Progression, Targets and Tutorial Review

Coming into the final few weeks I wanted to reflect on my projects and what I have left to do before the final hand in. In preparation for a tutorial, I was sent a list of questions as prompts to respond to and help categorise the projects and priorities for both the exhibition and hand in as everything that gets handed in on the 20th of May should be framed and mounted ready for the degree exhibition. This means I need to prioritise ordering frames, and finishing my children's book 'The Woodsters' and my portfolio book as these are all things that need to be sorted earlier to make sure they get here for the hand in. I'm currently working through colouring the final pages of my children's book so I can scan and edit them, combining all of the elements in InDesign. I'm nearly finished with my portfolio book I just need the title pages so that will be sent off by next week, hopefully along with the children's book! 

It's a bit overwhelming how much work there is to do, with the contextual essay, making the final commercial realisation PDF, presentation and exhibition preparation all to do in the next 3 weeks- I think I set my goals too high to make an entire book! For my tutorial I've bullet-pointed answers to the following questions and wrote a list of my targets. I feel like I'm living by tick lists at the minute but its good to keep track of the work, trying to break it down into manageable jobs so it doesn't build up.

Risoprint collage, 2022

Please give a recap on your projects and proposed outputs. (Portfolio book and final show work)

In semester one I focused on my personal project Edgelands and Ruins which doubled as a commercial project being submitted to the AOI World Illustration Awards in the Alternative Publishing category. I had planned to start my second personal project about Iceland in semester 1 but ended up spending longer on the first project, learning how to bind and create 10 riso-printed books. This meant I focused on my Iceland children's book in semester two, combining it with my proposed commercial project to enter the Macmillan Prize for Illustration. Although my project timelines have been extended, I've had various other projects like designing and painting a mural for Ryton School and working on an application for an MA in Cambridge at the start of the year. 

I'm currently working on plans for my final show and finalising the portfolio book which will hopefully be sent off to print by next week.

What is going well?

• Strong work ethic, creating an entire book is a lot to do with so many other priorities but I've been motivated to get all the spreads sone and write the story.
• My portfolio book is nearly finished.
• I've built a good website, personal statement, CV and working towards a promo pack or creative CV zine.
• I've found a framing company that I like for my exhibition, will be ordering them soon so I can mount my artwork and get that finished.

What has been problematic with your projects?

• Too little time! This year has gone so quickly and there have been so many blogs to do, research and presentations that I feel the time to create and experiment has been limited.

Are you sticking to your time plan?

• In terms of getting everything finished for hand-in, yes, but my time plan has been altered quite a lot to allow more time for project development and to come up with different creative solutions rather than settling on the first one and being limited by short timeframes.

What are your targets for the next 3 weeks?

• Scan, edit and compile all of my book illustrations and finish 'The Woodsters' story, I need to get this sent off next week.
• Send my portfolio book to print at Mixam.
• Order picture frames, print and mount finals ready for submission.
• Work on my presentation.
• Create the Commercial Realisation PDF with photos from my sketchbook, the mural, diversity awards, Cheltenham, any other achievements this year, possible MA application and the personal statement I made.

Have you been regularly posting to your blog?

• Posting blogs about exhibitions, galleries, and opportunities I'm involved in, documenting my progression of projects through weekly updates, SWOT analysis and evaluations.
• Nearly finished with the contextual essay.

Are you keeping on top of issued tasks?

• Trying to! Completed all assigned tasks for the reflective practice module.

Do you have sufficient R&D to support your projects and clarify your intentions?

• Lots of artist research and response work to show how I've been influenced, and how it has aided my progression. 
• Thematic research to give my projects more context, especially using reference photos from Iceland to create scenes.

Do you have any areas of your projects that you need further support in terms of theory and practical?

• Knowing more about the exhibition space, size and colours will help me figure out how to present everything. 

What is your target grade for Commercial Realisation?

• First, above 75%

Tutorial Review

I had the tutorial this afternoon where me and my tutor went through both my portfolio book and my children's book, 'The Woodsters'. I've been very stressed with deadlines for print recently so it was more just to get some reassurance and see my work from someone else's perspective. We started running through the portfolio book which was the easy part, checking over how the work was categorised, the contents page, cover and captions on each image. As all of the images are different sizes, it was important to create continuity in the layout with each image either being full size or fitting in the set guidelines. I chose a website called Mixam to print as it had a letter size that is slightly shorter and wider than a4, making it a better size to show portrait and landscape without there being too much white space. After looking through the children's books in my collection, I realised that many of them were in letter size (8.5x11") and thought it would be great for my children's book. 

My tutor was pleased with the progress I'd made in the last few weeks as both books are nearly done and I'm working on finalising the essay. From now, its just working as quickly as possible to get everything done, figuring out how Mixam want the files set up and working on my PDF for the final hand in.