New jobs and new doors and windows to get through.

I've recently got a new job at a tattoo studio as the studio manager.
As someone that wants to go into tattooing once I graduate this is such a massive opportunity.
My plan is to work until I graduate as the manager, learn everything there is to learn about managing a shop and once I graduate I am a shoe-in for an apprenticeship, be it there or elsewhere.

I was speaking to my boss about possible vouchers for christmas, and the fact they don't have any solid online presence or branding, my eagerness to change this was something that got me the job I think.
Well, that and including this picture at the bottom of the email to them:

Which was cheeky, but it worked. I wanted to include something that would set me apart from others and I feel like it conveys my personality quite well. 

When I met my new boss, I told him that if he didn't like it, I would be the wrong person to work for him anyway. 

I created the vouchers but they weren't good enough, I used hand drawn type that didn't work, so I remade them.

I took the best elements from the first and retranslated them into the second. These three typefaces will be ones that I take across into the branding.

Through doing this, my boss has expressed interest in displaying my work in the shop, if I want to of course. He also said he liked the laurels, which I painted and put though illustrator to neaten them up.

I'm really excited to network with this new group of people, and develop and learn from them.

Though there is a lot of politics involved, Tattooists are a proud bunch. 

Group Tutorial with Patrick Holley

We had tutorials today with Patrick and I found it really helpful.
I found that a lot of what he asked of us to do with online promotion and websites is something that i've already done, but I want to know how to make it more effective.
Here is my website as it exists now:

 
For two weeks time we need to:
Audit and Edit our work > 10 core images
Look at Mail Chimp for sending out newsletters and blanket emails
Work on our artist statement (which i've been struggling with)
Look at composing a style guide:
- branding
- colour palette
- Typefaces

This is something I do to an extent with my online appearance but not vigilantly.

Live Halloween painting

Me and my friend Bobbi got asked to do some painting at Studio 24, I said yes but it made me scared, like most things, I hadn't done it before and I wasn't in a rush to suck at it.

I planned my work roughly and wore a blue wig, both big confidence boosters (and I looked suave but that's beside the point).

In the end I had a blast, though I need to check my colours before I paint in a dark room, I totally thought it was a dark foresty green, nowhere near as slimey as it turned out. 

This also provided me with experience of scaling up my work, something I want to improve this year. 

I'm painting again at the same studio space on the 12th of December, so this meant I could get used to and practice in the space. It made me more excited for things to come.

Initial thoughts on what to say about myself.

As part of the live painting brief i'm undertaking for OUIL603, the organiser has asked me to write a bio of sorts to promote the event.
As well as a 30 second video clip of myself, which I am completely dreading.

I lifted the bio from my website:
I'm Lauren, or Wren if you're that way inclined.
Illustrator based in Leeds
I like looking at nature, and i'm a total homebird so it's lucky I live near the countryside.

It seems too cute and doesn't work in context of the night, so I don't really know. I find it easy to talk about my work and less about myself?
Does it have to be in third person? I don't even know.

He wants:
A short bio, emphasise my yorkshire-ness and reference to my interest in old music. 
- a piece to accompany - can be weird.
- a piece that I believe in.

He proposed:

'Wren Den is an opened eyed universe of potential. She is an artist. She where's wears dungarees and smoke's roll up's. Wren Den reminds me of Dexys Midnight Runners. She is a young Soul Rebel. Thankfully she lives in Yorkshire, and everything she does apply's.'

Which sounds a bit mental to me, bits work and bits don't, this is hard!

"The Wren is an open eyed universe of potential. A visual artist and designer that will try almost anything. She wears dungaree's, smokes rollies and still can't bring herself to like real ale. Wren reminds me of Dexy's Midnight Runners, a young soul rebel. She would say she's more Lady Stardust but nowhere near as cool. Thankfully she lives in Yorkshire, and everything she does apply's"

I learnt how to make invoices!

I was advised by John that we don't really need invoices at this stage, but it was requested by the client for this particular brief. I had never written one before this point so felt a little daunted. I asked around my friends for what they include and went from there!
I know the information is dull but I spruced it up a little, it also ties into my personal branding which is always good. 

It's also more of a guarantee that I will get paid, which is something I worry about! 

I saw a bunch of cats taking part in #inktober this year, and I thought "yeah this will be easy and it will make me paint more! What can be bad about it?" The answer is me, I can and am bad. 

Everything that I painted I really enjoyed, a lot of them didn't have any purpose, just painting for fun. The downside was the niggling guilt when I was busy doing other things and knowing I should be painting. 

Overall I made work, and work that I am happy with, but i'm so disappointed at my lack of discipline.

These are some favourites: