Personal & Professional Practice: January 2015

1. Which practical skills and methodologies have you developed within this module and how effectively have do you think you are employing them within your own practice?

Through the workshops and in my own time, I have developed my skills using Indesign from non existent to being fairly competent; I had never used it before, and now I feel I could make some basic publications without help. Using it to create the concertina layout was a challenge, especially as it wasn't a basic layout; it involved working out various weird lengths and widths and being able to understand how what was on screen would translate to paper. I feel I tackled this well; the book printed and folded correctly and I am now happy with how to use the programme. I also feel I have improved my painting skills a little, from the repetitive nature of media tests and the length and time invested in the final piece.

2. Which approaches to research have you found the most valuable during this module. How have you interrogated your research to identify appropriate ideas?

I found going out and exploring Leeds and Sheffield really helped me gather a wide variety of ideas and material for this project, even if it didn't work out to be useful. The hardest bit was trying to narrow down the ideas once they were put onto paper, into what could be developed into an interesting and engaging piece that I would enjoy making. I made decisions on the research based on what I had found the most interesting, and developed it by drawing more and testing materials. I also found secondary research on the internet useful, as it gave me a deeper insight into the backstory of my subject, therefore a narrative.

3. What strengths can you identify within your submission and how have you capitalised on these?

I believe my final book is of a higher standard to that of any of my final pieces created in the last module, something I aimed to improve on. The work within has a better finish, looks more professional and I am quite proud of it! This is probably due to the extended time we had to create it compared to last time, as I could invest more into the production. I also think I have used my blog more effectively, in terms of using my previous work and information gathered to inform what I am currently making, whether it be experiments or a final painting. I did this by posting more often but with less on each post; it is easier to go back and find what I have written on a certain subject this way, as it is sort of categorised by event and can be accessed from almost anywhere.

4. What areas for further development can you identify within your submission and how will you address these in the future?

Considering this was a project focused on gathering and developing research, I don't think I used research enough; it was an improvement from the last module, but still not exhaustive. This happened as I got stuck, panicked and buried my head in the sand about it, and upon resuming found a topic I liked quickly and pretty much jumped to making a final piece. I am very happy with the book I made but more development could have made it even better. I will address this by looking for patterns and different ways of testing media next time, to create more drawings and therefore expand the abilities within my practice and research. I will also look at other artists work next time to inform my work, as I didn't do this much at all; reportage illustrators like Laura Carlin or painters like David Hockney could have been useful to look at.

5. How effectively are you making decisions about the development of your work? What informs these decisions? What problems have you identified and how have you solved them?

I made decisions about my work by looking at it and choosing what I thought worked the best for what I was aiming to create; for example, I chose to work in acrylic paint after testing in oils and realising it would take too long to dry before it could be scanned in to Photoshop. I also asked colleagues and friends what they thought of the work, as other peoples opinions can be very valuable towards making a piece that everyone will enjoy and not just me. Problems evolved such as creating the wrong size Indesign documents for the paper I wanted to print it on; I had to go back, resize and change it all in a short space of time; finding the help of the IT staff really helped solve this. Deciding how to fold and create the concertina was a challenge, so I made several different mockups to decide how I wanted it to work. I wrote about these problems on my blog and used it to avoid them happening again.

6. How effectively have you managed this project and organised yourself during this module?

I feel I have managed myself fairly well, but more towards the end when the time pressure set in; over Christmas and before I was a bit flaky with how regularly I focused on the project. I feel I have documented my work well and organised my work properly. I will try and improve on this for the next project, as a slow start does set you back and leads to panic later on.