Reflection and Resources
What do you want / need from the course unit?
Course Aims:
● Use experimentation to inform your visual practice and develop personal expression.
● Use a range of visual and contextual research skills to inform your practice.
● Develop further your visual and technical skills across a range of media and technologies.
● Explore and understand the historical and contemporary contexts for your visual practice and reflect on your own practice.
Visual Skills 2 is a general art and design course, but I will be approaching it as an illustrator. The projects will always veer towards storytelling in the traditional sense, and I may choose to use a text or write a story myself. Experimentation will be used within the frame of stories and how to tell them best.
Experimentation as a practice is a skill I am looking to improve. Sometimes limiting oneself when approaching a brief is a good thing, it is good to have a specific direction and specificity but experimentation within that brief is also necessary. During this course, I want to both expand and narrow down on my illustration process. I would like to expand by experimenting with new mediums and seeing how I can incorporate new techniques into my repertoire, and I would narrow down by determining what new techniques best suit my needs as an illustrator currently.
Another goal is expanding my current portfolio with projects exploring the concept of digitally illustrated books. Until now, my projects have been close to what I would like to create as an illustrator, but they have not quite hit the mark in terms of quality and subject matter. I am interested in the world of digital illustration, e-books, webcomics and where the world is heading in terms of illustrated digital materials. Digital technologies have made accessibility to a variety of books easier in many ways, and they also provide a variety of new storytelling possibilities. While I’ve seen some interesting things in terms of illustration and digital technology, I would like to expand my knowledge and my practice in this area.
Managing your time
Time management is something I have had difficulty with. I am endeavoring to change that in this course. Using methods from Illustration 2 and a variety of time management and organization techniques, I have to create a schedule and working process that will maximize my productivity without sacrificing quality of work. I have given myself precise timeframes for each unit of the course and intend to work steadily, making regular updates to this blog as I complete each task. I will basically treat the course as a full-time job with similar hours. As a time management tool, I find Google Calendar to be good for my scheduling needs both for reoccurring tasks and for planning out a larger project. I will also be using physical planners because I like being able to tick off tasks on actual paper.
Identifying resources
Resources I have been and will be using in my practice:
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Drawing and painting tools, inks and gouache especially
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Digital tools (tablet, computer, telephone camera and editing tools, Photoshop, Canva)
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Google services (Google Calendar and Google Images) and the internet in general
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Pinterest for image gathering and brainstorming
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OCA library for research
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Free online libraries, such and Project Gutenberg
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YouTube tutorials, documentaries, etc.
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Spotify artist podcasts