Peer Crit

Some feedback that I got from my sketchbook motif exploration so far:

"Really smooth confident outcomes nicely presented sketchbook, lots of experimentation of media and colours"
"Good use of collage, nicely planned out Such a large variety of paper and patterns, love it!"
"Collages are beautiful."

 Themes i have chose to focus on: craft, hand made, artisans, consumerism, passion for your job

Briefs that I am interested in

http://www.ycn.org/awards/ycn-student-awards/2014-15-ycn-student-awards/briefs/propercorn

http://www.ycn.org/awards/ycn-student-awards/2014-15-ycn-student-awards/briefs/pan-macmillan

http://www.ycn.org/awards/ycn-student-awards/2014-15-ycn-student-awards/briefs/save-the-children

Peer review of dragon frame workshop outcomes

New learning from study task and workshop
I have learnt about timing and frame rates. I have learnt that 12 frames per second is the minimum frame rate for it to look a smooth animation.
Another thing that I have learnt is how to set up the dragon frame hardware and software to allow me to shoot my animation at a professional level.

Effectiveness of movement
In my wood carving animation, the combination of the flickery 3D with the smooth line of the hand movement worked extremely well together and contrasted nicely. Again the combination of the 3D and 2D here meant that it was more visually engaging, added depth and overall just looked a lot better. The addition of oil pastels to my paintbrush animation did the same thing and made it much more dynamic and exciting; this is something to bear in mind.

How effective is the concept or idea beginning to be communicated
My concept or idea that I was trying to show here was 'craft', I feel that in the 2 animations that I produced, were communicated well as it was clear what actions I was tying to show.

How can it be further developed regarding combining material/exploring
It could be developed further by producing more worth that collages materials and included textures. I could have more attention to detail, for example when the wood is scraped having a gauge line in the wood. I could also start adding in even more materials and textures.

Dragon Frame Workshop part 1

I am very pleased with how these stop frame animations have turned out. I really love the mix in medias and how it is hand drawn combined with cut paper. This is definitely something to bear in mind for when i make my 30-60 second animation as it will add something much more dynamic than just a singular medium.

Tryout for the stop motion on dragon frame

I made a quick mock up of the stop frame on my phone for the dragon frame workshop to see how it was going to look and to make sure that the torn paper for the wood worked well. I am really pleased with how it turned out an i am looking forward to doing this in a more professional way. 

Screenprint Workshop

Here are some of the designs that I came up with for the screen print worksop. I am really looking forward to printing them. I wanted to make it something that was exciting, interesting and a little bit different than what I would normally make. This is why I am choosing to go with the first design as a repeating pattern is something that I have never tackled before; I could make this into wallpaper, wrapping paper, the inner paper of a book amongst other things. I can't wait to see how it is going to turn out.

Themes- Research

Craftmanship- This is my main theme that I am going to explore.

Hand Craft- I am really interested in the idea of things being crafted by hand and by products being produced from start to finish with the human hand imbued with the product.

Artisans-  Artisans practice a craft and may through experience and aptitude reach the expressive levels of anartist.

An aptitude is a component of a competency to do a certain kind of work at a certain level, which can also be considered "talent". Aptitudes may be physical or mental. Aptitude is not developedknowledge, understanding, learned or acquired abilities (skills) or attitude. The innate nature of aptitude is in contrast to achievement, which represents knowledge or ability that is gained throughlearning.

Consumerism- Consumerism is another thing that I am concerned with. It is something that I do not know that much about but I would like to explore further. The idea that w

"The Industrial Revolution dramatically increased the availability of consumer goods, although it was still primarily focused on the capital goods sector and industrial infrastructure (i.e., mining, steel, oil, transportation networks, communications networks, industrial cities, financial centers, etc.).^[15] The advent of the department store represented a paradigm shift in the experience of shopping. For the first time, customers could buy an astonishing variety of goods, all in one place, and shopping became a popular leisure activity. While previously the norm had been the scarcity of resources, the Industrial era created an unprecedented economic situation. For the first time in history products were available in outstanding quantities, at outstandingly low prices, being thus available to virtually everyone in the industrialized West."

"It is true of dress in even a higher degree than of most other items of consumption, that people will undergo a very considerable degree of privation in the comforts or the necessaries of life in order to afford what is considered a decent amount of wasteful consumption; so that it is by no means an uncommon occurrence, in an inclement climate, for people to go ill clad in order to appear well dressed."  “a shift away from values of community, spirituality, and integrity, and toward competition, materialism and disconnection.” "Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever-increasing rate" The rise in consumerism has meant that credit card debt has gone up from $660 billion in 2002 to $2.5 trillion in 2007.

Self Evaluation & Rationale

Self Evaluation:

5 things that I have gained from this work and how it will impact on my practice:

1. I have gained confidence in trying new processes and methods.
2. Getting out of comfort zone by trying new methods and techniques. This will help my practice by helping me to be innovative. My work so far has been described as varied and experimental and this is something that I am glad to hear as my aim was to push myself so that I did go new places.  
3. I have gained better collaging skills from this work- usually I don't work with collage that much but I have found this process surprisingly rewarding and some of the results that I have come up with work really well. 
4. I have improved and refined my analogue crafting methods. This work has forced me to develop my analogue skills. Analogue skills are something that I feel I need to work on as it is an area that I am interested in and a key theme I have chose to look at in this brief. I am not ruling out digital work at this stage but I feel that concentrating on analogue methods of creating images will need to underline my work no matter if it uses digital processes or not.
5. I gave gained direction in my work; the work that I have produced has helped me to recognise the places where I should explore more and the places that I should probably not try again.

5 things you intend to explore further through visual journal and why:

1. I would like to explore more traditional methods of working and making pictures.
2. I would like to explore the use of shapes and graphic forms in my work. I could do this by using adobe illustrator or even more analogue methods like cut paper. 
3. I have enjoyed working with collage in my work and have got some really good comments about it, this is why I am thinking that I will introduce collage into my work.
4. This work encouraged me to innovate; a new method that worked really well was when I drew the negative space in a light layer of tippex and then once dry I went over with a wash of ink. The results were very different to things that I had already dabbled in but I found it a refreshing change. 
5. Negative space is something I haven't worked with that much but is something I definitely want to explore further. It is inspiring how people like Noma Bar use graphic shapes and negative space to communicate an idea so easily.

What theme do i intend to explore further through my visual journal and how will i explore these visually?
Craftsmanship is the encompassing theme of the direction of my work. I like looking at how things are made from hand, how things are laboured over and why and how this is much nicer than mass produced products that are so common today.

This theme is something that may be difficult to explore. I feel the basis of my work will be looking at different craftsmen and how this impacts their practice. For example I could look at how a guy builds a dry stone wall an illustrate the process and the craftsmanship within that (the selection of the stone for different parts of the wall, the laying of them to create something that is strong and stable etc).

How do these themes relate to my research and my chosen author?
The book that I chose to focus on is by Richard Sennett and is called The Craftsman so it directly links to my theme. The Craftsman as a whole explores the idea that everyone is a craftsman in their own right. That we all, in any job or in any area of life can be a craftsman. It is motivation and passion that produces a craftsman but it is the lack of human interaction on products that means the spirit of craftsmanship is removed from it. This is why craftsmanship is slowly decreasing among the people of the 21st century.

What research activities will i undertake in order to explore these themes further and how will these inform my work? Where will i go? What will i do? What will i come back with?
I am planning on researching different ways that people create things, so this may mean that I need to look at 'how to' books, by watching videos on youtube/vimeo videos of artisans doing their craft but also by talking to people about their craft and finding out about it that way.

Motifs with different lines. Fine, regular & Bold

Craft

Richard Sennett exclaimed that everyone is a crafter in some way or another. That everyone, from a surgeon to a builder crafts their profession. I want to explore this idea, and look at the effect of good craftsmanship on the world. I want to explore the effect of mass production, factories and lack of human contact on craftsmanship and the quality of products.

https://www.ted.com/playlists/146/craftsmanship

Research into Richard Sennett

MOTIF: CRAFTING

scissors

paintbrush

leather craft tools