Having reached the end of Part 5, and the end of the Unit, I reflected on the Assessment Criteria Points.
Demonstration of technical and visual skills – materials, techniques, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills
This part of the Unit did not really require much use of technical or visual skills until I reached the exercise ‘Presenting Yourself’ and the final assignment. The former required me to consider how I would produce a portfolio of work and I opted to use Adobe Portfolio, which took quite some getting used to, but overall I felt the final result was quite professional in appearance and showcased a decent range of work completed up that point. I like clean and simple designs so the minimalistic approach I opted for was a good representation of my taste.
The technical and visual skills that I employed for Assignment 5 allowed me to build on those that I had previously used in Assignment 4. This time I felt more confident in my abilities, for example, using scratchboards and my approach to working in Photoshop, and I believe this was reflected the final illustrations.
Quality of outcome – content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas.
My commitment to this part of the Unit has been quite disjointed, so I do not believe it has been as successful as some of my previous work.
The presentation of my Learning Log has remained consistent throughout the Unit and I have attempted keep it well structured and easy to navigate.
I have strived to put across my thoughts and findings in a concise and succinct manner, although I possibly do tend to ramble a bit on occasion. I believe I outline the process of each task I undertake in a logical and methodical format.
I found the Research Tasks and Exercises in this section of the Unit to be very valuable. These required me to stop and take stock of where I currently am in terms of my creative practice and start to think about important factors such as copyright and dealing with potential clients. I most definitely intend on purchasing a book about these aspects as I find it much easier to absorb information in that format and it’s less stressful than trying to locate the information from reliable/relevant sources online.
Demonstration of creativity – imagination, experimentation, invention, development of a personal voice.
As previously noted, most of the exercises in this section of the Unit were theory based until the last one (along with the Assignment), so the scope for expressing creativity/imagination was a bit restricted. Of course, the exercise ‘Presenting Yourself’, was based on showcasing my personal, creative voice in the form of an online portfolio. From the work that I collated of this task I felt it was possible to identify a personal style and the range of projects I enjoy working on.
I certainly believe that the illustrations I produced for the final assignment were reflective of my personal voice. I also feel that these demonstrated my capabilities in terms of imagination, in terms of the concept, and experimentation, being demonstrated through combining analogue and digital aspects in order to produce the final pieces.
Context reflection – research, critical thinking (learning logs and, for second and third level courses, critical reviews and essays).
Despite struggling with several setbacks, once I made a serious start on the Critical Review I found the topic to be highly engaging and relevant to my interests in illustration/animation. I enjoyed reading through all of the research material and I took on board the advice given by the authors – all renowned individuals in the creative field. I felt my enthusiasm for the topic was reflected in the final text and I was pleased with what I had managed to produce.
Reflect on this assignment. What has the experience told you about who you are as an illustrator? How do you think your voice has developed over the course as a whole?
As I have previously acknowledged, I am not sure if I fully met the requirements for Assignment 5 in so far as not writing out a brief (which is probably the main point of the task). Despite this, along with the time pressures I found myself under, I would consider Assignment 5 to be a success in terms of demonstrating my current skills level and, backed up by the Critical Review, confirming my particular interests within illustration (and animation) and the possibilities open to discovery.
Reflecting on the course as a whole, I believe it is quite evident that my personal voice is beginning to emerge. I clearly enjoy working on projects that include character design and narratives, which is apparent in my choices. I hope to continue exploring this and also developing my ability to communicate emotions and intentions of characters through visual means.