Website is up!

I now have a website set up. Currently the address is http://tom5550123.wix.com/tomshatwell but will soon change to tomshatwell.co.uk after the domain has finished processing.

I have put most of my favourite works in the gallery so feel free to have a look. It is still a working progress and I am gradually learning how to use all the tools, but more will come soon.

Business Cards

I have made some business cards for myself. just to see what they will look like when I come to make some official ones after Christmas. I think they look decent, they have a very 'shapey' feel to them, and a warm illustrative emotion. Will just have to see what they look like when they arrive...

I have worked with the skyline imagery from the current project to make the cards, I thought this was a nice idea as the skyline works well with all the illuminated lights, it is quite eye catching.


Front:

Back:

I wasn't 100% sure exactly where the cutting will take place, so I may lose a little of the design, but here's to testing.

Gears: The Movie (Radio 4 Final Stop-Motion)

This is my final design for my Radio 4 Project. Firstly, I felt I could have added alot more to the stop-motion but time was heavily afflicted due to all the presentations, essays, and everything else I've been doing over the last two weeks. The project has been slightly neglected, but this is the first animation I have done all year and it does have a nice charm to it.

Without careful planning, animations never go well, same with films, bad directed = bad film. But anyway, enjoy the animation. This was for a segment of a Radio 4 show titled 'Birth of Radio'. I think it goes with the theme, because cogs are old fashion mechanics, and they fit the atmosphere of what is being discussed. But to be honest, I wish I had more time to amend this. 

Wind in The Willows - Final Design

Here is my final design for the Wind in The Willows project. It has been a really fun and exploratory few weeks and I really had fun making characters and investigating their habitats and characteristics. Overall I feel fairly accomplished with my final piece, I had a fair few final design ideas, and this is the one I decided to implement  just because I thought it said more about how I've been working in the past and made the most sense to put into play. 

If I could do the project again, I would probably spend longer on character design as I think that is the weakest (although most crazy!) part of the piece. I do really admire the creation of the scenery, this is the strongest part of the project, because this is how I started it, the scene is the most important thing in my opinion because it is the first thing you see and feel. I am going to submit this design to the Puffin competition later today. 

Age UK - Air Raid Shelter Memeory

This is my final piece of work for Age UK. I have been using Photoshop alot recently, and so it makes a change to go back to mostly hand rendering work. I am actually fairly proud of my final design, because it has everything I have looked at over this project merged and I can see all the bits of research built together. The Air Raid Shelters that I looked at, the doll on the floor and the chips on the bench, provided by Betty's tales, various objects were found in the room when I visited the Shelters.

I eventually edited the final piece on Photoshop, just to give it that watercolour paint effect (because I am terrible at painting, very terrible). I think the paint effect worked quite nicely, the floor looks really dusty and the area looks very eerie and dark. It gives off the Air Raid Shelter vibe I was striving for.

What a lovely project this has been. I was really glad to work for Age UK, I will finish the project by leaving with the message I sent with the final piece...

A few weeks ago, I went to a daycare to talk to a few elderly people who are suffering from Dimentia. One person that stood out in my mind was Betty who told me a few stories from war time which she went through. She told me a story about going to a chip shop and buying fish and chips, but because she knew the person behind the counter, she received three fish instead of one! Another story she told me was when the sirens alarmed and everyone was rushing to the Air Raid Shelters, and she wasn't to be found anywhere. Her parents eventually found her in the Air Raid Shelters playing with her dolls safe and sound.

I have taken a visit into the Stockport Air Raid Shelters and had a good look round to get a feel of what it must have been like during war time. I have been sketching several areas and objects from the shelters, both on-site and at home from photographs I took. My final piece is an area in the shelters that included a bike, a gas mask, a fire extinguisher and several other objects. In reference to Betty's stories, I also included a doll along with fish and Chips in the scene. I feel that my image has captured the atmosphere of what it would have been like in the war time.

I really enjoyed talking to the people at the Day Care, they had some very interesting stories to tell, and my heart goes out to those suffering from Dimentia. I hope my piece of work brings back memories from the war time, and lights up the memories for those who lived through that time.

- Tom