Monday, 13 October 2014

Presentation.

Had to make a presentation based around the authors we chose to look at; present them to some peers and explain why we chose the author we had. Then take questions/queries and advice at the end.



For me, it seems an exercise in futility. I mean, I was nice to see how interested some people were in their authors and It got me interested in another author or two for personal reason but when reading my presentation out it just seemed a little pointless. Everyone got my point and why I chose the author I did. All worked out.

First response.

My first response was just to read through quotes of Murakami's and just write them down and just draw my first response.






     

  • Very honest first response.
  • Easy going.
  • Lots of play / Enjoying this kind of response.
  • Idea generating.
  • Very loose.
  • Hard to decipher.
  • Not very related to the author. 



Haruki Murakami.

Chosen author:
Haruki Murakami
Father was a Buddhist priest.
Both parents taught Japanese literature.
Marathon/ Triathlon enthusiast.
Steven Poole: “Among one of the worlds greatest living writers”
"Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it."
"Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart."
  • Connect with his work
  • Strong sense of the human condition.
  • Strong tangents with previous work of mine.
  • Most potential for me to work with.



Authors.

Guy Browning.
Born 1964
Botley Oxfordshire – Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Ex Comedy Duo – Dross Bros (Broke up)
Own Business Smokehouse in 1977 “opened specifically to help organisations think differently about whatever was on their mind.”
BBC Radio 4 (Small Talk 2003)
Directed first film ‘Tortoise In Love’ (2012)

“Flirting is vertical foreplay”

“Libraries are brothels for the mind. Which means that librarians are the madams, greeting the punters, understanding their strange tastes and needs and then pimping their books.”

“What makes a date so dreadful is the weight of expectation attached to it. There is every chance that you may meet your soul-mate, get married, have children and be buried side by side. There is an equal chance that the person you meet will look as if they've already been buried for some time.”

Douglas Adams.
Born 11th March 1952 – 11th May 2002
Hitchhikers; ‘Trilogy; Series; Comics; Feature film.
Doctor Who
Radio Academy Hall of Fame
Environmentalist; Conservationist; Fast Cars; Camera; Apple Fan; Staunch Atheist.
“You live and learn, at any rate you live”
“Life is wasted on living”

I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” 

“The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”

Haruki Murakami
Contempory Japanese Writer
Translated into over 50 languages/ Sold millions of copies
Ficton/Non-Ficton writer / Critical Acclaim / Numerous Awards

Heavily influenced by Western writers
Critized in Japan for being ‘Un-Japanese’
Opened a record store and Jazz Club before being a writer

“That's what the world is , after all: an endless battle of contrasting memories.”

“I can bear any pain as long as it has meaning.”
“Loneliness becomes an acid that eats away at you.”
“I'm a coward when it comes to matters of the heart. That is my fatal flaw.” 

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Eval.

OUIL406 SB3 Evaluation



Leeds College of Art
BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION
Level
04
OUIL406 Visual Communication
Credits
20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME

Kane ‘DR DOOM’ Watson

1.     What skills have you developed through this brief and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I have developed my digital skills further; this is the first time I’ve actually used the extent of digital print got a large high quality print, It’s not something I want to be making a habit of but It’s good I’ve got that in my utility belt now. As well I had to develop a new way of working, I felt normally my process is very fluid and erratic; working being produced everywhere then some work and some doesn’t then I do it all again in floods of ink and paper. This project however didn’t work like that, I had to approach it completely differently. I’m not sure if that’s classed as a ‘skill’ but if you asked me being asked to be more flexible and dynamic in your way of working is defiantly a skill






2.     What approaches to/methods of image making have you developed and how have they informed your concept development process?


This method has been more informed by and outside source being a body of music as opposed to a conscious thought or feeling I usually have. Normally I’m all about having an thought and doing lots of drawings about that and almost developing the feeling as my work grows but this was different. It was a much more methodical way of working, It was almost like the idea and feeling had to feel right and grow inside me before I did any work. In this project I feel I’ve produced a lot less drawings but not in a lazy aspect more that once I got the idea down then the artwork fell into place much quicker as opposed to my idea growing with the paintings I did, this time consumer here was making sure what I felt was going to be reflected which in all honestly it still doesn’t; for me Gil Scot Heron was too big a figure in my eyes to do enough justice to what he accomplished in a lifetime.


3.     What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

Looking at my work now, very few. This is easily the weakest piece of work I’ve produced while taking this course. That being said, they work together as a strong set, and believe they all work as stand along pieces and a set and don’t need one another to get the tone across. It’s a different avenue I’ve taken in this project which will inform my future practice which could be looked at a strength, more for the future but one none the less.


4.     What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

Like I said easily my weakest body of work produced in some time. I almost have the same feeling I did towards the postcards project, I think whenever I create digital work I don’t feel a connection or enough investment in the work, some might argue that’s not exactly important but my works never going to be good unless I know I’ve thrown myself into it. An I have thrown myself into this but in all the wrong ways. I got far too caught up in getting a ‘feeling’ right which lead me to wasting a lot of time just being static and looking answers in works and songs instead with paper and pen. The final resolutions also look very unfinished; it’s not work I’m proud of want to show anyone. I tried to take on too much and show off two much and I ended overthinking then some how showing off too little. I don’t believe this reflects even half of what I’m capable and It’s making me mad. It goes without saying that my digital work is lacking compared to my work traditional work, I need to find a way to bridge the gap and make it feel like digitals helping my work and not hindering it. In future projects I need to use my time better, even if it’s just making sure when I get an idea I’ve always get something to put that idea down on. I think as well an main weakness that won’t come across in the images but I feel I need to say, I need to step back from my work sometimes, almost not take it too seriously; I feel that in a lot of my project I try to take on big open ideology’s and often intense sides of the human condition and I think I couldn’t do that here but I was looking for an opportunity to do it and tying myself up in avenues I didn’t need too. I need to learn when to step back and understand that not everything works like that and sometimes you’re making work because I needs to be made and not to understand some bigger meaning behind and idea or in this case behind someone’s life and career



5.     Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

 Analyse what kind of problems they are and the best way to deal with them, not jumping into the deep end and looking for something that isn’t there or needs to be there. From doing this it will make it easier for me to start on the right path and follow it to a easier and hopefully stronger solution.
Keep trying to bridge the gap and find a healthy balance between my traditional work and my digital works, I know it’s there for me and I just need to find one little nuance that’ll make it all fall together which will basically just make me a more flexible illustrator who shows he’s constantly growing and can keep up with everyone else in the industry.
Keep up with blogging, this was my worst project for it and it was really in the back of my mind and when it came to catch up I was so lost, usually I’m good with it and this project made me realize I need to keep that mentality it just makes everything fall together better and when the blogs up to date I can I focus on the work that needs doing, I think not blogging efficiently had a detrimental effect onto my final artwork.
Use the studio more, just being here around other people working and try to be more studious, I always get my work done but it’s usually at unconventional times shall we say and not around others which isn’t a problem for me it’s how I’ve always worked and it’s just how I think I function but trying to get more studious and be around other creative more is always going to have a positive effect.
Remember why I’m here.  To be a better illustrator because I haven’t got a choice but to prove I deserve to be here and that I want to be here.





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



4

Punctuality




5
Motivation


3


Commitment


3


Quantity of work produced


3


Quality of work produced
1




Contribution to the group



4

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

All






All my final images, I think they all look they they belong, and almost have a vibe of G.S.H but it's not what I wanted, I don't know. I think because the man accomplished so much and was such an inspiration I was never going to keep I did this project justice. 

STAMPS




The stamps were almost an after-thought for me, I picked them by looking at my final images for a postcards and then chose either scamps; sketches; drawing anything from my body of work that I felt put across the same tone of voice of the rest of the work in this project so it all fit. Two spots and two full figures. I think it all works as a set, deciding to use two green two brown to keep the dynamic of the whole set working with the other pieces in the project.

Vector cards



Same as I did for the piano, changed them all to a vector then added a boarder and a colour, I think the green is neutral enough to compliment the brown while not taking anything away from the images.

I think looking back it would of been good to use the frame in a more dynamic way like I did for the final knife image, keeping a boarder makes them all appear more formal but I think having different dynamic boarders it would be more interesting while keeping them all in line.

Postcards

The Bottle; Pieces of a man

Me and the devil; New york is killing me

I decided for my 4 postcards I could choose my 4 favourite songs from G.S.H discography. They all speak to me on some level and they make me feel certain things when I listen to them; something I can't put my finger on, they just speak to me. An the images in question and my translation of what those songs mean.

l

Rejected idea for 'New York is killing me' I shouldn't really need to say much why I didn't pick it, it just looks poor. The two different pieces don't fit together very nicely and isn't pleasing to the eye. 

Poster

Final poster.
Looks a little lacking so there may be some editing to do yet but I didn't want anything to take away from the quote and the piano because that's all i'm trying to say. Gil Scot Heron even in his own opinion is a piano player and that's enough.

I went back and forth from using colour or keeping it white, white was far to stark and intense, it's always fighting with the black so I decided on a light brown it's neutral doesn't take anything away and compliments the image. There's a lot of improvements I could make, the shadow doesn't quite sit right and everything almost looks a little lost but i'm running out of time.



Vector.


Took my favourite piano and made it a vector so I can blow it up big as I want, I think I'm going to do this for the rest of my project too, mainly to save time however.
I was at first going to keep the grey wash in the vector but after a lot of playing around I decided I prefer it with just the black lines.


P-P-P-PIANO


 

Loads of pianos, all of them took ages and I'll be honest drawing pianos is pretty boring; I'm ok never doing that again. Ever. After tinkering with pattern and line, I realised it was the composition that wasn't capturing the piano enough. So I did a bit more research and came out with the final two, which in my opinion are the most interesting.