Reflections on Commercial Realisation and Reflective Practice, SWOT Analysis

It's so strange to think that this could be the last blog post I will ever write- it's definitely the last post I'll write for my degree, whether it's a requirement for my master's or I choose to pick up blogging for fun in the future I don't know. But for now, it's probably my last for a while. I wanted to write this post to reflect on both my commercial realisation project which I finished and handed in at the end of May and my reflective practise project which will be handed in not long after I finish writing this! The last few months have been so busy with trying to keep on top of both modules, that it became more difficult to document everything I was doing through weekly blog updates, as well as any talks and experiences I wanted to write about. 

This year I've been lucky enough to travel to Iceland, London and Portugal, all places that have influenced my practice and even included in my contextual essay. I'd say the most important thing I've learnt is how much I enjoy taking inspiration from travelling and experiences. Taking inspiration from everyday life allows you to explore new compositions, colour schemes and find inspiration in observation of both people and places. Since applying for the master's, I knew I wanted my focus to be on observational drawing, and through practice in projects such as my Iceland commercial realisation project, I've increased my understanding of this, focusing on Reykjavik, learning about Icelandic folklore and incorporating a locals perspective into my work. While creating more distinctive and believable compositions, it has also given my illustrations more personality as people can relate to the place and therefore feel a deeper connection. 

Over the last few months, I've worked on writing and illustrating a children's book called 'The Woodsters Second Chance', following a mischievous group known as the woodsters who aim to prove to the villagers that their tricks are in the past as they show they can be a benefit to the village. After researching illustrators and publishers, I thought the age demographic would be 6-8 as it fits with a similar complexity of the text to the other books in this category; one publisher is Flying Eye Books, where the website categorises its books into age ranges. From here, I was able to focus on the imagery which was all created traditionally with neocolour pastels. Although it made the scanning and editing process longer, I wanted to maintain the traditional crayon texture and vibrancy so this was the best solution. 

I had planned to enter the Macmillan Prize for Illustration and do a personal project about Iceland in semester 2, but instead, I combined the two to allow more time for concept development and to build a strong narrative for my children's book. This was better as I could focus on drawing scenes and characters before moving on to storyboarding and finals. Once the book was complete, everything was scanned and compiled in InDesign (which I'm a lot more confident in using after practice in making books!) I sent it off to print with Mixam. This was more complicated than I expected as the website needed my book spreads to fit in the 44 boxes allocated for each page, with the front, back and spine all in separate boxes too. Once I'd figured out the correct size and bleed needed it became a lot simpler and they arrived within a week and a half of ordering. They also got in touch soon after and said they wanted to use my book as an example art book on their website, offering me £100 credit to spend on future orders! This was unexpected but amazing as I can do a reprint of woodster books with a few amendments or use it for future projects. I also printed my portfolio book with Mixam which was quite a bit longer at 76 pages but I love how this one turned out. Luckily they both arrived just before I finished at uni so I went to the photography department to get some good pictures of them. I've edited a few of them but I want to get some photos of them myself as the quality isn't as good as I was hoping, and there's a shadow over the middle so that's a job for the summer!

Portfolio Book, 2022

The Woodster's Second Chance

Reflecting on my blog this year, I feel it's been successful in the fact that I've kept up to date with all of the tasks set while documenting commercial and personal projects. For example, I did a lot of work for the Ryton School mural to it being spray-painted a few months ago, which was all documented through blog posts. Visiting The National Gallery in London and Cheltenham Illustration Awards were both documented and even some of the work I saw in the gallery influenced my contextual essay, using artists like Rubens and Rembrandt as references for my Edgelands and Ruins theme. Its been good to use the blog to reflect on my progress with smaller riso projects and printmaking helping my project work to develop through experimenting with different methods and materials. I feel I have produced a successful essay in response to my chosen these Edgelands and Ruins, referencing social, environmental and historic influences relating to the theme and how this shapes our depiction of derelict, industrial landscapes. 

I'm so grateful for the experiences I've had on this course, it really feels like the end of an era since I've been at the college for 5 years. I've met some amazing friends and tutors who have supported me through the degree, enabling me to gain confidence in my abilities and build upon my skill set through workshops and projects that would usually be out of my comfort zone. It's taught me that I don't want to stop experimenting and limit myself to a particular specialism as there are so many aspects within the creative industry that interest me- editorial, packaging, publishing and printmaking to name a few. I feel this course has given me the confidence to pursue my master's and move to Cambridge which I never expected to be doing but I'm excited about this next step, meeting new people and taking part in more opportunities. I'm sure I'll be back to Newcastle College soon to visit my tutors and possibly use the risoprinter which I will miss dearly.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths-

• Managing to create a children's book and portfolio book to a professional standard, both printed in time for hand in and the exhibition. 
• Taking the time to experiment, utilising the risoprinter as it's such a great opportunity to have one at the college and to have the amount of colours as lots of places only have a few. It's enabled me to be more open to new opportunities throughout the degree as I tried not to settle on a specific style which helps develop new ideas.
• Taking part in workshops like screen printing and dye sublimation has made me more aware of the opportunities to create merchandise and apply illustrations to products.
• Keeping on top of blogs to document personal and commercial work, opportunities and experiences which have aided my development. Well documented through weekly updates and in-depth reflections of each project.
• I utilised primary imagery to help get better at observational drawing. This has helped my compositions develop and given my work more personality. At the beginning of the year I struggled with perspective and adding characters to scenes so I feel this has improved through observational drawing practice.

Weaknesses-

• Straying from the action plan I created at the start of the year as I condensed the two commercial and personal projects to allow more time for research and development. I still have the same amount of work however there is less variety in themes than if I'd done more projects.
• I sacrificed the observational drawing project which was merged into the other projects. It would have been good to spend more time drawing outside, getting out into nature and in the city to draw figures and landscapes. This is something I want to focus on over the summer leading up to starting the Masters in September.

Opportunities-

• Look more into The Bright Agency and talk to people like Helen Heath, an illustrator with children's books in Waterstones to learn about her process. This will help me gain more information about how to publish and target books at bookshops. 
• Through illustration specialism research on this blog, I want to continue learning about the editorial sector, targeting magazines like Little White Lies. This could be making self-directed projects on movies that I like to create in a similar way.
• Marketing my print work to galleries such as The Old School Gallery in Alnmouth. Similarly, making prints based on local landmarks to target The Baltic or Biscuit Factory in Newcastle.
• Further education opportunities in pursuing a master's, moving away will help me increase confidence in new situations, and improve my skillset.

Threats-

• The prospect of moving away and graduating is daunting, a lot to take on and feel pressured by. I'm used to directing my own projects but it's different without the comfort of being in education to experiment freely. There may be more pressure to make work that sells.
• Could have to take commissions that I'm not as passionate about, less time to focus on personal work.