RANDOM...

My earliest memory of Sainsbury's is when my gran used to take me along with her. At the time I had an excellent memory and would remember the whole of her shopping list or at least I think I liked to think that I could? Maybe I should clarify that one, but I remember there being a trolley guy that used to say hi to us. His name might have begun with a 'J' too. I have even seen him fairly recently still working there back in Cheltenham. Not sure how this is relevant and it is possibly the strangest thing to admit. I sound like I'm obsessed with Sainsbury's like some weird obsessed supermarket shopper!

ILLUSTRATOR - PETER JAMES FIELD

Peter James Field is an illustrator that visited AUCB in year two. I went to his talk, and he was very shy and quiet but his illustrations were amazing. These screenshots above are taken from his new website, and are his 'visual diary'. I think the idea is great, and he is the most successful person to do this in my opinion! (Well, that is based on every illustrator I have ever come across personally.) Some drawings are very detailed and others just line drawings, but Peter really captures the 'psychographics' in his illustrations. I am inspired by him to draw and keep drawing!

I AM...

currently re-writing learning agreement.

AND TOMORROW

I will be going to Sainsbury's!

I HEART THE ARCTIC

I am inspired by this little book 'I heart the arctic' by illustrator Jaqueline Kari Bos. In my learning agreement I have suggested that I will produce a little book of illustrations and this is a really nice example of a book an illustrator has made. I like the idea of a random narrative and could possibly use my sainsburys illustrations to create some sort of surreal supermarket narrative too.

CHANGES TO LEARNING AGREEMENT AND NEXT STEPS

I have changed my learning agreement slightly today.

My aim is to observe and visually record segments of conversations in 'Sainsbury's' supermarket.
Although it is primarily a place that sells groceries to customers, I think supermarkets potentially encourage discussion over choice, complaints, surprise meetings, arguments, persuasion and various other social interactions.

I am going to try and measure the environment where the conversation takes place using illustration to document a particular time, place, person and action.

'Psychographics' is a term that describes data obtained from a study where demographics are used to measure attitudes, values, lifestyles and opinions that affect a persons lifestyle and purchasing behaviour. These study's are normally used for marketing purposes to determine what the consumer wants. I will be using the 'psychographics' obtained from my study of people in sainsburys to influence my illustrations.

Like Billingham's photography, I would like to give an insight to people's lives when they are unaware. Even just to hint a bit of their character or opinion using illustration.

....TBC

ILLUSTRATOR - JAQUELINE BOS

In my search for Ryojo's illustrations I came across Jaqueline Bos! I think her illustrations are very attractive and inspiring. Maybe I should experiment with collage too?

RYOKO AOKI

For as long as I can remember I have had this ladies name saved in 'drafts' on my phone. I can't even remember where I saw her work, but I must have really liked it to save her name! This seems to be the only illustration I can find online unfortunately.

DUTCH UNCLE ILLUSTRATORS

PRISON FOOD.
Lyndon Hayes in particular is of interest to me and I am writing about him in my Investigative Study. His illustrations comment upon social situations often referring to social class.

PHOTOGRAPHER - NAN GOLDIN

Nan one month after being battered 1984

"Nan Goldin describes her photographs as a 'visual diary'. She has stated: 'These are my friends, these are my family, this is myself. There is no separation between me and what I photograph.' The self-portrait Nan one month after being battered was taken to prevent Goldin from forgetting the damage caused by her boyfriend's violence. She applies the same frankness to the lives of her close friends."

Photographer Nan Goldin has stuck in my head since I did my Art Foundation course in Cheltenham. I was shocked by the brutal honesty in her work, but I like how documenting life is a part of her work and the reason she photographs. Little snapshots of moments in time. I want to use my illustrations to document life, and at a certain point and place and time. I also think that Richard Billingham's work is quite similar to her technique. The term 'Visual Diary' is great for documenting life via images.

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

I find this table of 'psychographics' very interesting. It is categorising people into segments according to their habits etc. I love the idea of being able to determine a person's 'status' or position using a format. I would quite like to link my work to this idea, and will further develop my thoughts and post them soon. Follow the link to find out more about psychographics.

PHOTOGRAPHER - RICHARD BILLINGHAM

"It is a photographic vision of magnificence... but, magnificence in poverty and pain, in tragedy, of brilliance in ugliness, an aesthetic tour-de-snapshot-force of voyeurism and realism. What should be repelling instead compels... photographs that would be thrown away instead are "limited editions", a feast for the eye's. It is a piece that is towering in it's brute force and bloody brilliant in shear aesthetics and human-tragedy-magnetism." Doug Rickard
This quote is taken from the link above. I find Billingham's photographs extremely fascinating. I love the insight he gives us to someone elses life. I feel like I am being nosey and spying on what they are up to. I think the honesty they show is magic, as normally people pose for photos or act differently if they are aware of a camera in the room. The photos expose a certain type of person, or social class. His work reminds me of Nan Goldin another photographer.

ILLUSTRATOR - SAM BASSETT

This illustrator was suggested to me by Chris. He is also apparently inspired by overheard conversations and random quotes. This is a section of an illustration taken from his myspace site.

ILLUSTRATOR - PAUL DAVIS

Illustrator Paul Davis uses a similar concept of taking random conversation and illustrating it. A point made yesterday was that I am documenting conversations via my illustrations but not actually making it obvious where they took place and when. Paul writes a commentary on nearly all of his illustrations suggesting a context for his work. I need to experiment with doing this to see the effect it has on the context of my illustrations.

MMM... SKYSCRAPER I LOVE YOU

This book made by Tomato takes the environment we live in and creates "dynamic visual experiences that intensify and define that space". They have taken lyrics from an Underworld song and also random snippets of conversation to inspire their images. This is something I have been doing - taking quotes from random strangers conversations (for some reason I have always been in Sainsbury's when I have done this) and my illustrations could or should be creating an idea of what type of people might go there. Like tomato, creating a visual map of a certain place and time using found conversation. Quote taken from: http://www.amazon.com/Mmm-Skyscraper-I-Love-You-Tomato/dp/1873968582

TUTORIAL 23/11/09

I had a tutorial with Joel and Chris today. Have realised that I need to find a context for my work and these are the suggestions of things I should look at:

http://www.tomato.co.uk/#underworld-mmmskyscraper-i-love-you/

http://www.myspace.com/bassettsmilk

http://www.copyrightdavis.com/

http://www.americansuburbx.com/2008/11/richard-billingham-rays-laugh.html

WWW.JESSGOOCH.COM

The 'about me' section which is still unfinished.

Illustrations page once an image thumbnail has been clicked on

Illustrations page

My new home page:

CONVERSATION - WHATEVER ANYONE ELSE DOES IM HAPPY

This girl is allowed to enjoy the pleasures in life and will not be influenced by society. She is happy the way she is!

CONVERSATION - IT'S NOT VERY STRONG IS IT?

This is a quick (not very good) drawing to show something a bit wobbly. It's not very strong is it?

PAPER PLAY

I made this out of scraps of paper on my desk for fun.

WEBSITE HOME PAGE

This is my current home page. Please visit my website: www.jessgooch.com

CONVERSATION - YOU REWARD YOURSELF IF YOU WORK HARD DURING THE DAY

This illustration shows a lady rewarding herself after a 'hard' days work. (Probably spent watching TV and eating other food!)

CONVERSATION - WHY SHOULDN'T YOU ENJOY YOUR SOCIAL LIFE?

My thoughts behind this illustration are based on middle-aged people. I think it is very possible for someone to fall asleep in the corner whilst at a party due to tiring work demands etc and I wanted this image to have a comedic value. - Why shouldn't you enjoy your social life?

CONVERSATION - THEY WERE POSH PEOPLE, HAD SIX MILLION EACH

Expensive labels represent expensive people?

CONVERSATION - WE'VE ALL GOT OUR OWN CORNERS BUT WE TALK ABOUT THINGS

I overheard a lady in Sainsbury's say this. I found it quite a strange comment, defining that her and her friends have corners. I can relate this to spiders living in corners, and even though I am scared of them I like to think they do have a social life. Perhaps I could exaggerate the conversation element somehow.

CONVERSATION - I'M NEVER LOSING IT AGAIN

This illustration is for the overheard conversation snippet 'i'm never losing it again'. I think it can have two meanings, as the girl could be upset about losing her bear, or it could also be an image to support a campaign such as nspcc as it shows the child's reaction to the parent 'losing it again'.

CONVERSATION - COFFEE AND CIGARETTES GO REALLY WELL TOGETHER

I think a smoker made the above comment, and as a non-smoker I am highlighting my thought of how cigarettes and coffee would go together well.

CONVERSATION - I GET ANNOYED WHEN THEY STAY STOP

The thought behind this was the word 'stop' on repeat. To show the repetition of the same word being used over by others, I have re-used the same bird. I exaggerated his annoyance by making him puff out his chest and using red to show the fluster he is in.

CONVERSATION - WOULD YOU LIKE ANY ORDINARY BISCUITS?

This is almost a silly question, as biscuits despite being an ordinary thing, can look quite fancy in appearance. It also highlights the amount of choice we have over things.

WWW.JESSGOOCH.COM

My website is up and running! Above is a few screen shots of my progress.
At the moment I am happy with the way the home page looks. There are a few tweaks I need to make, have been working on it a hell of a lot over the past few days, so the link will the current state of my website. The about me section definitely needs editing which I will try and get round to very soon.

It's very exciting to have a website and it makes such a difference to the way I view my work. Hopefully as I am creating self promotion brochure/book/leaflet things for this project, this counts towards another form of self promotion.

WEBSITE

Today I had my first lesson in Dreamweaver from my little brother. :-) Hopefully will have a basic website up soon.

CONVERSATION: HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO DETOX?

I don't really like this image, but the idea behind it is using fruit (referring to the detox) and placing it in a clock position to refer to the time aspect.

COFFEE SHOP SKETCHES

These drawings were quick sketches of people whilst enjoying a cup of tea with my housemates in castlepoint M&S. I hate bits of them, but like certain things about some - for example I like to try not to be too precious and enjoyed single line drawing. I also just found it fascinating people watching. People catch your eye a lot which is not so good!