Visual Narratives - End of Module Self-evaluation

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL405 Visual Narratives	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME	ISAAC SMITH

1.  Which practical skills and methodologies have you developed within this module and how effectively do you think you are employing them within your own practice?
I feel that I have developed a confidence in the use of brusho ink as I have used it to add colour and texture to the design of my book in order to make it feel more like a handmade product rather than a digitally coloured crisp and clean piece of design. I also feel that my observational drawing has improved by being able to go out into the world and study objects and places rather than relying on photographs. Also I wasn’t very confident with my ability to properly take photographs for use as references at the start of this module but I think that through experience I am beginning to improve, and will develop this further in the next module.
2. Which approaches to research have you found most valuable during this module. How have you interrogated your research to identify appropriate ideas?
The most successful part of my research has been the drawings and photographs I have made and collected while being out in Temple Newsam, which is the base setting for my picture book. Going out and getting a feel of a place is to me a much more interesting form of research than looking up what others may have said on articles, pre existing photographs, and webpages. My project has a very personal theme so I think it’s fitting that the most effective part of my research was the elements I was personally invested and involved in creating, such as my observations and photos. I have used my photographs throughout the brief to improve my drawing quality and also as inspiration for my experimentation with alternate media to best represent the erratic winter setting of nature for my book.
3. What strengths can you identify within your submission and how have you capitalised on these? What aspects of your submission are you satisfied with?
I am very happy with my finished picture book as I think it conveys all the ideas about growing up and the duality of happiness and sadness that comes with that feeling that I set out to express. Normally with narrative based work I aim for work that deals with larger issues, such as my context of practice work that is focused around politics, but with this brief I chose to develop something that is personal and means something to me, and I think that my investment in  my ideas shows through in my final book. I also am happy with how I tried to step outside my comfort zone and utilise more wet media in this brief, as it was one of the areas I wanted to develop further on in Visual Skills. I think that I have used wet media quite well to recreate colour and texture, both things that I often overlook in my work because I usually focus on character and foreground design. So for this reason, I’m happy to have stepped out of my comfort zone and learned something new.
4. What areas for further development can you identify within your submission and how will you address these in the future?
In the future I will try to use my sketchbook more and explore multiple different ideas and concepts before starting to develop, as I feel that I stayed with a single idea throughout, and while I think this consistency improved my overall submission, there is always room for more ideas and more development. To do this I will have to work outside of my sketchbook also and develop more character sheets, roughs and colour experimentations to improve the quality of my idea by testing and refining it more. I also think that I should in the future use things like interviews and studies of people to inform my research, as I think I overlooked this aspect while conducting my research for this module overall.
5. How effectively are you making decisions about the development of your work? What strategies informs this decision making? I think that my blog has informed a lot of my development, as I have tried to blog consistently and concisely throughout the brief and use the ideas I have while blogging to inform the following piece of work. Through this method ive been able to identify influences from sources like film and poetry to use in my work, which I would never even thought of doing had I not investigated them on my blog. I also think that being critical of my own work in the past and discussing that with tutors has helped me to want to improve and not be stuck in a single method of working throughout these briefs, but instead try something new every time and leave my comfort  zone as often as possible.
6. How effectively have you managed this project and organised yourself during this module? I feel that I have been more organised in this project, I have blogged effectively and have let more outside influences change and develop my work this time through the use of my blog and expressing my thoughts through it. I have also stayed later at college as I feel that sometimes leaving and going home to continue working isn’t always successful, so I’ve spent a lot more time on an evening in college to avoid distraction and not breaking the rhythm of working consistently.
7.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.