END OF MODULE EVALUATION

SB3 - Creative Strategy - PRESENTATION SLIDES

SB3 - Creative Strategy - FINALISING CONTENT

Intended script/ content guide

Reflecting on my year, the expectations I came with compared with the reality of first year, their has been some real changes to my practice and my overall view of my degree. Coming from LCA foundation, my work had started to revolve around character based work. I had the intention to create children's book illustrations, which is something I practiced in my final major project, and is a intention I still hold. However, looking back, I hadn't realised how much weight a simple character could carry and now it seems that my character work carried little if any meaning. My expectations of the course were that we would all focus on what we personally wanted from our work, but I can see now that working through a vast range of issues has encouraged much stronger learning. AS the first piece I produced, the how-to poster channelled my idea of my practice, being character based, before serving as a strong development point for the rest of the year.

Throughout the modules, I have become concerned with craft and process. Stephanie Wunderlich has been a driving force to this exploration as I have been drawn to her sophisticated and delicate approach to layering and collage. Craft is most discernible within my visual narratives work. I really struggled with this brief at first as I really didn't want to respond to conventional ideas of folklore. Channelling my concerns with craft and cultures, I was able to find a very personal outlet and created some very delicate Morris dancers. Craft has enabled me to celebrate rich cultures and find myself within a tricky brief. The value of simplicity has also been a key issue for me. Visual language drove this through the commission and selection of imagery but I think I employed this most successfully within my more recent approaches to character in visual communications.

My thorough and varied exploration of media and process has been led by strong studentship, a commitment to answer all briefs to the full, driven by attendance of sessions and awareness of tasks. My critical reading and evaluative skills have really progressed through COP, strengthening my awareness of many contexts. A struggle of the year has been the slightly intimidating studio culture, as I have felt a little scared to get on with practical work around my peers. Next year I need to learn to thrive on the creative community and studio culture.

From briefs such as visual narratives and persons of note, and PPP as a whole, I have been able to synthesise my practice with individual concerns for heritage. I have drawn links between my romantic ideals and interests in working class cultures to formulate an this based on a celebration of heritage and nostalgia.

I have become increasingly concerned with the importance of books and reading and as such, have derived a practice based on the principle of story telling. In level 5, I would like to see a development of this story telling to coincide with a celebration of heritage, using illustration as a tool for nostalgia and education.

Aims for level 5 lie with maintaining a flexible approach to briefs, but explore how I can channel approaches relevant to my intent for practice. With the intention to illustrate children's books, play needs to be at the forefront of my practice. I admire the work of Marcus Oakley for its mischievous and humorous qualities, something which I have explored within my gif work and Illustrated Self brief but would like to further explore as a tone of voice. 

Outside of the studio, I want to further my professional practice by involving myself within the community of illustrators. Over summer I am taking part in a student market but wish to see out for specific outlets such as print fairs and workshops. Hopefully my final poster synthesises the defining elements of my practice and realises the issues I wish to carry forward into level 5. I see it as a celebration of play in practice. 

SB3 - Creative Strategy - PRESENTATION ROUGHS & CONTENT PLAN

ROUGHS

Working visually, I have responded to my content planning and presentation structure through roughs  as a means to realise the visual content of each spread. Manipulating the 3D book used in my poster to achieve consistency and synthesis across the briefs, I have considered the visual information required to communicate each slide, whilst maintaining the gestural and abstract shapes employed within the poster. 

PRODUCTION
In order to maintain an aesthetic consistent with my poster, the book spreads have been photographed in the same way, to maintain the sense of depth and shadow achieved by the 3D form. In light of this, I have had to consider the presentation of the imagery. Working with a large scale projector, the digital images will display clearly, however, printed images of my work displayed within the book pages will be very pixelated and so I will have to place these in digitally to achieve the correct resolution. Working digitally with these elements does mean, however, that I can use one of my gifs to communicate my exploration of humour and shape in character which will add an engaging and entertaining visual aid to the presentation.

Here I have displayed the physical pages of the book that will operate as the slides of my presentation. I feel that each spread effectively communicates an element of practice through simplified and restricted information, which complimented by digital images and comprehensive reflection, should aid a strong presentation that demonstrates my critical awareness of myself and the discipline in which my practice operates.

SB2 - The Illustrated Self - FINAL OUTCOME & REFLECTION

A poster to communicate our emerging practice, whether that be through where we want to go, what media we have enjoyed, what contexts we want to work in next year, or the struggles we've had this year.

INTENTIONS AND OUTCOMES (image/idea/context)

The intent of my poster is to communicate my aims to work within children's illustration, using character and nostalgic building blocks  to demonstrate a sense of play and fun.  The mill imagery and tiny snare drum serve as references to my interest in working class cultures and my intention to use illustration as a tool for celebrating heritage.  Through contextual research and research outside of the discipline, these issues have become major concerns of mine so I feel it is necessary to include these as a nod to the direction in which my subject matter may travel. The building blocks also provide a nod to primitive  childhoods, echoing my concerns with restricted ways of living. 

The book as a visual device communicates my intent for practice, to work within children's illustrations, whilst communicating my concerns with the importance of books and reading, an issue I would like to raise awareness of in my developing practice. The 3D format serves to channel the crafted approaches to image making I have explored throughout the year. In light of my contextual intentions, I would like my practice to be concerned with tangible, engaging images, appropriate to a children's audience. Over-layed gestural marks create a sense of energy, enhancing the playfulness of the image and clarifying visual information. 

Overall, the bright, restricted colour palette and bold, blocky shapes achieve a fun and energetic composition, channelling the busyness of my emerging practice, fostering an aesthetic than maintains my common mischievous and playful tone of voice, driving my practice towards celebratory and informative children's illustrations.

PROCESS AND MEDIA

The production of my final image has driven an application of craft, use of 3D methodologies, consideration of simplification and awareness of compositional values. Working within a 3D media, composition has been at the forefront of my visual research. While I consider compositional devices in my 2D work, it seemed easier to exhaust possibilities within the 3D media, particularly because of the flexibility of the elements. The action of the main character kicking the book open and possibly jumping into the events in the book drive the line of sight through a sense of energy. Simultaneously, the burst of elements coming out of the book directs the eye around the image, taking in contextual and pictorial elements. An issue I had in my initial ideas was a tenuous connection between elements. The book as a visual device brings these together but I think it is the 3D and photographic media that enhance this connection and interplay. The shadow and depth achieved from the 3 dimensional qualities creates a connection between elements, driving a sense of community relevant to my professional intent, again, serving to celebrate multiple issues.  

Overlaying the 3D components with hand-drawn marks has enhanced the prominence of the hand of the maker, embellishing crafted elements with textural details and gestural lines. I think these simple marks have really worked to enhance the narrative of the image. In some places they create energy and action, whilst in other areas they provide visual clues, driving a dynamic and informative illustration.

REFLECTION

Overall I think my poster offers a unique and insightful response to the brief. It draws connections between a multitude of elements that inform my practice and visually demonstrates how they could merge in line with my developing practice. Using imagery for both contextual and narrative purposes, the image is succinct and coherent, maximising the role of selected visual devices. The consistent media across contrasting issues of my practice achieves a visual synthesis within the underlying narratives, while the vehicle of the book creates a focus that grounds the synthesis of my practice within my main intent, to illustrate children's books. The consideration of a playful tone of voice and crafted aesthetic brings together a multitude of elements in an image that is celebratory of play and nostalgia.

SB2 - The Illustrated Self - PRODUCTION OF FINAL IMAGE

SETTING UP A DIY PHOTO STUDIO & DSLR PHOTOGRAPHY

Following on from my mock-up tests, I have created my final image using the same process. I was unable to use the photography studio as we have not yet been inducted in the use of lighting so DIY it is. Good job I had a a decent lamp and some day light. Working on a fairly small scale, I was able to create a back drop/ cove using A1 white card which reflected the light really well to create a very natural lighting aesthetic. An LED white light created a natural aesthetic, along with a handful of daylight so not to create an artificial effect. This approach to the digital photography of my work achieved subtle shadows, enhancing the depth achieved by the 3D media which has successfully communicated an interplay of layers and textures. Working with my DSLR, I was also able to successfully control the exposure to achieve a professional lighting effect and balanced image. Due to the 3D nature of the piece, depth was an issue and so I had to test a few different apertures in order to achieve the appropriate depth of field to reveal all elements with clarity. 

FURTHER COMPOSITION TESTING

While I invested quite a bit of time in exhausting potential compositions in my mock-up work, the flexibility of the loose elements meant that I could further explore this in the development of the final image. As I have now introduced building blocks into the 3D paper construct, this enabled me to experiment with the interplay of these components. Some options demonstrate subtle changes whilst others demonstrate more obvious changes. I think introducing the building blocks has worked really successfully as the block, bright colours seem to compliment the blocky wooden shapes whilst not being over-powered by them. The wooden aesthetic enhances the sense of craft and further the pivotal idea of nostalgia and play.

LAYERING PROCESS

Responding to all the compositions I explored in the photographic stage, I have worked into these to explore the interplay of hand-drawn elements, furthering the exploration carried out with the mock-up. With many elements continuing across images, these enabled me to trial alternative marks and shapes surrounding these.

 (chosen composition)

 



Having chosen my final composition for it's appropriate use of picture area, successful consideration of line of sight and illustrative qualities, I developed the pencil overlays on photoshop, rendering a digital layer with an analogue aesthetic. Drawing this top layer out on tracing paper and scanning it in meant that I could isolate each element and transform these appropriately. Using the selection tools on photoshop, I was able to position and colour elements independently and tailor each adjustment to the part of the 3D construct in engaged with. 

SB3 - Creative Strategy - FURTHER PLANNING & THUMBNAILS

Progressing from my initial ideas and reflections, I have formulated a break down of the themes I intend to discuss and how these could be communicated through visual devices. I had previously created a plan for the content of my presentation but had been too thorough and ambitious with the level of my content so have had to work to simplify this in line with the time constraint. Working to the three headings of review of year, ethos & principles, and manifesto & level 5, I have attempted to focus my content in line with transformative moments that have paved the path of my progress.

THEMATIC & CONTEXTUAL ISSUE          VISUAL TIES

• Intention to create children's books - picture book/ book motif
• Awareness of value of simplicity - basic shapes/ reduced forms
• Practiced crafted processes - textural paper cuts/ morris dancer from VN
• Studentship & studio culture - timid character and to-do list
• Concern for heritage - mills/ terraces/ brass band imagery
• Want to encourage books & reading - storytelling icon
• Develop a community of illustrators - market stall
• informed by comical characters - Marcus Oakley image/ gif work

PLAN OF STRUCTURE

Review of year 
1. Intention from foundation to work with children's books and expectation to focus on development of character design and narrative on BA Illustration. (Images of foundation character based work alongside how-to poster as example of continuation of character)

2. Year has been driven by process and craft, developing my use and manipulation of media, informed by practitioners such as Stephanie Wunderlich. Also learnt the value of simplification, driven by gif characters. (Image of SW work, shape based collage details and image of paper-cut Morris dancer from VN)

3. Studentship maintained through attendance and commitment to course, thorough and exhaustive responses to tasks whilst feeling intimidated by studio culture. (Timid character peeping out from behind book whilst revealing a to-do list and clock)

Ethos & principles
1. My intention to maintain/ develop a celebration of heritage through my identification of my concerns with working class cultures. (Collaged images of mill/ brass band/ terrace house)

2. Concerned with the importance of books and reading, increasing driving force behind practice is storytelling. (Cut paper image of simplistic character whispering in ear)

Manifesto & level 5 
1. Want to maintain and develop playfulness and fun tone of voice relevant to my contextual goal of children's illustration. (Image of Marcus Oakley's character design against my current shape-based characters, hand-drawn gif from VC)

2. Intent to join and develop a community of illustrators. (Cut paper market stall/ print fair collaged image)

Having now structured my content into 3 key sub-headings I feel that my presentation plan has achieved a more solid and direct communication. De-coding the assessment criteria, I have aimed to address the main issues through considering my manifesto, demonstrating my awareness of professional practice, drawing connections between my influences and intent, and forming a visual aid that demonstrates synthesis in line with the module. 

In preparation for submission, I now need to finalise these roughs and create the images on the spreads of my hand-made book which will serve as the vehicle for presentation. As I have used many of the intended motifs within my poster, this will mainly be a case of re-composing the book and adding photographic aids to demonstrate practitioners that have influenced my work. 

NEXT
-Create and assemble book spreads
-Photograph spreads, crop and drop in to presentation
-Add photographs of practitioners
-Refine content and written aids

SB2 - The Illustrated Self - REFLECTION ON MOCK-UP TESTING

VALUES OF MAKING A MOCK-UP
Creating a mock-up to explore the book vehicle tested in my roughs really helped me to realise the physical construction and operation of the image. Practising technical processes such a book-binding and creating free standing figures definitely required practice as these were fairly tricky problems to solve. Working with blue-tac enabled me to exhaust potential compositions in order to realise my roughs to the full and maximise the potential of the image. Working with 3D media also enabled me to test the aesthetic that a photographed 3D construct achieves as a printed image. Shadow creates a lovely sense of depth, enhancing the visual interplay between components. The physical book itself aided my realisation of narrative by exploring the images and messages that I want to emerge from my practice and more immediately from this task.

DEVELOPMENT POINTS
From creating this mock-up I think this seems like the most appropriate option of the two outlets in my design process. While the building block motif channels the nostalgia and play central to my concerns, I feel that the book as a vehicle can take on more meanings and symbols. Developing this towards a final piece, it could be interesting to explore use of plain building blocks within the negative space and using cut -paper shapes to characterise this, as a means of merging the successes of both potentials. Further to this, I think it would be useful to create the final components on a slightly larger scale to to achieve clarity for the more pictorial elements. 

SB2 - The Illustrated Self - CREATING A MOCK-UP

FURTHERING MEDIA EXPERIMENTATION

Having carried out experimentation with 3D building blocks, I am now working through 3D exploration of the book motif, developing it from my initial collages into a construct that is tangible and engages visually with the narrative. My plan for this part of my development work was to create a basic book form and just explore how paper and card shapes can interact with the pages to create an image of 'bursting ideas'. Working with bluetac, I have been able to exhaust possible compositions without having to render a finished image, which in turn has enabled me to further the content of my roughs as I have explored how shapes can operate the negative space in the picture area.

BOOK BINDING

Employing a process I learnt on foundation, I have chosen to construct a real book, hand-bound to maintain my concern with craft. Taking the pamphlet stitch approach, I made a simple 6 page book with graph paper pages and a card cover. Working on a micro scale with fairly thin stock, I was able to complete this process at home with knowledge from a previous workshop. Lots of measuring and trimming was needed to achieve a clean, crisp outcome, but I feel I achieved this and have created an outcome that is realistic and sophisticated. I think working with a real book as opposed to an illusion of folded paper, my image is able to achieve a more refined and sophisticated aesthetic, driving my professional practice.

The process of creating a mock-up also required consideration of shape and mark so I carried out some basic experimentation in my sketchbook which fed into an exhaustive session of cut-paper fun.

Having created the central book form and surrounding shapes, I worked with a DSLR and some bluetac to capture many potential compositions, considering line of sight, direction of energy, interplay of elements and occupation of negative space. The process of creating a mock-up has really helped to drive my exploration of all the components of my image, as well as providing a practice run  for the my more technical elements. 

SB2 - The Illustrated Self - EXPERIMENTATION WITH 3D MEDIA

RESPONDING TO TUTORIAL FEEDBACK

After my tutorial with Jamie, it became clear that in order to fully develop the composition and content of my roughs, I needed to experiment with 3D media and play with real children's building blocks in order to understand how they could operate within the image. This was a really useful exercise as I was able to exhaust possible compositions without having to laboriously cut out all the shapes. Photographing these compositions will enable me to realise the most effective outcomes through collage and paper constructs, if I choose to develop this approach, with organic and effective compositions that channel an honest reflection of nostalgic children's toys.

If I do choose to further that building block visual metaphor, I will explore texture and shape through collage and 3D paper craft to inject a sense of the maker's hand, rather that using clean wooden shapes. This approach should hopefully achieve a sensitive and playful tone of voice relevant to the subject matter and my wider intent for practice.

 

Developing my composition experimentation, I have explored how hand-drawn marks can interact with these constructs through layering. While for the purpose of these tests I have drawn straight on to the photographs, my intention would be to draw overlays on tracing paper and scan these in for digital layering, meaning that I am able to manipulate scale, colour and positioning as necessary.

Moving forward, I now need to explore other outlets in relation to my roughs, responding to the book vehicle. Channeling some of the things I have learnt from these experiments, I think it could be useful to mix paper constructs with wooden elements so to achieve textural variety and aesthetic interest.

SB3 - Creative Strategy - TUTORIAL DISCUSSIONS & PLAN

 

AESTHETIC & SYNTHESIS

Following on from my initial thoughts about the Creative Strategy presentation, I have been considering how this presentation can work as a continuation of my practical approaches applied within the Illustrated Self. With the presentation aiming to reflect on the years progress, goals for next year and how our practice operates as a whole, continuing with the aesthetic of my poster seems to aid the synthesis of the module.  

Discussing the aesthetic approach in my tutorial, Jamie supported the decision to channel the media and tone of voice of my poster work but questioned how the well the slides would translate in the above format. In line with the new idea of a book as a vehicle for communication of my practice, I am now intending to carry this through into the presentation slides, using spreads of the book to communicate my content. 

My progress at present is focused mainly around the poster as I feel my new ideas will require quite exhaustive exploration, however, I think the process of developing the poster will in turn develop the presentation. As I continue to explore media and motifs, I will consider how these can translate the reflections and transformative moments I wish to communicate within my presentation. 

With my concerns with the importance of books and learning, the book as vehicle for my presentation slides effectively demonstrates my intent for practice. 

SB2 - The Illustrated Self - TUTORIAL FEEDBACK & PLAN

JAMIE'S COMMENTS
Meeting with Jamie helped me to visualise how it is that my ideas will be realised outside of the sketchbook. Collage and play with building blocks will be useful to drive the composition of my final image, but from discussing the values I appreciate in Ed Cheverton's work, Jamie suggested that a physical book with 3D characters and elements bursting out of it, would achieve a real sense of energy and fun appropriate to the context of children's books. I am really excited by this idea as craft is pivotal to my practice and I feel that a 3D approach to image making benefitted my gif work and visual language response so well, it seems appropriate to develop a success of my work so far. 

We identified that the abstract, shape-based character offered so much more in terms of humour and playfulness that just wasn't communicated through the brass band character. Whilst this character communicated the values of working class cultures that I am concerned with, this can translate through alternative imagery. Chimneys and mill buildings popping out of the book will be able to take on fun, cut paper shapes, whilst maintaining that celebration of heritage key to my developing practice. 

Further comments were the flexibility of the book as a vehicle. Jamie suggested that if I made the book into a physical object, it could carry through in my presentation and serve as a visual device for the communication of information, that way drawing a direct connection between elements of my practice. 

PLAN
Responding to the feedback received, I now need to exhaust my roughs through 3D play, using cut paper to develop compositions with depth, perhaps employing techniques considered in the diorama task of visual language. As the book is simply a visual device for the communication, I don't want to get too engrossed in the mechanics of it as a functioning book, but rather an illustration that can be appreciated tangibly outside of the poster and presentation. 

• PLAY WITH 3D ELEMENTS
• MAKE A MOCK-UP
• TEST PHOTOGRAPHY AND CONSTRUCTION OF IMAGE
• CREATE FINAL ELEMENTS
• PHOTOGRAPH
• EDIT AND LAYER ANY DRAWN ELEMENTS
• DECONSTRUCT FOR SLIDES OF PRESENTATION

SB2 - The Illustrated Self - ROUGHS & TESTING

Following on from the group crit and peer crit I had, I've started to realise some of my new ideas through roughs and sketches. Encompassing the issues of nostalgia, restricted ways of living, play and character, I have been working with the visual devices of building blocks and a book, aiming to demonstrate an emerging practice, developing towards a children's context. I felt that although the brass band character is illustrative of myself, it is perhaps too specific and not immediate within the image. In place of this, I have developed an approach to character taken within the gif brief, using blocky shapes to create comical and clumsy characters that enhance the humorous and playful tone of voice I want my work to be concerned with.

Through roughs I have considered various scenarios and compositions in which the building blocks could operate but I think physical play with wooden blocks would aid the development of this towards a more playful and organic outcome. Further to this is the issue of components, I would like my poster to incorporate 3D elements alongside the hand-drawn so it may be useful to explore working into photographs of 3D constructs. 

Testing these roughs in cut paper, I have started to realise the aesthetic I would like to channel in my final outcome. Primary colours are key to children's cultures and so I think working around this and other bright colours would compliment the context I want to operate in, enhancing also the intended playful tone of voice. 

 Furthering the idea of the multitude of elements that inform my practice, I felt that a book was the perfect vehicle to demonstrate this within the context of my intent for practice, to illustrate children's books. I am very much concerned with the importance of books and reading and so these seems like an appropriate vehicle to communicate several aspects of my practice in an image that is immediate yet full of narrative. Starting to consider the elements that might pop out of the book, I now need to play with cut paper and other 3D media as a means of exploring how this image might operate outside of the sketchbook. With reference to Ed Cheverton, I am keen to channel a mix of the hand-drawn with the 3D to achieve a sense of layering and craft, something central to my practice across media. 

Moving forward, I now need to invest some time in playing with these ideas as physical constructs, working with paper and wood to explore material qualities and the interplay of 3D components. 

Marcus Oakley - COLLAGE & CONSTRUCTION

 

LINE/SHAPE QUALITY & TONE OF VOICE
I have been aware of Marcus Oakley for his comical and mischievous characters, but I have recently become aware of his shape based collages and 3D constructions. His playful tone of voice is carried forward into these constructions through irregular, wonky shapes, characterised by jagged lines revealing the hand of the maker.  Bright colours maintain the fun aesthetic of his work, echoing child art. I'm interested in the building block aesthetic achieved by these blocky constructs, channelling the nostalgia of children's toys relevant to my ideas for the illustrated self. 

While Oakley focuses on abstract and irregular forms, I am hoping to channel a more immediate image of wooden building blocks, using more conventional shapes, but perhaps characterised by lines and marks in a similar way to Oakley. There seems to be a wealth of collaged based imagery in contemporary illustration at the moment but I am hoping to merge this with my concerns with character and narrative to create an image with more meaning and depth. 

CHARACTER & COLOUR

The restricted colour palette applied to this image works effectively to enhance the simplicity of the shapes, creating an image that is charming through wonky lines yet characterised through over-layed marks. Adding faces to the shapes seems very simplistic but effective in achieving a sense of character. It could be interesting to explore character within my building block composition to introduce a sense of community, like that identified in my intent for practice.

Ed Cheverton - SHAPE & COLOUR

COLLAGE IN PRACTICE

Carrying out some research into shape based work, I came across the work of Ed Cheverton, appealing for it's playful and childish qualities, nostalgic of children's collages. Cheverton's work seems primarily concerned with primary colours and bright tones, often contrasted against muted tones. Working within a mainly restricted colour palette of red, green, blue and yellow, Cheverton's work is identifiable in line with children's media, only enhancing it's playful tone of voice.

I am particularly interested in Cheverton's use of texture, created through simple colour pencil marks. It achieves a variation needed to just lift the depth in his collages. Cut paper creates a lovely crafted aesthetic, but variation in texture enhances the sophistication and consideration of these images by creating definition. 

I am particularly entertained by this image of the knights and castle as it really echoes child art, demonstrating Cheverton's sensitivity to his context and audience. His characters seem to be created from abstract shapes, allowing the collage aesthetic to run through all elements of his images, maximising the potential of incidental outcomes. Composition in the above image works to draw attention up through the flags towards the princess at the top of the castle, drawing attention to the narrative of entrapped princess. Line of sight here is key to supporting the narrative, whilst balance and symmetry frames the image through the placing of the knights on either side of the castle. 

MY PRACTICE

In light of the illustrated self brief, I am interested to channel some of Cheverton's approaches to image making through his bright, playful colour palettes and shape based images. Within my idea of building blocks, it could be useful to explore how characters can be created from abstract shapes in order to create a sense of community surrounding the central construct, echoing Chevron's abstract and exaggerated characters. 

SB2 - The Illustrated Self - PEER DISCUSSION & NEW IDEAS

PEER CRIT WITH LUCY
After the group crit on Tuesday, I was left feeling a bit stuck, I hadn't really made the connection that my illustrations were merely illustrating a selection of things rather than a practice and so all the ideas I had had seemed flawed. I fell out with the project for a bit as I had been really excited about the possible responses I had devised previously but have now had to re-assess them. This called for some Lucy support.

We worked through some key ideas and questions that could drive my interpretation of the brief and my interpretation of my own practice more specifically. 

THINGS TO CONSIDER:

• Think about relevance of objects
• How would somebody who doesn't know you're practice read your image?
• How can an object demonstrate your creative concerns?
• Which elements are most relevant - narrow down to key words.

KEY WORDS

• Authenticity
• Romantic ideals
• Innocence
• Storytelling
• Playful
• Craft
• Learning
• Nostalgia

These key words seem to be the most pivotal to my creative concerns and seem most commonly to inform my visual language. I have searched for the official definitions of some of these words to help me un-pin these elements of my practice.

Authenticity
-genuine; real
-representing one's true nature or beliefs
-having an origin supported by unquestionable evidence

Romantic
-imbued with or dominated by idealism and a desire for adventure
-fanciful; impractical
-rose-tinted; seeing the pleasant parts of it

Craft
-skill/ dexterity
-manual skills - time and thought

From simply breaking down the issues that most inform my practice, I have grasped the elements key to me. Idealism and a fanciful view of society seems accurate in my identification of working class traditions as I seem to celebrate only the positive aspects of the restricted ways of living. Similarly, the representation of something that is true to itself is also important to me, communicating things that are organic and ingrained in tradition. Authenticity also seems evident in my approach to craft, investing time in my image making to create a unique outcome. 

Potential visual devices:

• toy town - nostalgic/ playful/ relevant to children's illustration intentions
• book - related to intent for practice/ nostalgic object/ object of treasure/ learning
• building blocks - tool for learning/ nostalgic and basic toy/ children's play context/ image of building and gentrification yet restricted and primitive

Moving forward I am really interested to explore this idea of children's building blocks as a visual metaphor for my practice. Their simple shapes will enable me to further the shape based collage work I have been enjoying, but also serves metaphorically to demonstrate a building and developing practice. It could be appropriate to explore character and how characters interact with these blocks, exploring a sense of community. The imagery of wooden building blocks also seems nostalgic of basic children's toys and also a playful interpretation of the issue of gentrification.

Carrying out a one on one peer crit like this has really helped me to de-code the task and identify how it is that my practice could answer this brief. I am now prepared to move forward with my visual research and explore the motif of building blocks and books to capture my emerging practice.

SB3 - Creative Strategy INITIAL THOUGHTS & CRIT DISCUSSIONS

TASK

Produce an 8 minute presentation or film reflecting on your year and how you currently see yourself as a creative practitioner. Focussing on successes, challenges and intent for level 5.

• what have you learnt about?
• what mistakes have you made?
• what are your strengths?
• what are your weaknesses?

I've started to formulate some ideas that I want to discuss, considering struggles, successes, and intentions.

• Foundation/ What went before?
• Challenges of university life
• Processes and results/ devised methods
• Tone of voice/ what do I want to say?
• My values
• How does practice colour my life?
• Expectations/ What wasn't I expecting?
• Transformative moments
• New skills
• Then Vs. Now

REVIEW OF YEAR

Following on from my foundation work, I came to the course with the aspiration to develop a wider practice that was responsive to a multitude of issues and contexts. My aspirations were lying primarily within children's book illustration and while I think this still stands, I have been opened up to a wider context in which my practice could operate. Encouraging me to work  outside of my comfort zone, some briefs have posed difficulties for me in my developing practice. Working with vectors created a technical challenge in which I had to master digital image making and an understanding of simplification. This is something which has started to come through in more recent briefs, enabling me to characterise basic shapes with more textural details through layering, achieving the crafted aesthetic I have always been concerned with. Simplification has also been channelled in the omission of information in my observational work, developing my understanding of the difference between drawing and image making. 

As a student I feel I have been challenged by self-belief, feeling doubtful at times in my ability to respond to certain tasks. I think this is something that has arisen from the studio culture as I have felt a little intimidated by the studios, feeling safer working at my desk and home. This is just an issue of confidence which I need to build on in level 5 in order to maximise my work efficiency. A success of my studentship has been my commitment to development, exploring a variety of approaches and subjects in order to immerse my practice fully in the discipline. COP has been a really important element of the past year for me as it has enabled me to maintain my interest in critical writing. I feel that I have definitely developed my ability to respond critically to art and illustration and understand more conceptual and critical elements of even the most juvenile illustration work. 

ETHOS AND PRINCIPLES

I have developed new ways of seeing, especially through the visual narratives and visual language modules. Visual narratives established a barrier for me as I felt stuck with the subject matter of folklore, however I feel that my developing approach to research has enabled me to find my own outlet within each brief in which I can create work that excites me. Being able to merge the issue of folklore with British cultures served as a transformative moment for me as it demonstrated the flexibility of the illustration discipline to essentially answer any issue. 

I think the course so far has definitely driven my concerns for the world. I've have become more informed about the place of illustration in the world and how it serves as a tool or device for problem solving. Across the modules and in my wider reading, I have become concerned with the importance of books and reading and from this I want to drive my practice. I feel that illustration is a persuasive tool and as such, I should be able to celebrate the values of books through visual media. Regularly concerning my work with a mischievous and playful tone of voice, I feel that I have developed a value of story telling and narrative, particularly through character design. In more recent tasks, I have been led to identify connections between my external interests and central practice. Identifying visual media as a way to uphold heritage and tradition has been a recent transformative moment, and something which will enable me to justify subject matters that interest me.

MANIFESTO/ RULES/ LEVEL 5

Working within more open briefs, I think level 5 will be an opportunity to respond to the values I have identified throughout level 4, focusing on illustration as my device for celebration and maintenance of cultures and traditions. With the tasks across level 4 being concerned with specific subject matters, I have been working with issues outside of my chosen areas. I am interested to maintain these challenges but also work towards a more personal context with character and narrative as a focus relevant to my intentions. 

A concern for authenticity has developed in my preliminary practice through crafted approaches to image making. I am keen to further this through traditional media, particularly screen print in order to ground my work within a physical context relevant to my theoretical concerns. I would really like to develop a connection with the community of illustrators, primarily through markets and print fairs in order to develop commercial awareness but also the sense of community and knowledge shared through these events. In terms of studentship, I think it is important that I maintain my open-minded approach to briefs and keep exploring media. There are many processes I am unfamiliar with so I think as I begin to work with more personalised intentions, greater media play could benefit my development. 

In the group crit, we discussed the issue of creative practice and what it is to be creative. I define creativity as responding to a personal driving force, creating novelties and inventing solutions in response to your own realisations. We also discussed tone of voice and how our visual tone of voice is a manifestation of us. What are the other parts of us that make up our ethos? I feel that my ethos is most certainly driven by my playful and childish nature. I feel that we are encouraged to develop realistic and sophisticated approaches to art so quickly at school that we are driven away from the playfulness of child art and while my work is concerned with craft and multi-layered images, I am very much concerned with a subversion of this education. Rejecting photo-realistic values of drawing for playful, fun images that tell stories. I know need to focus on how I can verbally and visually communicate my emerging practice through simplification of these ideas and structuring a visual reflection of the year.