OUIL 402 End Of Module Evaluation

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL402 Personal & Professional Practice 1	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME

Joe Baker

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
I have learned how to put down in a visual way the things that inform my work, starting with a mind map and eventually ending up with a finished piece of illustration to describe myself, I have never really thought about how many different things inform my work in this much depth before. I have learned how to get on with a brief and complete it much more independently without to much aid from my tutors. I have also surprised myself in being able to do all the practical work whilst having so much worry on my mind about doing a presentation, this has given me a bit of reassurance that I will hopefully be able to cope with the stresses that might come with being a professional in the creative industry.
2. What approaches/ types of research have you found most valuable over this module? Why did they have such an impact?
I would say researching different artists has made the biggest impact on my work in ppp, mainly because I find it’s a great source of inspiration if im ever stuck for ideas or not really in the mood for drawing, looking at somone elses work that I like to look at will encourage me to make art which I want to look at. Also watching videos about other illustrators on youtube I really enjoy and has had a big impact, it gives me an insight into how different professionals adapt certain skils in image making and makes me want to be experimental with new media and techniques of creating art. One video in particular was the david hockney documentary, I found it very interesting and it has given me a new perspective on looking at the space around me and taught me that you can create the illusion of time within a drawing. It has also inspired me to try and make my work less representational and more how I want it to look.
3. In what way has PPP informed the way your work in other modules and your illustration practice as a whole? It has encouraged me to try and develop my own visual signature which I now believe is pretty key when it comes to leading a successful career as a creative. Despite the fact that ive always been a slow worker, this module has helped me realise that I should never rush my work and always try and make it the best quality it can be. If a client can see you have a consistent high level of quality through out your portfolio it will make you more employable, and to create a reliable income from illustration is the ultimate goal for me. It has made me consider that I need to start focusing on what I want my work to say, weather it be happy, funny or strange etc.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your PPP submission and how will you address this in the future?
Again I think I am lacking experiments and ideas in my sketchbook, this was partly because the last brief overlapped with COP which I was really behind on and trying my best to get finished, also because ive been worrying about the presentation so much ive found it hard to think about anything other than standing and talking in front of a big group of people which is my worst nightmare, its had quite a negative impact on my ability to concentrate and my motivation to draw. The only way I can think to address this is to somehow get over this fear so it wont have such a big effect on my performance next time round. Another weakness is I don’t think that my poster has enough concept and doesn’t relate to my mind map that well, im really happy with how it looks I just think it needs more meaning rather than just being a picture of different versions of me doing different things, I will address this by organising my time better and spending more time in my sketchbook and thinking of ideas rather that just going for the first thing I think of. 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 will try and get more involved within the creative community around Leeds like going to thought bubble and just generally try and be keener in terms of making art, I think this will be easier whilst we have a break because I won’t have a work load/ deadlines to knock my positivity and motivation. Another example would be going to exhibitions and galleries whilst on holiday over summer, I believe this will inspire me to create work and it will give me an insight into different sorts of modern design.
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.

PPP presentation

Final visual diagram

I chose to do the final drawing on a3 because I thought it would be too time consuming to draw out a full a2 picture, it took me 5 hours to get it all mapped out and drawn so any bigger would have been a nightmare.

Once id done the pencil bit I went over it with indian ink and a bursh, constantly varying the pressure of my hand to achieve some nice interesting lines, i was really happy with the drawing when id finished it.

For the colours one of my peers recommended i have a play on adobe colour picker, i found this website extremely helpful in choosing the colour pallet as colours have never been my strong point and its somthing ive only really started to like in the past few months.

I had an idea of the colours i wanted to use but i wasnt totally sure, i knew i wanted some soft pastel colours which had to include a pale blue for the background, I decided to go for the top one because i thought those colours would be more relevant to the objects within the image. On the other hand i have been trying to make my work less representational and a green dog might have looked funny

I am really pleased with how its come out, id say its the best thing ive made all year and the colours actually work really well together and dont take anything away from the drawing. One thing i could improve on is my use of shape and texture, im always looking to make my work look more hand made and less robotic so this is something i will practice over the summer. In terms of communicating the illustrated self, i think ive been fairly successful, the images is chaotic but organised abit like my life at uni. I really like the functional quality of the drawing, it allows you to look at it for a few minutes and keep noticing different things going on such as the wire connecting from the controller to the tv. One thing thats wrong with it is some of the shadows are abit off but my understanding of light and shadow has never been my strong point, i think practising observational drawings will help solve this.

Visual Diagram roughs

I found it pretty tough thinking of things to describe myself, but i know i wanted my poster to involve figures in some way and the possibility of a scene with different things going on excited me. My initial idea was to draw a bed room with a few different versions of me all doing different things that I do on a day to day basis which informs my work.

I played around with a few different layouts and view points and decided that my favourite was the angle where you can see part of the ceiling, im not sure why i just thing it makes it look like your in the room a bit. 

I really liked the idea of having different patterns on each wall which would create the illusion of a 3 dimensional space. However i wasn't really developing this idea very much so i decided to maybe just concentrate on the figures themselves rather than the area round them.

I thought about having the figures still doing these different things but all tangled up between each other, the first rough isnt very good so i decided to change to a portrait layout to see if this had any effect.

Immediately i thought this design was much more engaging and interesting than the bedroom one, the only thing it needed was maybe a few more items relating to my mind map such as nature and animals etc.

This was my final rough before starting the proper drawing, im quite happy with the layout but i usually change things round as im drawing it, its just something ive always done

3 posters task

I wanted to make my posters as simple as possible with a minimal amount of words but still communicate my ideas efficiently. I drew the black outlines with a brush and Indian ink to achieve nice line quality, and the purple and grey bits with watered down quink ink. Ive also tried to not make them to serious and to hopefully get abit of humour across, i think ive been relativity successful in doing this by making the characters simple and joyful. If i was to repeat this task i would do the same thing but consider the possibility of scanning the black outlines in and doing the colours in photoshop with a wacom tablet.

OUIL 401 End of Module Evaluation

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL401 Context of Practice	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME

Joe Baker

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
I have learned how to plan and write an essay, this is something I have little experience in and I have never been very good at the academic side of things but taking this into account I think I’ve done rather well. I have learned how to analyse a picture and I’ve put this skill to use in one of the study tasks and throughout the essay. I have also learned the technique of Harvard referencing, although I’m not sure whether I’ve done this completely right so this is something I might need to work on. I have learned how to respond visually to a piece of written work, however this confused me quite a lot for a while and I don’t think it has been done with my best efforts.
2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your practical outcomes? Prior to this module I had very little knowledge on using books for research as I am not a keen reader but this is something I’ve found very useful in gathering information. I wouldn’t have been able to write my essay without one particular book I found in the library, it had tonnes of stories and facts which influenced my work quite a lot. Another example of how using books for research informed my work Was in my final outcomes in my visual journal, without the book I wouldn’t have known what to illustrate and I would have probably gone down a very different path. The obvious approach to research which is the internet is something I’ve also developed, this is what gave me the idea to look into signs and start drawing them.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I think most of the strengths lie within the level of depth in doing my research, which informed my essay quite a lot and gave me lots to write about. I believe the quality of most of my visual responses are also strong, I realise there should be more but I put quite a lot of time in to the art work I did, through this I also explored different usage of media which I will carry on and use in future modlues.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
I defiantly think there is a lack of experimentation and research in my visual journal. I was stuck for ideas for the majority of the module because I really didn’t want to just draw signs as people kept suggesting. I think next time I will have to try and care less about making work I don’t like or don’t enjoy and use this as a tool to grow as a creative. Another fault I can now see is that I didn’t stick to what id written in my proposal, originally id settled for just creating some of my own signs but then recently changed my idea to illustrating some of the misinterpreted signs out of the book. Im not sure if what ive done is totally wrong because it seems abit random and theres no real finalisation or end point to my journal, theres not really a political/ social theme to it either like the majority of my peers work. I think the only way to solve this would be to research things I’m more interested in and maybe I could have got on with the work abit easier. I also think the quantity of drawing, artist research and quotes is very weak, I should maybe have referred to my essay more and used some of Gerald Holtom, and Jean Julliens quotes in my visual responses.
5. Identify five things that you feel will benefit you during next years Context of Practice module?
The first thing would be to start the work earlier, as I mentioned previously the academic side has never been my strong point and as a result I put it off as long as possible and ended up ruining my Christmas holiday worrying about the essay. I feel the knowledge I’ve gained on planning and structuring an essay will definitely help me, I’m a bit apprehensive about the essay being longer but I booked an essay writing tutorial at the college which helped me a massive amount so I’ll be doing the same next year. Another thing that I would say is I’m going to try and be less afraid to make mistakes, weather this be through experimenting with media and drawing or even the things I write about. This is because I recently learned you cant really loose marks for things you do, only what you don’t do, and I think ive held back quite a lot in this module because I wasn’t sure about things. Another thing im going to do is keep a note pad just for cop and make more lists when I feel stressed out bout the work, ive noticed a few of my piers doing this and I can imagine it must really help. This is something im going to do for all my modules.
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.