Stephanie Cole Animal Visual Inspiration And Theoretical Links

I knew that foxes would be a key character throughout so I wanted to look into how they can be depicted - I had previously researched Stephanie Cole for portfolio research and for my dissertation and I love how her prints are very colourful and quirky.

The badger is my favourite card the level of detail and paintbrush marks in the fur really conveys a sense of texture which contrasts against the flat repetitive print digitally made background.

Stephanie Cole had some interesting thoughts on her process which I felt prudent to list here since I am combining my mediums.

"I think I am more aware and attached to what I'm creating if I've done it by hand. I find it easier to make marks by hand than with technology. I think people can relate to something hand drawn/handmade as is more personal- a human made it rather than a machine. They recognize skill in the maker and buy into that idea"

I feel that her reasons for using the hand are similar to my own - and the effect that I want to achieve is best achieved by hand.

Her reasons for then including the digital medium are as follows

"Creatively, it enables me to re-do mistakes faster than starting a time consuming painting again. It means I can get merchandise printed (in the form of cards etc) by other small companies which brings in extra income, and spread the word further afield, if someone's picked up on my work in a shop for example. It lets me look at different colour ways and placing a lot easier than manually drawing ideas out."

I think what I want to do (in my head at least) is going to really benefit from mixing up my traditional way of working, not least because I am a little bit bored of working just on the screen (I mean I love it ) but using it solely to achieve my idea is going to take something away from it. I also look at all the beautiful work and I cant help but want to try similar methods to see what I can create.