Project report

Project Report Katie Wade Over the course of this module I have undertaken a variety of briefs to add to my portfolio and to progress myself as an illustrator. My main goals for this year were to advance my understanding of character design and narrative, to develop my colour palette usage and to understand composition to a higher standard as well as producing a higher standard of work for myself and my clients. I feel that all of these aims have been achieved through the briefs undertaken although it has not been easy.

The Brief’s I struggled with this year were The Lifting Tower Project back in November and The YCN brief in march, but both for different reasons. The lifting tower project was particularly difficult at points, negotiating within a team is hard when everyone wants to make everything. It was very hard to get everyone to come in at the same time and hard to get everyone to agree. After countless meetings with my team I realised that I didn’t have to produce the concepts, the colour palette and all of the final products, this was a collaboration and I was working with people who could handle my concepts. Rather than insisting on doing all of the work to my standard, I delegated different roles to different members of the team and took charge. I offered up my concepts and only chose a few to continue with for myself rather than trying to complete them all. The colour palette was something I was truly insistent we had, after seeing the benefits through other artists work such as Tom Haugomat and Pascal Campion I knew that our work would instantly stand out more. Our final pieces came out to a satisfactory standard, I had multiple briefs running at the same time and I think if I did it again I would definitely organise myself differently.

The YCN brief was difficult because it was such a vast brief, when I stated it as one of my briefs in my original statement for intent I thought that it would have regimented guidelines and there would be a certain level of professionalism. However, this was not really the case, the Roald Dahl brief was very vague and I struggled with that the most. I couldn’t focus on a way of working, I was creatively fidgeting. The way past this, was to make guidelines for myself, I decided to work to an A4 landscape format on all three pieces and set a timeline of a week of each piece which left me with a week to edit at the end (so a month overall). I was really unhappy with the end results of the YCN brief, I feel like I worked hard but there was not anything I produced that I would happily show to a future client. The only good thing to come from the YCN brief was a renewed love of gouache and painting. I have not done very much painting whilst on this course, mostly because I wanted to experience as much as I possibly could rather than sticking to what I know how to do. The introduction of gouache as a paint form into my life this year, was the key turning point for me.

The briefs I was the most satisfied with this year were my final major project and my colours may vary pieces, again both for different reasons. My colours may vary pieces gave me the chance to explore embroidery as an art form, it was highly contested among tutors but it was a good chance for me to progress my colour palette skills if nothing else. Working with embroidery means you have to commit to a colour of thread and commit to a composition before you start. This way of working was good for me as it helped me realise that I really do enjoy working to guidelines and time frames. It is something that I will carry forward into my practice, even if the embroidery part of it remains just as a personal hobby.

My final major project work has slowly been researched since January and with every week I was learning something new about folklore and fairytales, out of all the briefs I did this year

this is where my progress is best documented. I went through a series of tests, sketchbooks and storyboards to reach something that I felt proud about making. Although my final piece will not be ready for deadline day, the proposals are there, some storyboarding is available to see on my blog and the narrative for the first book is also documented on my blog. It is the closest I’ve come to creating something I’ve been proud of all year, it has also pushed me to persevere with gouache and I am now seeing a way of working that really suits me, both compositionally and colour palette wise. Having the Final Major Project was good because it was entirely self-lead and the last month or so of this module I have really started to have a clear vision of where I want to progress my practice too (editorial and narrative) and how I can reach those goals. Progressing with the FMP after this deadline is something I intend on doing and it will hopefully become the jewel of my portfolio once it has been finished.

Overall this module has been the most progressive and most organised of all the projects I have ever done over the course of 3 years, at times it has been hard with my confidence and with my organisation but as the year has moved forward so have I. I now feel confident in my new found skills, confident enough that by July I will be taking a portfolio down with me to London to talk to some potential employers. My plan for my professional practice has developed from being vague in September, to slightly more refined in February to being a very clear concise idea of how I want to work and where I want to work in the industry. Each brief unlocked a new sense of confidence and helped me identify flaws and successes which have ultimately pushed me forwards as a professional.