visual communication: persons of note initial ideas + crit feedback

For this task I was given Oliver Postgate, Ray and Charles Eames and Philip Larkin. Whilst Postgate and the Eames are interesting people they are all visual artists, and looking at the task initially I couldn't really think of a way to present them except to draw their already visual creations, and that felt like a boring angle. I also liked the idea of working with a writer, and being able to interpret their work to my own visuals and maybe even working with typography and lettering of their quotes. So I chose Larkin.

He is quite an interesting man, and the main issue at the minute is how I deal with him, tone of voice wise. I have conflicting opinions about him- sometimes he is so grumpy it is funny, sometimes his preoccupation with death is very sad. And he was not a particularly kind man either- his work may be inspirational but he is not someone I would aspire to be. Do I celebrate him?

I am aware that my skill for drawing people is lacking, so had a go at this first. Larkin's face is quite interesting to caricature but I don't think I'm there yet.

But, another important point that came up in the crit is whether it would be more valuable to look at him- as a character- or use his work as a true representation of him.

I had already begun illustrating his poem "The Whitsun Weddings" and while I enjoy the poem and it is popular and think it has some very beautiful imagery I don't think this is a poem that truly represents Larkin. I will read more of his poems, and perhaps select one to illustrate.

An important part of Larkin's life was his environment and his conflict and acceptance of it. I painted some vignettes from 1960s Hull. This also got me thinking- should I be using a sad miserable colour palette to match Larkin's mood- or maybe try and juxtapose it with something more colourful?

visual language: end of module self evaluation

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?

Although I have mentioned working with shape in other module evaluations, it was in Visual Language these considerations began! I think I am starting to improve with shape- particularly as now I will sometimes not even consider using line as a means of image making. That said, I can’t become too involved with shape, and need to experiment more. The first half of the module got me to experiment with media more although I think I lost touch with this particularly as I progressed on to the second half, and with other modules. Thumbnailing has been key in all of the visual modules so far, but I have found it particularly useful in the composition tasks of Visual Language. Now when I create images I mostly create them with a frame in mind straight away- I find it generates ideas quicker and saves time.

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?

This module has introduced me to the idea of good sketchbook practice- not so much in making the book itself look good but rather disregarding such aesthetic in favour of making lots and not being afraid to make mistakes! This has helped my work in other modules too. I most enjoyed, and also found most useful the second half of the visual language module- learning about composition and placement specific elements in an image. Whilst I think other elements such as line and texture are important, I consider the other the main building blocks of an image and the foundations of which good illustration is made on. I took care to try and employ these in my final visual language piece- the screen print- and I think it worked quite effectively.

3. What strengths can you identify within your Visual Language submission you capitalise on these?

As before, I think most of my strengths lay in the more composition based tasks. Whilst I think I worked these well into my final screen print I will also continue to consider these in all I make. In a way it relates to the idea of thumbnailing too. I think my work that was the more stand-alone pieces, such as the print and line of sight image, were stronger than my sketchbook pieces. I felt myself putting more effort and time into them, perhaps because superficially they seemed more important. However, in a way I think this was a good thing as often I am more inclined to make half finished sketchbook work and this forced me out of this comfort zone.

4. What areas for development can you identify within your Visual Language submission and how will you address these in the future? My lens and non-drawing based image making was poor and badly made. I suppose this needs more practice, and with that one of my sure weaknesses is that I rarely consider working beyond drawing and, sometimes, painting. Whilst the first half of the module forced me to work in different media towards the end I found myself back in my set ways of tone of voice and media usage. I need to stay aware and consider more experimental things, otherwise I will never improve! I think I became lazy with my sketchbook based work.

5. In what way has this module informed how you deconstruct and analyse artwork (whether your own or that of contemporary practitioners)? Practicing identifying different elements of other peoples’ work in the visual language taught sessions and deconstructing them in this way helped me be critical of them too. By simplifying the image or illustration in this way I can create an almost mental-checklist of what is there, what could or should be there and how they work together. There is no reason this logic cannot be applied to my own work either! Whilst having more ‘elements’ does not necessarily make a better picture it is helpful to consider what isn’t there- and whether it could be useful. For example, I was concerned that my image for print was not visually interesting enough, and it was suggested that I look at adding depth that was not there beforehand.

visual communication: artists who use character

MARCUS OAKLEY

I picked Marcus Oakley for his band prints! As someone who struggles with drawing representations of actual people I like how he is able to stylise them so much yet make them recognisable- also through certain non-facial features such as clothing and mannerisms (whilst all of the characters are quite static looking this is more than appropriate for Kraftwerk!) I love how these illustrations are so cartoonish and at times bizarre looking. They are very playful and it brings a silly sense of happiness.

visual communication: greetings from evaluation

MEXICO CITY / ADELAIDE / NEW YORK / VALENCIA

FEEDBACK + EVALUATION

strengths:

• the most popular thing about these postcards were the colour choices and the technique of overlapping them! I think the limit of two main colours per card worked well but also made me think more about shape and negative space as a way of creating images.

• there is a consistent use of tone of voice and style of composition between the four, and I think that because of that they work well as a series.

• because of the composition I used I was able to fit a lot of information on to one image. it has been commented that the postcards also seem to "tell a story" which is a nice way to look at it even though it was not something I had considered

weaknesses:

• as predicted most of the cities are not very recognisable- and whilst I sacrificed this for more interesting ideas it was probably a bad decision as it misses a large point of the brief. 

• regardless of the cities, I wonder if the point of the food illustrations is understood by the viewer. I didn't receive any feedback suggesting this but I wonder if the ideas were too subtle.

• I still wonder if textured overlays would have been a good idea. I am always wary of work looking too flat, especially when printed

• when I printed the postcards the colour came out much paler than expected! it was suggested that I had the brightness too high on my screen to give an accurate colour portrayal

• I think that the Valencia (tomato) postcard seems like an odd one out because of the way I constructed it. It is the only card to use perfect and non-pentool drawn shapes.

visual language: doing something good

I spent a lot of time trying to think of ideas for this image. I considered trying to draw something thematically interesting but took too long on this so settled on concentrating on making the image itself interesting, even if the idea behind it was a little boring.

I was mainly interested in interesting angles and viewpoints. I liked the idea of s birds-eye viewpoint though didn't know how to not make it look so flat until it was suggested I consider more into foreground midground and background.

Although I usually find thumbnailing in a sketchbook the most effective process I was struggling to compose so sketched lots of individual elements into Photoshop and rearranged them using the software. As I arranged I also found myself considering line of sight more too.

I was pleased with my final image but not so much the prints I pulled! I lost a lot of pressure on my pulls towards the outer edges and wonder if using a longer squeegee would counteract this- the pressure lost the points on my hands would not hit the image. I also had trouble aligning prints! I wonder if this is because there were two of us printing on the screen at one time, but I cannot blame my tools!However I'm very pleased with the colours, and the overlay they created was bolder and more significant than I expected.

I flooded the screen too much, and though it looks bad elsewhere it makes an interesting effect on the swimmer- adding depth and the illusion she is underwater. It was an accident but a nice way of making an image- perhaps if I had made it a three colour screen print I would consider deliberately creating this.

misaligned

visual communication: adobe illustrator practice

As found in my earlier Illustrator workshop, sometimes handmade shapes don't look too great on Illustrator and it might be interesting to embrace the 'perfect' tools of Illustrator.

I found out how to add a speckled texture but am not too sure about it. It looks pixelated next to the smoothness of vectors.

Using different colour overlays have different effects. Colours look far less harsh than black, even when multiplied.

I think the grain layer looks better when offset- partially because it doesn't completely interrupt the smooth colour of the vectors but it  also reminds me of traditional screen print methods.

I liked these illustrations by Nous Vous, and feel inspired by the blocky and choppy compositions. I like the idea of lots of mini compositions instead of just plain borderless vignettes, and think it would make the image stand out more.

visual communication: sketchbook development

As I developed my ideas in my sketchbook I identified two main ideas for recurring themes / compositions. The first was to have a hand and some sort of action representing the festival, but I found I couldn't include enough information on this to signify the associated location. I did like the simplicity and graphicness of this but the cons outweighed it.

Instead I settled on a composition of collaged elements. I found I could include more visual information on this to indicate the activity and the city. To make it more interesting than just foods and city landmarks I combined the two together too, e.g. The Statue of Liberty made from mashed potato! I hope this will add a humourous and visually interesting touch, though I worry that landmarks will not be recognisable- in part because of this but also mostly that I made bad choices in cities that weren't recognisable enough !

visual communication: group tutorial feedback

I spent far too long trying to find ideas and being disheartened when I couldn't think of anything instead of getting on and drawing! Once I started drawing I found I could solve problems easier

• The nail houses and abandoned/ ghost towns and cities idea was well received as an interesting idea but would not fit the brief as many of these places were unrecognisable.
• The wacky food festivals idea has more scope to include more famous iconography from recognisable cities. For example, the Night of the Radishes carving festival in Mexico City: the radish could be carved with a famous local Aztec monument.
• Keep the images simple! Embrace the perfections of Adobe Illustrator!