Erin Willmott’s Reflective Journal
January 13th – 17th The FMP was started off by an idea generation workshop hosted by Jane Hankin, this was an incredibly helpful session as it really helped me to come up with ideas that I’m interested in pursuing and narrowing them down to the best ones. I made multiple mind maps on subjects I would love to explore for my project, and generated a lot of interesting ideas and excitement.
January 20th – 31st This week I finished writing the project proposal, I decided I’m going to focus my FMP on the story of Laika, the Russian dog that was sent into space. I chose this subject as it linked to many of my interests such as animals, sci-fi, science, and space. I think the direction I would love to take it in is in the form of a graphic novel, or illustrated narrative, or some sort of zine. This week we also had another session with Jane Hankin, which was a creative writing workshop. I didn’t think I would enjoy this as I am not great at writing or articulating myself, but I found creative writing to be really fun and quite a useful skill to apply to my FMP. I was really proud of the short piece of writing I did as I’ve never really tried to do anything like that before, and I feel a lot more confident with writing now.
My creative writing attempt:
The thick green path is quiet when the sun is highest, an unspoken agreement stands longer than the shoots of bamboo. Golden afternoon light melts through the branches and leaves in stripes like a warning, betraying the pair of yellow eyes burning in the dark that have found me. A chorus of insects grows louder in the sudden heat and a rush of warm breeze blows gently between me and fur ablaze. The flash of orange and black and bright white teeth snarl, and I snarl back. February 3rd – 21st This week was a study week, and I’m finding it a big challenge to balance two units at the same time (Professional Practice and FMP), however I have a whiteboard in my room now that I’m using to timetable and plan what I need to do, which has made things a lot easier.
We also had a group discussion on our FMP directions which was really nice to get some help and outside ideas. It was also really interesting to see what everyone else was planning to do, and offer advice to them too. February 24th – March 6th We had a really interesting talk this week by Vanessa Fletcher, who talked us through different types of paper, how to choose which type to use, etc. This was very useful as I haven’t ever really thought about using different types of paper for my work, and I think that choosing one that works well with the story can really enhance the book and make it look more professional and feel nicer to read. We also had progress reviews this week, and I think that I need to decide on what direction I’m taking the story in – whether I’m going to include fictional and made up elements, or keep it purely factual. March 9th – 13th This week we had a book binding workshop with Mandy Brannan which was really fun, and the first time I’ve ever used a folding bone. I’ve never bound a book before and I was surprised at how easy it actually was once I got going and understood the basics. My favourite technique was the binding with a thread, which I think would look really good with my FMP as I am leaning towards going with a handmade/vintage feel. We also had a peer assessment and chance to show our current work to the class, and receive feedback. March 16th – 20th So at this point I can’t not acknowledge the impact of coronavirus on this unit, the UK is going to go into lockdown and we’ll be unable to access any uni facilities. Obviously this is having a massive impact on all aspects of my life and work, but as everything is moving into digital form now I’m trying to continue as usual, and stay motivated. March 30th – April 17th It’s Easter now and I’m at the stage where I’m planning out my book layout, what kind of information I want to include, how long it will be, and the illustration style. I am mostly leaning towards using a black and white palette and soft pencils to create a moody and slightly scary aesthetic, but I did also consider using colour after looking at vintage Russian postal stamps, postcards, and matchbox covers which I really loved. I’ve also now decided that I’m going to keep the book factual, and use real life quotes from the Russian scientists that worked with Laika to tell
the story. I would love to focus on the relationship the scientists had with Laika, as they spent so much time with her bonding and training that it was an incredibly sad moment for them especially when it was time to send her into space. It’s also worth mentioning here that I’ve also now applied for mitigating circumstances as there’s been a death of a close family member of mine. May 1st – Onwards I’ve now begun the actual drawing process of the book, and also thinking about what sort of font I will use for the quotes. I would ideally like to use my own handwriting, as this would enforce the handmade feel I’m going for, but I’m going to practice my writing style first as I want to make sure it’s neat and readable. Also the size of the book, I think will look best as an A5 publication, and I’m currently aiming to complete 16 pages. Summary To summarise this unit, I loved every bit of what I have done and the subject I chose, but under the many circumstances I’ve had to battle it’s been one of the hardest units I’ve had to complete. The time I spent at uni during this project was incredibly fun and motivating, especially the writing and bookbinding workshops, as well as peer reviews and support that I find now that I was really taking for granted. The story of Laika has always been one that resonated with me, as a question of the ethics behind it, the miracle of sending the first living creature into orbit, and my fascination of space and animals in general. If I was to be handing in a physical copy of my book, it would be an A5 publication, printed on offwhite/yellowed paper, preferably recycled paper for a rougher and worn look, the aesthetic I’m going for is as if this is a vintage book from the 1950s. I’d like to have hand bound it using the needle and thread method I learnt in the book binding workshop. For the writing in the book I ended up using my own handwriting, which I think turned out ok but looking back I think I could have used a more reliable handwriting to font application instead so that all of my letters look more uniform. I used quotes by the scientists as I really wanted to concentrate on the details of the space mission rather than the big picture of the launch, I focused in on how these people felt about the mission, and how their relationship with the trainee dogs was. I tried to keep my style mostly realistic but with lots of tonal shading and shadows. This book is aimed at most ages, probably not young children as the story of Laika is not particularly kid friendly, I think another group it’s aimed at could be animal rights activists, or anyone that enjoys space and history.