OUIL505: Summative Evaluation

Jessica Dawson

BA (Hons) Illustration – Level 5

OUIL505 Applied Illustration

255593

OUIL505 Summative Evaluation

This module has been a complete enjoyment from start to finish as well as a huge learning curve for myself, my practice and my approach to personal set briefs. Choosing my own area of focus has meant that I have been able to research, investigate and “become an expert” in an area which has always interested me – environmental conservation – in particular our oceans wildlife.

My research skills have developed massively throughout the duration of this project and I found it really beneficial to not limit myself in this at the start of the module – but instead branch out and explore various ways of gathering key information to inform my work. As my project focused primarily on the environment and destruction of our oceans coral reefs, fact collecting was vital and I found that keeping up to date with current data, news articles, journals and documentaries helped me stay in the know and also increase my knowledge in an area I had not known in much depth previously. As well as online research, I have been able to utilise the colleges library facility and gather books not only just on environmental conservation, but in other areas of interest I wished to focus on such as patterns, nature as a whole, various new media techniques and practitioners in related fields within the industry. Researching online in this way has not only provided me with the breadth of information to help form my initial concept for this project, but has also widened my knowledge of online presence and the importance of this application within industry and my own personal practice.

As well as secondary research, I have really made the most of exhibitions available to me throughout the course of the module. “Object & Environment” as my chosen context links directly to the physical, therefore the experience of exhibits (such as KAWS)– has helped me to gain a wider understanding of how my creative work and illustration can be applied successfully by way of physical objects, the importance of placement and setting, audience and the variety of extended product ranges linked with a body of work.

On the topic of new skills, 505 has shown me the importance of exploring new creative techniques and approaches to image making that I hadn’t attempted before. A key skill I have learnt is airbrushing, something I have been a bit terrified in the past to give a go due to its complexity, however felt free enough within this brief to experiment, producing some successful pieces that I was able to apply within my final resolutions for the module. As well as airbrush I gave 3D modelling a go and found that, like most other 3D image making techniques, I love working with clay. This medium provided me with a great base to explore the natural coral based organisms I was studying – moving away from the 2D and applying what I had learnt so far about patterns and textures within nature.

The area of my submission which I feel is most successful is my 3D sticker bomb collection. I am really pleased with how these physical clay pieces turned out aesthetically – being as high quality as I could have made them at this stage of my ability whilst also linking strongly to my initial idea of exploring the patterns within nature and oceanic organisms. The concept for the 3D stickers I feel really pushes my project and concept for the campaign part of my brief – to new heights and links my work directly to the issues I have been exploring throughout my research. To me- object & environment as a context is just that – the placement of artwork within environment, using atmosphere and interaction as a way of getting people involved with creativity and exposing the audience to deeper meanings and messages within work. I feel I have achieved this within my collection and enjoyed being able to use my photography skills to promote my collection of work and environmental campaign.

From the get go I knew I wanted to achieve a lot with this module and my concept for a full environmental conservation “campaign” provided me with enough scope to do just that. I feel I have challenged myself successfully throughout and found it beneficial to refer back to my own project proposal, revisit this and edit this appropriately to help focus my findings and approaches as well as reaffirm my aims. As with all other modules, I take it upon myself to attempt new creative techniques where possible and this was the case throughout 505, gaining a lot from the structure of the brief and making the most of the time available.

This said, I have found time management extremely difficult throughout the whole year including the course of the brief, due to my struggles with personal issues. I have big ideas for all creative work I do and have the true passion and aspiration to be ambitious and push myself creatively any chance I can get. However, I have learnt that I need to be more realistic as a practitioner and a lot more reflective of my true abilities of the moment, not to get lost in something which is going to be too difficult and stressful to achieve in the time allocated. The advice of the tutors whilst on the course is so valuable therefore I need to be more willing to accept the help and understand why toning down my ideas on this course will help me to still achieve all I want to whilst on BA (Hons) Illustration – without damaging myself in the process and affecting other modules in an almost domino effect.

-In further reflection, what really helped me narrow down my research and approach for this brief has been the on-hand help from tutors and my peers, reigning in my ambitious ideas for creative work and helping me to focus on what is important – often strengthening my development and leading to a concise and substantial body of work I am really proud of.

If I was to attempt this project again, I would like to revisit my final artwork and produce a full range of physical pieces and products as well as a wider range of finalised large scale proposals. It has been extremely difficult to find high quality digital mock-ups for billboard pieces and murals/public art spaces and I worry that this has let let my collection of final resolutions down. To combat this, I would like to go BIG and produce an actual billboard piece, printed and applied within a real world context, as well as create an actual mural on a sourced wall space. Proposing these ideas in this project has been fun, however continues to feel unfinished to me as a proposal is not a physical finished piece of work.

Continuing on into Level 6, this module has provided me with the one thing I have been searching for whilst being on the course. I have found that artwork with a purpose, meaning and impact on society is what really inspires me, in others work as well as my own and I would like to make this my main aim / focus within my practice. As an area of application and context to work within, Object & Environment will enable me to think about the setting in which my work will be received – using this as a platform to enhance the message within my work and I hope to explore this context in a lot more depth throughout final year.