End of Module Evaluation - Visual Language

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

NAME	Hollie Smith

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? This module has made me think more about drawing to practice drawing, rather than drawing to answer a brief. At the beginning it was nice to draw something without a specific concept or point to communicate, but as the module progressed I enjoyed making some work with more content, but content more irreverent than whatever I was doing for the other modules. It also made me consider my use of materials, particularly at the beginning of the beginning of the module when we had to use a variety of tools for specific visual purposes, it made me push each tool more to try and fit it to the brief, like making textured shadow with pens. Also I got more experimental when drawing from horror movies as I had to find a way to to make a violent aesthetic. As well as this there's the printing skills I have learnt in the scheduled workshops which are definitely going to come in handy in future projects.
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? I found the focus on composition and frame the most useful because it's such an important aspect of illustration but can be easy to overlook when planning ideas and just drawing pictures. I now consider the composition of every thumbnail I make, and often vaguely plan the composition before I decide on the content of the image. I enjoyed reading about the technical side of illustration because I often feel like that knowledge is what my work lacks, and in particular the handout explaining what different dynamics of compositions suggest to a viewer.
3. What strengths can you identify within your Visual Language submission you capitalise on these? I'm pleased with the way I used things I'd been drawing in my recreational sketchbook to make fully formed pieces of work, it made my doodling feel useful. I'm most pleased with the Pegasus comic I did, which I would have never thought about or got around to making had it not been part of visual language, so perhaps towards the end it began to act as a conduit for ideas I wanted to pursue. Also the exhaustive practice of drawing something over and over again has now integrated itself into my practice as it's made me realise that the drawing gets better each time you do it, so now instead of labouring over one pencil sketch I will draw something repeatedly until I've learnt how to draw that thing, which I think is a much more useful skill as it helps me build up a back of images I can make, like clip art for my brain.
4. What areas for development can you identify within your Visual Language submission and how will you address these in the future? My main failure was failing to do things at the right time, both the briefs and blogging, because I ended up having to do a lot of work retrospectively, and making blog posts months after I'd made the work. I ended up changing the post dates of the late blog posts so they go on my blog chronologically and make it less confusing but it would've definitely been more useful to me if I'd reflected formally on the work straight after making it, because now I've forgotten a lot about what I was thinking and trying to do. Next time I will try, again, to keep on top of the blogging, perhaps eventually I will manage it.
5. In what way has this module informed how you deconstruct and analyse artwork (whether your own or that of contemporary practitioners)? It has taught me to analyse work based on formal and theoretical aspects like frame and composition and line of sight, etc. I think it's given me a more in depth understanding of other practitioners thought processes when making images, and has made me consider these when looking at other peoples work. I find it much easier to talk about work because I know what to analyse and how to word my opinions. Also learning how my work could be analysed has made me think about drawing in these terms, so I will plan elements of an image and do things for a reason, rather than just doing what looked good.
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.

A copy of your end of module self evaluation should be posted to your studio practice blog. This should be the last post before the submission of work and will provide the starting point for the assessment process. Post a copy of your evaluation to your PPP blog as evidence of your own on going evaluation.

Notes