SEM 2 WEEK 02

Illustration Newsletter

Here in Illustration at Cumbria, we’re lucky to have something a lot of courses don’t: a big, bright, open-plan studio. It’s not just a nice extra—it’s one of your strongest tools for creative growth.

But studio culture only works if you’re in the studio. Too often, a new brief goes out and half the room heads straight home. And while “I work better from home” sounds good, the results usually tell a different story.

The studio is where ideas spark, where momentum builds, where you get real-time feedback and push each other further. It’s where progress actually happens.
We want you to leave this course with ambition, confidence, and a real chance at a career in illustration. That doesn’t come from working alone in a bedroom. It comes from showing up.

So here’s the choice:
If you’re serious about illustration, use the space. Use each other. Use the opportunity. If you’re not… well, the bag-and-coat option is always there.
We know what works. Trust us—and trust the process.

The Week Ahead

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Yr1 ILLU4050 \| am UCIA4020 \| pm	Yr1 ILLU4050 \| am Independent Study	Yr1 UCIA4020 \| 10-12 Independent Study	Yr1 No Delivery Independent Study	Yr1 ILLU4050 \| am Independent Study
Yr2 ILLU5050 \| am Independent Study	Yr2 Independent Study Independent Study	Yr2 ILLU5060 \| am Independent Study	Yr2 ILLU5050 \| am Independent Study	Yr2 Independent Study ILLU5050 \| pm
Yr3 Independent Study Independent Study	Yr3 ILLU6050 \| am ILLU6050 \| pm	Yr3 Independent Study Independent Study	Yr3 Independent Study ILLU6050 \| pm	Yr3 Independent Study Independent Study

Illustration Newsletter

A degree lasts three years. In that time, you’ll probably create around twenty final illustrations. That’s it. Twenty. And here’s the uncomfortable truth: twenty illustrations is nowhere near enough practice to get technically good.

Those project outcomes aren’t where you build skills—they’re where you demonstrate them. The craft has to happen elsewhere.
That means playing in Photoshop just because you’re curious, illustrating book covers no one asked for and posters for bands that don't exist. It means building and painting cardboard underwater scenes of lost treasures*. Most of all it means filling sketchbooks under they're fit to burst.

Every single year we stress how crucial sketchbook practice is—and every single year most students ignore us, despite decades of experience telling us it works.

So why not be the one who doesn’t ignore it? Why not buck the trend and actually give yourself the chance to grow?