Robin Cavender - Ilustration

Ahead of graduation, we catch up up with Robin, originally from Macclesfield, Cheshire, after an impressive exhibition of final year projects at Degree Show, which showed the progression of Robin's work and newfound love of illustrative ceramics.

Finding the right course: What sparked your interest in Illustration?

When I was very young, I was fascinated with picture books and reading more than most children my age, I poured over the fantastical stories and artwork, I remember thinking to myself while reading in my primary school classroom that I wanted to become an illustrator someday. I chose to study art and design back in secondary school, when I found that it was the subject I excelled in and enjoyed the most. As an autistic person, arts of all kinds became a special interest for me from a young age, bringing me immense comfort and acted as an escape from my difficult home and school life. Guided by my amazing art teacher, I passed my Art GCSE with flying colours and went on to peruse level 3 art and design in Macclesfield College. After graduating from college and taking a short break from education I decided to apply for the Concept Art course at Staffs. Although I loved the idea of working in the games and film industries at the time, I found that the course wasn't for me and my heart was, and always has been, with illustration. I switched to BA (Hons) Illustration a month in, and I haven't looked back since.

How has the course helped you develop?

This course has helped me develop more than I ever thought possible. I came to the course with low confidence in both my work and in myself, but thanks to the lovely people I've met during my years here I've grown into a much more confident and outgoing version of myself. My personal art style has been evolving constantly, and I'm at a place now where I feel my style reflects who I am. I'm no longer afraid to experiment, and I've learn to love mixed media and trying new things.

Illustration will open your eyes to new areas of Illustration you never knew existed and encourages you to experiment and express your own personal image-making style.

Degree Show and your proudest achievements on the course.

I loved manning the degree show, and the pop up shop. Many people were intrigued by my projects, and many asked questions which I was happy to answer. The highlight of the week was when I received an email from a high-school student about my display expressing his love for my work, which warmed my heart and made me so happy that I could inspire others! Overall, it was an incredible event and I feel so grateful for the opportunity to show my work to the world. 

My proudest achievement during my time on the course was writing, illustrating, and producing an original 32 page picturebook and entering it into the Macmillan Prize for Illustration. It's been a dream of mine to do this since I was young, so seeing it all come together was a magical experience. I'm also very proud of how far my art style has come, during the final year project 'The Symphony of Life' I discovered a love for honouring nature through my work and connecting with it spiritually. Seeing all of my final year projects come together in the Degree Show was incredibly fulfilling, and I am so proud of what I managed to achieve. 

Looking ahead.

After graduation I plan to do a Master's degree in Ceramics, where I will be able to explore my newfound love for illustrative ceramics which I developed during one of my final year projects.  As for long term goals, I want to publish my picture book 'Summerland' and hopefully many others in the future, as well as take on projects in many areas of the illustration industry. Now more than ever it's important that we work with our hands to create physical, uniquely human art, so I plan to continue to do just that. 

Thank you Robin, we now look forward to seeing what you create whilst on MA Ceramics!

Scroll down to see more of Robin's fantastic work.

For the Degree Show, students were encouraged to express themselves and their projects through a self-guided curation of the exhibition space.  Each student was given a wall in the studio to display their final-year projects, allowing us to curate our own exhibition for the public and industry visitors.  My final-year projects ended up feeling more like personal projects, and I greatly enjoyed developing each one. I’m really proud of the final outcomes.

Project 1 – Summerland

Summerland is a picture book that I wrote and illustrated throughout my final year.The story is a gentle introduction to the concepts of death and grief for a young audience. It aims to open conversations around these difficult topics, helping children navigate grief while breaking down some of the taboos surrounding death.For my display, I printed and assembled the book for visitors to read, exhibited full-colour spreads from the story, and even made toys of some of the book’s characters.

Project 2 – Illustrative Ceramics

For my second project, I explored the world of illustrative ceramics. Before this project, I had only briefly worked with clay during college, so I was effectively learning the craft from scratch - which was incredibly exciting.  I collaborated with ceramicist Josie Vaughan to create three unique pieces inspired by religious animal iconography throughout history. As I wanted to focus on the illustration aspect of the project, Josie sculpted the pieces based on my designs, which I then decorated using underglazes. I enjoyed this project so much that it inspired me to continue my studies with a Master's degree in Ceramics at University of Staffordshire, starting this September.

Project 3 – The Symphony of Life

The Symphony of Life explores the cycle of life and death in nature and humanity’s connection to it.  During a workshop this year, I tried cyanotype for the first time and immediately fell in love with the process. This led me to experiment with natural materials such as clay and bone, which became the foundation of the project.  Each skull depicts scenes from the lives the animals may have lived before they passed away, illustrated using cyanotype's distinctive blue tones. Cave art was a major inspiration, as early humans often depicted the world around them through simple but powerful imagery.  I imagine this project as an exhibition for the Natural History Museum, teaching visitors about ancient cave paintings and the artistic practices of early humans.

Robin's Degree Show experience was originally posted to The Student Room.