1. Which practical skills and methodologies have you developed within this module and how effectively do you think you are employing them within your own practice?
Throughout Studio Brief 1 I found it really useful going back to
basics, stripping back all of the faffing of creating finalised “finished” work
and really focusing on what makes an image successful and how it is made. I
found the exploration of line, texture and shape most helpful as I now really
consider and explore these simple yet vital elements of image making when
approaching a new brief and planning my own work. Instead of resorting to
picking up a trusty fine-liner and fine crafting a piece in this media ever
time, Studio Brief 1 allowed me to explore other ways (usually more exciting)
of achieving results with new media I am not completely used too, which I am now
continuing to use in my practise.
The tasks set throughout Studio brief 2 helped opened my eyes to what
makes an image successful/unsuccessful and helped me to understand how other
practitioners work, by deconstructing their artwork as well as my own. Since
learning about the important elements within an image, I really feel confident
in this area and enjoy critiquing/breaking down my own work and the work of
others. Throughout this module I have also really tried to make use of my
roughs/scamps to inform my own final artwork. This is an area I have tried to
develop in other modules, but found extremely difficult, therefore I am really
glad I have seen an improvement throughout my approach to the Visual Language
tasks.
2.
Which principles/ theories of image making have you found most valuable during
this module and how effectively do you think you are employing these within
your own practice?
The basic elements I have learnt at the beginning of this module
regarding various types of mark making, shape and tone, really helped ground my
work and prepare me for the more complicated tasks towards the end.
Studio Brief 2 was all about deconstructing images and thinking about
the theories and approaches behind them. This part of the module was the star
for me as it really brought to light the tools out there, which can help to
create a successful image. Composition isn’t something I have ever thought I
was bad at, but learning specifically about frame, viewpoint, line of sight and
depth has helped me to bring all of these tools together and really push my
work further to new heights.
I have found that the whole module has forced me to create stronger,
more considered artwork with a lot more control over my own personal tone of
voice and what I want to communicate within an image. Planning an outcome in
depth and putting all of the theories I have been taught in this module feels
like I have a better understanding of my own work, as well as other
practitioners and I feel more engaged with the work I produce instead of
creating just any old image, anyway how.
3.
What strengths can you identify within your Visual Language submission and how have you capitalised on
these?
Although the majority of the
tasks throughout these modules were quick and varied, I feel that I really
tried to complete each task to the best of my ability and some of the finished
work, I feel, is too a high standard which I am pleased with. I admit that I
have found a lot of the tasks really difficult to get my head around, however
despite this I still put a lot of time and consideration into the pieces of
work I have created and spent time exploring a variety of new media and
approaches throughout the whole module.
Towards the end of the module,
I was really attempting to incorporate all we had learnt in our sessions about
composition into the work I was creating, enjoying the process and being pleasantly
surprised at the outcome, even if the outcome wasn’t always as successful as I
had hoped.
Exploring different approaches
to how illustration is made and what illustration is, has broadened my idea of
the industry and what is acceptable by way of standards and work. Being at
university previously, I had been given the idea that illustration was drawing
and that was the full scope of the industry. I am so happy to have been shown
that illustration as a practice can be so much more than just this, and I have
really enjoyed exploring mixed media approaches as well as 3D craft, paper
craft and lens to create final images.
4.
What areas for development can you identify within your Visual Language
submission and how will you address these in the future?
Working within a sketchbook is
something I am not used too and I feel this is clearly evident in my
submission. Working on loose sheets has helped me to feel more free in creating
artwork and responses to the tasks throughout this module, however this lack of
commitment to a sketchbook is something I really want to address in the future.
I need to become more comfortable with making mistakes as I would love to have
a jam packed sketchbook with all my workings, thoughts, mistakes doodles and
illustrations in in the future to show for my efforts and look back on/refer
too.
As I have mentioned at the
beginning of the module, drawing from observation is definitely something I
would like to explore further, develop and re-visit. I really enjoyed our
“Look, Think and Draw” task and aim to begin a sketchbook just for observational
sketching/scrapbooking over the Easter break. I feel this will help me to develop
my skills in drawing the human figure (a huge area I need to improve
upon/become more confident in), I feel it will help me to develop my own way of
working, my own style and tone of voice, and help me overcome this need to
create perfect, final imagery every time I pick up a pencil.
In looking back over the work I
have created for this module, I feel I need to become a lot looser in my
approach to tasks and creating artwork. I need to become more comfortable
creating roughs/scamps to inform my final pieces, develop my ideas even further
and not be so scared to make mistakes. I definitely feel this module has helped
me improve on this aspect of my practice greatly in comparison to my workings
at the start of the year, but there is always room for more improvement and
development.
5. In what way has this module
informed how you deconstruct and analyse artwork (whether your own or that of
contemporary practitioners)?
This module has opened my eyes
to specific formulas, which some practitioners use as a guide when completing
their work successfully. Having weekly sessions based on these formulas/tools,
with tasks of my own to complete has helped me to understand and analyse my own
work as well as other peoples, with a lot more confidence than I would have
been able too at the beginning of the year. This understanding has been
strengthened further by having in studio crits to review each others work and we have been able to see for ourselves what makes a successful illustration and how can achieve
this.
I
feel proud of all of the work I have created throughout this module, as
throughout most of it I was pushed completely out of my comfort zone and tried
something new as well as learning a lot of extremely useful information. I know
throughout my future practice and approaches to future briefs on this course, I
will be referring back to these tasks covered on this module so that my final
images can have a more considered sense of area,
depth, line and value to help my final work become more successful and
aesthetically pleasing.
