End of Module Evaluation

The start of this module was strange. It felt like it was the first time I had fulfilled briefs for a long time and getting back into it immediately was quite hard (probably also dazzled by so many welcomes/introductions). My difficulty getting back it straight away meant the first brief was fairly tough going- and felt like it I spent longer than it should have done. At the beginning the 2 week briefs seemed very hectic- I thought it was going to be really hard to keep up with. Now after the 3^rd of these briefs my work load feels much more manageable- probably because I am more in the flow- I have more of a routine, I have settled into Leeds/the studio etc more. In retrospect, I am glad I had the shock of these very fast briefs as I feel it pushed me into action- and got me up and going faster than I would otherwise. At the beginning of the module I was kind of intimidadted by how good everyone else in the studio is (something I found at the beginning of foundation too) I feel like now I’ve got over it a bit now- which allows me to be more confident in my own work. The thing I’m probably happiest with is that this module has helped me to strike up quite good studio practice (partly through the shock of the early briefs), and I can feel the more time I spend in the studio the more my work improves.

I feel like I haven’t experimented very much in terms of media during this module- which is unusual for me. I have almost exclusively stuck to pencil, black ink and goache. Part of this may be not being inducted into print yet- as that is something I enjoy experimenting with (especially with different techniques). Even still, I think I could have made better of use of more techniques (such as paper cut)  -sometimes when I think of experimentation I think it can end up as a box-ticking exercise-which it should not be. I think I might need think about my approach towards experimentation a bit more- while thinking about the actual experimentation less (being less constrained). After experimentation, I often found it hard to develop my work into well refined more final images- which is something I’m trying to improve on. At times, especially with the illumination brief I did work that I felt would benefit from being at least partly digital. As I am not very experienced/good at digital processes this is something I’d like to chip away at/improve so it is a tool I can use in future modules/briefs. Before starting the module, I hadn't done very much visual communication- being given set briefs to respond to (such as the illumination brief) I can feel even in this short module my problem solving in regards to this has improved.  

I really did not like lots of my work at the beginning of this module (for example, the poster project- seemed very crude, unrefined, with bad ideas) but I think it has grown on me with time; and for the most part I have liked each thing I’ve done more than the last. In the editorial project I felt much happier with my approach; but now looking back I'm not so keen on two the outcomes (the two with albatrosses in)- I just feel like theres something missing that might have been worked out with further development (idea, media, composition or finish?). I am most satisfied with this final brief- which I think is a good sign. The work for this final brief feels pretty bold- and although I’m not sure I want all my work to have this approach, its nice to try out different approaches, being open to things etc. As I get more comfortable (in the studio environment, in Leeds, etc.) my work is becoming more confident- and hopefully refined. 

So far I feel like my blog is ok- but I don’t use it as much as I could- and when I do, the posts are too long and rambling- not straight to the point enough. I do much more reflection than I record on my blog- and I think this is because it is not immediate- with a journal you can write it down immediately and then reflect later; with the blog, even when I make notes of these reflections I often forget to record them on my blog. I think in future, quicker notes about the work I have done (bullet points- whats good, whats bad) with a bigger focus reflecting on my processes. Throughout the module I collected artist reference and research- which was mostly posted on my PPP blog as the reference/research often had an influence on my work in a more general way. Often, especially at the beginning of the last two briefs I would think of references to research further and then would forget to research them, which is something I should change for the future.