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Guest Lecture

Today I was a guest lecturer at Stenden University—talking about illustration and Photoshop.

This is what I covered:
1. Introduction to techniques — one subject (Donald Trump) illustrated in different ways (traditional vs digital ways of working).
2. Portfolio highlights — a look at some examples of editorial cover art and how they were made.
3. A typical illustration job — stage by stage walk-through of a commission, from first contact, first roughs, pre-final versions, through to final artwork.
4. Photoshop demonstration — deconstructing a finished image, pulling apart the image layers to see how it was made.
5. The negative side of the work — the difference between an ‘artist’ and an ‘illustrator’. Getting stuck in one style of working. Moral questions in editorial work.
6. Back to basics — The importance of drawing and experimenting as ways of keeping it fresh.

My thanks to the students at Stenden (especially Froukje):

‘We remember the guest lecture by Derek Bacon as epic! Full of humour and information about Photoshop we didn’t even know was possible. All your surroundings can be used for something completely different. It is all possible with your imagination and surroundings. We hope you had just as much fun as we did!‘