End of Module Evaluation

Throughout the year, Extended Practice has been the most integral module to my development as an inidivudal and a practitioner. Having the freedom to choose and create my own briefs that suit me and my working style has allowed me to have full creative control over my practice for the past few months. This has made me a lot more comfortable with just letting myself work how I work, I haven't felt the need to conform to a specific idea of what illustration is and feel that my work has progressed for the better over the duration of this module.

Over the course of the module, I think one of the most important things I've kearnt is what kind of area I want my illustration work to be heading into. At the start of the year, I was floundering around abit, trying to figure out how I can get my work to fit into commercial sections of th ecreative industry, without really having much passion for any of them. Throughout 603, I've worked on a few briefs that have related to music and designing work around that. This is something that I'm extremeley comfortable and happy doing, having recently got my first comission to do band merch for an american bands new album release, its a direction I can see my work developing further into and a route that I'm happy going down.

My proccess and production skills have developed throughout the year as well. I've made sure that, although I've worked mostly digital, I've varied my process, tried new things out, and found various ways of working to build on within my practice. I've also developed a lot of confidence this year in terms of my practice. I've worked on Print Fairs, contacted clients and managed to get some of my work archived at a Museum. All of these things have led to me having a sense of confidence in my work which has allowed me to take myself a little bit more seriously as a practitioner.

I've had some trouble balancing time for this module and havent managed to complete everything that I wanted to do before the module ended. This is due to different health problems over the year but also down to my own time management. This has been a consistent issue for me throughout university and is something that has got better but that I still struggle with. The problem with writing my own briefs was that there was no external deadline for me to hit, so throughout the year 603 sometimes took a backseat while I was sorting other things out. I've learnt from this that the best way for me to work is quite quickly, finding that I prefer shorter briefs witha  quick turnaround, to longer briefs that drag on for weeks/months. This is because of me struggling to manage my time when faced with a  longer project and also down to me having the tendancy to get a bit bored of a project if it goes on too long.

Overall, I feel that regardless of everything else, 603 has simply allowed me to develop and hone my practice in a way that Studio Practice modules haven't allowed me to before. Considering where I was at the start of the year and where I feel I am now, I think I've progressed a lot. I'm happy to be ending the year with a body of work that I'm proud of and with my first comission in progress, this is more than I could've hoped for and something that I'm incredibly proud of. While compiling everything for submission, I found it difficult to justify whether or not I'd done 'enough' work, but I think that being content with the progression of my practice and with the work I have produced justifies the work I have done this year completley.

Design Boards

Study Tasks

First self-portrait

Second self-portrait

Statement of Intent - Revised

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	06
OUIL603 Extended Practice	CreditV	60
STUDIOPRACTICE Statement ofIntent

Name	Leah Haywood
Date	24/02/18
Rationale
The projects I have chosen to work on fro 603 allow me to explore different industry sectors I am interested in working within and/or offer me an opportunity to explore and expand my practice in terms of process and production. Together, the selected briefs will allow me to compile a portfolio of work, whether this exists online or in a physical format.
Themes / Subjects
- Music - exploration of sound and image - Emotionally driven work – focus on feeling and human experience – concept of home - Applied illustration – product, packaging, printed goods etc - Editorial – imagery and words, possibly linking to emotion and feeling - Themes for zines vary throughout - Folklore/Mystical Practices – specific theme for wall hangings
Products / Methods of Distribution
- Prints - Zines - Live brief responses - Digital outcomes - A selection of printed products/goods (wall hangings, Print Stuff stock etc) - Distribution – online, print, fairs and stalls, portfolio, website

Practical Skills / Media / Fromats

- Drawing  - Digital  - Print - Publications - Product - Research

Brief 1: Alternative LP Covers	Deadline	28th February
Rationale: Allows exploration of the relationship between music and image. Allows response to a personal interest and influence. Exploration of different processes and production methods. Further understanding of working within a specific format and set of constraints.
Brief 2: Editorial – Responses to selected articles/creative writing pieces from Oh Comely Magazine.	Deadline	31st March
Rationale: Allows experience responding to pre-written articles in an editorial format. Investigation into how imagery accompanies word to enhance each other. Allows options to work with possible emotive subject matter. Development of process. Understanding of formats and possible constraints. Could have potential to form contacts, final outcomes could be printed and sent to the art director/magazine headquarters.
Brief 3: “Home” – an exploration of the concept of home	Deadline	17th May
Rationale: Research led project based around the concept of home. Outcomes not necessarily defined, potential to go in multiple directions. Exploration of practice – print and process. Respond to personal experience as well as first hand experiences of others via research, surveys, questionnaires etc. Broad subject matter, sometimes highly emotive. Respond to emotion and experience. Experimentation and exploration of own practice – ongoing project – no obvious end point. Allows for varied responses, zines, prints, short comics, etc.
Brief 4: Wall Hangings	Deadline	28th April
Rationale: Produce a series of images consisting of a minimum of three illustrations responding to one OR three different folktales OR aspects of mystical practice, e.g. witchcraft, divination etc. Final designs will then be screen printed onto fabric and made into wall hangings. Research led brief to expand contextual and theoretical understanding. Short individual briefs with over-arching themes combine to make one larger project. Expand process and production skills. Exploration of Applied illustration with a focus on print, narrative and storytelling. Ties into Print Stuff, if successful, outcomes can be sold.
Brief 5: Zines	Deadline	17th May
Rationale: Produce a variety of zines/small publications exploring a variety of themes. To be completed within varied time frames. Exploration of zine format – learn how to work in different/new ways. Exploration of practice – different timeframes – zine a day/week etc. Image and narrative exploration and conceptual development. Production and Process – DIY. Continuation of pre-existing ideas, and opportunity to pick old things back up. Allows for times spent just drawing, exploring and having fun. Develop and enjoy practice.

ACTION PLAN- use this section to identify specific tasks that youneed to complete in order to resolve the brief.
Brief	What do you need to do?	Deadline
1	Forge Magazine - Research theme. Create image. Submit via website.	5 – 9thMarch
2	Papergang by Ohhdeer - Download Brief and Project Pack. Decide on theme to run throughout. Generate Imagery. Apply to product. Submit via website.	26th March
3	LP Covers – Series of five alternative LP covers. Choose albums. Create imagery. Produce mockups. Explore process.	28thFebruary
4	Home - Ongoing project. Research driven (primary and secondary). Initial research to define starting point. Begin creating imagery that responds to research undertaken. Varieties of practical outcomes are achievable. No set end point. Continuous project with room for a variety of directions.	17th May
5	Editorial – Look through back copies of Oh Comely magazine and select three articles to work with. Create imagery in response to these images. Consider printing images and mailing to art director of magazine.	31st March
6	Wall Hangings – Select specific theme to run throughout. Initial research to be undertaken. Start generating imagery. Look into production methods, materials etc. Finalize images. Print. Make wall hangings.	28th- 30thApril
7	Zines – Ongoing project and production of zines. Explore different themes, formats and production methods.	17th May
8	Print Stuff – Selection of printed goods/products to take and sell at Print Stuff 2018. Can generate new work specifically for this OR use existing work from other proposed briefs and apply to product or print.	28th April
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Cryptid Final Designs and Proposal for Continuation of Project

These are my two final cryptid designs. In terms of colour scheme, they are both finished with the same colours, just layered on top of each other differently as I wanted to create different tones of voice for the individual cryptids. The Jackalope is a lot softer, its not as terrifying as the Wendigo so wanted the colours to represent this, hence why the pink is more prominant in this design. The Wendigo on the other hand is a nightmarish creature, therefore, the blues are more predominant as I wanted to convey a darker tone of voice

Originally, I was suppossed to produce three iamges for this project but have only managed to complete two. This is due to a surgery and the recovery time from this which has led to me not being able to complete work at the speed that I needed to in order to do all three. Nonetheless, I'm happy with the two outcomes i've produced and intend to carry on creating images around this subject matter as the whole research part of this project has been really interesting. 

I had also proposed to make these iamges into fabric wall hangings. This is something that i still want to do but will not have time to complete before the deadline. Therefore, I instead propose to create these wall hangings in time for the end of year show. If for some reason this cannot be completed. the images will be printed off at a large scale and shown as posters hung from the wall, rather than traditional fabric wall hangings as such. 

Jackalope - Final Composition

Final Composition

This is the final composition for my second cryptid piece, the Jackalope. I've started trying to look at ways to further develop the design by use of two different colours. I'm happy with the way this has turned out, the Jackalope is interacting with pieces of the composition and it seems well balanced. My next steps are to figure out a colour scheme and finalise both the Jackalope and Wendigo design as these are now the only two designs I'm going to have the time to finish.

Jackalope - Ink Paintings

The Ink paintings I did for the Jackalope involved repainting the Jackalope until I was happy with the figure, and then repainting different elements from the composition I'd chosen from the roughs I'd done. I chose to paint the elements individually, as it would give me the choice to drag and drop different features and deide what works best with the image of the Jackalope

Jackalope - Roughs and Composition

With the Jackalope drawings, i pretty much perfected the composition in the first couple of roughs. I wanted the creature to take up most of the space and found an effective way to do this by spreading it diagonally across the page and filling the rest of the space with other imagery from the jackalopes background. This cryptid didnt need as many roughs and I'm happy now to move onto ink drawings to finalise different aspects of the design.

Cryptid Number 2 - Jackalope

Jackalope
- fearsome critter described as a Jackrabbit with antelope horns
- originated from sightings of rabbits affected by Shope Papilloma Virus which caused horn like protuberances on skin and body
- Rabbits and deer paired as twins/brother/as sun and moon 
- Enticed by whiskey, the Jackalopes beverage of choice
- Can imitate human voices - mimicked the voices of cowboys singing round campfires at night
- Can only breed during lightening storms 
- Warrior Rabbit - viscious when attacked 
- Wyomings official mythical creature 
- popularized via taxidermy replicas 

Jackalope Reference Images

Wendigo - Mockups and Final Composition

Final Composition

I mocked up a few different composition experiments based off the roughs that I did and ended up finding one that I was happy to stick with and develop further onto the next stage. For now, I'm going to leave the Wendigo as it is, because I want all three images completed before I start to consider colour and how to make them all cohesive. I've also found this way of working really beneficial to me, and will continu eworking in this way throughout the remainder of this project. I feel that the other two images will come together alot quicker now I know how to work and how to consider my compisition effectivley.

Wendigo - Ink Paintings

With these paintings, I created one intial drawing of the wendigo and then using a lightbox, painted the creature over and over again in order to refine him further and validate it as an image in my head. I then started creating scenery and background from the roughs that I'd done. I ended up witha  few variations and plan to scan them all into photoshop and drag and drop different elements till I perfect the composition aspect of this cryptid.

Wendigo - Revised Roughs

 After my tutorial, I worked on using the space of the wall hanging to maximise the imagery and add more focus to the character and his surroundings. I did a few pages of roughs that provided different options for layouts and composition. Although working this way means the wendigo doesn't look exactly real, I'm quite enjoying the process and am excited to get started painting the different aspects of the image.

I think thinking about space and roughing in this way is something I've lost sight of recently, it's been beneficial to get back to it as its provided me with different options and lots more opportunity for character and composition development.

Feedback from Tutorial

During my tutorial with Matt, a few things were said that have set my head straight on how to progress with this project further. I was right in saying that the images were a bit over-photoshopped, this was something that was discussed and that I've been encouraged to get away from. It was also suggested that I consider the space I've got, and rather than using only the centre part of the frame, try use the entire thing to convey the stories of these characters and make them completley take over the page.

I expressed worries about how if things dont look fully polished and clean, to me they aren't validated as actual pieces of work. It was suggested I get a lightbox, and draw the same thing over and over again in order to validate it in my head but also to develop things and refine the overall appearance of my imagery. From this tutorial, I think I'm going going to get out of my sketchbook and start working on some lose pieces of paper in order to get away from that 'finalised' feeling. I'm also going to try creating my images with ink rather than pencil, I think using something that'll force me to create images in a looser way will help massivley.

Wendigo Mockups

In preperation for my one-to-one tutorial, I've been putting together some mockups, in order to show my 'final vision' for this particular cryptid and how i want the other two cryptids to look. I intend to screenprint onto fabric so was looking at colours that would stand apart from each other and the fabric, adding halftones when needed to incorporate that little bit of extra detail. I aim to get feedback on these at the next tutorial and hope that this will help me develop the imagery to the next stage.

Although I'm happy with how the creature itself looks, I feel that it's not quite right, and I'm trying to make it too polished. The trees used in the background have more of the right kind of feel to them, the wendigo itself looks a little too finalised, and the pieces are looking a little over-photoshopped. I'm not entirley sure how to avoid this as I feel it's something thats been ingrained into my practice. 

Wendigo - Initial Drawings

My initial wendigo drawings aimed to figure out posture, character design, and facial expression of the wendigo and then go on to illustrating different aspects of the creatures background and history. By the end of this development process, I was left with the figure of an emancipated, intimidating creature that I aimed to surround with chunkier, painted aspects of its habitat, diet and history. 

Cryptid Number 1 - Wendigo

Wendigo
- emancipated creature, stag head, sunken red eyes, skin stretched tight over bones
- stench of death and corruption
- supernatural hunting abilities, stalks prey and can imitate human voices
- infects and possesses people - wendigo fever
- hunger is never sated and the wendigo grows more deadly with age
- flesheater of the forest - cannibal
- wendigos come into being when a human resorts to cannibalism in order to survive
- evil creature, spirit of the wilderness

Refference Images 

Cryptid Wall Hangings

For my last big 603 brief, I've decided to make wall hangings based aorund North American Cryptids. I've always had an interesting in things that are a little unusual or mystical, and initially was going to base this project around folklore/mythology, before finding the sub-category of cryptids and realising this fit my interests and the direction of this project more.

Cryptid: An animal whose existence or survival is disputed ur unsubstantiated, such as the yeti

Selected North American Cryptids: 
- Chupacabra
- Loogaroo
- Jackalope
- Jersey Devil
- Wendigo
- Sasquatch
- Madremonte
- Mothman
- Wampus Cat

From this list, I will further research some of the cryptids and start deciding which ones i'd like to follow through with and create imagery for. The plan is to have three fabric hangings, illustrating three different cryptids for the end of year show. I feel that wall hangings would be the best medium for this kind of project as histoircally, tapestries and wall hangings have been used to tell stories and give wordless narrative to events, legends, and folklore across the world. To align with this, I'll be ensuring that my final pieces contain specific visual elements of the stories that surround the cryptid creatures.