The 2010 Illustre showcase exhibition is a special one, not only because of the awesome talent involved but also because the NMIT students are going out on their own. After 15 years of sharing the billing with Chisholm Institute we are about to exhibit independently. This year’s Illustre is happening in November – much better for graduating students than September when it was previously held.
Anyhoo ... We have our own show. The culmination of two years hard work. We’ve played in all sorts of media, the traditional ones like oils, pastels, pencils, paints, inks, collages, charcoals, etc. We’ve done life drawing and 3D, learnt composition and colour mixing. We’ve been doing the digital version of ‘mucking about in boats’. We’ve held a first year show at Per Square Metre Gallery in Collingwood (Mad Dogs of Art), where we sold prints of our work, we’ve been involved in two in-house shows at NMIT’s A Space gallery, and a few of us have exhibited at Synergy Gallery in Northcote.
Lots of good things have come out of this course. Given that we’re entering an intensely competitive industry, the ambience of support and generosity has made the illo room 210 a safe, as well as inspiring, place to be. We openly admire and appreciate each other’s work and get the sense that the tutors truly care about our progress.
Guest teachers, real live working as illustrators, have come in to share a few tricks and, often being graduates of this course themselves, set a fine example of where we can go from here. Nothing like being reminded that you can indeed make a living doing what you love.
Illustre is an illustration spectacular, starting on the 8th of November and running until the 27th of November at Chapel Off Chapel, Prahran. Opening night is Tuesday November 9th, 6-8pm.
