Reflection on Feedback to Assignment 5: Personal Project

My tutor began by congratulating me on completion of this module Introduction to Printmaking. It has been a wonderful journey into this fun and fascinating medium.

She described my approach as both professional and ambitious. This is very gratifying. I also agree with her statement that “with quantity comes quality”.

I need to continue the work on developing ideas in my sketchbook and continue to collect information within its pages. I was also reminded to look at the Cut and Paste exhibition at http://www.nationalgalleries.org, which I shall do.

Task 1 Project 13

Interesting and political juxtaposition of church and amazon packaging, poses the question, “What are we worshipping?” A good use of chine colle, especially the larger scale images of One Click Smile and …And he shall have dominion…

Look at Barbara Kuger’s I Shop Therefore I am

Research Ed Ruscha’s work using text, as well as Rauschenberg and Corita Kent.

Task 2 Project 14

My writing and thinking have become more sophisticated. I feel this is a consequence of reading the section on Artist’s statements in the Gilda Williams’s book How to Write About Contemporary Art – highly recommended by my tutor. I shall look at increasingly sophisticated sources for my research – access UCA ebooks for this.

I need to continue in this vein of challenging my thinking around my work as well as that of contemporary artists.

Look at Art Terms

Wiki for Arts

Glen Ligon – flipping text – look at stencil process

Reflection on Tutor Feedback to Assignment 4: Abstraction in Collagraph Prints

I’m pleasantly surprised to find that, once again, my work has been, not only acceptable, but greatly appreciated by my tutor. This is due in no small part to the scale I have chosen. The test pieces were roughly A1 in size. I find it more satisfying to use a broader “canvas”. It at least gives more scope for space between objects, as well as for the objects themselves.

“Control” Collagraph on Frabriano 250gsm printmaking paper 28cm x 38cm

The image above was one my tutor particularly liked. She thought the spacing and arrangement of the component parts of the plate were in keeping with aesthetic value of this collagraph print method, in that the “less is more” principle has been adhered to. This was a tip she imparted at the end of the previous feedback tutorial. It is one which I kept in mind, as the temptation is to keep on sticking bits onto the plate ad infinitum.

Again, I need to draw more from life. But what I do put into my sketchbooks has been reflective on the processes I’ve employed, which is useful. However, I could say more about the “whys” as well as the “how”. This unpacking of the reasons I’ve made certain choices along the way will be useful for communicating ideas in other areas. It’s a new language for me, this art speak.

The next part of the module is “Chine Collé Personal Project. My tutor’s tip this time is to use decorative papers that are appropriate, or somehow complementary to, the subject matter chosen – not purely to make it look pretty – but because it adds to the subject in some way, or highlights a message I am attempting to convey.

Action points:

Look at Guardian art reviews and learn from language used to discuss artwork
Maintain drawing/sketchbook practice
Be Reflective on the “whys” of the work as well as the “hows” of the process
Be more self critical and evaluative

Reflection on Feedback to Assignment 3: Lifeforms

Again, I was very relieved to receive such positive feedback for this assignment. My tutor made some constructive comments from which I have gained the following insight into how I could progress from now onward:

Continue to keep a sketchbook – use a small one to carry with me at all times and add items of interest as well as small sketches and notes.

Research more sophisticated academic sources. Try UCA ebooks.

Make influences and intent more explicit in my work. Why yoga? Why 1920s influence? What are the emerging themes around this and other works?

Review knowledge on referencing rules for Harvard refs – particularly within the text.

Invest in a copy of “How To Write About Contemporary Art” by Gilda Williams. READ it.

Look at the following artists:

Peter Wray

Gary Hume

Dale Devereux Barker

Pandora Johnson

http://www.inkidot.co.uk

Notes on next assignment:

Less is more with collagraph printmaking. Avoid an inky mess by leaving some areas of the plates blank.

NB. I have since started to carry an A6 sketchbook which is all but full of notes, photos and sketches relating to projects and random ideas. This is together with the larger, square kraft paper sketchbook which I usually keep and send with my assignments – although I do not always prepare sketches before launching into a project ( see Assignment 4 “Control” – to be submitted). Some of my pieces are more spontaneous in nature than others.

Assignment 2: Reflection on Formative Feedback

Better late than never. It’s been a month or so since I received formative feedback on assignment 2. The main matters arising were as follows:

Matters Arising from (in no particular order) Introduction to Linocut

1)Transfer Blog to OCA Spaces for reasons of ease of navigation.

Although I initially agreed that this was a good idea, I realised that in order to do so I would need to use my OCA email address to link the content of my blog when thus transferring it. As I shall ultimately lose my email address at the end of my studies, I decided to remain with WordPress as it means I get to keep all of my work online.

2) Draw more often from source

This I have tried to do using objects that are around me such as cars and people in the park.

3) Do more research posts and make them overt so that they can be easily found on the blog.

This has been started, in that I have added the relevant category “Formative Feedback” and “Reflection on Formative Feedback”. I am finishing this task once this particular reflection piece has been completed.

4) Michelle was genuinely pleased and impressed by the quality and the quantity of Printmaking in evidence in my portfolio.

She gave me pointers on artists such as Edward Hopper, Vanessa Gardiner and Martin Lewis. She recommended mind mapping my decision making process on which life form to pursue during the following Part of the unit.

My next assignment is due 16th April 2021.

Summative Assessment will take place as intended in November 2021.

Formative Feedback on Assignment 1

I was hugely relieved to receive largely positive feedback on my first assignment for the Printmaking Module Part 1. Pleasantly surprised to have my Printmaking submission described as “exciting work”, I am motivated to move on with the next part of this module relating to linocut.
The critical feedback I received was useful in that my tutor has provided me with tools to develop my personal voice. She suggested I use mind mapping methods to brain dump my thinking around the reasoning behind the “Why” I chose certain objects. This should be by using universal language, rather than simply telling about the specifics of how those objects came into my possession. She said to ask myself pertinent questions about how I feel the work (both my own and historical/contemporary artists) could/will be interpreted by the viewer.
Again, I need to use this personal voice to communicate an intent at the outset in making decisions about the technicalities of the work, and the research underpinning it. Also, during production reflect upon how I feel about the printmaking outcomes as they emerge – that moment of magic. (I could also record mistakes and happenstance)
My tutor also mentioned paper stock (together with a link to a supplier of Zerkall 120gsm paper). She added that my use of cheap A3 photocopier paper was limiting the effects of the oil based ink I was using, which had led to an unwelcome blotchy effect on some prints.
Rather than listing the specifics of how I find objects, I could be describing what the assembled objects are about. Talk about the themes behind the work, whether it be family/memory/emotion/relationships in form, colour or texture etc. Does the work pose a question to the viewer, or seek to make a statement in some way?
I also need to do some wordpress blog admin – a dedicated space on my website menu – for recording/navigating Reflection on Formative Feedback as well as for the purposes of Research blog posts.

My tutor also said that the project 4 prints were by far the best in this submission, that I had saved the best until last.
I should continue to use my sketchbook to record daily observation in sketches and notes etc.