A big influence

During my Visual Narratives module a huge influence for me was Mr Bingo. I had not heard of him prior to hearing he would be visiting so I checked out his work online. I was so surprised as to how much I would enjoy his work; it is rare that an illustrator really makes work which reflects what I am all about.

I found his work really humorous, and so interesting that most of it did not have to rely on text to support it - you just understand it.  I think his hate mail is a great idea and I too have that sarchastic, taking the mick sense of humour so that really appeals to me.

When Mr Bingo came in to do his presentation I don't think I have laughed so much in a while. His work is great and you can see he has that good balance between working hard, socializing with people, selling and making profit, and generally having a laugh and a good time with what he is doing. He labeled himself a visual entertainer which made me think about the purpose of my work. Most of the work I am creating is funny and maybe this is what I aspire to be?

During the final crit on Friday I noticed he spent a lot of time looking at my book so I was curious to see what he was writing. I went back after he had walked away and he commented saying how funny it was and that it was great observation in such a small circumstance (being in a lift). I felt this was very nice of him and gave me a boost to create more funny visually entertaining work. He added that it lost it's humour in parts where it become more personal. This is something I need to work on and ensure that my work would entertain a wider audience in order to be relatable. At times its hard to recognize whether you're actually being funny or you just find yourself funny in your own weird mind!

Throughout the project I had Mr Bingo's work printed besides me as influence and to push my work further to a more professional level. It also made me consider my backgrounds - editing the opacity of my colours in order to make the foreground stand out. I also reconsidered my text to make it more fitting. I love the way that he writes, and after seeing him draw and write in person he takes time over what he produces which is something I need to do more. Consider how I want it to look rather than just drawing fast and for the sake of it.

Mr Bingo also talked about his drawing technique. How he relies on reference material but not in a negative way - he uses it to take up most of his development and considers all aspects of his referencing. I feel this is something I do myself and have been gearing away from but maybe should think about referencing more and the positive of it.