What to include in presentation...

I read through my blog to pick out information that is relevant to my presentation. 

What went well?

My cop publication works well to challenge perceptions. Based on true information to make the contents valid. 

I feel I contributed well to most of the crits, I am less shy to comment on other’s work and feel better about making suggestions.

In addition to this, I have worked with pattern briefly for Illustration Friday and a lot more in my substantial brief for Fever Tree. This something I really enjoyed and want to use more in my personal practice. I have learnt some new processes for this even in the short time after completing these briefs so I am definitely keen to continue with it. 

Improved confidence with colour. 

Preparing presentation boards is something I am getting more confident with. I think my boards for responsive in particular looked professional. Being selective with what to include. 

Responsive taught me how to handle numerous projects at the same time. At one point I counted that I had nine briefs on the go at the same time including work for other modules. It was stressful but I think I worked well to handle my time well. I got everything finished but I wasn’t very good at prioritising realistically. 

505 I think I have learnt a lot more about the context within which my illustrations can exist. I have found it interesting to draw parallels between mine and other illustrators’ practices and as a result, I feel more confident that I do have a place in this industry. 

This module has been my favourite so far on this course and it had clarified for me that product and packaging is the route I want to take forward to explore in extended practice in level six. I have really enjoyed working with pattern, getting to grips with colour and seeing how my work could exist in context. I feel like it actually has potential when I see it mocked up onto products rather than just existing in a sketchbook. 

Trying new things and pushing myself out of my comfort zone, was really keen for this at the beginning of the year and this trailed off towards the end. 

Visually representing the intangible was working well in process and production but became kind of lost towards the briefs later in the year. 

Drawing around a theme works well for me to get ideas flowing and visually explore a topic alongside my research process. 

At the start of the year… I have been really strict on myself with my blog because blogging retrospectively is really frustrating as I can’t remember what I was thinking at the time. For this reason, I blogged most days so my ongoing evaluation was running parallel to the development of my project. This allowed me to be as honest as possible and also meant there was very fewer things I forgot about. 

What didn’t go well?

In my contact of practice module, I didn’t really feel like I was using my sketchbook to its full potential of exploring my topic visually. I got carried away with how involved the writing of the actual essay was and the sketchbook work seemed somewhat an afterthought. The sketchbook work I did do had very little impact on my final publication. Overall my work for this module was quite disjointed and didn’t flow as a complete process. 

Time management has been my major downfall this year. A lot of last minute work being done. 

At the start of the year…organisation and time management have been good for this module, I have kept a list of things to do on my laptop which I continuously have been updating, I then select things from this to do each day. The problem for me is that if i’m not ahead with my workload, then I instantly feel behind. My time management is admittedly becoming a bit slack which is something I desperately need to improve on to cope with the demands of third year.

My motivation levels have hit many lows this year. To be honest, I think I wore myself out with the first submission of process and production, also not giving myself a break over Christmas was a mistake. I was going full speed ahead at the start of the year that my energy just ran out at the crucial time when I needed to be pulling together all my modules. I knew I needed to change my attitude but maybe I became too laid back. Stress is something that is becoming more of an issue with me, deadlines have always stressed me out but I am finding it harder to manage the ongoing pressures of the course. I know I need to give myself a break, but I see how much work I have to do and feel that my time could be used more wisely. This is an attitude that I really need to change before I run myself down.

I have learnt that I get distracted very easily and I have very little self control. Social media, netflix, online shopping, anything non-work related to avoid doing work. This told me that I wasn’t enjoying the work I was doing and it was definitely becoming a chore. 

Confidence in my own ideas. I am surprised this has been an issue for me this year because in first year I felt like my confidence levels were boosted. However, this year I have found myself questioning my work and ideas and not trusting my own instincts. I found myself seeking approval from tutors and my peers in crits and tutorials and wanted my ideas to be confirmed as good before going ahead with them. This is not a sustainable way of working. It has led to numerous idea changes in my projects and disruptions to my time plans. 

Wacom tablets are not for me. 

Working in a group is hard, I tried my best to be a team player but the way I work just suits working individually a lot better. 

My after effects work is terrible. Moving image is not something that interests me. 

What have I learnt?

Organising the work I bring to crits influences the quality of feedback I get. It will serve me well to play in advance what I want to get out of the crit and use this to decide what I need to show and focus on when presenting where I am at with my project. Also, going into a crit with questions I need the answers to will help me to decide whether it has been successful or not. I often find it hard to make comments on work that I don’t have much previous knowledge about so I need to bear this in mind when selecting what to show at a crit and give my peers a good understanding of what I am talking about. 

I have learnt that I am good at making plans but not good at sticking to them. I need to make a plan for my dissertation and stick to it. I need to set myself my own interim deadlines to ensure that the work is getting done. I am planning on doing a lot of work over summer. 

Switching between working styles for responsive in particular helped me to become more adaptable but also made me realise what I enjoyed spending my time on the most. It gave me an insight into what I could be doing in the future. Although I didn’t feel like any of my responses had the potential to win anything, I did learn a lot about my own preferences and ways of working. 

I have tried to work professionally this year but this has come and gone in waves of being committed to spending full days in the studio, to only spending a few hours in college and then working for the rest of the day at home. I want to treat college more like a job next year, committing to more structured working hours. I will have to see whether this actually impacts my productivity or not because i sometimes find it really hard to work effectively in the studio. When it comes to blogging or essay writing, I have found this year that I need a change of scenery, going to coffee shops or pubs during the day has been really refreshing and the change had proved productive. 

Who am I as a learner? 

Independent.

Struggles to stick to strict working hours.

Who am I as an illustrator?

Product and packaging. 

Making work to sell or be applied to objects to then sell. 

I can work to briefs but quick turnaround briefs don’t allow me to play to my stengths. 

How have my experiences affected my aims?

E: 505 module

A: I want to produce work like this more often. 

E: after-effects sting and stop motion animation for responsive

A: I don’t have any desire to work with animation. It doesn’t interest me and I don’t see that it could benefit my work drastically. working with still image is more relevant to me. 

E: thoughtbubble, colours may vary

A: get out there and start doing things 

Creative Concerns

Is my work different enough to stand out from what already exists?

Should I be giving analogy printing another try? Will screen printed outcomes hold more value than digitally printed ones? If they are only one colour this might be simpler than my previous attempts.

Personal Aims

To set up an easy shop and make some money over summer, at least sell some things. 

Get into doing some craft fairs or arts markets and selling my work. 

To work more efficiently and professionally. 

Don’t wear myself out so much. 

Professional Aims

Long term, becoming a freelance illustrator. Taking commissions and producing my own work for sale. 

What to do over summer?

Get a good start on all of my modules. 

Chill out and recover, come back in September with lots of energy. 

DRAW - looking back over this year has left me thinking that I haven’t done enough drawing. I have been so consumed by research, essay writing, blogging, evaluating, etc, that I am putting drawing to one side. This is ridiculous. I feel like my technical skills have deteriorated this year and this drastically needs to change. 

What do I want to explore further in level six?

Pattern, analogue processes. 

Getting really involved in a sketchbook again and not working for the sake of work. 

Try to enjoy the course more, use the freedom i’ve been given to do something that I want to do. 

Push my ink work.