I’m so pleased all of my Semester 1 work is done and dusted!!
Just to tie all the loose ends up, I’ll be summarising The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (read: strengths, weaknesses and threats), as well as upcoming goals and opportunities for the future c:
Strengths
For me, the most successful part of Semester 1 was my experience with Procreate, and the steep yet successful learning curve that went along with it- I found using the iPad Pro/Apple Pencil combo to draw directly onto the screen to be really refreshing and user friendly, rather than using a traditional ‘screenless’ tablet (e.g. Wacom Intuos) and Photoshop on a laptop, which wasn’t very intuitive at all.
Through creating art with this new workflow, I’ve been able to gain back some of my confidence when it comes to drafting and artwork in general- I’m not the most confident person by any means, but I’ve had lots of further difficulty in the past year or so that has really affected my ability to produce something I’m pleased with. I’m trying to become a more optimistic and outgoing person, so this is a small victory for me that I’m really proud of ♥
Weaknesses
While I feel the semester went well overall, there were definitely areas which I was really unhappy about and couldn’t wait to finish off and leave behind. Timekeeping has always been an issue for me, and I wish I’d spent a bit more time learning the ins and outs of the riso process before jumping in with my solid colour choices and largely single opacity layers.
My final grade will speak for itself, I just hope I can do enough in these subsequent modules to achieve a good class of degree. I’ve previously been able to scrape a First during my FdA, but I’ll be pleased (albeit it slightly less so) with a 2:1… anything else is a bit out of the question for me ^^”
Threats
Threats for the future include lack of time management and my own self-belief, as I know this can really hold me back if I let it get to me too much. I also don’t want to become too reliant on digital processes, as I feel I really need to retain my sound knowledge of traditional art. I’d love to include some nice originals in my portfolio, so this is something I’d like to work towards even if it doesn’t form the bulk of an actual personal or commercial project (I can work on this independently as part of my portfolio project, too).
Goals and Opportunities
My goals for Semester 2 include continuing to work with a variety of processes and techniques, while also coming back to my roots and creating some high quality portfolio centrepieces that I’ll be pleased to display during final show. Convincing myself is the biggest struggle of all, so I’ll also be actively working on favouring my work a little bit more to help me find peace with myself.
Onwards and upwards!
chalon joy collingwood 