COLLAGE - Mountains. And more mountains. Are they really mountains?

I enjoyed this little session we had on collaging. Usually I don't really fancy collaging because perhaps I have this preconception of collages being rather random and simply integrating visual pieces. 

A rather abstract approach

Thoughts

• Through the brief presentation about collages, I found out that it doesn't necessarily have to be condensed and packed with information. I understand the part of simply creating work by doing, which I thought was an enlightening experience. 

• I actually started off my little collage book by combining visuals and colours together, without much thought in it. Though I wasn't sure when I actually began thinking about the composition and whether the image makes sense.

• I suppose, what I noticed about my own collage work is that it had gotten simpler and that I had incorporated more shapes and block colours. Considering the whole composition and meaning in collages isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I had to try out several things before committing to the final outcome

• Though I quite like collaging as a process of trying things out and experimenting ideas and images. 

Meant to be a mountain/hill landscape with a sunset?
(doesn't look like it when it's in a vertical position)

I wasn't sure if this is considered a collage
(I think it is). Though I wanted to illustrate a little,
silly story.

ONE WEEK MAP - Final Outcome

Our final piece

Thoughts

• I really enjoyed the overall experience of screen printing since I never had done anything like this before. The process of printing itself isn't as long as I thought it would take, though perhaps preparing the image and screen itself may take time and patience. 

• Though I particularly enjoyed the process. I quite like how everything is crafted by hand and that the initial illustration or image would effect the print. For instance, I find that China Markers leave really defined mark-making on the print. 

• Also I liked the experimental aspect of printing. Even though we had an idea in our mind of how the outcome would like, though through experimenting there were outcomes that we never thought of. (I quite like the gradience in colour when we slightly mixed the paint)

• However, I wished that we had more time to simply play around and experiment more as I thought that we didn't exactly test out different treatments or methods (though we tried shifting the paper around, which I quite like the effect)  

ONE WEEK MAP - Development

Main Concepts

• We thought of incorporating the masks, the main route we took (since it looks rather obscure), fire from the fire pit and rain 

Sketching out simple shapes and lines.
Trying out the compositions as well.

Thoughts

• We actually had various ideas, though our only concern and confusion was how we would actually incorporate it in the print. Perhaps we were thinking too much on how the final outcome would look as a print.

• I thought that we could play around with mark making since we decided to use rather simple shapes and solid block colours. 

• Developing ideas took a while and we had to test our ideas with tracing paper first to see it's rough overall look before committing to the final composition

• Though I think there's room for experimenting and seeing which layer goes at the top or bottom during the printing session.

• Colours - we wanted to go for red and blue (not sure of which shade) as it suits the rainy and hearth atmosphere. Though the initial idea came from the thought of the 3D effect and subtly creating a third colour (a tinge of purple)

Tried out layering our images with a lightbox.
Hoping to get a better idea of the composition.

The imagery we decided to commit too.
Though I feel that there would still be room for
experimentation for the composition etc. 

Notes

• What I thought was rather challenging is that it isn't easy to picture the outcome in my head. Though I suppose that's the joy of printing, where you can't perfectly visualise the final outcome until the printing starts. 

• I never tried screen printing, so I am pretty excited and looking forward to the session where we get finally experiment around and create our map.

A (RAINY) DAY OUT! - One Week Map

In our small groups, we were told to venture out (in the rain). Despite the weather, I honestly thought that it was a very interesting experience. I never really took the time to actually absorb and notice my surroundings.

Things we did & gathered

• German Christmas market - we actually got some pretty interesting sounds (chime-like sounds from the dangling crystals and the merry-go-round)

• Fire place - it was a spontaneous stop. We came across a large fire pit and thought that we could get a few sketches of it as well as sounds of the fire crackling (and obviously some warmth & hot chocolate)

• Ferris Wheel - it didn't work at that time, but we had hoped to have gotten on it and get a good perspective of the city.

• Kirkgate Market - we thought that we could get interesting sounds, textures and objects/visuals from the market (the vintage stalls, the meat shops, rugs etc) 

• Trinity Kitchen/Wetherspoons - it was more of a lunch break stop, though I got a few sounds of conversations, plates, utensils clattering and any other mundane noise, that somehow sounded interesting when I actually listened to them carefully.

• Poundland - we thought that we should do something off the list given and get something for a pound. We actually got ourselves some crafty animal masks and took a picture in a public place (there was a giant gorilla statue in front of the Art Gallery. Thought it was fitting. Something silly.)

Hanging around by the fire pit with a
cup of hot chocolate

Look at all those sewing machines!

Bright neon-lights

Saw the strangest pigeons.
One was featherless (neck up) and one was pure white

A few observational drawings

Thoughts

• Psychogeography is a new concept to me. Though I think it's a very enlightening experience to just feel and see, use our sense to gather information. I suppose that this is an effective way of gathering research as we get to experience it first hand.

• I'm actually pretty excited to turn this little journey around town into a map. The fact that we mainly gathered rather abstract things (sounds and Poundland masks), I honestly think that it would both be pretty challenging yet interesting to visually interpret our experience.

SHAPES & TEXTURE!

Coconuts?

Thoughts

• After this session, I think that I have been considering and became more aware of shapes and texture. I have actually come to enjoy using shapes and utilise simplicity (let the image speak for itself)

• I particularly liked the first coconut, it's very simple and minimal, though it's drowned in the white background. I tried another approach, which looks much more prominent. I thought that when it comes to simplicity in shapes I need to consider the whole composition and what elements to take away or alter.

Self-portrait

My attempt in creating a minimalistic self-portrait
(quite happy about it actually)

Thoughts

• It was quite an interesting experience. What I noticed is that I really liked working with the idea of simplicity. 

• I honestly have to say that collaging isn't exactly my cup of tea, though I enjoyed the loose process and also carefully thinking of the shapes, where to put things and representing something in a rather vague way (and not an exact representation)

END OF MODULE EVALUATION

End of Module Student Evaluation

BA(hons) Illustration

Module Code: Visual Skills OUIL403

Name: Diandra Wardhana

Student ID: 262485

Please identify where the evidence for each of the learning outcomes is within your submission and how well you feel you have met the learning outcomes. Please also grade yourself in relation to the learning outcomes using terms:

> poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent (Note- This is so that the team have an understanding of how well you feel you have done. It is not an indication of the actual grade you may receive)

Learning Outcome	Evidenced where? Blog, Sketchbook, Roughs Final Illustrations, development sheets etc.  (No more than 75 words)	Your grade Using words: > poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent
4A4  Demonstrate an awareness of practical and conceptual concerns within the context of visual investigation and visual thinking. (Knowledge & Understanding - Research and Critical Awareness)	Blog, Sketchbooks, Roughs	Good
4B3 Explore a range of approaches to the generation and investigation of ideas in the development of solutions to set problems. (Cognitive Skills - Problem Analysis, Problem Solving)	Sketchbooks, Roughs, Development sheets (idea sheets)	Good
4C3 Visually explore ideas through the selection of appropriate methods, processes and media in response to set briefs. (Practical Skills - Technical Competence and Practical Development)	Sketchbook, Roughs, Prototypes	Satisfactory
4C4 Demonstrate a practical investigation of visual thinking, visual research and visual development. (Practical Skills - Visual Quality and Conceptual Development)	Sketchbook, Blog, Final Illustrations	Good
4D3 Document and record critical awareness, evaluation and self-reflection in response to their own work and the work of others. (Key Transferable Skills - Organisation, Communication and Evaluation)	Blog, Sketchbook	Good

Evaluation (See guidance below for more information)

You are required to write a 500 words evaluation of this module.

The moment I completed this module, I had one particular thought in mind: I wish I could have done more. After gathering everything and seeing all three projects compiled there were instances where I thought ‘I could have fixed that’ or ‘I could have tested and developed more on these’. Generally speaking, in terms of experimenting with media and processes, I felt that I wasn’t as willing as I thought when it came to pushing ideas further. One thing I would honestly tell myself then was: what else? However, I did feel content with the ideas and concepts I came up with for each briefs. I quite enjoy developing ideas despite it being challenging sometimes. I felt that I had unintentionally been working around obscure concepts, which tend to be very open to interpretation and it would depend on how I would approach it. Though I quite like the whole process of thinking and creating roughs, develop them further and see how much it evolves. I also thought that sketching these ideas down made it easier in terms of further developing them. There were sessions that I particularly enjoyed, such as the feedbacks and group critiques. I thought that was rather enlightening as I get to hear people’s opinions and thoughts, aside from my own and those who often sits next to me in the studio. I do count everyone’s opinions as they often made me reflect upon the work I had done so far, whether I could change or improve anything. Apart from the sessions, I quite enjoy blogging. I often use it to evaluate my ongoing work as I could express and communicate my thoughts better through writing rather than speaking. I would also advise myself to make the most out of my studio development time to actually develop and experiment. I could personally say that I have improved since the first studio brief. I suppose it was more of subtle improvements, such as how I approached the briefs and actually discovering abilities that I never knew I had in me. I started to realize that I quite like well-crafted work. I suppose it was a subconscious thing as I particularly pay attention in how it would look and the attention I put in each detail would be thought through. I honestly think that I am quite a meticulous person. I feel that I should loosen up and not be afraid of taking risks as well as trying things out, even if it fails or succeed. I still wish I could have taken more time developing, experimenting and create prototypes before committing to the final illustrations. I personally think that the final outcomes for each brief seemed similar in its process and tone of voice. Hence, for the upcoming modules and projects, perhaps I should be more critical of my work, spend time with it and simply to not be afraid of testing and trying new things outside my comfort zone.

JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER WEEK 2 - The final illustration!

Thoughts

• In general, I quite like the overall design. Perhaps the title could have been slightly bigger. It's walloped by the other sardine can labels.

• I'm quite glad that I worked around the design to somehow relate to content of the book. It was a rather spontaneous plan, though I had used significant dates from the book to represent the expiry dates. Not quite sure how I feel about the overall composition, though it creates a balance between the front and back cover.

• Though I feel that I could have took my time to develop more on the roughs and designs. If I did, I would perhaps used paper cutting and simpler designs for the can labels. (the front cover seem quite crowded?)

JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER WEEK 2 - PROTOTYPES

Sardine Cans! Yum.

Image link: https://jonathanturley.files.wordpress.com/2015/
07/sardines-can.jpg?w=580&h=348Add caption

• I was looking through vintage can labels from around the world (in Amazon, not that I wanted to get any). Though I thought that if I had used older labels it would suit the time period of the book. But, I quite like the old can labels as they look visually appealing with the bold and striking colours. 

• Design wise, some are rather simple with subtle illustrations. Whereas some can be very intricate. I might go for the simpler designs for the book cover so it wouldn't be too overwhelming and crowded.

Prototypes

• I was slightly fixed on working with the sardine can concept. Though I wanted to see how the boxes idea would roughly look like and not in my head.

• I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. Now that I see it, the design is rather similar to the original cover (which I thought that it was rather plain). 

• I actually wanted to go for a more 'inviting' and engaging cover for such a content-heavy book (it may look boring but this book will literally blow your mind and I want people to know that)

I

II

• I honestly don't really like the composition and how it looks. Though I gave more thoughts into the flaps on the sides. 

• The first design is minimalistic and simple. Clean. But somehow it's very lacking. Perhaps its too simple and maybe I should make more use of the space. Though I quite like the sardines on the flaps. 

• I actually tried out with just one sardine can label as the cover and have the sardines on the flap. I quite like the idea, but somehow it looks off. With this design my only concern is the focal point (the title). I thought that it might be distracting to also have the illustrated can label below the title. Perhaps I could change the composition or typography?