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Reflections

Reflecting on this term I have learned a lot about myself and my ways of working. The 3M commission project was probably the most challenging brief I have approached so far. The theme of ‘innovation’ is extremely open and doesn’t set much of a direction which left me feeling lost and confused most of the time. Later on I realised what the problem was.  The project seemed to have a very contemporary art feel to it and once again I found myself confused trying to combine illustration with contemporary art instead of treating it as any other project and exploring the theme and processes of image making. 

After the proposal was put forward and my project got rejected I felt more of a relief than disappointment. I believe this was due to me knowing I will have the chance to look over the work I have done so far and possibly develop another, more successful outcome. I think the biggest problem with the project I was set on creating the final piece instead of allowing myself to explore the different discourses within the theme. When setting myself the brief for the independent project I believe I have made the same mistake. I tried to approach the competition briefs concentrating on creating the final image straight away which quickly became evident when I became stuck. Not only my images didn’t seem to be directed for the right audience, they also seem to lack depth of meaning.  When I realised this I decided to re-write my brief completely.

The new brief seemed to fit my way of working much better allowing me to experiment with materials and not worry about the final outcome so much. I created a range of interesting designs that I later used to create a range of designer stationary which I also presented at an interview when putting forward my business proposal for next year’s placement at enterprise centre.  I found the designs so successful I also decided to use them for the self-promotion brief and created 3 different designs for a business card.

Overall I think that even though I struggled a lot this term the final reflections are very positive as I learned a lot about my limitations as well as my strong points. I believe the key points to consider for the next year is to continue concentrating on my strengths to develop them further which will allow me to feel more confident about my ways of working and keep challenging myself to reduce the low points in my practice. 

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Self directed project - Rewritten brief.

As it turned out, setting myself a competition brief got me stuck as I was concentrating too much on the final piece which affected project development leaving it lacking depth and me feeling stuck. 

In order to fix that I decided to write a new brief leaving it much more open.

Independent project

As a part of this project I will explore the theme of nature and flowers. I will allow myself to experiment with materials and technique finding new ways to create visually stimulating images. In order to do that I will work with a wide range of media trying unconventional ways of drawing to create theme related designs. To develop the project I will also try to find ways to contextualise finished designs to analyse their effectiveness.

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Self directed project

Self Directed Project- Natalia Wsocka

Through this term I am going to undertake a few ‘live briefs’, such as competition briefs to explore my process of working to set guidelines and responding to them creatively. I also want to explore the ways to execute the final product to a high visual standard.

Currently working with Penguin Award 2014 brief by creating a book cover for ‘The Outsiders’ by S. E. Hinton.

And

Tigerprint brief asking to develop a floral design suitable for a mothers day card.

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I came across the work of Kathy Klein by accident when browsing online magazines. Her work consists of images featuring circular, kaleidoscope-like pattern made of flowers, shells and other organic material. 

I particularly like how compelling the circular pattern can be and am sure to try it out in my project.

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I found Ian McKeever to be another great inspiration. I am extremely found of his abstract paintings. What is so compelling about them is the organic feel of the shapes. Even though they seem slightly random they do remind me of bacteria shapes. This links me back to my previous post in which I mentioned how I am interested in developing a design that would be my own interpretation of nature and I think that looking at Ian’s McKeever’s work helps me to understand how the shape and quality of the line can influence a viewers perception of an abstract shape. For example the bottom right image looks like an arrangement of cells because of the thin lines outlining the shape as it gives them a sense of mutability or even movement.

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Florence Manlik is an illustrator based in France. She balances between illustration and art. Her work consists of very detailed drawings of what seems to abstract interpretations of nature.

The amount of detail the artist uses within her work is impressive and surely guarantees the viewers attention as they will most likely try to make sense out of the abstract shapes reading in further into the image.

I found her work extremely inspiring and found that it helped me to find a way to approach the project better. I like the idea of creating a design that would be my own interpretation of nature.

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This is some of the images I developed after looking into abstract paintings. They are inspired by microscopic images of crystals. I particularly like the use of white to create the pattern as it marges with the white background giving it a more abstract look.

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Struggling for visuals for the project I looked at close up images of crystals and bacteria hoping to develop some motif I could work with. I found the images very inspiring. I particularly like the way the transition of colour and the intricate patterns that even though seem incoherent create a shape that grabs your attention inviting you to make something out of it. This brought my attention to abstract paintings that I have started looking at in order to develop this project further.

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The work of Ian wright is very striking, He uses a collection of random objects to create an image, often a portrait of a famous person. His illustrations look a lot like pixelated images. His work is very innovative in the way he uses his media. By placing objects strategically he...

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Following the theme of innovation led me to revisit the work of an artist that i discovered a few years ago. Elph is a painter and an Illustrator from Edinbourgh. What I feel is especially intriguing about his work is the way he exadurates the details of machinery or urban environment...

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When first given the brief we were not given specifics of the project. All we were asked was to research the meaning of the word ‘Innovation’ and allow it to spark some artistic responses in our heads. This task seemed to be quite easy until it came to executing it. Turns out the word innovation...

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Innovation - What innovation took place in your work last term?

Innovation means a creation resulting from the study and experimentation, following that definition I believe my project was all about innovation. The biggest part of my project was accidental mark making and experimentation. through that I developed a new technique for drawing using drips of PVA glue mixed with ink. This is possibly a technique I might pick up again in this new project, yet I am itching to try something even different this term. So far the new brief doesn't spark as many ideas as I was hoping but hopefully my further research will change that.

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I started the project by looking at basic impressions I got from a short clip taken out of the film, this quickly turned into a long and exciting process of experimentation with ink. One of the most exciting outcomes must be the PVA and ink mixture. It is one of the most unpredictable processes yet the outcomes never fail to impress me. Through it I experimented with colours and shapes trying to achieve image that would illustrate the clip in a modern, exciting way. I believe I managed to achieve it by combining the PVA and ink technique and digital work. The development of the project led me onto reinventing the cover of the book ‘Gone to Earth’ by Mary Webb which the film was originally based on.

For the display I wanted to put something that reflects the process I went through and the fascinating results that can be obtained with PVA and ink mixture. In order to do that I created a life-sized illustration of a tree so the viewer can fully share the abstract beauty you can achieve with this technique. I believe It to be very successful as IT is rather eye-catching and visually effective as well as It strongly relates to my final design for the book cover.

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I made a life sized, 3D Illustration of a tree using a PVA glue and ink mixture. I find it to be a very successful installation as my goal was to allow the viewer to experience the quality of texture that PVA and ink create when combined together. I think it is a great way to resolve the process of experimentation for me as I have been sticking to the safe zone with this technique and restricted to using paper and manipulated the idea of accidental and planned marks yet this was something new. 

To create such a big installation I decided to abounden the idea of paper. The whole image had to be split into areas which then I proceeded to create on black bin bags, knowing that after the glue dried, I would be able to peel it off the bin bags and transfer it on any other desired surface. After the glue dried I proceeded to combine the parts of the image together by applying it straight onto the wall, I also used a string to suspend some parts of the installation.

This was probably the bravest and most unpredictable project I have undertaken so far but I am rather happy with the result. I can see such an installation in a window of a book store or possibly a toy store or theatre as a part of decoration. I would also love to see it extended to a larger area and create and actual 'forest' using this technique.

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This is a more resolved proposal for a book cover for 'Gone to Earth' I find that this attempt is much more successful than the last one. The inspiration for it came from exploration of the links between 'Gone to Earth' and 'The Little Red Riding Hood'. I really like how the image on the book cover would be appropriate for either story as the colour red is an essential element in both stories and both characters were really close to nature.

The font I chose for the first image, I find is very fitting for the illustration. the combination of both seems to link slightly to the style of Tim Burton movies and I am quite found of this effect.

The font selection for the second image was inspire by the idea of the illustration looking very hand crafted and modern so I thought the most fitting font would be something that looks modern yet hand written. I find it is a successful attempt at designing a book cover overall. The image is reflecting the storyline and I like how it seems to hint at the dark ending because of the girls' obscured face and dark colours that make the image seem slightly ominous.

The only thing I am not entirely happy about is how the image seems to obscure some of the text. I think I will be experimenting further with the image and type relationship in my later projects projects and I believe I should do a further research into typography practice.

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To finalise this project I decided to create a book cover for the book 'Gone to Earth' by Mary Webb that the movie is based on. In the process of doing that I had to learn how to create a book cover layout using Adobe InDesign. This is my first attempt at creating a book cover.

I like the font as It is pretty modern yet it looks handwritten and I believe it works well with the style of my illustrations. The images themselves don't seem to be very appropriate for the book cover. They are too bright and make the words hard to read. They also don't seem to reflect the story of 'Gone to Earth' specifically. I believe my next step would be to create an image that is more appropriate for the front cover of this book.