Pinterest

https://uk.pinterest.com/sw255328/pins/

I have used Pinterest for a while just for personal use but I created a new one just for Uni work and inspiration. Categorising pins has helped me to think about what it is I like about a piece of work and why that is. This is a fairly natural way of finding things that excite and interest me and will be an on going thing within my practice. It is also a way of me looking at other creative industries such as film and theatre which are also passions of mine.

Thought Bubble 2015

This was my very first time at Thought Bubble! What a great day!

Howard Hardiman

http://www.howardhardiman.com/158619/gallery

I had a great conversation with Howard about his project on Mythology. I was very intrigued by the images he produced and the uncommon insights he had gathered together around the topic. I bought my favourite print based on the sanctuary of Artemis. Howard told me the story of Athenian girls and the fierce mother bear of which the image was based upon. I must have looked very interested because I managed to get the booklet thrown in for free! 

The stories behind many of the images are not particularly obvious but really make me emotionally connect to the true meaning of each piece, something I think can be very difficult to achieve.

This exchange made me feel motivated to create work on subjects that mean something to me personally, just as he had done, producing some beautiful results.

I did some damage! My bank account will not thank me but I had an inspiring day!

I was impressed to see some 2nd/3rd year LCA students selling some great work too. It made me very excited to be able to have similar opportunities in the progression of the course.

End of Module Evaluation

Visual Skills OUIL403 Module Evaluation

1. Which practical skills and methodologies have you developed within this module and how effectively do you think you are employing them within your practice?

• I have been getting used to working within a time frame of two weeks that were given for a project. At first I found it challenging to know how much work to do in a day and how developed our ideas should be after a week. Peer groups and feedback sessions helped with this. Setting myself mini tasks for each day has been very helpful in dividing my time.
• Before starting the course, the tools I used most were fine liners and dip pen with ink. I have found that using a brush has a certain gestural quality to it that a pen doesn't have; I can produce different widths of line and tone, which has been a lot of fun for me to experiment with. Using this method has been effective in producing more expressive work.

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?

• Researching and developing ideas through drawing through reflection has been something I wasn't sure about to start with. I have since been surprised by how much you can gain by drawing even the most ridiculous, seemingly irrelevant ideas.
• The introduction of roughing was also very helpful for me. It really helped with learning how to plan a composition within a frame and scale. I have started automatically drawing boxes all over my sketchbook when thinking about ideas.
• Restrictions on colour scheme within the brief were a bit of a challenge for me to start with. Until recently I had worked with a mainly monochrome colour scheme. Using two colours has actually been helpful in knowing how to set tone to a piece, following this I gave myself a limited palette to work with for the latest project.
• Knowing what type of media to use has been a bit of an obstacle for me to tackle, as I am fond of detailed naturalistic imagery. I realised during this module that certain styles of drawing/image making are more appropriate for certain contexts. For the book cover project in particular, I stepped out of my comfort zone to produce more naive characterised illustrations that worked well for the type of cover I wanted to produce.

3. What strengths can you identify within your submission and how have you capitalised on these?

• For me, Craftsmanship has always been a big factor when working on any kind of imagery. I like my work to demonstrate a quality that has been considered and well thought out. I believe my own craftsmanship has been capitalised through drawing constantly, observational and from reference as well as from imagination.
• I have learned pretty quickly when to scrap an idea if it doesn't seem to be working. I think I am getting better at not getting attached to initial ideas and maintaining an open mind of the project's potential. Feedback sessions and using my sketchbook as a visual playground have helped with this.

4. What areas for further development can you identify within your submission and how will you address these in the future?

• I found getting into the swing of blogging difficult to start with as I wasn't completely sure what were supposed to be writing. I now understand that it is a reflection of my own practice and something I should be writing personally rather than in statements. To improve my blogging skills I will remember to include more contextual sources that inspire my creativity as an individual.
• Development of skills using different types of media is something I want to pursue in the progression of the course. I aim to try a variety of print techniques such as screen-printing and letterpress (something I am very interested in) and continue to explore the use of digital media.

5. In what way has this module introduced you to the BA Illustration programme?

• Visual Skills has definitely been my favourite module so far. The challenge of making work that fits into the context of a brief has been very insightful and progressive for me. Learning about the communication of an image is the main reason I wanted to come to University.
• Time management was something I was very aware of at the start of the course. The overall structure helped me with separating the different projects and tasks. The introduction of Visual Language also influenced my experimentation in this module.
• Future projects will benefit what I have learned from this module and I am excited to continue developing my skills within the programme.

The Day of Arty-ness

7/11/15

Print Fair - Corn Exchange

It was fascinating to see work from a variety of people practising in a real creative working environment. The range of print techniques people had used was very interesting to look at and made me excited about trying lino and screen printing in particular. There was a great atmosphere to the whole event and it was nice to just stroll around with my Illustration pals and enjoy the morning.

I was very tempted by all the prints I saw but settled on this print by Matthew Walkden. I am a big fan of elephants! I had a cheeky look at Walkden's work on his blog and I found that the colours, shapes and compositions of his work really grab your attention. This is something I am working on in my own practice.

Colours May Vary

This was the first time I had been introduced to Colours May Vary and I am afraid that this may have been dangerous for me as I wanted to buy everything in the shop!

After much deliberation I bought a concertina pull-out print called 'Worst things happen at Sea' by Kellie Strom, published by Nobrow Press. The detail is incredible and definitely 'my cup of tea' when it comes to the type of drawing and craft that inspires and excites me most. I was very intrigued to know how the print was made so did a quick search to see if there was anything on-line and came across this video.

https://vimeo.com/77047228

Travelling Man

Continuing our Illustration quest we ended up in the new Fred Aldous shop which was great and then to Travelling Man Comic book store. Here I was impressed to find my friends from third year had their work up for sale. I ended up buying a comic that, similarly to the pull-out print, contained an impressive amount of detail. The kind of work I am drawn to usually displays a high level of skill rather than a concept based understanding and communication of an idea. Ideally I would like to produce both in my own practice, ensuring the relevance of the media used to the brief set.

Strange weather all day but worth it for the rainbow!

Great end to a great day!

We had a cute night in eating pizza, reading each others' comics/arty books, watching films and drawing. It was nice to have spent the whole day just immersing ourselves in what we love and what brought us to Leeds in the first place. I feel very inspired and motivated by what I saw on Saturday and am now raring to play, explore and develop my work.

Photo courtesy of Kat!

Colour

I have always struggled with using colour, especially for the main focus of an image. Being comfortable with monochrome tones has limited me somewhat and made me nervous of using a multitude of colours. Familiarising myself with work that shows an abundance of colour will be very helpful in order to learn what works best to communicate certain ideas.

The colour of an image can set a tone and atmosphere to a piece. I want to learn how to control my use of colour and will experiment with media in order to do this. 

Contrasting and complimentary colours can be very effective, red and blue are a particular favourite pairing of mine when browsing work of other practitioners. Following the observation of illustrators like Isabelle Vandenabeele and Lauren Moreau whose work is so vibrant I was inspired to try out a variety of inks and tools.

https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/12/10/little-big-books-gestalten/

http://www.ultra-book.com/html_pages_statiques/404_book.php