Blog Task

BA (Hons) Illustration - Level 05

OUIL501 Context of Practice 2

STUDIO BRIEF 1 - Research Proposal

Look at the ideas and sketchbook work produced for CoP2 by another member of your group. Suggest ideas for areas of further research, for each of the following categories, which will ultimately inform any decisions concerning their overall research question for the module.

Proposed Research Question or Theme History of technology and its effect on our consumption of art How has technology and its advancements changed the way we view ‘art’ etc.

1. (Research Behind) What research needs to be undertaken into the general and specific contexts of the Research Project?

Continued research into the history of technology Chronologies of different equipment used for relevant purposes, i.e screens, video, internet, computers, phones, radios, digital art processes How art forms were accessed in the past and how that differs from now, and the in between Further research into Walter Benjamin and things covered in seminar, and other relevant texts

2. (Research Through) What approach(es) could be taken and what processes, methods, materials and tools could be involved in the Research Project?

Go to discovery centre for drawings of old technology Library, books of Walter Benjamin, other related ones, historical books on technology, current comparisons between old and new. Internet research into old and new, also personal reflection on current interaction with creative stimulus.

3. (Research For) What preparation or investigations needs to undertaken for the Research Project to take place?

Book discovery centre Enquire about relevant texts Further narrowing down of point and visual exploration into content of essay

4. (Research In Front of) What research needs to be undertaken regarding who the project is for?

A mini survey of some kind among peers relating to how they gauge their interaction with art in terms of recent technological developments

Sources of further Research (illustrators, books, websites)

Suggestions for a revised Research Question(s) based on the above.

BA (Hons.) ILLUSTRATION		LEVEL	05
Module Code	OUIL501			2014/15
Module Title	Context of Practice 2

1. Outline how you have identified an issue and approached practical responses so far

I began with the theme of History and Technology so I looked at visual material of technology in the part compared to today and did some drawn studies on these images. After the seminar on Walter Benjamin I realised I could link my project directly to the themes we discussed so I started to think about my essay exploring the topic of technologies advancements and the effect they’ve had on the creative world.

2. Identify the ways in which your visual responses and theory are connected. How and why does one process inform the other?

The two are very strongly linked as the idea for my essay was taken from my visual research. As I research more into the history of relevant machines and devices I will become more informed in my drawing of them, this should eventually lead to my drawn project being more than just drawings of old computers and instead something with a message linked to that which I explore in the essay

3. List the visual research sources you are using to develop and inform your practical responses

At present I have used mostly online resources like Pinterest as its an efficient way of gathering a stock of relevant images on a theme. I intend to further my visual research by visiting the Discovery Centre to draw the dead technology they have there, and by looking into books either from the past explaining ‘current’ technology or books from the present discussing the history of technology.

4. Begin to define the visual aspect of CoP2 here: bullet point your action plan for practical production of visual development and the 8-12 page publication. (content should be ideas-based at this stage: roughs and investigating media)

·       Extend existing visual research ·       Decide on overarching theme and link between the two ·       Narrow down specific theme of book ·       Decide upon content of book ·       Work with existing drawings to see how they can be developed ·       Make some thumbnails of potential ideas

Drawings

I've been drawing some old machines from the reference material I gathered on Pinterest. Because the machines look so dull I used bright colours to avoid complete boredom whilst drawing 

Visual Research

I've been using Pinterest to gather a large stock of imagery relating to my theme of History and Technology.

Follow Hollie's board COP 2 History and Technology on Pinterest.

Museum Task

resolutions to the group museum task, i like my tracing paper drawings and the compostitions we made were fun and looked decent

Study Task 1

We have reached a saturation point at which the high pitched scream of consumer selling is no more than sheer noise'

Avoid software. The problem with software is everyone has it

End of Module Evaluation

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

NAME	Hollie Smith

1.  What skills have you developed through this brief and how effectively do you think you have applied them? i think this module has improved my analytical skills as I was thinking in detail about the intentions and meaning within cartoons in order to replicate them in my work. Also I learnt to reinterpret existing visual material in my own way and use it in a project of my own direction, by studying following the conventions of existing cartoons.
2. What approaches to/methods of image making have you developed and how have they informed your concept development process? big sheets For the actual pieces I used a method I'm comfortable with because I didn't allow time for it to go wrong, but I tried to consider my use of colour more than I previously have with watercolour, mostly as I was trying to replicate the aesthetic of the shows. In the development process I used some large sheets for a change instead of my sketchbook which was really good for character design because I could see all my previous attempts at once and pick out the parts that worked before to put them all together.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?  I think it can be considered a strength that I made the three comics to an acceptable standard over a period of 24 hours, although this is obviously not a way I intend to work every again its nice to know I can produce large amounts of work in a short space of time when I'm using methods I'm well established with. I could use this by spreading that productivity out over days and that way I could become massively more productive as I often struggle to work solidly for a long period of time if there's no element of urgency and I feel this greatly hinders my progress. In
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future? I made the stupid error of neglecting this project when I got stuck with it. From the beginning it was not going well because I put off the essay and put my full effort into Visual Narratives,  meaning I recieved a failing grade at the interim deadline because I spent a total of three hours writing complete nonsense in a panic. This set me up for a failure with COP 2 because it was based upon the essay, which I failed, so straight away there wasn't a solid foundation for the project and I struggled to find a subject to explore. Naturally I then did the stupidest possible thing and abandoned the project to work on other briefs because the frustration of trying to find something to study deterred me from trying. This got increasingly worse to the point where there was just over a week before the deadline so the stress of the looming deadline eventually spurred me to force out some substandard work. I then spent far too long trying to rewrite the essay leaving only a day to develop complete the final works. The drawings themselves turned out okay but the pitiful level of preparation and development that went into them has severely diminished the quality. I'm endlessly frustrated at myself for allowing this level of total incompetence but at least I know the reason I struggled was due to the level of negligence I displayed. Needless to say this shan't happen again.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? 1. Not neglect the project if I reach a dead end. It is the absolute worst possible solution to the problem. In doing this I might be able to make a project I'm not ashamed to show to people. 2. A lot more development work. This is definitely what was lacking in this project and compared to other work I've made it's obvious which one was the result of rigorous preparation process and which was the result of total negligence. 3. I will put more work into written tasks and allow time for them rather than favouring the creative work. This way I can avoid the stress of completing this tasks right before the deadline. 4. I will plan my time more efficiently and be more aware of time in relation to the deadline. By doing this I can make better use of my time and plan the project out to fit into that available space of time.  5. Once again I will blog more, but I write this in every evaluation. Specifically regarding the final work I made I want to try different materials to make a comic next time because a formula is starting to develop of brush pen and watercolour/digital colouring. I'd like to try something more shape based, perhaps paint with no outline. I could experiment with this in the final PPP project, in which I hope to redeem myself.
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.

A copy of your end of module self evaluation should be posted to your studio practice blog. This should be the last post before the submission of work and will provide the starting point for the assessment process. Post a copy of your evaluation to your PPP blog as evidence of your own on going evaluation.

Notes

COP 2 - Finals

I chose to use watercolour because its a medium I can use quickly and easily to acheive the desired effect. Also it makes consistent yetsubtley different colour palettes as everything is mixed from the same few colours. Regarding colour palettes I chose to emulate the aesthetic of the specific cartoons as they form part of the assumed content of each show. 

The middle panel on this image appears too static to show a violent chase but I struggled to find out how to combat this, motion lines didnt seem to work. Drawing movement and momentum is something I need to practise.

I think this show has the best colour palette to copy because it makes use of contrasting shades on the colour wheel, using an accent of blue on roadrunner against the diluted orange and brown of the desert.

I think the composition of the fourth panel is a bit clumsy, specifically the placement of roadrunner, it looks too stationary and force to fit onto the same panel. 

I ended up cutting out the teeth grinding panel because it didn't make sense. I also slightly altered some panels, adding the doorframe on the second one and Homer's head on the last. I changed the viewpoint of the fourth to get a better and more Simpson-esque view of the kitchen. The third panel I tried to emulate 'spongebob realism', a technique used in spongebob where close ups on slick cartoon designs are grotesquely detailed paintings. I had a fair amount of difficulty painting the fire, mostly because I didn't have time to practise it beforehand, in the fourth panel a black line overlaps it and generally it looks flat and underwhelming. 

I think for the time I ended up spending on them I'm quite happy with these drawings, but for the amount of time I intended to spend on them they are quite ashamedly bad.