art student
I recently took a trip to the Rijksmeuseum in Amsterdam and was inspired by the work of Gerrit Schouten.
He works in layered illustration, in deep box frames. The work is partly sculptural and is really effective in telling the story he wants to portray. I would like to try this style myself.
I also enjoyed these ‘Magic Lantern Slides’. I’m a big fan of the incorporation of light in the images and would love to find a way to put this into my own work.
I enjoy writing short stories. I always have, so in my illustration journey ive decided to show illustrations of my own stories.
This is a story I wrote called ‘Jam Mortuum, Ad Tempas’ which is Latin for ‘Already Dead, Time to go’. Its about a girl with schizophrenia who lets her delusions get the better of her, and ultimately ends in her committing murder.
The illustration in acrylic paint and coloured pencil. I wanted it to reflect the childlike, fantasy tone the story has, while also having the underlying darkness and fear that this mental disorder creates.
I think this piece is successful and I would like to explore mental disorders more in my illustration journey.
As Tim Burton was the main influence behind my last project, I have decided to use his work as inspiration for a few illustrations. 
(I know that Coraline isn’t Tim Burton but I thought it would work well in this illustration style).
I actually got the style from a form of geometric tattoo art that is popular at the moment. Using the symmetry of the shapes can create some very aesthetic designs.
All of the designs are pen and ink. Although I think these are very successful, I would rather continue to explore mental illness in my work and explore this more through illustration. 
Near the beginning of last year I looked into illustration, and decided to explore stop motion animation instead. Over the summer I have decided to revisit illustration and look into it more deeply.
When I hear the word ‘illustration’ my mind goes to story books and fairy tales. So I’ve decided to explore this first.
Rachel Gibson 