Letter of Intention

Portfolio: www.tvium.blogspot.dk

To whom it may concern,

My name is Thomas Vium. I was born 29 years ago and I live in Viborg with my girlfriend and daughter. I am applying for the Graphic Storytelling programme because I want to draw and tell stories for a living. I tend to enjoy stories no matter what medium they appear in, but my biggest love is without a doubt comics and prints of the highest quality, i.e. comics and prints that look good, feel right, smell lovely and tell awesome stories. My dream is to make creative works that stand out in such a way.

Almost a year ago, my application for Computer Graphic Arts at The Animation Workshop was rejected, and I decided to quit my job as a teacher to give my dream another serious chance. I attended Artem’s class at The Drawing Academy, which has fundamentally changed the way I approach drawing. Here, I was exposed to different drawing styles and basic materials that I have never had the opportunity to play with before, and it became clear to me that quirky and original ways of drawing interested me far more than styles with a broader appeal. This realisation was the reason why I shifted focus to Graphic Storytelling – it seems like it has room for quirky, imperfect yet original, and interesting drawings. The decision has been the absolutely right one for me and the portfolio has been an absolute blast to work on, which hopefully shows.

It’s hard to nail down exactly what inspires me when I draw, but I pay a lot of attention to interactions between people and my general surroundings; how do people act when they meet in public places like train stations, shopping malls, when they go grocery shopping, when they pick up their kids at the kindergarten, and so on. All of this is hugely inspiring to me, and I try to keep my sense of observation alert at all times.

As I mentioned earlier, I have worked as a teacher – a job and life I chose to pursue because I believed it suited my personality. As these things go, my beliefs turned out to be mistaken; it simply did not satisfy me the way I had imagined it would. Naturally, I do not consider the years at the university and my period as a teacher as a waste of time. I have gained many useful, personal experiences, which has made me a stronger person and more determined. I know what I want to do, and I dare bring my dreams out in the open. Last year, I became a father for the first time, and it has changed my outlook on life completely. I managed to strike a good balance between being a good student at TDA and being a good father at home, and I am sure the experience will be of great use during the many hours of studying at your programme that I am both expecting and prepared for.

Five years from now, I see myself as a freelance illustrator in my own studio at Arsenalet in Viborg, hopefully along with other talented artists/illustrators. I feel at home here, and I want to influence and be part of the creative environment already flourishing at Arsenalet today. My dream is to create and produce books, prints and other collectibles of the highest quality – both in terms of form and content. I would focus on combining basic materials like pencils, paint, ink, charcoal, pastels, cardboard cutouts, and collage and then use the computer for editing. The goal would be to always experiment with form and storytelling in order to create interesting stories in varying contexts such as comics, books, commercial work, design, collectibles or marketing material. A main source of inspiration is the quality of the books the English publisher Nobrow produces.

I am unable to receive any SU during the programme since I already have an education. However, together with my family I have decided that this is the right way to proceed for all of us, which is why we have already planned our economy and expenses in a way, which allows me to complete the entire education programme on my girlfriend’s income and our savings from previous jobs. We have detailed this plan in an Excel document, and I will gladly bring it to the interview if I am invited should this be of any interest to you at all.

With Kind Regards
Thomas Vium

tlf: 22 39 68 63
thomasvium@gmail.com

List of related experience:

• 2 x Croquis at Aarhus Kunstakademi (60 hours).
• Sculpturing at Kunst & Design (18 hours).
• The Drawing Academy (Artems Class) (Autumn, 2014).
• Media School (2015).
• Im a master in Nordic Language and Literature and Sport Science. The latter taught me about the muscles and bones in the human body, and I have analysed the way our bodies move again and again. This knowledge is irreplaceable when I am drawing. The former taught me how to analyse cultural artefacts. 
• I participated in a summer course about Narratology (Ipin 2013) at the university along with other students from the rest of Europe. We spend a summer studying the structures and effects of stories in a diverse selection of media. 

List of software knowledge:

• Adobe Photoshop - Experienced user (self taught + Media School).
• Adobe After effects - Media School.
• Flash - Media School.