Artists & Illustrators — June 2017

MASTERCLASS

trade, is one of the

judges – along with

Artists & Illustrators

publisher Steve Pill,

• who helped whittle
  down entries. He’s
  commissioned a huge
  number of posters,
  often on the back of
  TfL or the Mayor of
  London’s campaigns,
  and has a clear view
  about what makes a
  successful poster.
  “The thing that works
  beautifully on the
  underground is
  immediacy of subject
  content, place and
  idea,” he says.
  “Pictorial images with
  an art base and a
  clear copy line have to
  grab people in a
  fraction of a second. It has to be visually
  arresting. That’s what I’m looking for.”
  But, he says, other judges might have a
  broader remit, looking at new talent, skill,
  colourisation, subject, the innate ability of
  the illustrator to fulfi l a complex brief. For an
  illustration, context is everything. “In an
  exhibition, a highly detailed piece may be the
  most popular but, on the underground, it
  might not work in the same way,” he says.
  The winning image will be one that
  navigates these competing tensions, as well
  as offering a surprising take on the visually
  diffi cult concept of sound. LTM’s head of
  marketing and communications, Wendy
  Neville, says: “I wanted to make sure we were
  getting a variety of sounds, from market
  stalls to wildlife. We put it all in the
  commissioned marketing image by Eliza
  Southwood (above), right down to including
  the Spice Girls and David Bowie in the shop
  window.” Yet despite deliberately
  encouraging artists to think broadly, Mike
  and Wendy were still surprised by the sheer
  imaginativeness of the work entered.
  “The brief is quite diffi cult as it is dealing
  with an abstract as a fi rst port of call,” says
  Mike. “When you’re confronted with the
  reality of what people have done – the sheer
  volume and scale of ideas that have come in


• this is the best result yet for a competition.”
  Among the depictions of music, transport
  noise and city bustle, there are renderings of
  surreal soundscapes, moments of calm, and

the gentle patter of rain and birdsong. But it’s

not just conceptual approaches that vary.

There are illustrations created with string,

tapestry and paper sculpture, as well as

watercolour, acrylic and digital art. Although

most work is fi nished digitally, traditional

skills seem destined to live side-by-side with

new technology. Physical media is also still

very much part of the commissioning process

for Mike. “I ask for pencil or pen sketches for

what I think answers the brief. Then I ask for

a colour palette because, if we commission a

series of two or four, I like them to work

together. After that, I don’t dictate.”

Ultimately, however, he’s looking for a

contemporary twist on a traditional idea that

engages the public. “What we’re trying to

portray is something Mr and Mrs Average can

understand,” says Mike. And with so much

talent on display at Sounds of the City this

summer, the exhibition is sure to unearth the

next star illustrator who can do just that.

Sounds of the City is at London Transport

Museum from 19 May to 3 September 2017.

Tickets allow unlimited daytime entry for

12 months. http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk

“THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO

UNDERSTAND THE ILLUSTRATION.

CONTEMPORARY ARTWORKS USING

CONTEMPORARY COLOURS FEED

THAT UNDERSTANDING”

COPYRIGHT THE ARTISTS >

Artists & Illustrators 35

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