One of the most important things that I’ve learnt this year is the difference between drawing and illustration. I have used this year to test the water of illustration by challenging myself to use different methods of image making in each brief, this has not only broadened my range of skills e.g. becoming more confident using digital programmes, but improved my ways of thinking to answer and communicate the meaning of a brief in the most effective way possible.
PPP has allowed me to continually reflect on the way that I work and identify strengths and weaknesses in my practice, as well as set goals for myself in terms of ways of working successfully.
Learning more about myself has been a crucial part of this module. I have come such a long way this year in terms of personal development; moving away from home and having a lot more responsibilities has been testing as well as up keeping a full time course. Spending more time being independent has allowed me to be more efficient in terms of being organised and efficient with time, becoming more aware of maintaining my personal wellbeing as well as what fuels and dampens my level of creativity.
Being exposed to external practitioners through BigHeads has shown me the reality of the environment and challenges that professional illustrators face on a daily basis, and being given advice by them having a number of years in the industry behind them has really put things into perspective for me as a first year, just starting off.
I have found it exhausting but I am really glad that this first year on the course has been so demanding and fast paced; having to work to deadlines to produce a good quality standard of work that meets the requirements of a brief has put me in a good position to be motivated and switched on for future briefs when I graduate and this becomes a part of my every day working life.
2. What approaches/ types of research have you found most valuable over this module?
Why did they have such an impact?
On a personal note, the most valuable type of research that I have carried out is experiencing things first hand by learning to appreciate the real world. I have learnt that putting myself in a position where I have to do something, go somewhere or challenge myself is the best and most effective way to keep myself informed. Going out exploring and drawing, talking to people and engaging in activities is something that I need to further push myself with next year to develop as a creative at the same time as having more inspiration from experienced based learning.
In terms of keeping up with professionals, I often go out somewhere and see a piece of illustration that interests me- for example in a gallery/shop selling prints, greetings cards etc, and go back home and research into the practitioner’s way of working and creative journey. I have also been using pinterest for ideas and creative inspiration, finding some favourable practitioners along the way. Keeping separate boards for the categories of; interpretive, functional, responsive, target audience and problem solving has made me look deeper into the purpose of everything that I pin, and the different types of effect they have on me as the viewer.
3. In what way has PPP informed the way your work in other modules and your illustration practice as a whole?
PPP has been sort of a self driven safety advice point for all of my modules this year. Continually coming back and self reflecting every month or so has kept my feet on the ground and allowed me to make improvements and set targets for myself.
A real turning point for me in this module was the Position Statement task. I quickly realised that although I thought myself as quite an optimist in general, I was the complete opposite in my practice as I always put strain on constantly striving to make improvements to my work, rather than balancing that out and praising and working on my strengths simultaneously.
Writing out 10 ‘rules’ for myself was quite a reality check for where I thought I stood, and where I ACTUALLY stood at that point in time, and also made me realise that I need to address weaknesses and capitalise strengths.
Since setting those rules, I have found that I have been more grounded and level-headed when working on my other modules. For example, simple things like making timetables, allowing time to myself and not being overly self-critical have already had a strong impact on my levels of productivity and the way that I see myself as an illustrator. Taking a step back from all the stress and exhaustion of constantly trying to be the best and focusing on my flaws all of the time has allowed me to relax and feel more confident in myself and my ability, as well as allow me to produce more meaningful and sophisticated work at my own pace, particularly in the ‘Persons of Note’ brief in Vis Com.
Referring back to these rules and removing myself from stressful and unhelpful thinking has allowed me to feel more positive and enthusiastic about my practice; this is something that I definitely need to upkeep next year.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your PPP submission and how will you address this in the future?
In the earlier stages of the module I admittedly allowed PPP to sit on the back burner, as it didn’t require as much craft and labour as much as some of the other modules, although now at this stage I realise that it has probably been the most valuable of all modules. Not taking it seriously allowed the visual aspects of my work to suffer, particularly the self promotion poster- looking at that now I would NOT get many clients if I were to use that as a way of gaining publicity and advertising my creativity. So next year I definitely need to take PPP more seriously!
Also, I feel that in the most recent brief, the illustrated self, I have played it safe with my methods of production and final outcomes due to lack of time. This is probably due to me feeling burnt out from the previous two module submissions being in such a short space of time with each other, and losing the will to live at this stage of the year! My 10 illustrations using a characterised version of me get the point across clearly of ’10 things art school has taught me’, but only at a basic and literal level. I am satisfied with the outcome, but I know there was the potential to do a lot more with it.
5. What communities of practice and professional contexts do you intend to investigate further as you approach level 5? Why do they appeal to you?
The most important thing that I need to do next year is stop being so obsessive about completing my work (being dutiful) by letting go of all of those boundaries and becoming more excited about the way in which I embrace my creativity. My biggest downfall has been that I have become afraid of drawing for myself and using drawing as a tool of relaxation, therefore completely avoiding it for my own personal development outside of my studies.
I need to ease myself back into it by carrying out more observational drawing, taking a sketchbook everywhere with me and not let it sit at the bottom of my bag, and set myself little achievable targets, or possibly even mini-briefs during the summer.
When my confidence is back up, I need to get out of my little anxious bubble and start pushing my speculative strand more, and how I can increase my knowledge of different things, and inform others through illustration.
I would like to read more books, both literature and specific art-related books rather than predominantly relying on online sources to inform my practice, watch more films and documentaries, look and explore further into comics and sequential imagery (inspired by Jon McNaught’s ‘Dockwood') and finally become more confident in using photoshop.
To summarise, I would just like to be more outgoing and excited about illustration in general rather than always thinking that I am drowning in the amount of work I have to complete, rather than embrace and enjoy. Taking every opportunity I am given, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and exploring into areas I am unfamiliar with will hopefully allow me to gain a better understanding of who I am (sorry to sound cringe-worthy!), my own formed opinions and what I hope to experience and achieve in the future.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
Attendance-4
Punctuality-4
Motivation-2
Commitment
Quantity of work produced-3
Quality of work produced-2
Contribution to the group-3
PPP has been sort of a self driven safety advice point for all of my modules this year. Continually coming back and self reflecting every month or so has kept my feet on the ground and allowed me to make improvements and set targets for myself.
A real turning point for me in this module was the Position Statement task. I quickly realised that although I thought myself as quite an optimist in general, I was the complete opposite in my practice as I always put strain on constantly striving to make improvements to my work, rather than balancing that out and praising and working on my strengths simultaneously.
Writing out 10 ‘rules’ for myself was quite a reality check for where I thought I stood, and where I ACTUALLY stood at that point in time, and also made me realise that I need to address weaknesses and capitalise strengths.
Since setting those rules, I have found that I have been more grounded and level-headed when working on my other modules. For example, simple things like making timetables, allowing time to myself and not being overly self-critical have already had a strong impact on my levels of productivity and the way that I see myself as an illustrator. Taking a step back from all the stress and exhaustion of constantly trying to be the best and focusing on my flaws all of the time has allowed me to relax and feel more confident in myself and my ability, as well as allow me to produce more meaningful and sophisticated work at my own pace, particularly in the ‘Persons of Note’ brief in Vis Com.
Referring back to these rules and removing myself from stressful and unhelpful thinking has allowed me to feel more positive and enthusiastic about my practice; this is something that I definitely need to upkeep next year.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your PPP submission and how will you address this in the future?
In the earlier stages of the module I admittedly allowed PPP to sit on the back burner, as it didn’t require as much craft and labour as much as some of the other modules, although now at this stage I realise that it has probably been the most valuable of all modules. Not taking it seriously allowed the visual aspects of my work to suffer, particularly the self promotion poster- looking at that now I would NOT get many clients if I were to use that as a way of gaining publicity and advertising my creativity. So next year I definitely need to take PPP more seriously!
Also, I feel that in the most recent brief, the illustrated self, I have played it safe with my methods of production and final outcomes due to lack of time. This is probably due to me feeling burnt out from the previous two module submissions being in such a short space of time with each other, and losing the will to live at this stage of the year! My 10 illustrations using a characterised version of me get the point across clearly of ’10 things art school has taught me’, but only at a basic and literal level. I am satisfied with the outcome, but I know there was the potential to do a lot more with it.
5. What communities of practice and professional contexts do you intend to investigate further as you approach level 5? Why do they appeal to you?
The most important thing that I need to do next year is stop being so obsessive about completing my work (being dutiful) by letting go of all of those boundaries and becoming more excited about the way in which I embrace my creativity. My biggest downfall has been that I have become afraid of drawing for myself and using drawing as a tool of relaxation, therefore completely avoiding it for my own personal development outside of my studies.
I need to ease myself back into it by carrying out more observational drawing, taking a sketchbook everywhere with me and not let it sit at the bottom of my bag, and set myself little achievable targets, or possibly even mini-briefs during the summer.
When my confidence is back up, I need to get out of my little anxious bubble and start pushing my speculative strand more, and how I can increase my knowledge of different things, and inform others through illustration.
I would like to read more books, both literature and specific art-related books rather than predominantly relying on online sources to inform my practice, watch more films and documentaries, look and explore further into comics and sequential imagery (inspired by Jon McNaught’s ‘Dockwood') and finally become more confident in using photoshop.
To summarise, I would just like to be more outgoing and excited about illustration in general rather than always thinking that I am drowning in the amount of work I have to complete, rather than embrace and enjoy. Taking every opportunity I am given, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and exploring into areas I am unfamiliar with will hopefully allow me to gain a better understanding of who I am (sorry to sound cringe-worthy!), my own formed opinions and what I hope to experience and achieve in the future.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
Attendance-4
Punctuality-4
Motivation-2
Commitment
Quantity of work produced-3
Quality of work produced-2
Contribution to the group-3
