Illustration & Art Personal Statement Example

I have always enjoyed Art from an early age. My earliest memory of this is doodling on sheets of computer paper and cutting up old Christmas cards to make new images. I can remember spending most of my childhood just drawing and being inspired to make and design anything and everything! This love of Art has stayed with me and developed and grown and, now, I cannot imagine wanting to do anything else.

I have always wanted to work within the Art and Design industry because it has always felt like the right direction for me to take. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to go to an Art school and I now feel really lucky to have the opportunity to do so: I am feeling very excited about my future!

I enjoy being creative and I view Art as a natural way for me to express myself. I particularly enjoy drawing and how this allows me to create images in a way that I see them. I enjoy working in a figurative and detailed way and I aim to make my work expressive and visually interesting through tone and mark-making.

I feel, from my progression from G.C.S.E through A Levels to A.V.C.E, I am beginning to develop my own style and way of working. I particularly enjoy portraiture work and using animals as subject matter.

Whilst at Crosshall High School, I achieved seven G.C.S.Es, gaining a grade A in Art. I have since gone on to achieve three A levels and two A/s Levels at Runshaw college. I have completed an A Level in Fine Art, whilst there, and I enjoyed this extremely.

I found this course very challenging but rewarding as I had grown in my understanding of the discipline and I gained a grade B. I am currently completing an A.V.C.E Art and Design course. This two-year course has been very beneficial to me as I feel I have developed my skills within Art and have gained an understanding of the various disciplines within Art and Design.

This course has led me to my decision to specialise within Illustration. I enjoy creating images in response to a piece of writing or a particular theme. I like the creative freedom this allows and the vast potential for work.

My interests include reading and some of my favourite novels include To Kill A Mockingbird and Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. My favourite novel has to be Animal Farm because it is so well written and has great impact. I have recently carried out an illustration brief based on this novel and this was very exciting for me and, I feel, a turning point in my work.

I enjoy visiting Art Galleries and exhibitions. I am particularly interested in figurative portraiture and Illustration-based exhibitions. I have recently visited an exhibition about drawing styles at my local Art Gallery. I found this very interesting as there were varied styles and approaches to drawing( I especially liked Posy Simmons use of storyboards).

A few months ago I visited an exhibition for childrens illustrator Shirley Hughes at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. This had a great impact on me and was one of the factors that has led to me pursuing a career in Illustration. I love the way she combines her use of image against text and the way she uses media expressively.

At this stage, I am interested in childrens book illustration as there are so many quality, contemporary illustrations at the moment that I find inspiring. I see illustrations for childrens books as something worthwhile and or importance. They can capture a childs imagination and inspire and motivate them to learn to read.

I have worked for the past three years at a bakery as a part-time counter assistant. This involves such duties as dealing with customers, dealing with money and organising displays. I have really enjoyed this job as we are a fairly busy shop and so I meet a lot of different people and I find this very rewarding.

Prior to this, I have worked voluntarily at a local vets practise. I found this very interesting because I like animals and this was a chance for me to learn more about them. I have also been involved in an activity group for disabled children . This experience was invaluable to me as I met such interesting and amazing people.

The group activities included Art and Crafts and this taught me how Art can be therapeutic and< basically, just a worthwhile form of expression.