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
Who I am as an illustrator and person has really changed since coming to university and doing this module. I think before learning about the open world of illustration I had a very clouded view of what I thought illustration was. ‘what makes a good drawing’ has become a question that I ask myself daily and my view of this has changed so much than from the beginning of the year. This prospect is so exciting to me because looking back at my work from the beginning of the year I feel like I have changed so much as a person and an illustrator. Being independent and being around a whole new group of people has given me new found confidence.
2. What approaches/ types of research have you found most valuable over this module? Why did they have such an impact?
Using Pinterest has been really fun for my throughout this module. As someone who had an account but never used it, it has been fun trying to get back into it again. I have found many things on there that have really inspired me. I also think the Big Head talks have been really useful for me this term because learning and listening to real Illustrators who are out there in the world is really eye-opening and inspiring. It’s nice to learn that they are down to earth and humans just like us, they have bad days and good days too. I think this has been the most valuable to me as I have found looking at other practitioners and listening to them has really helped me to grow my practice and to try out different things.
3. In what way has PPP informed the way your work in other modules and your illustration practice as a whole?
PPP has become the module where I discover myself and who I am as an illustrator. Drawing and being myself and finding artists who inspire me has really informed the way that I work in other modules and in general. Doing this module has given me the grounds to experiment more, and learn new things, for example using clay. Before this was completely alien to me and I hated the word 3D. However, when I actually decided to give it a go and try it after some gentle pushing from Matt I discovered that I actually really enjoyed it. It was so fun watching my illustrations come to life in my hand. I ended up using the clay for a little figure that was for COP and I think it turned out really well and fit the module perfectly.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your PPP submission and how will you address this in the future? I think that one of the weaknesses I have had throughout PPP is not blogging about every artist that I have come across that inspired me. I have found a lot of artists that I have really enjoyed looking at, on pinterest, Instagram and through presentations and other classmate’s. I have regretted not writing about each one of these as I have forgot some names and forgot inspiration and I think its really good to document things like this. I think in the future I need to be more organised with my blog and make sure that I actually blog everything that is inspiring to me.
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? I want to investigate more into the idea of selling my work on Etsy and as a brand, as inspiration from Charlotte Mei and Studio Mama Wolf who both utilise this feature. I really want to start getting my work out there and making a name for myself and after being inspired by Charlotte Mei, I really want to do some things out of the ordinary. I want to look into doing possibly clothing items and different things like plates, mugs, stickers etc. But I do also want to make some really lovely prints that I will be really proud of. It’s been a dream of mine for a while to actually get my work out there to be sold so I would really like to make this dream an actual reality at some point.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance					x
Punctuality					x
Motivation			x
Commitment			x
Quantity of work produced			x
Quality of work produced			x
Contribution to the group					x
­­­The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self-evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

presentation round two

i have decided to revamp my presentation a bit. i feel like it didn't have any of 'me' in it and felt really robotic and boring. i also presented it in front of ben and he said that there wasn't enough imagery or pictures to keep him interested. so i went through and decided to add more imagery into the mix. i also added little funny comments here and there because i thought this would give the personality that i wanted to come across.

presentation

the illustrated self

 

here is my finished poster! i really really love how it turned out. i think it properly expresses what i wanted it to express. i love the thought of myself wrapped up cosy. it could insinuate that the feelings and work is on the outside whilst i am on the inside warm or that i am completely wrapped up in my work. both are true. i think using quotes from my blog was a really good idea and it worked out just the way i wanted it to. i also think using watercolour was a good idea too because it gives a really nice effect to the actual poster with the texture and stuff. 

really pleased with how it turned out !! i love blanket beth

the illustrated self process

i started off this poster with my initial idea of the blanket beth. i was then wondering what i wanted to put onto the blanket as some sort of pattern. i started out by taking inspiration from the word poster that i did - drawing some kingdom heart related items. however as i started drawing them i began to not like the idea so i decided to look at different angles.  

came up with the idea of doing text instead of images. quotes from my blog!! really liked this idea when it came to me because i thought it would be personal and also professional at the same time. because i'm writing about my work and my feelings on it on my blog. i really liked some of the quotes and i think they really fit the mood that i was going for. 

as i started to do it all in different colours, i found that i really didn't like how it was going. i think i should've kept with a colour scheme. it also really annoyed me how you could faintly see the pencil lines through the watercolour even after trying to rub them out. thats when i decided to use the lightbox instead and i went with the colour scheme of blue because i think its a really relaxing colour and me in my blanket is relaxed.

after finishing it it looked really cool when you could see it through like this! i dont know why i took this picture other than purely because it looked super rad and i wanted to.

really happy with how the poster has come out now though, and now it's just onto printing so that it looks clean and is in A2! excited !!

the road to illustrated self

it me

here are some of my drawings that are leading to the final drawing of my poster. i have decided that i really want to go with something blanket beth related. i want to do this because i think blanket beth has become who i am as a person and an illustrator. i am lazy. i like being cosy. i like dog. i like blankets. throw them all together and boom its me.

not good

this weekend has probably been the hardest weekend that i've had since being on this course. i've come home and realised how sad i am. it's really shit. i hate being sad and anxious because i like people to think that i'm the happy one. i'm the one that cracks jokes and awkwardly makes people laugh (hopefully). i want nothing more than to cover my recent depression in stupid jokes but its got to that point where i'm so lost and surrounded by my own sadness that i don't know where to turn. 

i know this post is probably stupid and pointless but i just really needed to get this out of my system. if i can't tell anyone i'm sad then at least i can write it on my blog, right? how very 21st century of me.

SOS

notes for presentation

i have begun answering some of the questions that i found on estudio, i found that this is helping me to decide what i want my presentation to be about. i think the way that i want to go with my presentation is kind of a personal & professional side of things (duh thats the name of the module) but what i mean is i dont want to just talk about my year in class, but talk about how its effected me as a person. what have i done this year that is just about me? what have i learned as a person? 

learning as a person will help to inform my professional practice, which is why i want to focus on this. if i'm growing as a person then i am growing as an illustrator too.