of art and design, learn about what's going on around you - anything
that takes you outside illustration. despite of what your tutors may
tell you, as an illustration student, referencing and studying other
contemporary illustrators' work is not only going to damage your own
work, but it will only help to homogenise and water down illustration as
a whole. there is a big problem with illustration students at the
moment - they are spending too much time referencing and copying other
illustrators' work, and this will end their career before it has a
chance to start. i'm only stating the obvious here, but as a student,
you should do everything to make sure your work looks nothing like
anybody else's out there, otherwise it will never be noticed, and you
might as well get a job in mcdonalds.
i and most other working illustrators i know generally go and see a lot
of degree shows, and anyone referencing other contemporary illustrators
tends to be seen as ignorant and a bit second rate and crap - nobody
wants to see the same old, but we all love seeing things we've never
seen before, it's what moves this industry forward. as a new graduate,
it's your job to move things forward, and by referencing other
illustrators, you are doing the opposite.
so if you're using me as your contextual reference (or whatever), then do the following:
- stop looking at my work for inspiration, it is based on my own
background and cultural references, and therefore no use to anyone but
me
- look instead at your own cultural and personal background for inspiration, it's what i do
- look at 20th century graphic design and see how much of it you really
understand. (i wish i had studied that stuff more at college)
- look at every piece of work you've done over the last year - how much
of this work do you feel represents you as a truly unique individual,
and how much of it is 100% different from what everyone else is doing?
unless the answer is 'all of it', it's time to re-think everything. (i'm
not saying i'm exempt from this rule, i have to remind myself to do
this a lot).'
This is a copy of a post made a year ago by Nina Jorgensen who progressed to the University of Westminster after graduating from the FdA Illustration programme. Nina has just started her MA at the Royal College of Art.
