Tuesday 15 March 2016

OUIL404 - End of Module Evaluation

Leeds College of Art
BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION
Level
04
OUIL404 Visual Language
Credits
20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME
Leah Haywood



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 have developed a number of practical skills within this module including how I work with line, tone, shape and texture as well as exploring the different elements of composition. I would say the practical skill I have developed most is my use of shape and texture, I was really interested in how images could be made using simple shapes and how this can be further developed with the addition of texture. This crossed into other areas of my studio practice and was the main media that I used to create my book for my picture book task in module 405. I have also developed practical skills in observational drawing, and am now at a place where I understand the importance of observational drawing and how this can help you develop a deeper understanding of the world around you. I would also say one of my key areas of development was in terms of the composition sessions that we have done. I am now trying to employ these within my own practice my spending a good amount of time experimenting with compositions, layouts and different frames when creating work in other modules. Composition is of key importance and can really help when conveying an idea, thought or feeling and helps to make practical work feel more rounded. This is evident in work that I have done for a recent postcard task in module 406.

2. Which principles/ theories of image making have you found most valuable during this module and how effectively do you think you are employing these within your own practice?
Overall I think I found the principles and theories behind composition the most valuable during this module. I have often previously made work and not tried different layouts and composition and have ended up with work that doesn’t quite feel or look right. I was unsure on how to place emphasis on certain elements of and image and now I feel a lot more comfortable in creating images and pictures that have a more rounded feel to them and that communicate a clearer message. I especially found the session on composition and frame useful as I often find myself frustrated my the constraints given to us in terms of picture area and also was in the habit of fitting everything in the frame. I can now see how frame can be used to emphasis different elements of an image and how you place things within that frame to give importance to certain subjects. I also found sessions on shape valuable as it moved me away from making detailed, intricate work and got me to see how we can simplify images down to shapes to communicate a message clearly and effectively. I am employing this well within my own practice, trying to avoid over complicating things and using shape as a basis for a decent amount of my image making in modules like 406.

3. What strengths can you identify within your Visual Language submission you capitalise on these?
I feel like my strongest work would be my line drawings within the visual subject task and also some of my shape and texture work. I really enjoyed these sessions and tried to push myself out of my comfort zone to experiment with new media and ways of image making. I can see now how line can be used to convey different feelings and emotion and also to add a tone of voice to my work. I also understand now how shape can be used to create simple yet effective images and this has been something I’ve work with in other modules. I am looking forward to taking shape and texture further and combining it with my practice more in other modules throughout the remainder of this year and into second year.

4. What areas for development can you identify within your Visual Language submission and how will you address these in the future?
I think areas that need developing within this submission include working with 3D and lens and also working with mark making. These were not tasks that I was overly excited about so didn’t produce work to the highest standard for. I am not keen on the idea of working with 3D and am yet to discover how I can integrate this into my own practice. It is something that I would like to develop at sometime and would be interested in illustrated objects and product such as ceramics. I also struggled a lot with mark making, it felt messy and unnatural and I’m not sure if this is a way in which I enjoy working. I would address this in the future my trying to work with mark in appropriate situations but I think I would prefer working with it in a smaller amount, like not filling an image completely with marks but maybe just adding some here and there to highlight certain things or 
features.

5. In what way has this module informed how you deconstruct and analyse artwork (whether your own or that of contemporary practitioners)?
I think this module has taught me most how to look at different elements of an image and deconstruct it rather than analysing the image as a whole. It has shown me how to look at composition, how to see the different principles of composition and how to use these to look at why practitioners or myself have put an image together in a certain way and what they have aimed to communicate and how effectively they have achieved this. I have also learnt to look at different elements of images such as the line quality, shapes they have used, colours and textures that have been used and how these devices have been used to create a meaningful piece of work that conveys a message clearly and effectively. I also think above all this module has taught me how to consider how I make my own work. It is easy to stick to what you know and feel comfortable with but I have learnt a variety of techniques and compositional theories within this module which  in turn has helped and allowed me to be critical of my own work through the development process and also once I have got to an end product.

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.