Assignment 5: Tutor report

Overall Comments

You have been quite held back in this submission and although you have tried all the exercises and followed the guidelines, there could have been more personal interpretation coming through, particularly in ways of depicting the object in alternative ways, working out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself. By investigating the materials and media more, this shows a personal voice and exploration coming through rather than trying to be pictorial so much. Many of the exercises are repetitive and I have explained why in the feedback. You have realised that the exercises are a good starting point but definitely go beyond them to show development, experimentation and an ambition.

Feedback on assignment

(Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills)

(Demonstration of Creativity)

Torn paper collage- you are right in your commentary about how you rectified and persevered with this collage piece. Yes it can be easy to leave the surface on there but because you have concentrated on the elements and composition, you have been aware of how to refine it. Due to this, there is an energy in the work and a unified form.

Looking closer- the first attempt is raw and vibrant and it is engaging because you have used techniques, which distorts the object. It has more of a personal style coming through. The second, piece is not as successful. You say you wanted a more realistic depiction but what you see here is what you get, even though it is a honed in area. The color scheme is too soft and gentle in comparison to the first piece. You want the viewer to be engaged.

Introducing colour- you have realised that your chosen object can be more successful in monochrome but it was important to see alternative depictions through colour then you have a choice. I agree that the object close up would be more exciting. The most successful piece in this section is the last piece as the form and tangled roots are well depicted. But overall, all of them seem held back for the nature of the root. Close-ups and abstraction would be more exciting and more fluid marks on it would be stronger. They all have too much background and the choices of colour of the background are not always harmonious with the subject matter.

Tonal study- these tonal studies have attention to detail and it is clear that you have really studied the light source. At this point your studies and pieces are becoming quite repetitive. Each piece is of the same object and there are not many alternative ways of creating the work to experiment working out of your comfort zone.

How about trying a close up and completely abstracting the object, cutting it up so there are several segments, letting it decay so there are neutral colours as well as fresh ones, seeing the object in a different light, next to natural light and a strong artificial one? There are endless possibilities of how you could challenge yourself more and for the final part this should be something you acknowledge.

Line drawing- again we see the same object in a similar position. However, the sensitivity of the lines is well considered. You have thought about the pressures of the media but again what about different, more exciting compositions? Stitching perhaps?

It is when you compare your work to the intricacy of the actual object that you realise that your work is not communicating the essence of your subject. By framing it, you have realised this and it suddenly becomes much more vibrant and alive. Hence, the final oil pastel drawing is much more engaging.

Different angles- again, you have followed the task and this has restricted you. Of course you should follow the tasks but find your own interpretation. You have realised this and are very self-aware of the confined nature of work with the one subject matter. Perhaps you could have tried several root vegetables so you could really play with composition, texture and concepts?

Assignment- you have rightly gone back to reviewing that the first torn collage piece is the most exciting. The assignment piece, although more intriguing is not bad compared to the other studies. There is a sense of movement and semi-abstraction but you could have pushed it further. You say you prefer expressionist and expressive work and this could have been captured in the final piece. More experimental approach with your media, techniques and energy would have led to really abstract and individual interpretation rather than being realistic and representational.

Sketchbooks

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity

Although not your entire sketchbook is on the blog, I can see from studies that you have tried to do preliminary work for the more refined pieces. In my last report I suggested that you keep a visual diary to record, draw and doodle anything, which inspires you. I hope you have done this because I think it would be a good way to see your creative thinking. Use your sketchbook as a space to play, experiment with the potentiality and limitations of media. Playing meaning not always creating a resolved or pictorial piece but samples, test pieces and try-outs. It is fine to make mistakes as long as you can see it or use it.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

Context

You blog is easy to navigate and clearly laid out. Your commentary on your processes and what you have leant are self-reflective and you see the value of why you did exercises and how they have made you think in alternative ways, however it would be good to see if you did the alternatives. Your visual language and vocabulary refer to technical terms and your annotations go beyond the descriptive.

Primitive woodcarving– this blog entry is an interesting read of your journey and I’m glad you have been inspired by Gombrich’s The Story of Art. You are seeing that the success in work is not about the accuracy of the object and so far this is the reason you have been very careful.

Suggested reading/viewing (Context)

N/A

Pointers for the next assignment

Before putting your work for assessment, have a critical review of all your chosen pieces you want to submit and see if you can improve them in any way. It is easy to forget what you did in the first part. Make sure the collection of work you submit show a variety of techniques and they represent a breadth of skills.

Read the assessment and the Submission Guidelines carefully so you clearly understand the process. Make sure your work is presented clearly in a way, which shows it off to its best advantage. Discernment and judgment is taken into account in assessing the submission.

Well done on completing the final part and very good luck in your assessment.