OUIL504 End of Module Self Evaluation

Sam Metcalf  
Leeds College of Art

BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION Level 05

OUIL504 About

End of Module Self Evaluation

About a Author brief has been a unit in which I have learnt the most about my practise and myself. Whilst doing this unit I have picked up various new skills and built on ones I have been new to in the past. One of the main areas I have seen myself build on and enjoy is in my development work as I now enjoy building on a idea instead of just going with the first one that pops into my head. In doing this I have leant and starting using new methods and materials to add to my work. The one I have most enjoyed most is using charcoal to aid in my development and deliver fantastic results in my final development stages of my images. This combined with my on-going understand of how Photoshop can help in my designs has been a successful partnership for me and will defiantly be keeping theses in my tool kit to be used again.

I have also used new software on this project, which is After Effect. I have been though a range of emotions whilst learning to use it, the main reason I struggled at first with this software was my ability to take notes in taught sessions where they showed us how to use it. But once I had been shown with a bit of one to one I started to see how it worked and now see how I could use it later on in my practise.  Also how easy it can be to use After Effects with Photoshop, Photoshop can be a real help in after effects in the area of setting up your different layers of each of the parts of a animation. This is something I really want o explore more the fact I can draw something on paper or my sketch book  and then  have it scanned into my computer and tidied up in Photoshop then simply export it to After Effects where it can be bought to life.

I would say that even though this project has not been my best I have secretly enjoyed it now I look back on it. The fact I have built up on my skills and brought new ways to help me develop my work I cant help but feel I’m going to have to winging and moan and start seeing the improvements these new skills are bringing to my work. Saying that there are still some areas I need to Improve on dramatically mainly my ability to use the time properly and start to plan out each stage of my process.  Even though I have been going through some though health problems I feel I have wasted loads of time at the beginning and the middle of this project. So I need to start taking the time I’m given very seriously and make myself balance the workload out in a way that I get things done  and simple just start planning an not try to wing it as this has a massive impact on my final product. This can too be said about the way in which I do approach the research and the amount I do. As with everything I do if it involves having to read I tend to shy away from it but I need to look at other areas I do the research, such as watching things on the subject or listening to podcast, talks or even radio debates. The only outcome of avoiding the research is ill informed final results which if I’m not careful could be quite embarrassing and could end up wasting even more time having to start over.

So from now on I need to start to plan out within the time I have how I’m going to work and the time scale in which I have to do the task I need to do to complete the project. When I’m given a project start right away with little but easy to manage times to research the subject to better help my knowledge of what I’m working on, which in turn will help me achieve a better end result. Also give myself time to explore and experiment with the ideas I have which could mean doing test prints seeing if I’m happy with outcome and if I need to go back and try a new way to do it.