Reportage is the single most important part of my success as a visual artist. Whether it be illustration, graphic design or photography, learning to tell a story while I am part of it has taught me to appreciate and understand what the essential elements of visual communication are…knowledge, experience, and the ability to draw.
i am really inspired by your work i have been given a project to do in my a leval grpahics course and i am to design reprtage illustrations for the idependent newsgroup which will be published in the sunday independent.
just wondering if you can let me know what inspires you and you work?
and what do you think of when you hear or see the word ‘city’?
please reply thankyou.
Hi Chantelle, thank you for the note. To answer your question, anything can inspire me. Life is inspiring according to my interests and knowledge of a subject. The more you know about your subject, the more interesting it becomes. For your project, I would start by looking up the word ‘city’ in the dictionary and see where that leads you. You are the artist, and how you research and how you come to a conclusion is part of your art. I hope that helps. Good luck with your assignment.
Hi there,
I am a third year illustrator from Cambridge Schoolof Art and am writing my dissertation on the topic of reportage. I have emailed a few current illustrators with some quick questions on this topic and wondered if you would be interested in answer some for me? Please let me know,
Louise
Sure. Thanks.
Ok, a few quick questions, you can email a reply if you would pfrefer…
1. Are the drawings that i see here drawn on location or done afterwards using rough sketches/photography?
2. Do you think there is a future for reportage or will it die out as technology increases
3. Do you drawn for the satisfaction of completing a drawing, or as part of a process e.g gathering info for a project?
1. All of the drawings are done on location. I find that the experience and the environment are the most important elements in telling the story.
2. As technology increases, and the internet ‘community’ grows, I feel that reportage, and the idea of an individual’s point-of-view, will be in greater demand. The computer is a tool for expression, but without an idea or a point-of-view, it is useless.
In terms of art, I feel that ‘computer/digital’ art is moving in a direction that is cold, empty and all about the latest technological gimmick. I feel that there will be a movement toward art created for real reasons, not just to showcase the latest technology. Art with stories, human stories.
3. I draw because I love it, and when I’m working on a project it is my means for gathering information. A drawing done for a reason is the most satisfying.
Good luck with your reportage and your dissertation.
thankyou 🙂
hey,
i have few question to ask you.
would be great if i could get an answer 🙂
i’m trying to understand
1. how to defined british reportage illustrators and if there is a tradition in british reportage illustration?
2. do you think any artist could be considered as reportage artist?
3. now a days in magazines like sunday magazine, they don’t include much of reportage illustration, why would that be?
hope my questions are not to hard and that you will have the time to answer
many thanks!
you can answer by e-mail if you prefer ( helkoole@hotmail.com)
hello Helene. First, can I ask why you have an interest, are you an artist? Secondly, are you only interested in British reportage artists or reportage artists in general?
To your questions, 1) There is a wonderful history of reportage in Britain, J.M.W. Turner for instance and his watercolors of Parliament burning. And more recently, the prolific Feliks Topolski. His work hangs in Buckingham Palace.
2) I understand your question, but in my opinion, for art to be categorized as reportage, the artist must interact with the subject. It must be a piece created in the moment, on location. AND it must tell a story. Such as Toulouse-Lautrec’s many drawings at the Moulin Rouge.
3) I can’t tell you exactly why as I’m not in the business of hiring artists, but I believe that a lack of skilled reportage artists is the reason. An artist’s expression and interpretation of a subject, no matter how mundane can be unique and beautiful. And in my opinion could add an entirely new feeling to an editorial or an advertisement, but since there are fewer and fewer artists capable of drawing on location, it has become a forgotten art.
Thank you for writing.
hey,
sorry for my late reply.
Didn’t realize you answered.
I’m an illustrator myself studying my last year in Cambridge, and I’m writing my dissertation on Reportage illustration. I’m concentrating on British reportage illustration but also including other artist.
Thank you for the good tips!!!
helene