[LAUIL601] Visiting Lecturer: Beck Carlton

• Creates work of a biographical nature. Authorial. Comics with a gay blue bear based on life experience
• Originally wanted to be a vet but didn\"t like the idea, now an Illustrator
• Starts by writing little poems and ideas and then illustrates them daily. Gets in the habit of making work each day. Makes it a daily process
• Originally thought that style was so important but it changes so often. The consistency is in the writing
• Like strange characters and exploring avenues through words
• Advanced that into comics
• Four panels was originally perfect for the "old "Instagram layout where everything was readable and not pixelated
• The idea sparked from commuting from Manchester to Leeds and back
• Created some many little comics
• Enjoyed storytelling and likes the idea for an online audience, but how much engagement would it get?
• Experimenting with overnight of photographs. Surreal feeling through textures
• Played with more than 10 slides and was allowed to do so with the new version of Instagram
• Illustrated experience with tinder dates
• Brought outside the panel to narrates and illustrates
• The reader can dictate the pace through the swipe feature
• Got into the Moomins in university. Very human issues but you don\"t need to self insert yourself.
• Self insert of experience with friends. Cathartic and can then archive it
• Square format, post online, don\"t need to think about it again
• Changing and evolving characters, experimenting with materials characteristics/personality traits/parental figures
• Drink that boy every day A year. All this content. Born out of the idea and comics started to saturate Instagram
• Bird boy was then retired. Gone now
• Started to see more stuff off-line. Moving away from Instagram. Inspiration came from films, music, fine art, compositions, Picasso reinterpreting ideas, generating but not always having the same outcome. Image making, 100 people will draw different things
• Repetition by Picasso
• Concept of failures are good things. Failed it book
• Vandalised trees
• I put all of my thoughts into the notes app. Morning thoughts, 1am ideas. Keeping occupied. Creative sentences
• I take photos on my phone and collect strange things
• I remember situations and caption them on private Instagram
• I went back online, and brought bird buyback far on and off things
• I go to a lot of gigs around Leeds, meeting a new circle of friends from the DIY punk scene and experience a lot of different people
• Short and sweet comics
• I might make blobby  genderless characters
• Making work just for me, post it, doesn\"t matter if it got engagement or not, just post it and archive it
• I moved onto digital illustration on the iPads. I don\"t have to worry about carrying materials anymore
• Still keeping it in black-and-white. Exploring characters more and interactive World building. Learning curve. Character design
• More self-aware with comics. Relatable New characters
• Seasons and clothes changing
• Came up with a new idea of having some colour and fill up the screen with illustrations and longer narratives
• No longer short days continuing through time
• I started to make Mirch off the back of this. Commercialising it. I change the style to the products. Prints. Clean. Mix it up a bit. What would people want to buy? Anything that gets me money
• I quit my job and now freelance
• Experiment with style, black-and-white scene, picturesque scenes, double page spreads, I can feel the movements and playing with that
• Back to 4 panels as it\"s easy to do. More stimulating and challenging
• During lockdown it\"s very hard to keep yourself motivated
• Doing the same things every day and hoping it gets better
• Very self-aware but with bear boy
• Making filters and gifts with bear boy. I googled how to do it and it bumped up interaction with people and an audience
• Making merch and pins
• Building up a brand and people want to support that
• Quick way to make money. Mercht. Make a design, don\"t put any money in but get an output. Ko-fi, like patreon making quick doodles from donations
• Bigger stuff is happening but I can\"t talk about it yet
• Instagram has been great for recognition and networking
• You don\"t have to be available all the time. Experiment in your downtime
• My style changes every month! It doesn\"t have to be linear. Experiment. Still play around after university. Keep at it, have a good time and enjoy yourself. That\"s the main thing. There\"s no point in anything if you don\"t enjoy it too.
• Question: do you have a process of designing the characters and scenarios? Drawing random shapes, drawing from life, messing around.
• Just make content and you\"ll get more comfortable. Will drop your practice a lot.Ideas generating. Muscle memory for your brain.
• Question: How do you keep motivated? Can you get burnout from doing the same thing all the time. Do different things. Go for walks, listen to music. Get a fresh view points in regards to life and illustration. Illustration as a practice can be very isolating. It can be very daunting to feel like you need to do what everyone else is doing. Hang out with friends, go to galleries, take breaks. It depends how much you want to push yourself. Be authorial and be authentic.