ELCAF

Today I went to the East London Comics and Art Festival and it was amaaaaaazing!

There were so many lovely prints, books and artwork to look at (and buy!) that I ended up staying all day! I also went to talks with Typex and Jon McNaught which were really interesting, and gave me useful tips on the process involved in designing a narrative illustration.

Jon McNaught's talk was really interesting and useful to me as a budding freelancer interested in narrative illustration. Here he was showing the early stages of his design process.

I took my own graphic novel with me (see previous posts) in the hope of getting some feedback from artists and any possible publishers who were around, and I got lovely positive responses when showing it to people which was exciting! 

The Nobrow stall, where I kept drifting back to most of the day!

 Whilst having my first edition Dockwood signed by Jon McNaught and my Hilda comic doodled on by Luke Pearson (a fellow Loughborough graduate!) they were both kind enough to take the time in-between their signings to have a look through my graphic novel and were both incredibly enthusiastic and positive about it, which was amazing seen as their books formed part of my project research and inspiration!

It was so nice to hear such lovely, positive feedback and advice from the illustrators who inspired my FMP project, and I left feeling a lot more confident in my work and in my ability as an illustrator and even more determined to have my work published in some form!

Luke Pearson was kind enough to sign my Hilda comic and even draw a little
Troll hiding behind a rock in the first page :)

A lovely little illustration by Jon McNaught in my first edition Dockwood book
that I brought with me to ELCAF especially so he could sign it :)

Both Luke and Jon were illustrators who inspired me to create a graphic novel of my own for my FMP, so it's lovely to have a little doodle and autograph of theirs in my books to keep!

I also got to meet the lovely Sandra Dieckmann (another illustrator I adore) who had a lovely chat with us, looked through my book (she said I was accomplished! ...I nearly fainted...) and offered advice on how to make it as a freelancer. 

I'm happy to say that my sisters and I left with some prints and cards from her stall, which had been made extra special by the fact we'd spent some time chatting with her :)

Overall, such an awesome day! 

The spoils of the day...

(tipi tote bag/ handy goodie bag = my own design!)

These are the things I came back with:

'Hildafolk' by Luke Pearson

'Map of Days' by Robert Hunter
And 'Dockwood' by Jon McNaught - a book I brought with me especially for the signing

(all available from the Nobrow shop)

'One Night, Far From Here' by Julia Wauters

(available from Flying Eye Books)

A postcard and greetings card by Sandra Dieckmann of her iconic buffalo illustration

And a gorgeous limited edition print by Lucille Clerc (below):

Lucille's work instantly appealed to my own obsession with anything rusty/
peeling and textured, so I just had to leave with a print of hers!