Amy-Louise Olszak

Its all boiling over.

2012-01-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

Evening,

I am nearly done with this project and the stress is getting to a little too much. I hope all the (literal) blood, sweat and tears are going to be worth it when I print the book on Friday. It has been an awful few weeks with stress and being the victim of fraud but I have a feeling things are going to start getting better for me very soon!

Here are a few of my final images.

I hope everyone who is reading this had a wonderful christmas and new year, I certainly did despite my rotten luck :)

Album Cover Designs

2011-12-13T17:50:00.000-08:00

I created individual playlists for my family as Christmas presents and created this very quick CD covers for each. It was a perfect excuse to use some of the photographs from my 1947 flower arranging book. I find the black and white photographs of flowers so atmospheric and unusual and they cry out to be used in collages!

Home

2011-12-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

Some more work in progress. Click to see bigger versions :)

When Routine Bites Hard.

2011-12-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

Deborah refuses to understand that Ian is a jealous and controlling lover, and submits herself totally.

From my ongoing project: Why Is The Bedroom So Cold? About the relationship between the late Ian Curtis and wife Deborah.

Shadowplay

2011-12-02T06:13:00.000-08:00

To the centre of the city in the night,

Waiting for you.

-Joy Division

Vino.

2011-11-29T10:36:00.000-08:00

Good evening.

I have been looking at a lot of poster designs of late, in particular early 20th century British propaganda, Russian constructivist designs and the work of Peter Saville. This more graphic inspiration has really taken my work in a new direction!

My bed seems too big tonight.

2011-11-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

I find myself alone for the night. My mind keeps me awake with its poisonous thoughts.

New illustration. Not sure what to make of it as it is so far from how I usually work. Which is both refreshing and scary.

Debbie and Ian

2011-11-18T17:39:00.000-08:00

In fear every day, every evening,

He calls her aloud from above,

Carefully watched for a reason,

Painstaking devotion and love,

Surrendered to self preservation,

From others who care for themselves.

A blindness that touches perfection,

But hurts just like anything else.

-Ian Curtis

New image created at one in the morning thanks to my old friend insomnia. For my ongoing project about Ian Curtis called Why Is The Bedroom So Cold? It depicts his wife Debbie comforting Ian after an epileptic fit brought on by over indulging in wine, drugs and other women...

Typographic Experaments

2011-11-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

It was time to play around with text… and this was the result! The text used was from a poem/lyrics by Ian Curtis.

STILL

When you're looking at life,

In a strange new room,
Maybe drowning soon,
Is this the start of it all?,
Turn on your TV,
Turn down your pulse,
Turn away from it all,
It's all getting too much.

When you're looking at life,

Deciphering scars,
Just who fooled who,
Sit still in their cars,
The lights look bright,
When you reach outside,
Time for one last ride,
Before the end of it all.

Why is the bedroom so cold?

2011-10-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

I wish I were a Warhol silk screen hanging on the wall.

Or little Joe or maybe Lou.

I'd love to be them all.

All New York's broken hearts and secrets would be mine.

I'd put you on a movie reel, and that would be just fine.

Hello! I am currently working on a project about the late Joy Division Singer Ian Curtis and the relationship between him and his wife Deborah Curtis. The above image was inspired by an excellent lecture from illustrator Matthew Richardson as I found his beautiful digital collages were incredibly inspiring! I am feeling very positive about the images I have been creating for this project… so watch this space!

Creativity on a gloomy October evening.

2011-10-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

An Illustration of a line from the poem 'The Kraken' by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

Below the thunders of the upper deep;

Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,

His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep

The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee

About his shadowy sides: above him swell

Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;

And far away into the sickly light,

From many a wondrous grot and secret cell

Unnumbered and enormous polypi

Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.

There hath he lain for ages and will lie

Battening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep,

Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;

Then once by man and angels to be seen,

In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

Some photos of the strange quality of light this evening.

September

2011-10-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

September was a month of moving and reality checks…

My new bedroom has a cozy corner!

This is Sebastian. Hello

Gotta love flying.

Gotta love smiling.

A mini show one week into being back at uni. Slave drivers.

October sun in my new garden.

Swing in the sun.

Fathers Day

2011-06-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

Today is fathers day!

I love making cards so and I think this one came out particularly well! That is the delightful face of Tim Henman by the way.

I also created the wrapping paper and gift tag, don't ask why I chose to draw pants.... I haven't a clue.

Bambi

2011-06-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

When I first read the 1929 novel ‘Bambi’ by Felix Salten, a flurry of images streamed through my mind. I was moved by the poetic and atmospheric world the author creates, where creatures rule the forest and live in fear of a mysterious creature they only know as ‘He’.

I chose not to include any deer in my final, as early on in the project I found myself in a rut of drawing deer repeatedly, which I easily became tiered of. I decided to cut deer from the illustrations all together and concentrate on depicting the atmosphere of select events in the book in order to create a narrative.

I chose to work mainly in monotone colours as this suited the atmosphere of the story perfectly, a few of the images have spot colouring of red to give a sense of heightened danger. Here are a few images from my final work:

Birth

“He came into the world in the middle of the thicket, in one of those little, hidden forest glades which seem to be entirely open, but are really screened in on all sides.”

Meadow

"Now he saw the whole heaven stretching far and wide and he rejoiced without knowing why. In the forest he had only seen a stray sunbeam now and then, or the tender, dappled light that played through the branches. Suddenly he was standing in the blinding hot sunlight whose boundless power was beaming upon him."

Storm

"When the raging storm broke through the woods so that the trees began to groan aloud, Bambi trembled with terror. And when the lightning flashed and the thunder growled, Bambi was numb with fear and thought the end of the world had come."

Hunter

"Bambi stared at the creature. It stood remarkably erect. It was extremely thin and had a pale face, entirely bare around the nose and the eyes. A kind of dread emanated from that face, a cold terror. That face had tremendous power over him. It was unbearably painful to look at that face and yet Bambi stood staring fixedly at it."

Winter

"Bambi knew that want and hardship had come. He saw how much the rain and wind had changed the world. There was no longer a leaf on tree or bush. But all stood there as though, violated, their bodies naked for all to see. And they lifted their bare brown limbs to the sky for pity."

Hunt

"All sorts of creatures were swarming past. The air was throbbing with repeated thunderclaps and the dull thuds of the fallen and the high piercing shrieks of those who had escaped."

Wounded

"Bambi felt a fearful blow that made him stagger.

Mad with terror, he sprang back into the thicket and kept running. He did not understand what had happened. He could not grasp a single idea. He could only keep running on and on. Fear gripped his heart so that his breath failed as he rushed blindly on."

Fatal

"Bambi looked down at the prostrate form whose limbs and skin seemed so mysterious and terrible to him. He gazed at the dead eyes that stared up sightlessly at him. Bambi couldn’t understand it all. "

Book Cover

2011-04-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

Hello!

This is a book cover I designed for the Penguin Design Awards.

It is mainly put together on Adobe Photoshop from scanned ink paintings and text cut outs. Sounds simple no? Well in theory it was, but being the perfectionist I am, I diddled with it for at least a week. (Moving a letter one pixel to the left and a building 5 pixels down…and back again...etc..etc)

Being the second book cover I have ever created I am quite proud of it.

I also highly recommend the book!

Houses.

2011-03-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Just a taster of something I am working on.

Mugshot.

2011-03-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

Ey!

You can see my work up in Maidstone county hall right now! Here is a picture of my work all framed and ready to go. I don't know who that strange person to the right of the image with the claw hand is though...

Also everyone should check out this years Pick Me Up exhibition! Its at Somerset House in London from 17-27th March. I went last year and it inspired me incredibly!

Toodles.

Forest Ghosts.

2011-03-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

Ello!

A few scans from a series I did last week based on my project about the story of Bambi by Felix Salten. In reality they are very tiny little 5'x5' watercolour and pencil paintings, a medium I decided to use as it has a fast turnaround.

I only had a week.

They are now hanging in Maidstone county hall for the Art Uniting People Exhibition. I wanted to create a collection of calm and ghostlike images to portray the translucent appearance of animals, when sighted for a mere second in their habitat.

I have also started work on my first website. I took my time I know, but heres to it being all worth it!

Tootle OO!

New things.

2011-02-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

Afternoon.

I am currently wasting a day nursing a hangover and thinking. I certainly feel there is not enough time in each day now so to be spending a day like this makes me feel so guilty. At least I have some sort of idea for this self initiated project that is heading my way. Bambi. I wish to illustrate the original text written 1921 deep in the heart of Austria by Felix Salten.

Original first edition Austrian edition

I doubt I will be able to get hold of a rare original like this one but an english illustrated edition of the story has not been done since the 80's. Of course there are the arrestingly beautiful 1967 illustrations by Mirko Hanak which I stumbled upon on my Tumblr feed, it was these that fired up my imagination.

Illustrations by Mirko Hanak

I am suffering from cabin fever stuck here in maidstone like this, so hopefully this wild and woodlandy project will allow my mind to escape for a little.

Time to get the pencils out.

Christmas Cards!

2010-12-22T18:17:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Made hand painted christmas cards for my colleagues at The Dune Group. Took longer thank expected but I needed something to keep my creativity high! I love giving presents, more than receiving them. It is good soul food.

Bambi keeping an eye on the proceedings.

Close-up of card and envelope.

~~Slave~~ Boyfriend labour.

I wish everyone a boozy, present filled and Merry Christmas!

Amy

Ballet 1. Standing at the sidelines.

2010-12-20T09:28:00.000-08:00

A mixture of acrylic, pencil and ink. This is my favorite image I have created all year. I love the unfinished quality of it which works as there are certain areas of detailed line-work. I have also learnt to ditch white paper!

More to come soon...

Orange Illustrated Tweets.

2010-12-14T12:52:00.000-08:00

Evening!

Us illustration students at UCA Maidstone were very fortunate to be able to work with the lovely people at Poke London in an illustrated tweet project. I was proud to have been a part of this fun and exciting project! Here are some screenshots of my work online:

For more information on this project and the other twitter orientated weekly bits of fun visit the website: clicky

Toodles!

The Loo Queue

2010-11-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

Evening,

I am working on a series of drawings/paintings/collages/scribbles about my current subject, The Ballet.

It is hard to give up on an image that works well and looks lovely... but just does not say what I want to say. All is not lost however. I can post it on here in its unfinished form. I just love it.

For now this idea will be confined to this section of cyberspace until I have a better use for it.

Here it is.

A group of girls waiting for the toilet in acrylic, pencil, acrylic ink (wonderful stuff) and indian ink.

Amy x

Mini Book Project.

2010-11-07T14:09:00.000-08:00

This is the cover of a book I created in two days. It is more of a scrapbook and I am not sure if I am proud of it or not. I used many many many different mediums, collage, photoshop, photocopy, letters from old newpapers... so it turned into a little bit of a mish mash.

The idea was to illustrate ballet steps. The terms are all in french and I wanted to illustrate the meaning of the words in french and play with the typography.

Couronne - Crown

Frappe - Move fast

Chasse - Chase

Battement - Beaten

I am finally getting into this project. With only two weeks to go I should be really! I am excited to go and visit Freed the ballet shoe makers on wednesday to draw and take photos.

Do you think the fact I have bought four pairs of shoes in two weeks and am focusing my project on ballet shoes is pointing me in the direction of having a serious shoe habit? Or is it the fact I am working in a shoe shop and its influence is seeping into my brain?

Until next time

Amy

Ballet

2010-10-31T16:57:00.000-07:00

Good evening.

I have been working my socks off of late, working overtime at my part time job, university work and learning to drive. It has been stressful but busy. In my books busy is very good. This is when the best of my talents come through. I am excited for the outcome of my current project about Ballet.

I have been drawing regularly at a local dance studio a very daunting task as the young girls want to come nose at what I am drawing every five minutes! I have started to become fascinated by what they are wearing on their feet after watching the 1948 film The Red Shoes.

Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes

I have no idea why there is a rainbow in the bottom left hand corner of each image?

Oh! Happy Halloween!

Claustrophobic

2010-09-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

An illustration for Billenium by JG Ballard…

“When the police had finally sealed off the stadium and dispersed the jam he had gone back to his cubicle and slept for a week, his body blue with bruises…”

I wanted to get across the feeling of being stuck, jammed and claustrophobic.

Writhing Crowd

2010-09-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

Illustration For JG Ballard's Billenium

"Often 'locks' would occur when a huge crowd at a street junction became immovably jammed. Sometimes these locks would last for days. Two years earlier ward had been caught in one outside the stadium, for over forty-eight hours was trapped in a gigantic pedestrian jam containing over 20,000 people, fed by other crowds leaving the stadium on one side and those approaching it on the other. An entire square mile of the local neighbourhood had been paralysed, and he vividly remembered the nightmare of swaying helplessly on his feet as the jam shifted and heaved, terrified of losing his balance and being trampled underfoot.."

About time I put this little lady up.

2010-08-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

Deerests,

Here is my written and illustrated book about Kate Moss, Uneven Days.

'Bout time I got this up really!

Goodnight All!!

Sketchbook work.... Delightful Maidstone

2010-06-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

A Grumpy Father, Sulking Daughter at Fortify Cafe.

My absolute favorite place for sandwiches, the chedder and tomato chutney is just mmmmm.

Drawn with brush pen

"Are You Drawing Our Backs?"

This was painted by the river on a beautiful day after a trip to a farm. This family was very interested in what I was doing but kindly agreed to being captured in ink. The white space in the top right is to evoke the glorious sunlight of that evening.

Young Ladies In The Sun

I remember this day. It was another warm one about mid april and I was eating a Boots Meal Deal - a Mexican Bean Wrap to be precise. Here I am trying to evoke sun and warmth once more.

Rows Of Houses all Bearing Down On Me

This particular area is so foreboding, a network of streets full of derelict homes and industrial structures. Its a kind of half-way place surrounded by the shiny developed town which obviously was a hub of industry in its time. I came across this row of houses overlooking a warehouse with trees growing through the roof. Curiously they all had bowls of tuna outside for the colony of stray cats living nearby. This image works for me as it perfectly depicts the overcast weather of the day and the endless rows of factory worker houses that make up this town.

A Late Afternoon Stroll With Our Shadows

Its odd how you notice patterns occurring in your work when you look back on it, these sharp perspectives feature a lot in my recent drawings.

The Little Lady And The Gargoyles

The bus shelter under Chequers Centre, an outdated shopping centre with 80's decor and a nicotine stained ceiling. These old folks had such stony expressions I decided to depict them that way.

Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Days, So Lighten Up Squirt

2010-02-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

Popmusic Broilers

Manufactured pop and manufactured chicken both mass produced and surreal. These are chicken with no feathers, they have actually been created in israel. The outlook for intensive farming looks more and more grim the more I looked into it. So I drew them dancing in a line like a manufactured boy band.

I am doing a project on selective breeding and my aim was to create a kind of freakshow of animals that have been engineered for human benefit. Was rather interesting as it is a subject I am very passionate about being a vegetarian for 10 years.

My Other Self

2010-02-19T06:01:00.000-08:00

I feel as though I have been drawing too many self portraits of late. Is that being self absorbed? I don't want to think so. Below you will find a selection of the final transformation into an animal images I created last month. A select few because the other two are too bad ever to see the light of day ever again. Unless they get discovered by a historian in a few hundred years as they dig through a landfill trying to work out how our society fell apart. Mmm maybe I should sign them? :)

This is me, I love the hair it was rather painful on the wrists but worth it I think. All is done with a loverly pen/paintbrush/drybrush I got given to me by Robert Sae-Heng. I can give info.

You can tell I got lazy by this point as far as the hair is concerned.

Concerning is also the word I would use to describe the Avatar like look I have got going on here.

My favorite one and the fastest to complete. I am proud of the dreamy gaze in those eyes. I would love to have side-eyes for a day just to see how much I can see and cant see. I can imagine it would make eating food difficult and avoiding lamp-posts.

Other than scanning these (which took far too long) I am enjoying vanilla smells, listening to Waltz In Black by The Stranglers and a cup of tea and a little cake with a cherry on top! I feel so english!

Pre-Dyed Sheep

2010-02-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

I got bored of trying to design a website about mutations at university, so I decided to start painting some colourful sheep. I am working with the age old technique of selective breeding and wondering how far the limits of a creatures DNA could be pushed. To make our lives easier of course. Why bother dying wool when you can breed pre coloured sheep?

Kind to the environment in the reduction of chemical use or just completely off the rails? It could happen you know. Stranger things have.

Relish

2010-01-28T13:04:00.001-08:00

Doesn't the word make your mouth water?

Its because you are rubbing the back of my foot, it makes me feel ill

2010-01-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

Im so glad I got 85 percent on my final piece o kate moss book. Not so glad i got 46 on my essay. but nevvermind. I have been making a fruit bowl in my room and enjoying waffles. But the fruit bowl is dissapearing before I can add more fruits to it. I also am in love with green tea scented oil for my oil burner. It is so refreshing and makes my day spritly.

Do you like the elephant? He has fluffy internal organs and more solid fluff for skin.

Selling Shoes

2010-01-10T10:23:00.000-08:00

My shelf likes to collect odd things.

A horse I bought when I was 14 at one of those village fete's you come across in nice places with boat swings and a crazy local DJ playing off the back of a generator powered van. A battery-less clock I stole from a rochester junk shop, mini pine cones from the field by my uni, parrot tile (my old fav animals), 2 christmas decoration deer and a broken cheap clock necklace. Im featuring this this because I feel it sums me up very well.