Chloe Isteed Illustration

It's great to know that there are creative spaces around that support the local community and teach people creative skills. I went to Rabbits Road Press for a riso printing induction, as Sofia had suggested to us. It was a busy afternoon, as quite a few Camberwell students came along, and they said it's not usually this busy. Although small, it's a great space with such a creative atmosphere and feeling about it. Working in a small studio surrounded by other creatives, artist studios and riso prints everywhere was a nice experience.  I had already prepared an image to print. I have always been told that riso printers only ever print to A3, but when I got there, they were printing to A4. I was able to print to A3 by paying a little bit towards the paper. The image I prepared is a simple collage of a pan on fire, as in the story Maddie is cooking and it sets on fire with high flames. I mainly wanted to test the textures to see if they would print well or not, as I am undec

I went to the 'Red Star Over Russia' exhibition to have a look at the work before the exhibition closes. It shows the visuals accumulated over decades by designer David King, telling the story of how the Soviets strove to create a new visual identity in the revolution. I really enjoyed the exhibition, and it was fairly useful for this project too. A lot of the pieces of work had a limited colour palette, and yet were able to communicate so much.  One of my favourite pieces was 'Beat the Whites With the Red Wedge' by El Lissitzky. I really like the abstract approach, using geometric shapes in a collage style to convey an important message.  I liked the photos with cut out pieces in them, clearly edited to remove people from photographs, like an early version of Photoshop. People are cut out, leaving menacing holes. Citizens often did this to photos out of fear, and used different methods such as ink, scissors and knives.  This series by Lissitzky was my fa

Today's workshop led by Vanessa Woolf was fun (although freezing cold!) Listening to her story made me see that although fictional, a story can seem truthful if rooted in a specific place using details and facts. Although she said that her story is fictional, the fact that you can see and stand in front of where it is set, and understand that the details of the story fit with the history of the area and the time period it is set in, makes the story seem so much more real. Also, details such as where she heard it from and why makes it seem plausible.  My group's story ideas: We decided to build our story around an old, twisted, knobbly tree in the park. It has a lot of character. The branches are pointy and curved, almost looking like creepy fingers reaching out. The trunk is a strange shape, twisted and covered in knots and bulges. Behind the tree, there is a fence, however the tree has grown so much that the top of the fence is broken and bent, the tree's branches pierc

OOMK OOMK stands for One Of My Kind, and is a collaborative publication led by Sofia Niazi,  Rose Nordin  and Heiba Lamara. It's published twice a year and explores themes around creativity, faith, activism and education, focusing on women.  Rabbits Road Press Rabbits Road Press is a riso printing press in East London. It runs workshops to teach people the riso process, and aims to provide a free, open, creative space.  DIY Cultures Based in East London again, DIY Cultures is an annual festival exploring art and activism. It consists of a zine fair, exhibitions, workshops etc, all exploring the ideas of DIY practice and alternative publishing.  I thought that Sofia's talk was interesting. She spoke a lot about self-initiated projects and the dilemma of working for free vs getting paid. It was useful to hear about her experience. She said that working for free can be ok, but it is important to consider whether the other people are getting paid or not.  Her experience