End of Module Evaluation

End of Module Student Evaluation

BA(hons) Illustration

Module Code: Visual Skills OUIL405 Visual Narratives

Name: Abigail Woolley

Student ID: aw258410

Please identify where the evidence for each of the learning outcomes is within your submission and how well you feel you have met the learning outcomes. Please also grade yourself in relation to the learning outcomes using terms:

> poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent (Note- This is so that the team have an understanding of how well you feel you have done. It is not an indication of the actual grade you may receive)

Learning Outcome	Evidenced where? Blog, Sketchbook, Roughs Final Illustrations, development sheets etc.  (No more than 75 words)	Your grade Using words: > poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent
4A6  Demonstrate a range of approaches to research in the collection, development and communication of source material.	Sketchbooks, blog	satisfactory
4B5 Explore individual responses to creative opportunities, source material and visual research appropriate to set briefs and identified problems.	Sketchbooks, blog	good
4C6 Select and investigate appropriate practical approaches to the investigation of visual development and communication of source material in response to a brief.	Sketchbooks, blog	Very good
4C7 Explore appropriate processes and techniques in the visual development of ideas relating to narrative, sequence and content.	Sketchbooks, blog, final illustrations	good
4D5 Demonstrate an effective use of appropriate methods of recording, documenting and evaluating individual progress.	Sketchbooks, blog	good

Evaluation (See guidance below for more information)

You are required to write a 500 word evaluation of this module.

Overall, I think I’ve engaged quite well with this module, particularly towards the end. I struggled mostly with the research element but I think towards the end I got better at this. For example, with the first brief I wasn’t sure what to draw or collect around leeds, and the same with the field trip in the second brief. Once I had changed my project though, my research improved and I think this is just because I had more of a solid direction to work in. I got better at using my research to inform my project once I’d changed my idea. I tried to explore a range of different research methods, like asking people about their favourite coffee, where they’ve had it etc and this helped me get to the conclusion that I should base my picture book on my own experiences with coffee to make it more personal and informed. The main thing I learnt in this module is media experimentation. For my picture book I used ink drawings and tissue paper and combined them digitally which I think was quite effective and definitely something I am going to use again or develop further. My picture book was the most successful part of this module I think. I’m really pleased with the observational drawings and experimentation and development I did for this brief and how I refined these down to create the book itself. I think I was quite prolific as well and worked through the different stages of my project logically. Another part of this module that went quite well was the group screenprint. Although I found the research aspect difficult, I was really pleased with the end result. We had managed to combine lots of different media and techniques and I think the finished screenprints turned out really interesting. There were lots of parts of this module where I got stuck and lost momentum, but I think I dealt with them quite well. I think the main problem for me was research, and I didn’t know how to research things effectively to give me ideas to work with. I hit a particularly difficult dead end with the picture book project when I went down the route of anti-consumption and repurposing things, because after a lot of research I realized I didn’t have anything interesting to build a narrative out of so I had to restart the project. Despite this, it worked out quite well because I enjoyed the coffee based idea much more so I found it easier to do lots of work. I’ve learnt a lot from this module that I can apply to future work. I think the main things that I’ve learnt are how to use research more effectively and media experimentation (I’m glad I managed to move away from using fineliners in this project and I’m really happy with the results). I also feel like I’ve really got into the swing of working in this project, and just working my ideas out in sketchbooks and I think this will hopefully continue into future projects.

Evaluation Guidance

This should be a reflective summary of your experience across the module, with a focus on SB2 & SB3

-       Overall, how well do you feel you have engaged with this module.

-       What learning took place? What was useful to you?

Be specific. New skills? New methods? New processes or approaches? Did you use the blog to reflect on your project development? Tell us about your research- how did you use it to inform the intent of your project?

-       What went well and why? What did you enjoy? What were you happy with as an outcome?

Be critical and analytical. Why did you enjoy it? Perhaps identify particular sessions?

This could be ideas, solutions to problems, studentship or research. How well did you use the studio? Did you invest enough time in the development and testing of your outcomes? Where did you invest the most energy? When did you feel positive and motivated?

-       What could you have done better?

What were the problems you faced? Did you get stuck or lose momentum? What did you do to overcome this? This could be in reference to studentship, organization, blogging or studio practice.

-       Contextual research.

How have you used the analysis of other artists, peers or other creative practitioners to inform your own approach? What are the principles, ideas and approaches you have identified as relevant to you?

-       How can you apply what you have learnt here for future modules and projects?

Application and future thinking. Things you would do differently next time? What useful methods, processes and ideas will you take forward into the next module?

You may also want to consider:

Self-questioning: How did your thoughts and opinions change as you progressed through the module?

Feedback: What other people (tutors and peers) thought of work and how you responded to that feedback?

Research: Did you use contextual research to inform your ideas, ways of thinking or understanding of the challenges set. This may include further research of your subject matter, slides from the presentations or use of the library.

Tell an Untold Story: final illustrations

These are the final illustrations for the book. I think they flow quite well in this order, loosely following the narrative of the coffee i drink during a normal day. I wasn't too sure about the brain fuel page, but I think its effective at leading into the book and shows what I use coffee for most of the time.



I was considering just making the front cover a block yellow colour but I decided against it because I didn't think something that minimal would work with the content. I was also not sure what to make the title. I was thinking just "coffee" but again I thought it was too minimal - cafeti-yeah works well I think because it immediately makes the viewer realise its not a particularly serious book which is what I wanted to convey.

Tell an Untold Story: storyboarding

I've began to think about the storyboard and order of illustrations in my book. I have a few double page spreads or illustrations that work together so I am going to try and arrange my book so it flows.

For the cafetiere page, in my original idea of the drawing there was a cafetiere in the middle but considering there is one on the next page, I've decided to leave it just as the hands to keep it simple and I think this is more effective.

Most of my illustrations are coming together and working well as a set but there are still some pages that I'm stuck on which I need to try and figure out. There are a couple of simple observational drawings that I did in my sketchbook which I might replicate for the first and last page, because I don't want to make the picture book too intense and I think they would work well with the more narrative style pages.

In these illustrations I'm trying to depict how much coffee granules I use when I'm making coffee by making it seem really excessive but I don't think it's a very interesting illustration so I'm going to try and think of something.



I'm quite happy with this illustration and I only have two illustrations that properly span two pages so I think I'm going to make this the middle page of my book. It also reflects the caffeine dip in the middle of the day so I think it would work quite well as the middle page.

Tell an Untold Story: Development

Now that I am happy with the media and style, I think I need to start thinking about more about the pages in my book and the subject matter. I am trying to make it more about my personal experiences with coffee and how I feel about it.








I am beginning to storyboard various parts of my book and I feel like its coming together, but I want to continue drawing and experimenting so then I can refine it down to my favourite parts to then make the picture book out of. I'm pretty set on the colour scheme, style and media now though, which is good because it means I can focus solely on the illustrations now.

Tell an Untold Story: Media and Experimentation

As I continued the experimentation, I thought I could perhaps focus my picture book on the conversations I have when I'm having a coffee with someone. This formed the basis of a few illustrations in my sketchbook and also helped me figure out the media I wanted to use.



I really liked the block shapes and bright contrasting colours of the bottom illustration and this is something I definitely want to continue in my work.



I really began to enjoy the style I was developing by this page but I wasn't too keen on the colour scheme I was using. However, I thought the use of tissue paper overlapping was quite effective.



After my tutorial with Matt, he told me to combine the tissue paper and illustration digitally, and I'm really pleased with the result, especially the way the shapes don't line up perfectly with the outlines. However, he pointed out that my project was becoming less about coffee and more about the situations I drink coffee in, so I decided to try and bring the subject matter of my illustrations back to coffee more.











Frustratingly, the texture I had created with the brush pen on the cafetière didn't work well when I tried to add the colours on photoshop, so this is something I am going to have to consider further when making my other illustrations. Despite this, I am really happy with how the illustrations are going and the choice of media.

Tell an Untold Story: Change of project

I've found this project really difficult to progress with so I've decided to change the idea behind my picture book. I think the idea of focusing my book on repurposing objects and second hand furniture etc wasn't very personal and that's why I was struggling with it - because I didn't have a lot of interest in the subject matter.

I am still basing my project around consumption, but focusing on coffee instead. I felt that this would be better because I drink a lot of coffee and I really enjoy it and it's something I'm familiar with. Hopefully this should mean I enjoy this project more and I'll get better and more personal results.

To begin with, I researched coffee. For example, the types of coffee, how it's produced, interesting facts about coffee etc. I did a few sketches based around this but I didn't feel like there was a lot of substance behind my drawings so I tried something else. I asked people I knew (who I knew enjoyed coffee) what their favourite coffee moments were (for example, something memorable happening while they were having a coffee) as I thought this would be interesting to illustrate.

For my flatmate Will, his best coffee was when he was travelling in Vietnam, and he rode a moped to a small shop who made him traditional Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk. The best coffee for another of my friends called Will was on a coffee plantation in Cuba. For my parents, their favourite coffee memory was at the end of a ski run in the Alps. While these are exciting places, I don't think I'd be able to get much of my personal experience into these illustrations since I haven't been to Cuba or Vietnam.

After this, I decided to do some observational drawing and experimenting to see if this yielded any interesting results.





























I was really happy with these drawings, especially the last page. I think the brush pen is effective in adding interesting line quality and texture and this was definitely something I wanted to explore and continue further within this project. I know the proportions of these drawings aren't correct but I feel like that makes them more personal and I like the effect this has.