The Poster Prize for Illustration 2019 Exhibition

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This week I got the chance to travel down to London to see my illustration exhibited at London Transport Museum as part of the Association of Illustrators Poster Prize for Illustration 2019 (London Stories). Ive been lucky enough to take part in this exhibition in previous years, its always a pleasure to be alongside so many talented illustrators in such a prestigious location. Been able to see the variety of styles and approaches to the brief each illustrator takes is always intriguing and I always find myself oohing and ahhing over particular details looking around the exhibition. 

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Once again this years brief London Stories was a great opportunity to delve into everything there is about London. My take on this yeas brief was to highlight the extraordinary history behind one of Londons most unique landmarks. Cleopatras Needle is an ancient Egyptian obelisk gifted to the British government in 1819 to commemorate the Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Alexandria. Despite the name it was made for Pharaoh Thomas III around 1460 BC and is part of a pair of obelisks the other of which is on display at New Yorks Central Park. During its transportation in 1877 the obelisk was lost in a storm, a rescue crew was sent out but unfortunately its six crew were lost when their boat capsized, names of all the men can be seen on a plaque at the base of the monument. It was eventually recovered by a Spanish boat and later taken to London for installation along Victoria Embankment in 1878. Buried beneath is a time capsule containing children's toys, a portrait of Queen Victoria, a collection of coins, 12 portraits of English beauties, translations of the inscriptions among a range of other items.

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While I was in London and with Victoria Embankment been so close to the transport museum I thought it was only right to pay a visit to the real thing, and it was nice to see the amount of people that stop in there tracks when they come across such an unusual item in the middle of London, and that the sorrow and effort involved in its transport wasn’t all in vain. I can’t wait to see what the brief will bring next time round and Im already looking forward to see what else London has yet to reveal. The exhibition will be on until 14 July 2019 so catch it while you can and make sure to vote for your favourite when you do. 

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Robot Morals (Process)

With this self initiated editorial looking into teaching morals to robots using literature, I decided to document particular stages in the rendering process. This reenforces the importance for me of composing an illustration in black and white, as much of the tonal information can be used as a reference when adding colour.

Fake News (Process)

With all the coverage of fake news lately I decided to produce a self initiated editorial based on this subject. Unlike other illustrations the colours came together quite quickly and successfully communicate a futuristic / digital aesthetic. During this project I documented the initial rendering of the phone as it always interests me the processes behind illustrations and how I can improve my own practice..

At war with weight

Another idiom illustration this time conceptualising peoples struggles with weight. I always find it enjoyable illustrating objects like this arrow, therefor I might create a range of items looking into a particular theme in the near future.

America retreating into fortress.

With all the political change taking place at the moment I thought it apt to produce some self initiated editorial illustrations communicating Americas current situation. The pillar was especially enjoyable to illustrate.

Desk Plant PROCESS

Desk Plant - Jake Richardson
Self initiated spot editorial, Not getting distracted when working from home.

Self initiated spot editorial, Not getting distracted when working from home.

AOI Sounds of the City

This is a small segment of my entry for this years Association of Illustration Sounds of the City brief. Stay tuned for more updates.

AOI prize for Illustration

With this years upcoming AOI Prize for Illustration 2016 I thought it would be good to look over my shortlisted work from last year (Places and Spaces). This experience was great to see the varied approaches to the brief and the ability to see my work displayed at London transport museum. Keep tuned for my entry for this years competition (Sounds of the City). 

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Jake Richardson - AOI

Dr Martens Mural

Dr Martens approached me and a fellow illustrator Jacob Tomlinson to create a mural for they’re newly opened derby store. The brief was to create a mural that communicated the common links to industrial heritage in the city. 

Working collaboratively with another illustrator enabled a better interpretation of the brief with the ability to bounce ideas of one another, while also elevating some of the self-doubt of working individually. I hope to do more projects like this in the future. 

You can read more about this by visiting the Dr Martens blog. 

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