End of Module Student Evaluation BA (Hons) Illustration Module Code: OUIL504 Illustration 1: Production & Presentation Name: Student ID: Please identify where the evidence for each of the learning outcomes is within your submission and how well you feel you have met the learning outcomes. Please also grade yourself in relation to the learning outcomes using terms: > poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent (Note- This is so that the team have an understanding of how well you feel you have done. It is not an indication of the actual grade you may receive.) Learning Outcome
Evidenced where? Blog, Visual Journal, Roughs, Final Illustrations, Stings, storyboards, development sheets etc. (No more than 75 words)
5A5: Demonstrate an informed understanding of issues relating to image, media, format and context through the delivery of solutions to identified visual problems. (Knowledge & Understanding - Critical Awareness)
Through the 3 Studio Briefs, I have considered how to adapt my ideas and imagery to suit different contexts – editorial, printed pictures and animation – and questioned what makes concepts suitable for certain purposes. Through the Study Tasks, I’ve analysed, and been inspired by, the work of editorial illustrators, printmakers and animators, which has informed me on the kind of work I have made.
5A6: Understand the potential and limitations of a range of processes, technologies and techniques involved in the development and production of work for print and screen based delivery. (Knowledge & Understanding Research)
I have tested out a range of print processes – Very good monoprint, monotype, lino and screen – and evaluated the successes and failures of my results to decide which method(s) to carry forward. I tried to judge which processes were most suitable for the aesthetic and tone of my project and developed these skills to produce finished work.
5B4: Analyse and critically evaluate primary/secondary source material to inform the development and contextualisation of ideas, concepts and products through individual responses to set briefs. (Cognitive Skills - Problem Analysis, Problem Solving)
I carried out different research methods to Good investigate my author, including reading her work, as well as interviews and articles about her to gain an understanding of her background. I selected the relevant pieces of information to keep my project focused on the aspects that interested me the most.
Your grade Using words: > poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent
Very good
5C4: Select, manipulate and apply appropriate media, processes and technologies in the development, production and presentation of ideas, concepts and products. (Practical Skills - Practical and Conceptual Development)
The process of roughing, thumbnailing and storyboarding to visualize my concepts, test out compositions, produce narratives and select ideas has been very valuable to me and provided me with material to present during crits to get feedback on. Experimenting with print processes has been vitally important as it has enabled me to determine the suitability of the aesthetic of each practice for my work.
Very good
5C5: Identify, evaluate and apply practical/technical processes, materials and media in order to produce technically competent and conceptually appropriate outcomes. (Practical Skills - Visual Quality and Technical Competence)
Deciding whether to produce a book or prints has Very good been quite an integral part of my project and has almost dictated the tone of my prints. Producing a publication requires some sort of narrative or flow to the work so this is something I’ve had to consider when creating and compiling my images. I’ve relied quite heavily on the use of Photoshop for all three Studio Briefs as I feel it enables me to refine my work to a high quality. Photoshop was vital in the manipulation (digital collage and colour adjustments) of my original prints for my Studio Brief 2 publication and it allowed me to create the sense of distortion that I had aimed for.
5D4: Demonstrate the ability to communicate the development and resolution of ideas through appropriate visual and written presentation of work. (Key Transferable Skills Presentation and Evaluation)
My development work and feedback I’ve received has been documented on my blog, along with reflections on my ideas and deliberations over decision making. I have presented my responses to each of the Studio Briefs, along with development work, in my portfolio, organized neatly and sectioned off with labels.
Good
Summative Evaluation (See Evaluation Guidance on next page for more information) You are required to write a 750 word Summative Evaluation of this module. Please type up your Summative Evaluation in the box below. Make a PDF of the document, print out a copy to submit with your portfolio of work and post the PDF as your final post on your OUIL504 blog. At the start of this module, I wasn’t sure which aspect of Atwood’s work to focus on but upon returning to college, I realized that I shouldn’t be zoning in on a particular work of hers but trying to embody her as a whole. Once I started to consider Atwood’s background and her interests, this informed my work hugely as I was aiming to encapsulate her ethics in regards to things like conservation, genetic modification and environmental issues, which are intrinsically linked to her written work. Producing such a large quantity of thumbnails for the editorial brief was a challenge but it forced me to think deeper about Atwood’s life and then select the aspects I was most interested in. I feel I have slightly gone back to my old ways of relying on digital processes to refine my work for 504. This was something I worked hard to avoid during Level 4 – favouring analogue processes in an effort to improve my handmade skills. Obviously I produced a lot of handmade print experiments for Printed Pictures but knowing I was going to be producing a digitally printed publication meant that I then turned to Photoshop to manipulate my imagery. The digital process does lend itself to the distorted aesthetic I was aiming for, and I
am pleased with the results, but part of me wishes I had stepped out of my comfort zone more by making refined handmade prints and only using digital media to compile the images into a publication. On this course, producing roughs has really helped me think through my ideas and provided me with visual ideas to present in crits and get feedback on. I have also used collaging as a way of producing imagery and thinking through compositions. However, because storyboarding involves having to think logically about the way images might move, I struggled to do this at first because I found it difficult to visualize exactly what I wanted to happen in my stings. Although I struggled, my storyboards proved to be incredibly useful when it came to creating my animated sting – they gave me an outline to work to so I didn’t approach After Effects without a clear plan. Because of this, I actually ended up enjoying producing my animation, probably because I didn’t encounter too many problems. For Studio Brief 2, I stayed away from producing an explicit narrative for my publication and focused more on creating an atmosphere within my work (this applies to my animated sting as well). This lead to me questioning whether it matters that other people may not understand the origin of my work if it is abstracted or ambiguous. As my work became less representational and more about conveying a mood, this lead to discussions about who the work is really for. I started to take the approach of an artist’s book, making the work for myself, and adding in a quote for the benefit of the viewer, which made me feel more comfortable about showing my work to others. Receiving feedback on my work is very important to me. For this module, it wasn’t necessarily about helping me select the best ideas but more about seeing how people view my work and if they understood my concept. Most of the time, my peers seemed to recognize what I was aiming to convey. I feel my work was neatly presented within my portfolio and I produced a publication that I am proud of, hand stitched and held together with a belly band. I perhaps could have considered things like folders to hold my test prints together but this is something to consider in the future. One of my regrets during this module is that the revelation that I could translate my monoprinted textures into screenprints came a little too late. I wish that I had considered this possibility earlier as it was something that really excited me when I discovered it but I now realise that it’s something that has a lot of potential and I plan to investigate this during other modules. At the end of 504, I’ve produced a portfolio of work that is representative of Atwood in an abstract way. I’m so used to producing brightly coloured work but Studio Briefs 2 and 3 strayed away from this slightly, with pops of colour amongst the largely dark palettes. I feel I have gone out of my way to produce something different to what I normally make through a dark, surreal, abstracted body of work that I hope looks explorative as well as professional.