Alison Limentani Illustration

MA Children's Book Illustration Graduation Exhibition 2012.

2012-02-08T16:23:00.000-08:00

Please come and see our MA Exhibition, everyone's work looks amazing. Its in Foyles Book Shop (Charing Cross), Wednesday 8th Feb 9am until Tuesday 14th Feb 6pm. Everyone is well come.

'40 Elephants' extended pages 28 & 29

2012-02-08T16:16:00.001-08:00

'40 Elephants' extended pages 27 & 30

2012-02-08T16:12:00.000-08:00

The Back cover of the book is the same as extended page 30, adding up to 40 elephants with the ones on the front cover. Shame about the tiny elephant on the spine, may have to rethink that one...

'40 Elephants" pages 26-27

'40 Elephants' pages 24-25

2012-02-08T16:10:00.000-08:00

I'm not too keen on these crocs. I might substitute them for the larger crocodile with his new tail (made for the exhibition).

'40 Elephants' pages 22-23

2012-02-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

'40 Elephants' pages 20-21

2012-02-08T16:05:00.000-08:00

'40 Elephants' pages 18-19

2012-02-08T16:03:00.000-08:00

'40 Elephants' pages 16-17

2012-02-08T16:02:00.000-08:00

'40 Elephants' pages 14-15

2012-02-08T16:00:00.001-08:00

'40 Elephants' pages 12-13

2012-02-08T15:26:00.002-08:00

'40 Elephants' pages 10-11

2012-02-08T15:26:00.001-08:00

'40 Elephants' pages 8-9

2012-02-08T15:24:00.000-08:00

'40 Elephants' pages 6-7

2012-02-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

'40 Elephants' Title page

2012-02-08T15:09:00.000-08:00

'40 Elephants' End papers

2012-02-08T15:07:00.000-08:00

'40 Elephants' Front Cover

2012-02-08T14:49:00.000-08:00

Bologna Entry: 'Pteropus rodricensis'

2012-02-08T14:45:00.000-08:00

Bologna Entry: 'Pteropus rodricensis'

2012-02-08T14:43:00.001-08:00

Bologna Entry: 'Pteropus rodricensis'

2012-02-08T14:39:00.001-08:00

Bologna Entry: 'Pteropus rodricensis'

2012-02-08T14:38:00.001-08:00

Bologna Entry: 'Pteropus rodricensis'

2012-02-08T14:31:00.000-08:00

Springbok sketches

2012-02-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

Lemur sketches

2012-02-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

Meerkat sketches

2012-02-08T14:05:00.000-08:00

Bat sketches

2012-02-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

I spent over 3 hours sketching the bats in their new upgraded eco-tunnel home at Jersey Zoo. It was wonderful to spend so much time with them. I've really missed them since I left the zoo. I decided to substitute the meerkats in '40 Elephants' for Rodrigues Fruit Bats. It was very self indulgent but I wanted to make beautiful prints from my sketches. I also wanted to keep elements of my initial idea of putting unpopular animals in a children's book. The only down side was that meerkats are one species and are easily recognizable so children will already have an idea of their size and scale. This is not so with the bats... oh well...

Hedgehog Lino

2012-02-08T13:52:00.000-08:00

Lino print cockroaches

2012-02-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

This was my first attempt at a print with more than one colour. Also my fist attempt at mixing my own colours (summer 2011) - which took several hours. Thankfully I'm much faster these days. This print started off an idea about an alternative alphabet of unpopular animals which led to the size and scale idea for my masters project '40 elephants'.

Lino Print Dog Aggression Ethogram

2012-02-08T13:04:00.000-08:00

Kennel Prints

2012-02-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

I like the idea behind 'Dumped', but I think I would like to explore using collographs more and possibly a different colour scheme if I were to do it again.

Dumped

2012-02-08T11:20:00.000-08:00

Dumped was created for the sequential image project and taught me a lot about designing a 32 page picture book. I'm generally quite pleased with the outcome, although it is largely unfinished and there are quite a few changes I would like to make to it. I feel a little bit bad that it portrays kennel life so bleakly. Shelter kennels are not a particularly nice place for dogs to live, but they are provided with lots of enrichment devices and bedding to make life more enjoyable. I decided to leave these out because I the print element of the illustration requires simplicity to make the most impact. I feel like I am doing a dis-service to rescue charities, but at the same time I think the desolate isolation of the kennel works very well to emphasize Squids loneliness and isolation.

'Dumped' pages 28-29

2012-02-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

Fin.

'Dumped' pages 26-27

2012-02-08T11:14:00.001-08:00

I would quite like to give Squid a new 'bling' collar to emphasize the idea that he belongs to someone.

'Dumped' pages 24-25

2012-02-08T11:12:00.001-08:00

'Dumped' pages 22-23

2012-02-08T11:08:00.001-08:00

I think this might be better swapped round with p.24-25 just to vary the page lay out a bit - I think thats what I did for the printed dummy version.

'Dumped' pages 20-21

2012-02-08T11:07:00.001-08:00

'Dumped' pages 18-19

2012-02-08T10:50:00.001-08:00

'Dumped' pages 16-17

2012-02-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

This image will be similar to page 12-13 but still needs all the dogs and people to be added. I have put Squid in to show the change in ear position as he gets more and more depressed.

'Dumped' pages 14-15

2012-02-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

I'm very fond of the dog in this image because it was the first collograph I made. I would like to remove the cream colour from behind the dog print to make him stand out more from the background.

'Dumped' pages 12-13

2012-02-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

This page still needs a lot of work. I like the idea of the brightly coloured people contrasting against the drabness of the kennel backdrop. The three lines of kennels will eventually show many of the dogs in them being picked by people and taken home, except for Squid, who no one is interested in.

'Dumped' pages 10-11

2012-02-08T10:18:00.001-08:00

'Dumped' pages 8-9

2012-02-08T10:15:00.001-08:00

I like the idea behind this page, but would like to reprint the kennel worked and the dog as they are not quite right.

'Dumped' pages 6-7

2012-02-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

'Dumped' Endpapers

2012-02-08T10:04:00.001-08:00

'Dumped' Cover

2012-02-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

I really like the texture of the collograph print on the brow paper but am not keen on the type face, it appears very fat when seen along side the printed images. I would like to replace this with the typeface I made and printed for my newer book, but in the same brown colour as the printed dog.

Potato prints and collographs in the sequential image project

2012-02-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

I thought about drawing line drawings of dogs underneath but felt that they wouldn't be bold enough and would get lost behind the bars. After some experimentation I decided to use a mixture of ripped cardboard prints for the main characters and potato prints using gouache paint for the rest of the characters. I liked the way the gouche merged with the moisture from the potato to give the dogs more organic markings in contrast to the starkness of their printed outlines.

Lino print in the sequential image project.

2012-02-02T14:51:00.000-08:00

I decided to use print in the sequential image project because I thought that the repetitive nature of the kennel fronts in rescue kennels would lend themselves well to lino printing.

Sequential Image Project.

2012-02-02T14:04:00.000-08:00

I decided to produce a wordless picture book for my sequential image project. It tells the story of an unwanted dog that is dumped at an animal shelter and loses all hope of finding someone to love him, until someone eventually does.

Sequential Image Project.

2012-02-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

Sequential Image Project.

2012-02-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

Kennel sketches

2012-01-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

Sketches of people interacting with kennelled dogs

2012-01-26T14:03:00.000-08:00

Photos of Clara's recovery

2012-01-26T13:42:00.000-08:00

14 days post arrival - the wounds are already healing. Would love to show you all the progress of the larger wounds, but they're not for the faint hearted!

30 days post arrival - the smaller wounds have already healed, leaving only scars of Clara's old life.

Sketches of veterinary nurses caring for an injured dog

2012-01-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

Clara came into the shelter after being dumped by a railway. She had sheering injuries to her legs and chest, with a noose mark under her neck. We suspect these injuries were the result of being dragged beside a moving car. We also discovered numerous air gun pellets when we x-rayed her. Her wounds were bathed, flushed and bandaged, a daily process which took hours at a time. The hard work and TLC payed off and after 12 weeks and two surgeries the wounds had healed fully. I tracked the process of the wounds by taking regular photos. On one occasion I decided to do some observational sketches of the nursing care given to Clara.

Digging dog

2012-01-25T09:54:00.000-08:00

Water soluble pastels on brown paper. Different pastels used to show the three different images drawn over the top of each other to reflect the animals movement.

Dog Aggression Information Leaflet

2012-01-25T07:13:00.001-08:00

This leaflet was designed to help children and parents to understand the dogs escalation into aggression and how to avoid being bitten. I used a range of breeds to emphasize that any dog can become aggressive, not just the breeds that the public are weary of. The leaflet isn't particularly successful. It was designed as a six side concertina that drops down into a poster and is intended to have further advice on the back. I think this would be much better represented in a children's book so that the the information part is much more child friendly and explanatory. I would also like to tackle this project in print as I suspect it would be more appealing.

Information leaflet about the escalation of canine aggression.

2012-01-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

I wanted to emphasize the importance of the subtle changes in behaviour that parents should be watching for so that they can reward these communication signals by removing the child from the dog. If these are ignored the dog has to resort to more obvious signals such as growling and biting.

Relief printed dog aggression ethogram

2012-01-25T07:04:00.000-08:00

Dog behaviour sketches from my sketch pad

2012-01-25T06:52:00.000-08:00

I like how this sketch shows a dog mooching through the undergrowth, completely relaxed.

This sketch shows how ear position can change as a dog becomes more nervous.

''at the zoo''

2008-12-29T13:09:00.000-08:00

''poof!''

2008-08-03T15:08:00.001-07:00

''snooze''

2008-07-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

''lion''

2008-07-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

''girrafe''

2008-07-28T13:07:00.001-07:00

''tiger''

2008-07-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

''giraffe''

2008-07-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

''aardvark''

2008-07-20T15:21:00.001-07:00

COLCHESTER ZOO

2008-07-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

I visited Cam at the Zoo last week. He introduced me to the aardvarks and arranged for me to feed the giraffes. It was a lot of fun. We also managed to do some sketching and take some photos. I haven't sketched from life for a while so I was pleasantly surprised...

''hoard''

2008-06-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

''baby''

2008-06-03T15:37:00.001-07:00

''sleeping duck'' - unfinished

2008-05-29T11:56:00.001-07:00

''moorhen''

2008-05-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

''mallard''

2008-05-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

''little furry blighters''

2008-05-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

''archway aye-aye sign''

2008-05-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

''gem''

2008-05-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

''black lion tamarin''

2008-05-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

''gorilla''

2008-05-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

''nausa nausa''

2008-05-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

''mountain chicken''

2008-05-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

''dendrobates''

2008-05-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

''flamingos''

2008-05-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

''golden lion tamarin''

2008-05-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

''rodrigues fruit bats''

2008-05-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

''orangutan''

2008-05-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

''electric''

2008-05-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

''hand''

2008-05-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

''hands''

2008-05-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

''clay''

2008-05-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

mural preparation

2008-05-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

''chemistry'' mural

2008-05-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

''eyes''

2008-05-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

''window to the soul''

2008-05-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

''caged''

2008-05-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

''dog under anaesthetic''

2008-05-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

''worry''

2008-05-24T16:21:00.001-07:00

2008-03-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

I know it's a bit morbid, but I sketched the feet of a duck we had to euthinase at work to help me get the texture right. I'm really pleased with the legs...

2008-03-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

2008-03-26T13:36:00.000-07:00