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russell rukin
It sometimes feels that I should have been destined to be a graphic designer with the unusually R dominated name of Russell Rukin. I do dabble with graphics, have some fun with webpages and produce some flash animation's of my work etc. but it was always art and illustration where my future lay.
After a Foundation in Art, I specialised in Illustration and opted for a joint degree in Illustration and the History of Art. My academic sentence was carried out in heart of mid Wales at the University of Wales Aberystwyth. The belief of my lecturers combined with a serious case of Technophobia amongst the department meant that I was able to specify, build and monopolise the department's first ever art computer.
I had already learnt basic CAD skills whilst working for local architects back home in West Yorkshire and my art bloomed as I poured myself into my work with the support of a then cutting edge 486 with 16MB of RAM. I used the 3-D modeller Arkey plus the photorealistic renderer, Renderstar, and took the resultant images into Aldus Photostyler (an early competitor to Photoshop) for completion. I obviously did something right as at the end of the three years I got to wear a funny gown and collect a scroll from someone who congratulated me in Welsh.
My next stop was Weymouth, Dorset where I worked at the HQ of Newlook retailers teaching store designers how to use CAD packages and at the same time teaching myself 3-D animation (an on going process). My work developed and changed but ideals never did and I continued to be influenced by three wonderful practitioners of the visual arts: - The Californian Richard Diebenkorn (for his painterly style and colour); the illustrator David Hughes (for the anarchy and humour of his work) and the dead but not forgotten Durer (for many reasons but mainly for his superb etchings).
The Newlook experience funded my escape bid from English shores to Hong Kong's neon harbours, where I worked for architects and produced posters for theatre groups. I overdosed on the vibrant ultra modern street architecture and advertising that merge into the ancient Chinese culture where the masses throng the markets. I travelled around the Far East for a year before heading back to Britain taking with me a sizeable part of the east's use of colour and scrupulous attention to detail.
Back in Grand Britannia I moved to Norwich and become a freelance
illustrator the majority of my clients being architects or exhibition designers. I got lucky by being commissioned for the fashionable PC mag "PC Format" in the UK this rekindled my creative fires and pushed me to construct a new portfolio of illustrations the fruits of which you can view at PVUK.
I'd like to think that my new portfolio has resolved the inner fight between the draftsman who loves the sexy black line and scrupulous detail of Durer and the artist who is free and creative with colour but underpinned with structure like Diebenkorn. Although my illustration will constantly evolve and each commission is tailored to fit the brief I also believe that I've achieved a constantly recognisable style that will capture the eye, fix the attention and stimulate the brain |¬). |
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