Over the last year, I feel like I have developed in both my artwork, and myself. Throughout the year, I feel like the quality of my artwork has steadily improved, and I have learned a lot of new techniques which allows me to create a more diverse range of artwork.
I would say the biggest area of progression for me this year was in my increasing my knowledge of the software I use such as Illustrator and Cinema 4D, and becoming more proficient and confident with the tools and features. I became far more experimental with the software I use during this year, and I am now much more likely to try and incorporate a feature I haven't used before, or in general just try out something different, like using various pieces of software to contribute to not only the editing/animation stage, but the actual look of a piece of work, such as using Cinema 4D to create a background etc.
Easily my favourite part of the year was the trip to Berlin, to go to the Pictoplasma event. During the trip, I got to meet and hang out with an awesome group of people (some new to me, some old), and got to see some amazing artists and their work. I feel like this trip allowed me to see that people are just people, and I shouldn't be so scared to just talk (still working on this, however).
I feel like my strongest area during this second year was the way I developed personally, as I feel I am now more confident than I was in the first year, not only with the quality of my work (which I do feel could have been far better in the second year), but I also feel more confident in my personal life. I feel like a large part of this was due to the recent Berlin trip. Another strong point for me this year was the improvement to the quality of my illustrations. I feel that I am now more conscious about the quality of line work, colour choice, and composition of illustrations that I make, and I am better off because of it. The recent gaming t-shirt and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' design are something that I actually like for once, which used to be a pretty rare occurrence. I would also like to mention, while it's not exactly a strong point, I feel like my time keeping was a lot better this year (though it did slip near the end), and I hope for it to keep on improving.
My main weakness this year was, I feel, my own motivation. This is a problem that has effected me in the past, and I feel like if I don't change my ways, it could seriously effect me in future. While this was mainly down to me not really being fond of a few of the modules this year (as I actually feel like my motivation for work since last year has improved), it's still an area for improvement for me, and I feel like it could really help me advance myself and my work. Another area I feel I could improve upon from this year is the speed at which I actually produce work. Again, while I feel like this was an area that I did actually greatly improve on, it is still one of the key things holding me back, as evidenced by the animation production module this year.
Quite a few opportunities came from this year of the course for me, both in things that I've completed like the Influx Clothing live brief, going to Pictoplasma etc. and in things for the future, such as producing a portfolio and creative CV. Creating my portfolio and a basic show reel showed me pretty much what kind of thing that I should be putting into it, and how to lay it out (obviously, improvements can be made, but I'll go into that later). These assets can then be used later in interviews and such (like I did with the third year interview), with new work and up to date animations.
The main target I am setting myself, coming out of the second year, is the continue to update my portfolio and show reel, and improve the quality of said work dramatically, as I do not feel like the quality of the final products were good enough, and I don't want that quality of work to represent me creatively. Another key target I want to set is to be way more experimental in my work; I want to strive to create all sorts of animations and illustrations of good quality, so I can have a diverse range of work for my portfolio, instead of being scared to try out new features and have to trouble shoot a bit.
In conclusion, I feel like this year was massively beneficial for me, both in a personal sense, and a professional one, as I advanced in the quality of my work I produce, and I became less scared of everything. While there were some things that needed to be improved, I feel like this is also a kind of benefit for me, as it outlined areas that I need to improve, so I can set about actually improving them instead of worrying.
Thursday 7 May 2015
A Reflection on a Few of my Many Flaws
During this past two years, I have come to notice a few things about myself that I would rather change, but I am struggling to. Possibly the biggest, and most frustrating thing looking back is my crippling inability to get my work done in timely manner, before the last minute. This is something that I have been trying to change, but I keep making the same mistakes over and over, which is unhelpful, as I get caught in a loop of making something, thinking it's terrible, and then deleting it. I really do hope to change this before the third year rolls around, as I feel like it could cause some costly mess ups if I do not. Another thing that I noticed is that when I start doing something as work, it usually becomes less fun for me, and so I basically stopped drawing in my spare time as a way to relax, and saw it more as work. This is absolutely something I want to change, and I have been trying to do so recently. This is probably the main thing I am going to try and work on during the summer, as I will have a long period in which I will be able to advance my skills in producing animation and illustration in my own time, which is something I cannot afford to waste. The final thing that I noticed about myself is that I have a very 'that'll do' attitude to work, which is very, very unhelpful for me, as it usually means my work is of just good enough to pass, and that's it.
With these negative traits down on this blog, I hope it will encourage me to change them, as I feel like it will be more achievable if they are written down instead of just floating around in my head.
With these negative traits down on this blog, I hope it will encourage me to change them, as I feel like it will be more achievable if they are written down instead of just floating around in my head.
Pictoplasma Screenings
During Pictoplasma, screenings were held showing all sorts of animations, one screening on each day of the talks in the morning, with one special screening held at 10pm on the first night (which was my personal favourite of the four). The animations shown had all sorts of themes and different tones, which made for an interesting experience, as you could go from watching an abstract animation with horses hitting keyboards, to an animation about unchecked guns with a sudden peak to shock the audience.
Of all of the animations these were some of my favourites:
- A Different Perspective
2012 / USA / 02’00’’
Chris O’Hara
Charles Huettner
Felix Colgrave
Yves Geleyn
Jonny Clapham
Safetyhammer
Peter Millard
Of all of the animations these were some of my favourites:
- A Different Perspective
2012 / USA / 02’00’’
Chris O’Hara
- Winter House
2014 / USA / 02’55’’Charles Huettner
- Fever The Ghost – Source
2014 / Australia / 04’10’’Felix Colgrave
- Monster in the Closet
2014 / USA / 01’40’’Yves Geleyn
- 7 Tips for Creatives
2013 / UK / 03’23’’Jonny Clapham
- twin_kle
2014 / USA / 01’00”Safetyhammer
- It’s 31 Ways to Say F*ck Off
2014 / UK / 02’00’’
Emanuele Kabu
2014 / UK / 02’00’’
Emanuele Kabu
- A Single Life
2014 / The Netherlands / 02’15’’
Job, Joris and Marieke
https://vimeo.com/117517827 (Trailer)
- Loop Ring Chop Drink
2014 / UK / 10’30’’
Nicolas Ménard
https://vimeo.com/97812259 (Trailer)
- Chit Chat Roulette
2014 / UK / 02’35’’
David Lüpschen
https://player.vimeo.com/video/107685992
- Bendito Machine V
2014 / Spain / 11’54’’
Jossie Malis
2014 / The Netherlands / 02’15’’
Job, Joris and Marieke
https://vimeo.com/117517827 (Trailer)
- Loop Ring Chop Drink
2014 / UK / 10’30’’
Nicolas Ménard
https://vimeo.com/97812259 (Trailer)
- Chit Chat Roulette
2014 / UK / 02’35’’
David Lüpschen
https://player.vimeo.com/video/107685992
- Bendito Machine V
2014 / Spain / 11’54’’
Jossie Malis
- Unhappy Happy
2015 / UK / 07’07”Peter Millard
https://vimeo.com/124018803 (The excerpt really doesn't do it justice)
Berlin 2015 - Pictoplasma Festival
Over the last week, starting on the 28th, I was
in Berlin for the Pictoplasma animation and illustration festival. The event
holds various talks from guest speakers, animation screenings, and exhibitions,
of which I went to throughout the several days of the event.
On the first day of being in Berlin, Pictoplasma had not
begun yet, so we checked into the hostel we would be staying in, dropped off
out luggage, and basically just got to know the area, in and around Alexanderplatz,
near to where the events would be happening.
The official opening was held on the second day of us being
in Berlin, at Silent Green, an old repurposed crematory, featuring an
exhibition with works from a variety of artists who would be speaking at the
conferences, which includes:
- Animalitoland (ARG/ES)
- Birdo (JP)
- Brosmind (ES)
- Stefano Colferai (IT)
- Joan Cornellà (ES) (His work was featured at the
exhibition, but unfortunately he couldn’t be at the event for his
conference due to an illness in his family; Fons Schiedon stepped into the
gap however.)
- Yves Geleyn (FR)
- Loup Blaster (FR)
- Nicolas Ménard (CAN/UK)
- Mr Kat (ES/PER)
- Akinori Oishi (JP)
- Nadine Redlich (GER)
- Andy Ristaino (USA)
- Hikari Shimoda (JP)
- Sticky Monster Lab (KR)
- Tado (UK)
- Wong Ping (HK)
- Yomsnil (KR)
- Lucas
Zanotto (IT/FIN)
There were a lot of amazing illustrations and sculptures
there, with a lot of different styles and techniques from different artists
being shown off. My favourite illustrations from the opening exhibition were
mainly from Brosmind, a duo of two brothers, and Tado, another duo artist
pairing, as I really like the style that they use in their work, often using
super clean lines and very vibrant colours to create illustrations. One of my
favourite illustrations from Brosmind was a meat-man, made from stacking cuts
of meat into the shape of a human. I really liked the way this was done, and
the added lines and shapes around the outside of the character really helped it
seem alive and squishy. I also enjoyed Mr. Kat’s 3D and sculpture work, as he
created stylised skull models, with varying materials, which were super
polished and looked really nice.
On the
second day of the event, the animation screenings and conferences held in the Babylon Theatre began, of
which I tried to attend as many as possible. On this first day, the speakers were
Lucas Zanotto, Brosmind, Nadine Redlich, Stefano Colferai, Wong Ping, and Fons Schiedon. Of them, my favourites
were Brosmind, with Fons Schiedon coming in a close second. This is mainly
because Brosmind was very casual with their presentation; not taking it too
seriously and showing their work and how they make it in a fun way. I liked
Fons’ talk mainly because of the content, with it being about a project called ‘The
Land of the Magic Flute’, which was a cool concept, a kind of interactive
animated comic book, and it had some really nice artwork.
Over the course of the next few days, I attended all
of the conferences and screenings, with my favourite screening possibly being
the ‘midnight’ (that actually happened at 10) mix, which featured a bunch of
cool, weird animations. All in all, the entire event itself was great, but one
of the main reasons for me really enjoying the trip was the things we did
outside of the event, and just around Alexanderplatz. I got to hang around with
a great group of friends, and I feel like I met some great new people as well,
which really added to the experience of the whole trip for me. I’m very glad I
went this year, and I hope to go again next year if the opportunity is there.
Personal and Professional Development Evaluation/SWOT Analysis
During this module I needed to create several different pieces of work, including a creative CV, my own business card (or at least mock up designs for one), research on animation companies; both local and national, and many other things. For this evaluation, I will mainly be concentrating on the production of my CV, the business card, and this blog.
I feel my main strength during this module was the way in which I dealt with the creation of my CV and business cards in terms of theme, as I felt like I tied both of them together well in terms of looks, font etc.
Otherwise, I feel like there could have been many improvements to how quickly I actually got round to creating the CV and business card, as I feel like I left these quite late in the module. If I had done this earlier, I wouldn't have been on such as time crunch as I was, meaning I probably could have produced higher quality work overall. I feel the same way about this blog to an extent; I feel like I could have benefited from updating it more regularly throughout the year to get more information onto it.
The main opportunity for to come for me from this will be the ability to use the products I created here later on in life, such as using my creative CV for sending to companies and my business card for getting myself out there and noticed. I also feel that my blog could become a more personal out put for me in the future, and I could start using it to host some of my work.
The primary target I have after this module is to simply keep everything up to date, including my CV, contact details, and other things. In the future, I also aim to be more prepared with tasks like this, as I don't think I handled this project very well, and feel that it was largely down to preparation/research, and the speed at which I completed the work.
I feel my main strength during this module was the way in which I dealt with the creation of my CV and business cards in terms of theme, as I felt like I tied both of them together well in terms of looks, font etc.
Otherwise, I feel like there could have been many improvements to how quickly I actually got round to creating the CV and business card, as I feel like I left these quite late in the module. If I had done this earlier, I wouldn't have been on such as time crunch as I was, meaning I probably could have produced higher quality work overall. I feel the same way about this blog to an extent; I feel like I could have benefited from updating it more regularly throughout the year to get more information onto it.
The main opportunity for to come for me from this will be the ability to use the products I created here later on in life, such as using my creative CV for sending to companies and my business card for getting myself out there and noticed. I also feel that my blog could become a more personal out put for me in the future, and I could start using it to host some of my work.
The primary target I have after this module is to simply keep everything up to date, including my CV, contact details, and other things. In the future, I also aim to be more prepared with tasks like this, as I don't think I handled this project very well, and feel that it was largely down to preparation/research, and the speed at which I completed the work.
Wednesday 6 May 2015
Commercial Animation & Illustration Production Evaluation/SWOT Analysis
During this module I needed to create a portfolio of work I have completed in the past, as well as a show-reel of my animations. The portfolio I created features both still from my animations, as well as illustrations I have done in the past, for my own work, or college. The show reel features past animations from work I've done on the course, as I feel like only this work is actually up to standard, as a lot of the animations I did prior to the course were either very basic, or just of poor quality (compared to now).
I wouldn't necessarily say I had any glaring strengths during this module, other than the timely manner in which I actually put together my portfolio after putting it off for so long, which in itself shouldn't have happened.
My main issues during this module were mainly that of me being, frankly, lazy, and putting off my portfolio work for too long. This is something I am trying to work on, and I feel like I am improving on this. I also feel I was very picky about the work that went into my portfolio, which to an extent I should be, but I feel like I was leaving out too many good pieces of work.
The main opportunity to come out from this is the fact that I can use my portfolio later in life and work, and can show it to companies or potential clients to show my work, with up to date work for the time of course.
My main target for after this module is to continue to add work and update my portfolio for the future, keeping it up to date with the way I work and the quality of work of which I produce.
I wouldn't necessarily say I had any glaring strengths during this module, other than the timely manner in which I actually put together my portfolio after putting it off for so long, which in itself shouldn't have happened.
My main issues during this module were mainly that of me being, frankly, lazy, and putting off my portfolio work for too long. This is something I am trying to work on, and I feel like I am improving on this. I also feel I was very picky about the work that went into my portfolio, which to an extent I should be, but I feel like I was leaving out too many good pieces of work.
The main opportunity to come out from this is the fact that I can use my portfolio later in life and work, and can show it to companies or potential clients to show my work, with up to date work for the time of course.
My main target for after this module is to continue to add work and update my portfolio for the future, keeping it up to date with the way I work and the quality of work of which I produce.
Work Based Learning Evaluation/SWOT Analysis
During this module, I needed to complete a few different tasks, including a Proposal, Treatment, and Script for the animation production module, as well as a live brief of my choice. The proposal and treatment were centred around the animation featuring my character 'Goop', and set out what the animation would do, and I chose a T-shirt design for the gaming inspired live brief by Influx Clothing. Below is my completed design for the gaming t-shirt competition:
During the clothing brief, I would say my greatest strength was, after gathering my ideas, actually producing the illustration itself, going from idea to realisation within a short amount of time. I also dealt with type in a design for the first time (properly, anyway) during this brief, and it was a good learning experience that I feel I dealt with somewhat well. For the proposal and treatment portion of the module, I felt like I didn't have any particularly strong suit, but I don't feel like I had a particularly bad points either.
I would consider the fact that I only did a limited few live briefs to be my greatest weakness, as I feel like I could have taken fully advantage of the competitions and briefs to add more work to my portfolio and show reel.
The best opportunity to come from this was more so about myself than my work, as I feel like this module opened me up to open competitions a lot, and I now feel as though I should take part, rather than ignoring them as I used to, spending my free time doing it, which is something the 'me' from a few years ago would have struggled doing.
My main target to take from this is to simply take part in more competitions and live briefs, as it will both add more work that I can use in my portfolio, and get me used to completing set briefs, and not having total control over my work.
During the clothing brief, I would say my greatest strength was, after gathering my ideas, actually producing the illustration itself, going from idea to realisation within a short amount of time. I also dealt with type in a design for the first time (properly, anyway) during this brief, and it was a good learning experience that I feel I dealt with somewhat well. For the proposal and treatment portion of the module, I felt like I didn't have any particularly strong suit, but I don't feel like I had a particularly bad points either.
I would consider the fact that I only did a limited few live briefs to be my greatest weakness, as I feel like I could have taken fully advantage of the competitions and briefs to add more work to my portfolio and show reel.
The best opportunity to come from this was more so about myself than my work, as I feel like this module opened me up to open competitions a lot, and I now feel as though I should take part, rather than ignoring them as I used to, spending my free time doing it, which is something the 'me' from a few years ago would have struggled doing.
My main target to take from this is to simply take part in more competitions and live briefs, as it will both add more work that I can use in my portfolio, and get me used to completing set briefs, and not having total control over my work.
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