Reflections on PART FOUR 

Tools and materials: 

"You chose Cepeda, and reworked your umbrella drawing in oils. I’m not so sure there is a torch in Cepeda’s painting of the boy and crows, as both the boy’s hands are on the book – it seems like the book is emitting the glow - maybe the emanating light is a visual metaphor for the book’s imaginative and inspiring content? Your new painting has been successful; you have added the movement and elemental forces of wind and rain which are such a feature of his work. I’m not sure if it’s intentional, but it looks like your umbrella is being borne along on the crest of a cod wave of grey water – if this is the intention you have captured this very well. The inside of the umbrella is lighter as if lit by the sun above – a simple but effective painting." 

Surprisingly through this module, I have enjoyed working with oil paints, although I do find it an incredibly challenging medium to work with. I am pleased that you view my oil as successful, I was determined to show movement in such a simple illustration. The study of Cepeda's work was a really useful source of inspiration. I have aspirations of becoming a better artist and the study of such work is really helping me to push on. 

Project Audiences: 

"You chose the Royal Shakespeare Theatre exhibition 'The Play's the Thing'. I’m not sure that mindmapping ‘play’ and ‘thing’ is so useful, they seem quite general, unspecific terms to try to get inspiration from, and they seem to have led you away from your good primary visual reference. While your finished drawings are nice ink drawings in themselves, and would look great as interior book or ‘spot’ illustrations, they aren’t really tailored to age groups/audiences or immediately suggest Shakespeare or plays. They suggest violence, drama and books, but that is a slightly different thing. Your initial photographic research was good, but doesn’t make it into your final designs. A still life grouping of a dagger, bloodstain and book could suggest Macbeth, while a vial of poison, skull and book could suggest Hamlet. Also, your posters lack colour and much of a design sense, and you did not make a finished poster from one of your initial designs". 

This feedback was hard to read. To work with black and white was a deliberate choice, however I appreciate that this has not been as effective as I had hoped. The lack of design is a major and quite critical element that I am lacking, and an element I will need to dig deep to resolve. I am determined to complete this module and take every part of it as an opportunity to enhance myself as an artist. 

"Your ‘Animals from around the world’ cover design options are striking images, but they do not really fit the brief of a book about all the world’s animals. If the book was ‘Insects from around the world’ the beetle would have worked, but more species need to be visually represented for the title you have been given. As with the posters, your drawings would have worked well as interior illustrations, chapter headings for different types of animal, but are less successful as dynamic, instantly readable images for a book cover. Your fish logo is much stronger, with the elements of the curling tentacle, waves and boat. It doesn’t work completely successfully as a design as it’s too illustrative and not really graphic enough. You deliberately left colour out, but a pink tentacle on blue ground with white boat might pull it all together as a graphic much better. Your observational drawings of poppies are lovely ink drawings, with a really subtle and sensitive line. Your coloured version is also good, although given it’s a tattoo deign it could have been drawn in a bolder, black ink line, and perhaps have included the word ‘Mum’ or ‘Mother’ to see how the image would combine with the text". 

Another critical blow. I am annoyed and upset with myself that I didn't interpret the brief correctly. The lesson I take from this mistake is to read and fully absorb the clients brief before starting work, and remember to return to it throughout the process. I need to work on my design work and the lack of ability here. 

I was happy with my drawing throughout these exercises. 

Project: Visual distortion: 

 "This exercise followed a process of stylisation by drawing and then collaging an image of a cat or dog. You worked through this exercise very well; your initial ink drawing has lots of colour, you have really pushed the collage, and the drawing developing out of the collage is a great illustration. Without any feet, your final cat looks as if it has escaped from a bottle like a genie and is an unusual and original image". 

I am pleased with this feedback. I do enjoy the more imaginative base work, it feels closer to who I am and where my personal work is at. The process was new and exciting and I set about things with no set idea of an outcome.  

Project: Character development:

 You were asked to develop a series characters, producing drawings from different angles, and expressing different emotions and expressions.

"You have the beginnings of a great character here in Verity, but she doesn’t look ‘bad’ enough at the moment. Dad is fine, as he needs to be ordinary to counterbalance the heroine, but Verity could look scarier, with bigger bubbles blown and more dynamic body language. However, the style is developing, and a visual sense of the world she inhabits would be good to see. Is Verity gig to be as tall as her parents, it seems like she should be quite a bit shorter so her relative youth is visually obvious? Is the scratchy outline one you would pursue, or will you try other styles like a clear line approach to see what works? Have you seen the comic ‘Snotgirl’ published by Image Comics?". 

I really bonded with Verity and was very content with the brief of the character that I had created. There is a greater story to tell with this character, but \I was happy to bring her to life in my initial illustrations. Much larger bubbles would be really fun to produce and integral to the story.  With each exercise, I do have to limit myself with time to get through all of the work given, with more time, I feel I have a strong character here. 

"Assignment four gave you the opportunity to show off your developing style and use of tools and materials by responding to a magazine illustration brief in which you focused on a selected theme. You chose ‘Lost’ and developed your illustration very well with the theme of being lost at sea. Your finished illustration is a lovely drawing, although more of a book cover than a magazine illustration. By this I mean it has a narrative atmosphere rather than be a visualisation of a specific article or theme. It would be great for a famous story like ‘Tom Sawyer’ where a boat journey is a key part of the well-known narrative. Without that conceptual framework it is a bot of a ‘free-floating’ (figuratively and literally) image – it’s still really well done, and looks lovely, but is less of a magazine illustration attached to a current event. If the boat was lost at sea, it would imply that someone needs to be in the boat who is lost, otherwise it is just an empty boat and not ‘lost’. This is the broad observation of a lot of your work in this part – you are producing good work and some great images, but sometimes the context for them needs to be considered and acknowledged a little more When the exercise suggests work for a magazine, the context for the image could be more attached to an article. Likewise, if the exercise asks for a poster design it would be better to see you think about the inclusion of text, style of writing and other design elements beyond the central drawn image". 

I enjoyed the process with this illustration and enjoyed the accuracy of my initial drawings, this was an incredibly important aspect to work through for me as with many of my personal sketches I work through them loosely, but accuracy can sometimes slide. I understand here that I need a greater understanding of context, and will work on this considerably. 

Pointers for the next assignment:

"The final assignment invites you to bring together all that you have learnt throughout the course into a range of illustration briefs. This is an opportunity to consider the context of each exercise and respond accordingly. Exercises are based around editorial illustration, drawing for children and incorporating text into your drawings, all opportunities to continue to develop responses to different forms and for different audiences". 

I am grateful of these pointers and will make huge efforts to work my way through the briefs and accurately interpret them. I have enjoyed all of the research through this part, however do feel frustrated at the mistakes I have made. I will however accept that I must make greater efforts to absorb all detail and return to the key points that I need to interpret.