Inspiring Artists
Montse Bernal
Background information on Montse Bernal and her style
Montse Graduated in Fine Art from Barcelona and specialized in illustration at ENSAD, Paris. She works near the Italian Alps, surrounded by photographs from the turn of 20th century, old books of botany and zoology, paper ephemera, drawings of Ingres and flea market "treasures". She loves portrait and understands it as a way of rediscovering a person, to go beyond the surface of that which is shown to us at first glance and which can be touched. Clients include The New Yorker, Nike and BMW.As she is a fashion illustrator her artwork tends to be based around women models which are portrait paintings some of the whole body but mostly highlighting facial features.
One way I would describe her style is vivacious as it lively and animated; like I have mentioned especially of women. Montse's artwork is slightly contemporary in that her colours aren't always particularly defined as the colours and lines run into each other as she uses water colour.It seems to me that in the majority of her artwork she hand-draws the drawings adding detail etc and then uses water paint and pastels to add colour, also shading on eyebrows and blending in hair strands with pencils,shading to show different skin tones, but then to interest and emphasis certain features on the painting such as lips and eyes she uses illustrator to add to the effectiveness. I think her artwork is successful because the use minimal, simple colours which all compliment each other and stand out as they are contrasting. Also I think she's successful because the drawings are so realistic and real life; it is intriguing as they have been so cleverly and carefully constructed to look like people they can relate to immediately such as Marilyn Monroe.
Use of text in her artwork
Montse doesn't use much text in her artwork she mainly focuses on her attention to detail in her drawings. Although as she has worked for magazine company's such as W magazine, where some of her front covers have had the brand of the magazine incorporated into the front page design. Such as drawing above, this had the letter "W" drawn in a large font on the top left of the page to help advertise the brand and draw in reader attention. She makes sure the letters on the front page match the theme of colours displayed on the model, this helps show a connection and stands out straight away. An example of this this the W magazine above where the pink W matches the models bright pink ring so the reader is immediately drawn the this picking up on the brand name. The letter is shown on a big scale taking up a lot of the space and attention as it is the same size as the ,model which looks visually appealing and balanced, moreover you can't miss it! I think using one letter for text is very effective because it doesn't distract the readers attention away from the rest.
What colours, tones and extra effects does Montse Bernal use?
After doing some research into Montse Bernal's art work I started to notice a pattern in her work with what types of colours she uses and where she uses them. She mainly creates portraits in muted bl
ack and white tones usually focusing the bright colour in one area of the image. She usually uses pastel colours that look washed out and gentle frequently in her work, often being different shades of light pinks, blues, blues and greens. I think she maybe uses these colours to help express certain emotion from the portrait as they are showing them in a different light. For example they might be a loud, outgoing character, therefore in the painting she may use lighter colours to show the subjects more delicate, sensitive side. Another example of why she may use different colours to reflect the subjects emotions; such as different shades of blue could show another side of the subjects symbolising their purity, or pink suggesting their love and romance they may feel in their hearts butt they can't express it themselves show the painting does it for them. For example in the Marilyn Monroe paining above, she uses a pale white tone for the models face, skin and hair, but uses a bright red for her lips and finger nails, this helps draw attention to these areas; emphasising them and making them look eye catching and effective to look at. As the red nails and lips are bright and stand out this makes it the hierarchy of the image because it is what they viewer is drawn to first and are fascinated at some of her artwork ( as shown in the example on the left) she designs interesting, slightly outraging backgrounds designed to capture attention such as repeated patterns and complex shapes to help the model portrait being the main focus of the paining stand out. The contrast of the plain, simple portrait in front works well against the complex, different background used for effect.
What is his style and what tools and techniques does he use?
Tim Marrs is a graphic designer and illustrator who is best known for his outrageous and striking style of work. He uses a range of techniques such as drawings, photography, screen-printing, Photoshop, hand lettering, graffiti, and draws on American pulp and pop cultures fusing them all together to create a mixed media collage of textured and colourful, digital artwork. This style of hand made work gives a dynamic and contemporary feel. He also uses a digital camera and a scanner to import his sketchbook work into his finished artwork. He seems to be drawn to
American pop culture featuring stars such as pop singer Rhianna, basketball legend Micheal Jordan and seems to be influenced heavily by pop art in his work (perhaps trying to imitate some of Andy Warhol's pieces)
Tim does mainly promotional artwork and his technique is one of the most influential styles in modern illustration and has attracted commissions from many famous, successful companies such as Pepsi, Nike ( was apart of the Mike campaign) and Virgin helping to advertise and promote their brand and products. His illustration career spanning over 10 years, Marrs is a BA graduate of Humberside University and Master of Arts ( MA) post grad of Central Saint Martins, London.
What colours does he uses and how successful is it?
The images in his work are very surreal and he uses colours in a bold and strong way to bring this images to life! The colours are usually bright and ecstatic such as electric blues and vibrant yellow, this is effective because it readers in attention and curiosity which is especially useful for advertise purposes where you want you to recognise the product. Marrs' uses a variety of subjects in his work from drawing inspiration from day to day images such as road signs, famous buildings, natures and presents them in an abstract and original way. His uses of colour make his artwork dynamic, with a mix of influences from American pop culture, pulp fiction, and pop art. This helps make his work successful because all his work has been carefully thought regarding colour choice, composition and style to create the perfect blend of these features.
Examples of his work
An example of Tim Marrs work was the promotion of the fast food chain Taco Bell. The poster displays lots of elements associated with Los Angeles, the location of the companies head quarters, including the sun, skateboarding and the Route 66 sign. The reds, oranges (reflecting idea of flames being hot) and yellows used in the design give the feeling of warmth which relates to both the climate where the poster is set and the spicy tacos themselves; it also links in the the strap-line "hot stuff" by using warm colours it links in with the theme.
The iconic images and themes used give the poster a very familiar feel to it.People which the restaurant is aimed at are going to immediately recognise the famous Hollywood and Route 66 signs, the fun of surfing and skateboarding in summer and going to rock concerts, gives the poster some content and helps bring it to life; making it look exiting and real. These ideas perfectly fit into the strap line "Taste of Youth" as well as the phrase "taste of excitement" featured in the bottom right corner of the poster. The poster's style is similar to a lot of Marrs' other work, featuring bold composition, vibrant colours and clever imagery. Marrs' poster perfectly fits the exciting and fun theme Taco Bell would have wanted from him, portraying a lifestyle everybody would want to lead.
This piece Marrs created to promote "Sol Beer". He sticks to the yellow and orange colour theme recognsied by the brand. In 2007, Sol Beer asked him to help push their beer as the "drink for summer". Trying to capture the summer theme Marrs used bright, warm colours of different tones of yellow and orange; linking in with the summery feel. The design captures lots of elements associated with drinking this kind of beer, for example sitting round with your family and friends in the summer having a BBQ drinking a cold bottle of Sol Beer. I think Marrs has demonstrated his skills of drawing, photography, screen-printing, Photoshop, hand lettering in this design. Marrs displays the bottle on the wall of the streets giving it a cool, urban feel. Everything in the design has some form of yellow feature linking in with the brands colour theme, for example yellow cars, shorts,walls, lights, flags etc. Moreover he has used text in his design "Bring on the Sunshine" this is effective because it helps enhance the brands wishes of making it the drinking of the summer and all the yellow summery colours all connect well with the strap-line, also as the writing is in bold, black capitals, it stands out in the design making it the hierarchy of information as it's one of the first thing you look at as it contrasts against all the bright colours in the background. The brand of the beer has been displayed in a creative way being in the centre of the sun at the top of the page; making it the centre of attention (maybe suggesting it's not summer without a Sol Beer?) Although I feel like the hierarchy of information is more focused on the strap-line, therefore I feel the colour of the writing of the brands name needs to be changed in order for it too stand out more, also the brand of the product gets lost slightly against everything else that's going on in the design; the text should be made slightly bigger to grab more attention. In my opinion the most successful part of the design is how all the warm colours correlate well together giving a really summery, original feel.
This was designed by Tim Marrs for Pepsi Max. I like this design because it is cool and modern, hitting the youth target market that the product is aimed at. He mainly stuck to the Pepsi themed colours of red, white and blue, incorporating the hue/saturation and stamp effects. Then for the background he has started to use grey and darker shades of blue and black, creating a more urban, edgy, cool look. By using the bright red in the text it makes this the hierarchy of information because it is what we are immediately drawn do which helps promote the brand, and stands out against the darker background. The use of American cars (which are featured heavily in his other work) in this piece portrays a street, slick look, which would appeal to the target audience of 16- 26 year old.
My opinion on his work and style
I think his style is extremely innovative and exiting. I think his work is interesting because of the huge variety of techniques he uses them and how cleverly he combines them to create something incredibly effective and eye catching.
Jackie Parsons
Jackie has been an illustrator for 15 years, starting in the year 2000. She has a wide range of skills that include. Editorial design, posters, record design and packaging. She creates handmade graphic imagery, combing collage, print and photography.
Living and working on the South Coast of England, Jackie has been commissioned worldwide for packaging, book covers and brand development and has won critical acclaim in the Best of British Illustration annuals.Jackie has a degree in Architecture but she didn't find it fulfilling enough, so moved onto do a masters degree in illustration and furniture design and moved to London, which was then the making of her successful career. In the past she has designed for UB40 and Kiehl's as shown by the image on the left.
Her work has a specific unique style that is adapted from collages. Jackie explained that in her early days, Photoshop etc didn’t exist so she had to design from scratch and one of her successful methods was cutting and sticking from magazines and anything she found interesting to create new designs in the form of collages. One of her main ways of designing is by collecting things and forming them into new designs. Another of her methods of re-designing was to use a photocopier before a computer to compose new designs. Jackie said that photography is essential, so it is clear that she likes to capture her own work and cut and stick to create something new.
What is my opinion on her work?
I really like Jackie Parsons unique, quirky style. It's different to other artist's work out there. I especially like how she carefully combines all different photographs and drawings together showing different textures, layers and colours; almost like patch work. Moreover I love the fact that most of her work is old- fashioned and vintage looking giving it a bit of character and edge.
