OUIL404 Visual Language Evaluation

1.  Which practical skills and methodologies have you developed within this module and how effectively do you think you are employing them within your own practice?
·         As in the last modules, I’ve continued to develop my use of roughs, particularly towards the end of this module with the screen print fan art brief. I enjoyed figuring out the elements and placement of these elements within the frame just in quick pencil sketches and/or simple colour. ·         I’ve developed my confidence with elements such as shape and texture that I wasn’t previously that confident or interested in. the simple tasks focusing on these elements encouraged me to re-think my stances on such elements, and encourage me to consider employing them in the future. ·         As well as developing skills in elements I wasn’t so confident with, I’ve also had to develop my skills with elements I thought I knew very well. I often stick to using black line, and this module has forced me to consider not only other ways of image-making, but also the quality and value of the lines I use. ·         I think my growing confidence with using colour shows as I progressed through the module – beginning with black and white line drawings and finishing with a bold pink and blue screen print.
2. Which principles/ theories of image making have you found most valuable during this module and how effectively do you think you are employing these within your own practice?
·         The most valuable theories and principles I’ve learned from this module came from the second brief. Although I’ve been told fleetingly of the elements of line, depth, value and frame throughout school, we’d never done such deconstructive tasks specifically focused on each element, and these studies really helped me to think about the composition of my work and how it influences and affects the viewer. ·         The use of studying the key elements of composition have particularly influenced my work in other modules, especially the vector brief in Visual Communication.
3. What strengths can you identify within your Visual Language submission and how did you capitalise on these?
·         I think my strongest point within the module is the fan art brief. As it was a topic I could choose myself, I was obviously very interested in the work I was producing and spent a lot of time planning the final artwork using roughs. ·         I think roughing and planning in general has started to become a strong point within my work and practice. I still do have a lot to develop, particularly starting to incorporate colour into my roughs more often, but over the course of this module and others I’ve definitely learned the value of planning an image. ·         I’ve started to think more analytically about how my work is composed, and this translates across to other modules, using elements such as line and depth. ·         I actually really enjoyed this module. I didn’t really realise until I started to evaluate it, but I’ve actually learned a lot and have started to inform my practice with the elements of visual language, and I think I’ve developed as an illustrator from where I was at the beginning of the course.
4. What areas for development can you identify within your Visual Language submission and how will you address these in the future?
·         I mentioned struggling with depression in my last module evaluation and on my blog, and so there is also a chunk of the module within the first brief where I haven’t completed as much work as I have wanted to. However, despite this, I’ve tried my best to catch up on tasks and keep blogging about what I’ve learned from this module. ·         Some tasks, like the collage task, I could have spent more time on composition and crafting. However, even some tasks where I wasn’t 100% happy with the final outcome, I still learned a lot from and had fun playing around in the development and planning stages, such as with the texture task. ·         Particularly at the beginning of the module with tasks such as using line and mark-making, I could have tried harder to include a broader range of attempts and experimentation, but I think I have improved on my commitment over the course of the module.
5. In what way has this module informed how you deconstruct and analyse artwork (whether your own or that of contemporary practitioners)? ·         In terms of my own work, I found the second brief particularly helpful in being critical about my own work, and started to learn to view my image-making from an outside perspective. ·         I certainly find it useful to think about images in terms of how the are planned and composed, as good composition can really make or break illustration, depending on the brief. ·         Attempting to deconstruct other artists’ work is useful in working out the meaning and purpose behind the image, and learning how I can also create similar meanings within my work, or how I can present my purpose. ·         I have definitely gotten better at deconstructing and analysing my own and other practitioners' artwork, and my Pinterest account has also encouraged me to do this - I now try to think about elements such as depth and line of sight as well as aesthetic qualities of the visual signature and how these elements portray mine or another practitioner's intent.
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				x
Punctuality				x
Motivation			x
Commitment				x
Quantity of work produced				x
Quality of work produced				x
Contribution to the group				x
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.