Interning with Owen Gildersleeve pt. II

Um okay so YEAH I had an amazing week! Got to help Owen out with some really interesting stuff, including making paper props for a photo shoot which will be displayed at a private exhibition, and helping to assemble some collages to be sent off to Benefit Cosmetics. 

a morning spent making paper cigs

It was really interesting to see how the world of illustration works as a day-to-day job. Seeing people come into their shared studios and sit at their desks for hours, taking their work seriously, and treating what they do as a proper job was pretty eye-opening, an affirmation that - YES- it is actually possible to make a living doing this stuff. 

Probably the best thing about this week was getting to talk to the people who do this full time and actually make a living from it. It was also comforting to hear plenty of the people I spoke to say how much they've evolved since their uni days and, on reflection, how bad the work they made while studying, especially in first year. I sometimes feel very out-of-my-depth when I see some  of the amazing stuff being made by people on our course, so it's nice, every so often, to be reminded that no one expects truly great work from a first year.

This was definitely a valuable experience and I'm coming away from it in a positive frame of mind about my own practice, and with the fact that I should be pleased at where I'm at, and looking at how I can now move forward, fresh in my head, as opposed to beating myself up about not being where I want to be with my practice right now. I think I will definitely look at getting involved with more internships, placements in the future.