Self Evaluation for OUIL406

1.  What skills have you developed through this brief and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
Photoshop – I think that this module has again tested my skills on photoshop and that challenging myself to keep using the skills has helped improve them. I know feel far more confident in scanning and bringing things into photoshop. As well as I now know how to create gifs within photoshop and this is something I hadn’t ever done before, although my Gif’s were not exactly as I had imagined, this is now something I know how to do and can improve on through practice. Practical – pencil – I set myself the challenge for this module to try and use other materials and I feel that this has been really successful, I’m pleased that pencil work made it partially into my final work and I plan to keep developing my pencil skills. Research – Researching has really been key to me for this project, looking at other illustrators such as Madeline Flores and Phillip Light really helped me creating characters and helped me problem solve when I hit a creative wall. I learnt that sometimes it’s okay if you don’t want to redraw the whole piece and that using a piece of paper to cover over the mistake if a quick creative solution. Print – Lino and Digital – I hadn’t really experienced either before this module. Using lino was a really informative experience and the work that came from it, I was really proud of. It also made some really great textures that I scanned in and can now use in other pieces of work. As well as this I used the digital print room for the first time, having previously printed off in other places I know now the difference in printing in different places and the benefits and drawbacks of such.
2. What approaches to/methods of image making have you developed and how have they informed your concept development process?
Ink – Again I think that my ink work is developing, especially compared to the beginning of the year. I invested in some new nibs and inks and my work has improved. I think that it really helped improve my mark making at that helped improve my overall worked. It also helped develop my personal typography which also made it into my work at different points. Wacom Tablet - I have since invested in a Wacom tablet and although my digital drawings are not the best at the moment, knowing how to use one really helped in this module. It helped me especially in the GIF making project where clicking on photoshop would have taken far longer than using my Wacom. Pencil – Using pencil, especially in the persons of note module, really informed my creative process   and the development of my finals. I think that they definetly developed and because of this my ideas were able to stretch out further than just thinking in watercolour and ink.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
Etching in Ink – I think my mark making in ink really made a difference to parts of my work, they really helped develop backgrounds and also thumbnailing in certain parts. It’s something that I feel ive really improved on throughout my year and it is something people always pick up on in crits as a positive. Photoshop – Knowing how to use photoshop and practicing really helped develop my work through this project, especially in the GIF module where I successfully brought in textures and created a GIF from my lino print.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
Illustrator – This is the first project we’ve ever had to use illustrator and I did struggle with it. I think that although the postcards were mostly a success, there were bits I could point at and describe how wrestling with illustrator hindered me (especially on hands and eyes). I don’t think this is a bad thing however as in the future I have learnt what not to do, and that using layers in illustrator is just as important as using them in photoshop. Although it was a definite weakness in my work, I liked the vectors and how it made my work neater appearing and I would like to keep on practicing with it in the future. Photoshop  - Photoshop was also a weakness in my work as in certain areas I think it let my work down and I didn’t see the bigger picture because I was thinking only from a digital point of view. Organisation – I think that throughout this module I consistently spent too much time in one area and having to rush the other, or not spending enough time at the start and coming out with lesser results at the end. This shows especially in the GIF project I think, and out of the three projects that is probably the weakest of them all purely based on the fact, not enough time was invested into looking at medias and investing time trying them out.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
Thumbnailing / frames – Thumbnailing, considering negative space and frame is something that I will do differently next time. I really need to consider it more in the future because I think my outcomes are being hindered slightly by my neglecting it (although the postcards on the persons of note show how Im starting to consider frame more). I expect to gain better outcomes that I can feel more proud of in the future. Material investment / Experimenting – I think that just recently Ive played it a little too safe in terms of what media I’ve been using and that this really affected how my work developed. The use of pencil towards the end of the module really changed how I designed things and I think in the future I will try to assign more time to my experimentation in the first few weeks of a brief. I think buying more materials to work with might help so over the next few weeks I might try to buy some new sketchbooks and materials to try (especially over summer) as I feel like I’m limiting myself at the moment in terms of what I use and that I might be good in ink but even better in chalk (I don’t know because I haven’t tried). Photoshop – Next time I will definitely make sure I bring things into photoshop rather than designing them straight in there, Although sometimes I think it is nice to just design things in photoshop, it gives it a certain look and the things I produced soley in photoshop really didn’t look that great. Organising – as I described above, next time I think that I really need to access how many days and allocate time to really developing ideas and concepts rather than rushing into something or rushing over a section. I expect to gain better results and work that is more considered. Looking at other practicioners – Although I did find some really nice illustrators in this project, I didn’t really look into them as much as I could have done and I think that my work might have been improved if I look into what others are doing and learn from their mistakes rather than just doing something and making the same mistake.
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