OUIL406 evaluation

End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME	Rebecca Williamson

1.  What skills have you developed through this brief and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
Before this module I had never used adobe illustrator before, so the module has taught me how to use the basics, especially in studio brief 2 where I learnt how to create vectors with the pen tool etc. Because of my lack of knowledge, i did struggle with the brief, therefore I decided to carry on experimenting with illustrator for studio brief 3 in the hope it would build up my confidence and improve my skills as a illustrator. I discover how to use other tools such as the paintbrush tool which helped me create the floral polish pattern I used in the development of my person of note project. In conjunction to illustrator, I have also experimented with using Photoshop more regularly, as this is also a program I need to become more confident with. Unlike other projects where I have used collage material to create work by hand, I instead scanned in collage material into Photoshop, and digitally enhanced it using the cloning tools to make it more complex and the levels tool to add contrast.
2. What approaches to/methods of image making have you developed and how have they informed your concept development process? In studio brief 2 I used line to create the building vectors on illustrator, because the project was based on illustrator it limited me to just work with line and didn’t allow me to add tones and shadows I would usually add If I was drawing by hand, however this showed me that detail in not allows essential to make something look recognisable. I took this theory into studio brief 3 where I used line (outlines) for my postcard designs. This along with contextual reference from illustrators such as …… I used different width of lines to ad represent areas of block shadow and areas of block highlights, I feel combining this with the collage method I developed from previous projects works well as it creates a stronger contrast between complexity and simplicity.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I feel one of my strengths in this module, especially studio brief 2 and 3, Is that I have been able to show consistency in my stylistic choses in each final resolution, creating a strong set of recognisable and linkable work. I feel I have also pushed myself to experiment with different techniques in the hope to build my confidence and skills, such as Photoshop and illustrator, i feel i have done this, and therefore have boarded my choice of methods to consider for other project. I feel in this last brief I managed my time quite well, I have been able to evaluate my final resolutions a number of times and make any slight changes i felt would improve my work which I may not of noticed needed changing otherwise.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
I feel a weakness in studio brief 1 was my ability to have a strong voice or opinion. This was a weakness to the majority of my group, there was no leader, we were all quite shy to be direct with ideas. This is something I will have to work on in the further, especially to prepare myself for after my degree, I will need more confidence to deliver and pitch my work to get recognised. I feel one of my weaknesses in brief 2 was my lack of motivation and passion towards the project, because the project was based on a program (illustrator) I had no experience with, I immediately felt pessimistic about the brief and presumed my work would not be as visually interesting and professional as other peoples which made it hard to put the same amount of effort and time into it as I would other projects.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? Next time I will make sure to annotate my blog post of work/experiments each time I post them, as it will enable me to remember what I have articulated about the work. When given a project with multiple resolutions required, I will make sure to spend a equal amount of time on both and develop them as best I can, rather then focusing more attention on one while the others lack development and therefore have a weaker impact. Make sure I always If any future projects require printed resolutions, I will make sure to book well I advance to avoid a mad rush. Make sure I finish blogs for previous briefs and make alterations needed to the work before started a next brief so I don’t have multiple projects to think about at the end. Try not to be outfaced at the beginning of projects or be negative towards them as this will inevitably lead to poor quality work.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance			x
Punctuality				x
Motivation			x
Commitment			x
Quantity of work produced			x
Quality of work produced			x
Contribution to the group		x
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self-evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

Paul wang

though Paul Wang's technique does not reflect my own, i really love the playfulness of the colour, i think the uncontrolled method of adding the colour sets the scene in a abstract way. the limited pallet does not overwhelm the pieces and really reflects what the illustrator observed about the surroundings atmosphere and scene. i would really love to be able to produce loose, fluid work like this. i do plan to step back from the amount of detail i apply to drawings and experiment with a more abstract subtle  drawing/painting technique.

Matt Sewell BIG HEADS

children's books
given a rhyme to work from to illustrate the rhyme

always obsessed with birds and birds books
always seemed to draw birds without realising

worked for barbour - 100 days of summer creating british wildlife watercolours
 humour
reflects what its supposed too
shows hints of who's done it

tuesday 29th

research
initial sketches
action plan
notes/reflections -blog

ideas for project

i have a tendency to always compare peoples appearances or characteristics to animals. 

one idea i have is to illustrate this, transforming people into animals.

song lyrics 

visually communicating song lyrics 

eg- i don't think you're ready for this (drawn jelly) 

play on words 

figure work

i really love the human figure, unfortunately this year, i have not really allowed myself to produce figurative work. next year i definitely plan to go to life drawing classes, when i have previously taken life drawings, i have always had realism and detail in my head, which i feel spoilt my experience. from informing myself with life drawing illustration over this year, i realise i much prefer the loose free fluid lined illustrations which are perhaps exaggerated version of the figure they are viewing. i think they are more unique and interesting to see how differently people see/depict the same figure.  i love the looseness of lines created in these illustrations below.

simular to other work i have mentioned in my pop blog, i really like the unfinished quality to the pieces above, the subject is still obviously communicated without having to show a finished piece.

Adara Sánchez Anguiano

i really like the multiple lines used on this drawing, i think it adds motion to the piece and makes it alive somehow. 

VISUAL LANGUAGE end of module evaluation

Tuesday, 15 April 2014

End of module evaluation

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL404 Visual Language	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME	Rebecca Williamson

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?
Due to the different tasks we have been set during this module I have learnt to focus on a number of different skills. Though, at times it was difficult to just use one method/media and develop a effective technique, it has made me realise the importance of each, and think of different ways to use it. For example, the line, mark task, I initially would have just used line to draw detail sketches, however as we had to use a number of tools for this task it pushed me to use line differently as I could not achieve detail with thicker tool, therefore I attained different results that I would not of created otherwise. thin line tool  thick line tool   From this task and contextual reference I have come across a method/style that really interests me, the combination of thick and thin lines which exaggerates its depth, highlighted areas and shadow areas. contextual reference  eg or experimenting with this technique in visual language task   I have focused on this technique in the collage task and I have also started to use in it other modules (OUIL406 person of note) Add images of eg using the method in other modules(OUIL406)
2. Which principles/ theories of image making have you found most valuableduring this module and how effectively do you think you are employing these within your own practice? You will make bad drawings – bad drawings are good drawings In this module I have produced a number of drawings including drawings I have hated, however this has been a massive learning curve, though I do not like some pieces, it has made me evaluate my work and realise where I went wrong, why I did not like them, and how I can improve –by exhaustedly drawing the same subject or using the same media. This has led me to create more unique work that has a well thought out and testing quality. In the past, I if I have produced something I do not like, I have not used it, I have simply thrown it away and started again which has made me only produce safe work, using medias and techniques i know will work, this stopped me from developing my skills and improving. Another thing this module had taught me is to appreciate medias. Before this course, i would only tend to use one media per piece, yet I sometimes found the results to be too samey, lack originality and visual interest. However, since learning/seeing other illustrators work, I have recognised how mixing media can be used effectively. In conjunction to this, matt has encouraged me each week/task move away from my comfort zone and combine medias/method I perhaps would not normally use. One example of this Is in the shape task we were given, I initially stated off by using blocks of collage shape to create work- I was not happy with the outcomes, therefore to recapture my interest I played around with combining detailed pen work, (as this is what I enjoy doing) to make the illustration more diverse.  not entering happy with just collage -started to add a little it of pen to kiwi developed on adding more pen - liked this combination I really liked the outcome of both medias and have since developed this technique further, and have refined and used it in final pieces for other modules (OUIL405 book) using technique in other modules(OUIL405)
3. What strengths can you identify within your Visual Language submission you capitalise on these? I feel one strength in my body of work is the progression of a technique/s from one task through to another. though at the start I didn’t develop on a style/technique for a why, I feel when I finally found my way and found a strong enough style i stuck with it, adding and developed it though other tasks. Eg the combination of collage material and drawing, I took this idea thought the shape and texture, collage and colour tasks. I feel I have improved on my ability to venture out of my comfort zone, and use things I perhaps would not of. one example of this is on the collage task where I was working off a image of a girl with  flowers in her hair, I began by using different shaped and colour paper for my collage material, however to develop on this I began to think literal and decided to use actual flowers in the hope this would give the illustration more realism and a stronger sense of depth and diversity.
4. What areas for development can you identify within your Visual Language submission and how will you address these in the future? At the very start of the module when we had to pick a subject matter to focus on for each task I chose fruit and vegetables, as I wanted to concentration on something other than the human form. I did this because I thought it would improve my skills and move me away from my comfort zone, however as the tasks went on, I realised we had to stay with the same subject, unfortunately I quickly lost interest and lacked innovation when trying to think of new things to draw, because I wasn’t interesting in the subject matter after a while, it made it difficult to enjoy as I felt the work I created was not good or exciting, though I was doing the work asked of me, I wasn’t learning anything from it or creating work I was enthusiastic about. When changing the subject matter towards the end I feel my quality of work got better and I began to improve and come across new styles. In further I need to understand where my strengths lie, and make sure when choosing a subject matter I have a number of pathways to go down that maintain my interest. Towards the start I concentrated more on the number of sketches I needed to create rather then the learning process behind as I was worried I would not get them all done if I spent to much time on one. Over time I realised I was making it harder for myself to think of new ideas/drawings and was not improving my skills- I was just creating the same sort of drawing but using difference reference material. I realised the main aim from these tasks were to ‘play’ and exhaust a drawing until I found a style that really interest me and was effective. This is something I will make sure I carry on doing.
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 gradually improved the way I look at other artist work, especially since we have been deconstructed illustrations in class. Though before I felt I was able to deconstruct a image well, this module has taught me words which I can apply to certain effects and processes used, such as depth background,midground, foreground, line of sight, composition etc. The presentations we have been shown and the hand-outs, have informed me of how effective these processes can be by showing us pieces which have not considered them and ones that have (able to see how much more visually interesting they make the piece) I feel that I myself now unconsciously think about these processes when creating work.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance			x
Punctuality				X
Motivation		x
Commitment			x
Quantity of work produced			x
Quality of work produced			x
Contribution to the group				X
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self-evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.