OUIL406- Persons of Note- David Doran

I love David Doran's work. He seems to have a great way of communicating ideas through his illustrations in a way that is obviously trying to communicate an idea whilst still making beautiful images.

I really like the simple viewpoints he uses, often being straight on. Shape is heavily used in his work, which I think adds to the ambiguity of his work, whilst still enforcing narrative.

OUIL406- Persons of Note- Miguel Angel Valdivia

I love the work of  Miguel Angel Valdivia, his simple monochromatic style, for me, is a really unique and effective way of communication. His work is quite abstract and ambiguous but still communicated a strong message through his simple use of shape and interesting compositions.

OUIL406- Persons of Note- Emmeline Pankhurst

• Leader of the Suffragettes.
• All about women's rights.
• Started the WSPU which fought for Women's right to vote. Smashed it.
• Considered a terrorist because they liked to burn stuff in protest and were pretty violent.

Thoughts

Emmeline is fair sick, smashed protests and broke ground for equality of sexes. Very much a maverick, and everyone seemed to love her (apart from most of the male population of the time (and the people whose stuff she torched)). I'm struggling to find any decent accounts of who she was as a person that isn't fictional.

OUIL406- Persons of Note- Valentina Tereshkova

• Very first female cosmonaut.
• Pilot of the rocket (Vostok 6).
• Worked in factories prior to doing space.
• Loved to parachute, that's why she was chosen to be the pilot of a fucking rocket (obviously).
• Member of the Communist Party of Soviet Union, what a party that sounds.
• After she came down from space she is now somewhat a celebrity, people have written songs about her and stuff.
• Bit of a badass from what I gather.

Thoughts

No doubt she rocks. She was the first woman ever to be in space which is pretty sick. But again, I'm finding it very, very dry, and incredibly hard to be interested in past the point she was the first woman in space.

OIUL406- Persons of Note- Queen Elizabeth I

• Henry VIII's Daughter
• Declared illegitimate after beheading of her mother and denied throne.
• Became queen at 25 after her half brother, forgotten his name, and someone else, maybe Mary 1st died.
• Seemed fairly sound, liked people liking her.
• Reinstated Church of England, told the pope to do one.
• Defeated Spanish Armada, not her directly but she was Queen at the time.
• Discovered a few places. Again, not her, someone else did it.
• Never got married, so everyone assumed she was a virgin (Virgin Queen).

Thoughts
Although Queen Liz number 1 definitely did some stuff, its all very dry. 

OUIL404- Visual Language- Evaluation

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

NAME
Matthew Mercer

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?
Personally, I think my use of line has really improved throughout the year so far, and have begun to understand how to use line in a fluid but controlled way. Which I'm really enjoying and has totally changed my practice in a positive way. I have really enjoyed playing and experimenting with different medias, especially ink brush and cut paper. I have previously been quite stuck in my way swith the tools and media I used, but the module has really opened my eyes and inspired me to experiment with more media. 

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 loved the sessions about composition and the theory behind the images we make. I have always tried to implement these within my work but it has always been something I used intuitively. Learning and understanding the specific methods has driven me to think more conciously about the image I am creating, considering frame, depth, line of sight and so on. I am really trying to push how I use these principles within my own work in other modules, and I really think my ability to make pictures is growing because of it.

3. What strengths can you identify within your Visual Language submission you capitalise on these?
I like the way I have worked with the briefs during the module. I tried to focus a lot more on nailing my  understanding of each media and tool. In no way have I disregarded the specific briefs set but I definitely think I tried to move away from the specific tasks to experiment more with things I wanted to play around with, which I'm pretty happy I did. I think doing this lead to me understanding a lot more through just playing and experimenting with the media and creating images from that. I think some of my favourite work has come through just playing and not necessarily working towards a specific goal.

4. What areas for development can you identify within your Visual Language submission and how will you address these in the future?
I'm honestly very annoyed with myself that I didn't work MORE on each task and media. Unfortunately for me, I started to realise the importance of the module towards the middle of the module, and originally saw it as a suplementary module to the others. I then started to realise that I was gaining the most knowledge and enjoyment through the visual language module. By this point I had a lot of catching up to do. I think this was definitely something I'm glad I figured out, as it exaggerated the importance of experimentation for me, I just really wish I would have realised it much sooner.

5. In what way has this module informed how you deconstruct and analyse artwork (whether your own or that of contemporary practitioners)?

I think my critical thinking has improved tenfold throughout this module. Before, I could recognise that I like an image, however I am now able to recognise WHY I like the image and what specific elements I do and maybe don't like. I have loved looking through other artists work and ths module in particular has allowed me to grow my own visual library of elements I like in images made by others. It has also helped me to become much more critical of myt own work, which has definitely lead to an improvement of my work, both the aesthetics and the strength of the communicated idea. 

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 4
Punctuality 5
Motivation 2
Commitment 3
Quantity of work produced 2
Quality of work produced 3
Contribution to the group 4
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

Apologies again for the messiness of sketchbooks and lack of structure from the breifs.

OUIL404- Visual Language- Frame

In this Visual Language session we were discussing frame and the arrangement of elements within an image. Frame and arrangement is used a lot in composition of image to draw focus to certain elements. Overlapping is one technique to draw focus and compose a balanced (typically seen as better) and pleasing image. Placing certain elements of an image in front of others can draw focus to it, but also leaving an image isolate can have the same effect.

We were tasked with creating an image with 3 elements, ourselves, an elephant and a butterfly. My initial thoughts were that the elements were chosen by Matt because they contrast so drastically in size and shape, so it could be challenging/interesting to find a composition that fits.

I found it difficult to get started with the task. I was incredibly indecisive with how I wanted to arrange the elements, because I didn't really have an idea of what frame I was working with. So I eventually decided to draw a frame somewhat randomly and work with the restrictions of it from there.

I did quite a lot of roughs for this brief. I reworked the composition loads of times cause I couldn't get one that worked for me. Eventually I decided on quite a simple composition. A bit of overlapping from the figure and the cliff but other than that the elements are quite linear. I'm still not 100% happy with the image, but I think it's the best I've done so far. I like the frame, I've never really worked with a thin, long frame but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 

OUIL404- Visual Labguage- Line as Tone

Using Line as tone is something I am quite familiar, as I use it in a lot of my work. I see line as tone as a quick, easy and effective way of creating tone within an image and I really enjoyed being able to play around with how I use it.

My intention for this was to use line differently to how I would usually. My usual way of using line as tone is very controlled and structured, which I like the look of, but definitely now see the value in swift and loose lines.

I used my ink pot as a controlled object to draw. For some reason I like drawing my ink pot. Don't ask. I really wanted to play with how I was using line as tone and possibly streamline my process. So I drew the ink numerous times, trying to add different lines each time, and asked myself questions on how to move it further.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to be able to play and experiment with line, and I think it definitely got me out of my usual habits. Which is great.

I then went on to experiment with how line is used in general to create tone. Rather than using cross hatching ect, I looked at the use of singular line with varying weights to create tone. This is not something I have tried before but I really like how it looks. I think it gives quite a naive vibe but still looks controlled and thought about. I'm definitely going to be trying to use this in future with my own work.

OUIL406- Greetings From- Brief Evaluation

I think I was quite ambitious for this brief, and I moved out of my comfort zone quite a lot to rely heavily on colour, and I'm really glad I did. I am happy with the outcomes and although they took a hell of a lot of graft, I actually quite enjoyed working with vectors.

The process of moving between the greyscale filter was, as always, a real pain, and I think it's pub me off using a lot of colour in the future. Which I guess is a good thing, I want to keep refining my practice and challenge what I think I can do.

Once again, I didn't rough enough. I was tempted to go back after completing the brief and 'fake' roughs but I would feel like I was cheating and not give Matt/Jamie or whoever a true impression of the process I took. If that means sacrificing a few marks then so be it. I think the composition of the images definitely suffered because of this, and I think the images could have been much more interesting if I were to have roughed a lot more and although I did rework composition digitally using a wacom, I didn't document it. Idiot.

OUIL404- Visual Language- Revisiting Shape

As well as line, I wanted to look over the work I had done in the past around shape and go back to review and create new images. My understanding of shape initially was really basic, having assumed that I had always been using shape properly. But having gone back I have tried to work with shape along with other components to make some interesting images. Which overall I am pretty happy with.

I wanted to work with something simple and small but with a lot of elements that could be broken down. Starting with eyes, I created simple shapes and used line to create new and interesting images. I didn't necessarily want the texture of the drying pen to come out through the images but I kind of like it.

I really enjoyed revisiting the shape brief, I really think my use of shape has come a long way and hopefully will continue to grow.

OUIL404- Visual Language- Re-visiting Line

The session on line was so long ago now I decided to go back and revisit what was discussed in the session. I feel as though my control of line has really improved in the past few months. Starting as quite controlled and sterile, but I am now beginning to move more towards a fluid movement and style, which is not only much less time consuming, meaning I can get more done, but also look more human and relatable.

Whilst reviewing my use of line; I wanted to experiment with different weights of line within the same image. And particularly an unusual use of line to see what different aesthetics I could create.

I really enjoyed reworking on line and if anything it made me realise the importance of play in sketchbooks (may have taken a while) and gave me a new appreciation for experimenting.

OUIL404- Visual Language- Value

The final session of visual language was a difficult one for me. I have a condition which means I struggle to distinguish a lot of differences in tone with a lot of colours.

Value for me, makes a huge difference in an image. It can completely change the tone of an image quite easily, moving from quite a dull mood, to a bright happy scene.

The task set to us was to take a picture of ourselves in an outfit and create a swatch next to it. I own literally no coloured clothes, because its easier to wear black/white/grey so I know roughly what I'm wearing. So I chose to use an image of a model I found online. I chose the image as the outfit has a lot of different colours and is quite interesting.


I'm fairly certain this is right. Although I did rely completely on the eyedropper tool in photoshop.

OUIL406- Greetings From- Final Images

See below final images.





The main changes I made to the finals were the introduction of figure in all of the images. I think this gave the images a real sense of narrative and also tied them in together a bit more. I also included more images of the self sufficient equipment that each individual place uses.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with how the images have turned out, I like the general aesthetic and I'm particularly pleased with my use of light. 

OUIL406- Greetings From- Nightmare

So the day before the final crit my computer decided to corrupt 3 out of the 4 project files. Which meant I had to steam through 3 of them in a day and finish them.

Thankfully I knew pretty much what I needed to do and the process was much more streamlined and I'm actually happier with these than I was with the original drafts as I had the chance to go back and change what I didn't like.

Just stress.

OUIL404- Greetings From- Image Development

Further images of new postcard started as well as another progress image of the one posted previously.

OUIL406- Greetings From- Lines+Start

After Roughly sketching the composition for my first image, I went through and filled the image with rigid shapes and colours. I wanted the image to rely heavily on shape, and I think I have achieved that. I am quite happy with how the image is looking so far but it definitely still needs some tweaks (and finishing).

This has probably taken much longer than it should have, and I probably won't have all of my 'drafts' finished for Monday. I think now my main focus will be the lines for the composition of the rest of the images, as the rest of the image making is basically colouring in.
The main thing I want to work on now is the lighting, specifically making the lighting look more natural.

OUIL406- Greetings From- Process

So what I have chosen to do for this brief has been somewhat of a struggle. The main thing I stuggle with, being colourblind, is subtle differences in tone between colour specifically.

The aesthetic I want to achieve with this brief is very focussed on light and tone, and since I cant really tell the difference between slight changes, I have had to find another way around it.

The way I have always gotten around this is to create the shape, pick roughly what colour I want it to be, turn the image greyscale, alter the tone of the image i.e lighter/darker, then remove the greyscale filter and hope for the best.


I'm not entierly sure why I find it easier in grey, but it seems to work, and although it's an absolute pain in the arse to have to switch betweein grey and colour, and it takes an absolute age to do anything, I think I have gotten some quite interesting results from it.

Even if the colours are a bit off sometimes.

OUIL406- Greetings From- Test Images

After finally deciding what I wanted to focus on for the brief I decided to test out how I wanted the images to look. I set off looking at simplifying the image, and because we are working with vectors I wanted to embrace this and try and my the images feel as geometric as possible.

I created some simple test images to try and figure out how the images would be made up. For me, one of the biggest limitations of using vectors is the inability to be able to implement tone and shade properly. This was something I wanted to challenge with this brief. I really enjoy working with shape and see this brief as a great opportunity to be able to really focus on improving my use of it, and light/shade was for me one of the things I really wanted to push.

I have decided I want to use a lot of artificial light in the images to really push myself with the lighting, giving the somewhat cold feeling vectors some life.


I like the overall look of the test images I made, and will probably implement a lot of what I used in the final images.

Personally one of the biggest changes I made is also one of the most subtle ones. Adding a slight amount of noise to certain components on the image gave them a much less glossy look and made it look more natural. I vaguely remember Matt telling us to avoid textures in the briefing but I think this really does make a difference.

The tests definitely need some more development but I think they're definitely on the right track.

OUIL406- Visual Communication- Finally a Solid Idea

The Idea
After copious amounts of time staring at a screen, trying to figure out what I want to focus on for this brief, I finally have an idea I'm happy with. I first tried exploring different towns (I hope towns are okay) and cities and how the interact with their surroundings. Firstly looking at how architecture changes through different climates, then looking at how the climates can effect how the communities work. I have now decided to look at different towns and communities and investigate the different ways in which they are self- sufficient.

I wanted to choose places which contrasted in how they worked, or what methods they used to become self sufficient. I wanted the places to also look different, with different climates and architecture, mainly to make the images a bit more separable and distinguished from one another.

Focussed Communities
I am kind of nervous about presenting work about places that possibly aren't technically 'cities', but I'm sure it'll be fine. In any case I am going to tiptoe around the issue by calling them 'communities' from now on.

So the 4 'communities' I am going to present my work on are:

Lacabe (Navarra)- Spain
About 30 years ago, a group of local farmers stumbled across a small medieval hamlet in northern Navarra in Spain whilst out looking for their lost animals (it could well be bullshit but this is what I've read). 30 years later the hamlet, and mnost of the surrounding region of Navarra is completely self-sufficient for energy, most foods, and water. Bonkers.

It also looks sick.



Fujisawa- Japan
Although the birth of this place rose from the flames of a huge corporation, who probably waste billions in energy every year, it does produce 100% of the energy it uses.  The reason I chose this town is because it contrasts entirely from all the others, using super advanced tech to sustain itself. It looks pretty cool too, although I find it quite eery.


Emerald Earth- Anderson Valley- USA
Emerald earth is again owned by another corporation (non-profit) but does seem pretty legit. They have people who live there, but also invite others from other communities to workshops where they teach self-sustainability methods. They make their own energy, food, water and even grown their own 'herbal medicines' 420 blaze. They have some pretty phresh looking houses too.



Breitenbush- OR- USA
I wanted my final focussed community to be a more corporate faced one. One that uses its natural surrounding not only to create energy but to also make profit. The hot springs in Brietland are a huge tourist attraction, and not only make cool hot baths, but are also used to create the energy used there and heat the houses. 


It took long enough to get to this. I have lots to do.

OUIL404- Visual Language- Fan Art (Depth + Line of Sight)

As part of visual language task we have been asked to design and produce a screen printed A4 fan art poster. The poster can only be made using 2 colours plus stock.

The biggest issue I am facing is creating an image complex enough to look interesting, whilst still keeping to just 2 colours. I have chosen to design my image around the film 'Interstellar'; one of my favourite films. I think the biggest reason why I like the film is not just the story, but how it looks, particularly the shots of ships travelling through space, with the frame mostly empty apart from the ship. I love the simplicity and the effect it gives.

I have tried to design my poster in a similar way, focussing on the reasons why I like the film.

My main thought process when designing the image was composition. I tried to implement everything we have talked about throughout the second half of the visual language sessions to create an image that is not only compositionally sound, but interesting to look at.



This was my first draft of the image, which I actually quite liked. Even though the image is incredibly simple, I think it feeds in to the main reason why I like the aesthetics of the film, for the simplicity. I wanted the ship to feel isolated, and almost dominated by the space around it, whilst still being the sole focus of the image.

I placed the ship centrally on the page, and created a flutter of stars from the top of the page which then fade towards the ship, trying to take advantage of line of sight.

I like the scale of the image, because the majority of the image is just of small dots, it allowed me to keep the scale of the ship quite small, which re-enforces the idea of inferiority and isolation. I will potentially play around with the composition a bit more in this image.

Overall I'm fairly satisfied with the outcome so far.

Shame its too detailed to be screen printed. Bollocks.


Update: I fucked up. Totally forgot to consider depth and line of sight in this image. Think I may have gotten a bit carried away with the actual 'fan art' aspect. Oops.

Can I blag this? Not blag but, analyse the image from a compositional aspect now rather than whilst actually making the image? Probably.

The way I see it is, the ship is in the foreground and the stars in the background, although it could be argued the opposite? Space is really difficult to sense depth, as there is no measure of scale, which I quite like the idea of. I really like how the ship is symmetrical and small towards the bottom of the image, I think it helps with the sense of emptiness.

Of course I would be ill on the screen print days and the catch-up session as well. Typical.