Olivier Kugler

Notes from the lecture...

Reportage illustrator from Germany. 
Read Tintin comics as a child and became interested in stories and pictures. This sparked an interest in drawing, comic books, etc. 
His father told him that if he wanted to learn to draw properly, he needed to draw from life rather than just copying what already existed in his comic books. He started doing self portraits, landscapes, figures, scenes, filling sketchbooks. He also attended life drawing classes. 
He practiced strict observational drawing and painting at a private art school, with this experience he was then able to get into art school. 
Tutor took more interest in his sketchbooks, drawing from reality rather than complete illustrations. 
He spent six months in Hamburg drawing the every day from life, visiting the red light district, tattoo parlours, etc - he made a book from this. 
He worked for two years as a graphic designer because the book wasn't getting published and he wasn't getting any illustration work and needed to make money. He then got a scholarship to study in NY for two years. His tutor in New York told him that he needed to find a way to colour his work for the drawings to be viable in the industry. He did this and made a booklet to send out to potential employers (publishers, editors, etc).
Got a commission for a magazine in New York, good to get money and recognition. He was drawing every day, parking lot drawings, talking to the homeless, learning about them, drawing them and writing about them. 
Worked for the Guardian newspaper, they gave him a lot of freedom with the briefs and this became a regular thing. At the time, Olivier wasn't really thinking sequentially but in hindsight it would have been good to spend more time with people and tell their story or even just the story of their day. 
Advice - Be proactive, don't just wait for assignments. Go out and ask. 
Travel sketchbook for the guardian. Didn't do any final drawings on location, he just took photos, interviewed people and made sketches so he could compile all the information later on.  
Financial crisis meant that he had no more work from the Guardian. He was a bit lost without these regular briefs. 
Iran reportage project for magazine, he was disappointed that there were complications with doing a final interview but the drawings were a success. For this, he won the V&A illustration award. 
Commission from swiss magazine, drawing on location rather than photos. Spending the day with a man who was a super-grass and was in hiding from his former associates. 
Doctors without borders - Iraqi Kurdistan, close to Syrian/Turkish borders. The project was about refugees, most of whom moved there because there was no work where they were before. His work from this trip was published and exhibited in numerous places. He applied for grant through the arts council to make book but it was turned down. As a result of this he went back to doing commercial illustration for work. 
Olivier Kugler is currently doing work based around the refugees in Calais (jungle camp). 

Response
I found it really interesting to listen to Olivier Kugler speak about his work. I have resorted into his practice previously as part of briefs where I have been looking into reportage illustration. I could sense his passion for his job and you could tell that he really took an interest in the stories of each of the people he interviewed and I expected nothing less. You can tell from his work that he is good at understanding and conveying information to give people a good idea of what these people are really like and what they have been through. 

Aligning with my practice
I have had a keen interest in reportage illustration for a while. I love looking at it, learning about people and their experiences and understanding their story. However, I have learnt from the applied illustration module that I find reportage illustration challenging to get a grasp of. It is a lot easier to enjoy the work of others than it is to create my own, understandably. I think for me, the process of reportage illustration can be seen as more of a research process for my work. Over summer I really want to improve my observation drawing skills as this is something I am spending less and less time on as the demands of the course become greater. I think I need to set myself some sort of challenge next year for PPP to make sure that I am continually practicing this. I enjoy being inspired by the world around me and if maintaining a reportage sketchbook is the way for me to bring this into my work then it is worth a try. 

Advice
I noticed that a lot of the jobs he managed to get were through people he knew and just from being bold and asking the right people the right questions. He mentioned that he is quite shy which I understand, it must take a lot of courage tout yourself out there in the way that he does. It gives me hope that it can be done and that it is always important to network. 

I also picked up on the fact that he has had a lot of setbacks in his creative career. He has been turned down by many publishers, lost his regular income of work from the Guardian, had people who had promised to be interviewed let him down, etc. At the time I can see how this would be really disheartening and demoralising but he always seemed to pick himself up and carry on again. I suppose you learn from your mistakes and not everything is going to be handed to you on a plate. I think a lot of Kugler's success is down to his determination and perseverance. Also, listening to advice, especially from his tutors.