PPP OUIL402 end of module evaluation

1. What learning have you inherited through this module and how has it impacted on your own understanding of professional practice? Consider yourself as a student at University as much as an illustrator.

• PPP has made me think about skills that will help me working as a professional, such as time management and personal organisation, but these are also key to being a successful student, whether you're in the arts or not. Being an efficient individual is handy for anything!
• PPP has also made me think about and forced me to engage with the wider design and illustrative world, and learn and gain knowledge from other practitioners.
• Reflecting on my work and personal progress throughout the year on the blog means is a steady way of constantly evaluating myself and how to improve, but also having it on the blog means I can look back and see how I've improved, and if I have not done enough then I can think about what needs to be done. 

2. What approaches/ types of research have you found most valuable over the module? Why did they have such an impact?

• I did a lot of my research on the internet. I suppose it could be considered a lazy choice I suppose, but the internet particularly in regards to social media is becoming such a huge thing in art and design communities that it's not something that can or should be ignored. It is also something very easy and accessible to do, though must be used with caution as it is open for any and everybody to use.
• And in that way books and journals offer a more credible type of research I suppose, but I also found that its perhaps harder to find something you're interested in in such an immediate way as using the internet. However, you are more likely to find interviews and writings on the artist's process in books and journals, such as Varoom, which I find more interesting and useful.
• As always, personal visual research in terms of making and doing is helpful, particularly as a means of personal reflection. As a visual thinker making visual diagrams is the most intuitive way to think and reflect

3. In what way has PPP informed the way your work in other modules and your illustration practice as a whole?

• Making a conscious effort to look at other practitioners' works and study what makes them good / bad / effective / unique I've been able to take elements and inspiration from them in my own work (without directly copying them!), hopefully making me a more informed and better illustrator as a result of it.
• And with that, constantly evaluating my work helps me to improve and reflect in an independent way.
• As before, being more aware of organisation and so becoming more organised means I can get more work done! This has been particularly helpful in regards to juggling multiple briefs at a time.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your PPP submission and how will you address this in the future?

• I don't think I have looked at a wide enough range of practitioners. I've been prone to just looking at other illustrators, and only recently have started thinking about how other disciplines can influence myself (such as photography).
• And I have not recorded all of the practitioners I have been looking at, which is not only not helpful in terms of doing well in this module but also means that I can't go back and recall what I have looked at and use it for reference in the future too.
• I am concerned that my Illustrated Self project is too broad and does not make enough sense!
• Although I think I've been good at evaluating I'm not sure I've actually spent enough time on the improvement side! I haven't really started to think about what I want or how I want to change or what I think is successful until now, at the end of the first year, and it may have well helped me to start this earlier! 

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?

• All along I've had an interest in storytelling through illustration, and Visual Narratives gave me the opportunity to work on this in a sequential way, which I very much enjoyed. I'm also becoming interested in the 'self-published scene', particularly after making two  books of my own this year. I'm not sure if I'm interested in this because it is self-published, or because I made a tangible object at the end of it though.
• This year has also given me the opportunity to work on editorial style illustrations. I think I work best when responding to a given brief, so would like to look into it further, if it does turn out to be one of my strengths.
• But whilst I like responding to briefs but I think I need to find my own tone of voice, that might be done through more personal projects, and I also think this can inform my more brief led decisions too.
• I've done some print making this year, though not as much as I intended. I'm interested in how process can inform a final result and even its worth, and would like to investigate this more and how printmaking could become a part of my practice.

ppp presentation slides + notes

I suppose to start, the biggest change for me this year was moving out of home and into Leeds. It's not something I'll delve too much into, but moving into a city has made me realise how much I can possibly miss the countryside, despite not living very far from it! If anything, this year has made me really appreciate trees. Maybe that's why I draw them a lot. But it;s great to be in a city, and be around more art and design culture.

The module that I think has informed my practice the most is Visual Language. Content is so important but as someone learning to be an illustrator, my image making skills definitely needed tweaking! I found the tasks more about composition as opposed to media technique more helpful, maybe because I'd really never thought about composition in  such terms before. I think my final piece of work for Visual Language summed up my progress in this module, I think there is something to be said for the line of sight and depth in it- something  I'd never consciously thought of before. Visual Language also got me into using scamps and thumbnails, which whilst not an entirely new concept for me it got me more into it and it has been so helpful in quick and good idea production.

And following Visual Language I've been trying to try out different methods and tools in my work. I expected to work more digitally but have surprised myself by favouring analogue methods. For me they have a feel that can't be replicated digitally, but when required I've found it hard to translate these analogue methods to digital, for example for prints. This is particularly tricky with pencil! A big thing I've learned this year is that Animation is not quite as scary or boring as I thought it would be! I really enjoyed the gif project, and can now see Animation's place in Illustration. It's also interesting to see how the method can dictate and control the work, particularly in regards to print processes.

Of course, I've been looking at other artists throughout the year. One of my favourites I've looked at is Mogu Takahashi. Whilst technically it's not exactly something to marvel at I love this naiviety and more so the confidence it's done with. It makes me think about how good images can be made in simpler and looser ways. I've been feeling similarly about Marcus Oakley's work. I think I've been looking too much at Illustration however, and not towards other disciplines enough. I want to look at more Photography- I think there is such an emphasis on composition rather than being carried away with style in this discipline that could lend itself to Illustration.

Over this past year I have been doing some paid work for the nightclub night Fuzzy Logic, and it's the first time I've really sold myself as an 'illustrator' outside of the realms of just selling some not so great handmade knick knacks on Etsy. It's been a learning curve for sure, and it's taught me a lot of good things, such as working to clients briefs, co-operating and reworking ideas and deadlines and getting some money, but it's also highlighted some things in my practice I'm not crazy about. I found myself getting lazy with my ideas and production methods- everything had to stay similar as to fit the Fuzzy aesthetic but  I found myself panicking with approaching deadlines and making something because it was an easy solution. And I suppose in a way, I didn't really have that much time to experiment for the projects alone, but I think I could have taken more of what I have learned this year into it.

And one of the pesky things about having to posters is lettering. I went into these jobs completely unprepared, and to this day I can't look at the Fuzzy Logic logo without cringing at its odd proportions. A lot of what I did was very on the spot, gathering bits of odd inspiration and making as I went with no practice which I regret as the results aren't great, and all my criticisms of it are amplified as it's not for me this is for someone else! There's been other instances of lettering throughout the year and it's steadily getting somewhere. Whilst I'm not great at doing big beautiful lettering, I think there is something naturally ok about my 'handwriting' (in quotation marks), in its spacing and style. In the past week alone I have discovered dip pens, and found they give a really nice natural weighting to this hand writing. Before that, I'd used dip pens maybe once or twice and I'm pretty sure I put the nib in the wrong bit!

Whilst I'm aware, or think, that using social media to an illustration advantage is something that maybe gets covered next year, I have been using it as that kind of tool already. I think it's pretty great, I've talked to and met in real life other artists and practitioners through it, and I think it's a nifty way of getting some dialogue going, and I love that it's made me be able to do that. But I'm also aware of how empty it can be, the concept of 'likes' is nice and I find myself sometimes falling victim to it but ultimately I'm aware it doesn't mean much in the grander scheme of things. I find it odd when someone deems themselves or others successful just by their amount of tumblr followers. I've also found the internet an utter distraction, so!

The Context of Practice module was a bit of a shambles in regards to my poor understanding and planning of what I was actually meant to be doing. The essay wasn't great, but once I got into the illustrative side I started to get it. I'm not out to become a political illustrator by any means, but it's made me understand that work with something behind it has so much more substance, and this may or may not be strictly political. Whilst in the realms of politics, I've always liked to consider myself somewhat politically aware but the recent election (and its results!!) really ignited that again, and it's something I want to continue with, not just as an illustrator but a person.

The big thing to consider now is where I want to go, and in regards to whether say, I want to editorial or children's book illustration or whatever I really don't know. I'm not sure how to put it, but I know I'm feeling a bit stale in regards to what I'm making, I don't feel that I'm experimenting enough and so with it not evolving. I need to get some observational drawing back into my practice too, I think what I'm drawing is losing touch with reality a bit to a point where it's distracting. Also, something I've noticed is that I'm clearly not very fond of background and clear am very fond of white space, but I think this is just out of pure laziness so needs to be changed! Since making zines and books I've also become more interested in self publishing, but I'm not sure if that's just because I like having an end 'product'.

I think what I want to say with my illustration is a big thing, just as important as the visuals. I've done a lot of quiet and sad pieces of work this year. Which is fine, maybe a bit reflective on my personality although I'd like to think not! So one of my aims for next year is to cheer up. But again, going back to what I learnt in the COP module, I want to make things with more of a voice, and with that figure out what I want to say, really.

The Illustrated Self: final zine

I found printing on my own paper made a huge difference in the final result. The coloured cover makes a huge difference in making it look like a finished piece, but I was surprised at how much better it also looked with thicker off white paper in the content pages. Perhaps it is because I made this with it as a finished actual product in mind. The same goes for trimming the edges by hand.

As before I'm concerned that the book does not fit the brief, for being too broad or abstract. Still, I'm surprised by how pleased I am by the end result, particularly something that only took a week or two. It was nice to make something more personally lead, although I do find this kind of project intimidating when not given too many guidelines.

It really makes me want to do more zines and quick and playful work- though I understand there is a place for them and a place for more thoughtful or finished ideas and images. Still, it is something I'd like to personally pursue.

zine printing notes

>> PRINT BOOKLET

SETUP:
LANDSCAPE ICON

PRINTER:

TWO-SIDED
SHORT EDGE BINDING

PRINTER FEATURES
GENERAL 1
BLACK AND WHITE
MEDIA: THICK
(this automatically goes to the tray
because it is a different paper type)

The Illustrated Self: final images

For this project I decided to use a dip pen and ink, solely because I had never used it before. I also wanted to go for the 'lo-fi' look, and thought it would liven up my illustrations. In Photoshop I added bitmap tones to even out images. It seemed a bit odd trying to recreate the lo-fi look through a software as expensive as Photoshop though!

As the book had a strange number of sheets and pages I had some room for fillers. Not wanting to waste too much time on these instead of on the actual illustrations I took it as an opportunity to play around and get used to using a dip pen for the first time. After hearing Marcus Oakley talk about his work I was inspired by his use of playful shape and confidence of line. I tried my best not to be hesitant with this project and embrace the 'mishaps'.

I've never really used mechanised type in my illustrations, so went with what I know to be good in Futura. By rasterising the text I could also bitmap it to make it fit into the images better.

Work and Play are probably the most obvious two things to follow by. I think a lot of the work process is about motivating yourself and I tried to show this in a straightforward way. For Play it would be too easy to draw a football game! I think this might be obvious too, but for me Play is about being playful in work- whilst also making time for fun in your personal life, so something more abstract could be applied to both.

Planning has been very important this year, and I like to stay organised and always see this 'future self' I tried to draw.

Dog was about making time to be with animals, but also being like a dog (which I later realised was very close to the mantra of a certain phone advert). But in all honesty I think this year has taught me that if we are to adopt the attitude of any animal, a dog would be great.

Consume was literal in the sense of being a uni student you need to be able to sustain yourself (hence the burger), but on another note also consuming ideas, particularly from your peers and who you look up to (hence the head).

Looking at a tree was a very personal choice! Despite not living very far from my original home living in the city makes me miss the countryside, but also appreciate what greenery we do have a lot.

Cheer Up was a reference to me making too much sad and melancholy work and wanting to be more playful! Though I think the image might appear to be of a more personal context. Still, Cheer Up is good advice for most, to be taken at face value.

Lie Down is very important! I think a lot of students might struggle with their sleep schedules.

This is where it became a bit strange. Honestly, these two illustrations first came about to create a narrative / nice sequence through the book. But I do think they make sense as part of the 10 things I have been thinking about in relation to my progression in the year- although importantly it might be a bit of a push and not understood by the reader, which is not a good thing, which I regret!

Open Your Eyes refers to being more open minded, which became a big thing in regards to this year's COP project on protesters and violence, and I changed my mind about a lot in regards to that subject because of the work I did. This year has also been very tense politically, and I myself want to be more politically minded but also want to encourage others to be so too.

Entering the Void is definitely the biggest push, and as a part of this specific brief I think it may well fail. Still, I now look at it as a way of explaining the imagination, surely the most important thing of being a creative (student).

Ukrainian Street Dogs by Christopher Nunn

I think I should start looking at more photography. I think as an illustrator it's easy to get caught up in stylistic choices, and whilst there is a degree of this as a photographer I think there is much more concentration on composition and mood.

I like photography that is like a snapshot, in the moment. It gives me a feeling that I'm really there, or that I have been, that it is a memory. This is what I really like about Nunn's Street Dog series. Maybe a more relaxed, or jaunty approach to composition could achieve this in illustration. 

Monodramatic by Daisuke Takakura

I am not usually fond of conceptual photography, for me it often looks too staged and fake and flows unnaturally, but there was something about this project that stood out to me. Perhaps its because I didn't even notice at first that the people were all the same. Regardless I think there is something very nice about the compositions and idea that could lend itself to illustration well, particularly the unusual point of view, often from above.

The Illustrated Self: initial ideas + further development

I found it hard thinking of an idea for this project. Whilst I understand the importance of say, time management or visiting the library, I wanted to make ideas and illustrations that might be a bit different to what everyone else has thought or learned about.

My first idea was to create a booklet of things I want to learn, but I suppose that does not suggest anything about what I have learned this year.

My next two ideas serve as instructions or tips, things to "make time for" and "things to remember". From the start, as it is an open project, I wanted to make a book or zine of sorts and I feel that this would suit it well, particularly as why I like making books is that they have more 'purpose'.

Although it's hard to think of ideas that are too different from what others have also learned, I figured I could try and illustrate basic concepts in as unique a way I could muster.

Still, I thought it would be a risk to add something like "enter the void" (which could be used as a metaphor for the imagination!) but with tutor advice I decided to go ahead and develop it.

A lot of what I've been thinking about in PPP in regards to what I want to do is to start making or thinking differently, and so I started with the small step of using a dip pen for the first time!

I'm fond of the lettering results of a thick nib, but am also interested in using mechanised type. I think using a readymade font might add a nice contrast of neatness to the messy drawings.

I liked the idea of creating formal, complex images but was struggling to find a way to unify all of the words under this idea. Instead I went the complete opposite way creating somewhat bizarre simple character based images. Perhaps this was for lack of time, or to suit the lo-fi aesthetic I've been thinking about. Really, I wanted to have fun and be more playful with my imagery. One of my points is that I have drawn too many sad things this year!

COP end of module evaluation

What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them? 

• Research methods. I think I have developed this skill, but not effectively enough, particularly in regards to book and internet research. What I got was often not very relevant to what I was trying to say. It probably would have helped if I had picked a less confusing essay title, but that is no excuse.
• Image making as a response to research. I came across problems with this, struggling with inspiration and how to interpret it but really shouldn't have worried about this too much, as this itself hindered me making work.
• Presentation skills, particularly in regards to explaining ideas and research. The pecha kucha wasn't fantastic, but at the same time it was a huge improvement on past presentations I have done, so, personally, I feel it was quite effective. I developed confidence, but also skills in planning and preparation and rehearsal- which I think was the key to it being successful.
• I'm not sure it's a skill, but doing this project has made me more politically aware! And it hasn't been the most successful project all in all, but it makes me want to continue to make more work with a 'purpose' or 'voice'. 

What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your practical outcomes? 

• My essay mainly dealt with research from books and the internet. It is hard to say that a lot of this influenced my practical outcomes at all, as for the practical side of the project I dealt with a subject almost entirely different to the illustrative outcome.
• For the second part of the project I listened to a few podcasts, and whilst this media wasn't so much the catalyst the opinions on them were so. Finding research which wasn't just fact based but also based on opinion, and quite touching personal ones at that, was very helpful, and the emotive response to this really informed my final work and opened my mind as to what to say. Of course, you must be tentative with opinions and not blindly agree to things, but listening to different views has helped me to inform my own opinion, and so my work.
• Image making as a response to research and in turn as a research method in itself. Through making images as a response I have been able to develop my own opinions and use it as a thought process. And as it is practical myself the ideas I got from this stemmed into my final piece, thematically and visually.

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these? 

• I took a long route but eventually I created a visual diagram that I am somewhat happy with. I think the strength in the diagram is in its way of portraying the idea- in a more abstract and metaphorical way. I think it is more attention grabbing, and may draw more interest from the viewer as they work out what is happening - and so it is a way of working I'd like to do more of.

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? 

• It's fair enough to say I did not prepare myself with enough research for this project, or the first half at least. Now I have done this once, and understand the purpose of COP, I will be able to select research that is more relevant and helpful to what I want to achieve. I will look beyond facts and books (though must include them, as they are very helpful!)
• My essay writing skills were very poor and lead to a confusing essay with no clear argument. Next time I will remember that the key is to structure and plan!

Identify five things that you feel will benefit you during next years Context of Practice module? 

• An understanding of the COP module! Which I have now- but from the essay even to the beginning of the illustrative side of the module I was very confused about what kind of thing was supposed to be made / researched, which of course hindered the project.
• More preparation for the essay question- and a narrower one at that! I was confused, so thought a broad question would be better, but confused me even more! And I think this was apparent in my essay.
• Choosing an essay/ project theme that I feel more personally, or more interest towards, not so much for easiness but that I think as a result the project will be better and more passionate.
• Structuring a better essay and argument, and working on my writing skills.
• More research from opinion and not just fact, for a more personal and emotive outcome.