Off the back of a busy March and conversations at the Festival of Enterprise, I thought I'd share a little bit about the diversity of enquiries I've had for live scribing.
It's still a lesser-known thing for events, and since the beginning of the year, it's been quite interesting who I've been invited into a room with to create live illustration. #livescribing
This Month I've been in London, Nottingham, Salford and Chester for live illustration.
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For the illustration, I got photos of the actors and a copy of the script, which was plenty to provide the illustrations needed. I then made as many images as I could with the budget allocation, designed the booklet and created one page website resource, getting the domain and hosting sorted too.
The play, Ward 67, written by Sam Jamil, is currently touring schools in the North West. You can check out the website here.
This is a great example of a project where I can cover a few bases at the same time efficiently; illustration, print design, website, domain name and hosting. I've been what's called a 'Creative Generalist' for quite a while, moving between disciplines to get the job done, and while I feel increasingly there are clients out there might believe that wanting this might mean using a handful of services, or blowing the budget, it's really just about knowing where to go and which freelancer to use.
Multi-disciplined designers are out there, and I've worked with a few. As the creative industry becomes more competitive, I foresee there will be more 'multi-skilled' designers on the scene, as the work necessitates.
As someone who lived in Salford for seven years, I've seen the prosperity and the challenges the city faces, and understand how very different a place it is from its neighbour, Manchester.
There was a lot to digest and translate, and I think understanding the people and the challenges helped me capture the key messages for the organisations and charities who were present, to have their voices heard and recorded. The Mayor of Salford was in attendance
Little did I know this would be a warm-up for a bigger project involving Salford's bid to become a Unicef Child-Friendly City, but more on that in a later post.
Links:
Fairer, Greener, Healthier Salford
The Lowry at MediacityUK
Salford City Council
Mayor of Salford
More Live Scribing
This wasn't your average production of Cinderella; it was very rock and roll and great fun to work on with the team from the theatre. They had a really clear idea of what they wanted, but were also open to suggestions. There were a couple of revisions until we arrived at the right composition, see the early sketch below.
The main aim was to keep the colours bright and put plenty of energy into the scene, while keeping it easy to read visually, and I think we really nailed that.
Early sketch:
This poster illustration artwork was created in Clip Studio Pro and Affinity Designer on a Wacom cintiq
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John is available for illustration commissions and works directly with clients. Get in touch to find out about rates, usage and how to get the most from an illustration commission.
A selection of character design work from books and publicity.
Character designs offer benefits in areas like literature, marketing, entertainment, and education. Character illustrations are great at conveying messages, emotions, and narratives. They can transcend language barriers and resonate with diverse audiences, making complex ideas more accessible and engaging.
They can help brand identity. Memorable characters become mascots that consumers associate with products or services, fostering brand recognition and loyalty.
Well-crafted character illustrations evoke emotions and forge connections with audiences. Whether it's through relatable facial expressions, body language, or relatable scenarios, characters can elicit empathy, laughter, or excitement, strengthening the bond between the audience and the content.
Characters are central to storytelling, and illustrations bring them to life in vivid detail. They provide visual cues about a character's personality, background, and motivations, enriching the narrative experience and immersing readers or viewers in the story world.
Character illustrations can be adapted across various media and platforms, including books, animations, merchandise, social media, and websites. Their versatility allows them to be repurposed for different purposes while maintaining consistency in branding and messaging.
In educational settings, character illustrations make learning more engaging and enjoyable, especially for younger learners. They can simplify complex concepts, act as visual aids in textbooks, or serve as interactive avatars in educational games and apps, enhancing comprehension and retention.
I've always wanted to walk the full length of the Irwell River in my home city. From Old Trafford, through Manchester and Salford. So I was inspired recently to attend a full room at Factory International for the launch of CyanLines. It's a bold goal to make the canals of Greater Manchester accessible, connecting the green and blue spaces together. 100 miles of nature walk in 10 years.
It's a pretty audacious idea, and would need a lot of cash, but I was inspired enough to live-scribe it, and also needed to run out my new drawing tablet.
Looking for a live scribe (live artist) for your event? Get in touch.
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Example of layout artwork from various projects;
It's a term that's been around for almost twenty years, referring to how the visual language of comics can explain complex issues or offer a light-hearted on a serious subject. There's an annual conference too, where professionals discuss how best it can be used.
Here are some illustrations excerpts from a comic strip I did recently, on the subject of scientific samples. I worked with the author on a script that was provided and added the humour where it would fit best. I'm happy with the results, and clean line is my preferred style.
More about Graphic Medicine.
Unlike standard pamphlets or medical texts, illustrated narratives make complex ideas clear and memorable.
For healthcare and med comms organisations, it provides a way to communicate with empathy. A comic steip or visual narrative can highlight patient voices and build stronger trust between providers and communities. Educators and medical professionals also benefit: illustrated stories make sensitive topics easier to discuss, and aid conversations and learning.
For patients, custom illustrations can transform intimidating medical info into something more approachable, helping them feel supported by seeing their own experiences reflected in visual form.
Links:
Crikey, eh?
They were some dark times, crazy times, and some might argue the changes that happened then are still being felt today. To mark the occasion, my graphic novel, DISTANCE, is now available on Amazon for the first time.
Did you run out of toilet roll? Did you social distance in a group of more than 6 people? Did we ever find out if was a scotch egg a substantial meal?
I drew this social commentary in comic book form at the time, as it happened from March 2020 to Jan 2022 and this is the first time the complete version has been available in print.
The title is a play on words about social distance and running, but as time went on it was about perspective too, getting distance from those extraordinary events. May you live in interesting times. Indeed.
Previously Distance has only been available via Kickstarter, where it was successfully funded over 2 volumes, and from me directly at conventions and art fairs. This 'UK Lockdown anniversary' edition contains the entire run, including additional material.
A couple of pages were also shown at the HOME open exhibition in 2022.
Back 2020, I started drawing a comic strip diary. I had no real plan, just creating it one page at a time documenting the ups and downs of life during the pandemic. As time went on it became about how to stay positive, exploring the weird, dark, crazy world we've all experienced dealing with living through such bizarre times. Like most people it made me reflect on life, be super vigilant and make new decisions about the future - whatever that might look like.
Comics are a great way to share experiences, and it was a great way to connect with people at a time when I couldn't touch, hug or meet up with friends.
Need a book cover design? As a freelance book cover illustrator I can help with that. it's not always humour, though these covers generate the most interest when opening my portfolio. I can work direct with an author or publisher and I'm (at the time of writing) not represented by an agent, so I can offer value for money too.
Here are some examples of previous books I've worked on. I also do interior artwork, and the examples below have 10 black-and-white interior illustrations too, but you'll need to check them yourself to see that! All my book artwork is created traditionally and digitally by hand.
Got questions?
Here's a recent book cover illustration for 'Football's Tallest Tales' by Bryan Gibson.
Getting the cover right is important. In this case, nailing the humour and tone the author is after. Illustration is problem solving too. You'll see in this artwork in the background, on one side is the crowd is cheering, while the other is fed up as the ball whistles past the distracted keeper.
We could have had the fans in colour but after discussion, it was decided to keep them in shades of grey. Why? Well, imagine if one side was red and the other blue. It's important to make the book appealing to everyone, so if one colour was the losing team, that could put off a potential reader who supports a team that wears that colour. Make sense? These are the things I consider when doing illustration work.
For this book, I created illustrations for the cover and inside panels - but to see those you'll need to get the book!
Available from Waterside press
If you need a freelance book cover illustrator, get in touch for a chat;
John's background in art, production and visual storytelling creates detailed and engaging medical illustrations for use in education and marketing. From anatomy to theory models, we can help you find the correct level of detail needed in your images to convey bodily structures and procedures clearly and concisely.
Catering for large and small-scale delivery, from one-to-one consultations to collaborations with other artists in the studio, John works with public and private medical healthcare organisations across the world. We assess project requirements and offer a variety of options to create visuals with precision and clarity that bring your project in on time and on budget.
We provide medical communication artwork which can be turned into motion graphics animation to explain complex processes clearly. As well as animation we also provide graphic design for leaflets brochures and exhibition stands.
We don't use AI-generated imagery, everything is bespoke and human-made. All artwork provided to the client is owned by the client on completion. We have a large bank of existing illustration reference images that we refer to to make projects cost-efficient.
Links:
Healthcare Graphic Design & illustration
Medcomms illustrator
STEM Education
Science and Education illustration
'People watching' is a bunch of faces, drawn at various events I attended last year, including the Edinburgh Festival and Wigan market. Super quick inked sketches of people as they walk by.
They are based on the speed portrait work I do at events, trying to capture real people quickly. In this case, it's folks who walk past, interesting characters in real places just going about their business. Once they've walked past, I'm left with what I saw and my sense of humour.
It's a fun exercise and I'm really glad I made the effort to enter this year. You can see the Home Open exhibition until the end of March 2024
