End of Module Evaluation

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL402 Personal & Professional Practice 1	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME

 Hollie Smith

1.  What learning have you inherited through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied it? Consider differing approaches to contextual/professional research I think I've put a more concentrated effort into looking at other practitioners work, rather than absorbing it passively, because the tasks required us to find specific things it made me more rigorous with my research, which led me to discover many new illustrators who have inspired my projects in different ways. I've also developed the ability to talk in detail about my own practice and goals, where in the beginning I would've been stumped at many of the questions posed in various tasks, now I've learnt how to critically sum up my attitudes to work which has helped me make sense of what I'm doing.
2. What approaches to image making have you developed during this module and what informed such ways of working?  During the final brief I experimented with my linework and used a dip pen and ink rather than my usual brush pen, which I think gave me a neater and more controlled line that still stayed adequately playful. This was informed by the time I spent experimenting and developing my comic, testing out several different line making tools. I also tried using a wider variety of Photoshop brushes than usual, testing and building up different textures whilst shading the linework. I used this to progress on my use of textured brushes in the last module where the end result was still quite clean. It was inspired by other practitioners I'd researched through PPP and their use of such brushes to create a distressed texture, as well as Harry Clarke's fairy tale illustrations which have a genuine aged texture I've tried to imitate.
3. What strengths can you identify in your practice and how have/will you capitalise on these in the future? I think I take inspiration from a breadth of different subjects which helps to inform my practice. Also the work I need to look at and reference often falls conveniently in line with my down-time hobbies, i.e reading comics and watching cartoons. I think that my work is always best when it stems from a subject of genuine interest, which is why also I chose to pursue a topic of recreational research for my project. I want to continue making projects based on things I have a seemingly useless interest in because I think it makes the work more genuine and enjoyable.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your practice and how will you address these in the future? Yet again my weaknesses have been not allowing enough time to complete the project I set out to do and negletcing to keep up to date with my blog, although this time I did write entries to which I added photos later. I think I dealt reasonably with the first problem by cutting down my workload and spreading it out over a longer period of time after the deadline but in future I will be more realistic about the time I have available and what I can achieve in it. With regards to the blog the only thing I can do is dedicate a regular time slot to update it starting next year, this way I won't forget and get carried away with the project. UPDATE: Also next time I will not forget to publish all my draft posts that were awaiting photographs as it gives the false and potentially jeopardising illusion of an empty blog
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these? 1. Plan my project according to how much available time I have rather than just whatever I want to make. This way I hope to feel more satisfied with my final outcome.
2. When given an open brief I will look straight to my areas of recreational interest and research first instead of struggling to come up with a topic for ages and then ending up too stuck to do anything. By doing this I'll hopefully be able to spend more time on the project itself. 3. When given small tasks as in the earlier stages of PPP I will do them as soon as possible and not leave things until the deadline six months away, because that abstract date in the future will come and I will forget how much there is left to do. Thankfully I didn't do this to such a severe degree on this module but if I stop doing this all together I expect my levels of stress arounpinnd deadlines will dramatically decrease.  4. Make sure I am constantly engaging with other peoples work, because I was doing this at the beginning of the module and it was really helping, but I got too lapse as the year went on and often neglected to look at anything or even keep reading comics. With my only contextual reference being cartoons for a few months I think my work may have suffered compared to had I been looking at a wealth of different images instead.  5. Blog more frequently of course, but more specifically for this module I should have blogged more about things I'd been doing outside of college which were worth mentioning. I think it would've helped me when looking back on the year and pinpoint my sources of inspiration. Also it would encourage me to engage with things like that more often.
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