On Saturday I attended the third picture hooks talks at the National Gallery in Edinburgh. The mentor was Natalie Russell who teaches illustration at Dundee University and is a published author/illustrator. Natalie explained her background and experiences of working as an intern at Walker books and in DCA print studio. This was evident in her work that she was an accomplished printmaker. They discussed the methods they used to improve Catherine's work, building upon her strong drawing technique.
Catherine explained that she had previously just drawn with a straight jump into finished pieces of work. Since working with Natalie she has learned to develop images far more now before she's even thinking about finishing anything. This process seems to have helped her work, the compositions are strong with fine detailed drawings done in watercolours, inks and coloured crayons. Catherine is now hoping to pursue a career as an picture book illustrator, discussing how part of the picture hooks process is to hold an event equivalent to publishing speed dating. All of the artists who have been mentored had around 10 minutes with each publisher. Catherine explained how each had there own views and critiques, those who were interested or seemed like someone she could work with became obvious. This was something that none of the previous talks had discussed. This seemed very practical and served a purpose to those being mentored, potentially a foot in the door for some. I also learned that this mentoring scheme only runs every second year so I will need to keep an eye on when applications can be made in the future. This could possibly serve as a way for me to enter the industry, only time will tell is this shall be the case. There was one image that Catherine had created for her story of the girl who was a fussy eater of which I am going to buy a print. This is shown below and reminds me of my sister who would only eat spaghetti hoops for about two years when we were really young.
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