Getting Somewhere

KEEP GOIN' JAY

GETTING SOMEWHERE

TEST VIDEO

AND THEN THE RAIN CAME POURING DOWN

I'M AT WORK ALL DAY TOMORROW

I'M RUNNING OUT OF TIME

AGHH

Adobe Audition

Attempting to learn Adobe Audition for my short film so that I can add the voices and soundscapes onto my footage. I think it's working and I've found out how to record voices on my laptop so I'm just fiddling around making silly changes to pitch and reverb so I can get some groovy variation between the characters. I don't want them all to sound like me!

Eh yes this isn't visual but it's part of what Jim had to do. It's part of his legacy - his voice as Kermit the frog, his performance. Jim wasn't a ventriloquist but he was an actor.

IDIOT JAY

I'm an idiot.

DELETED ALL THE PHOTOS FOR THE FILM FROM MY SD CARD. SPENT ALL DAY DOING THIS AGGGH. THERE'S NO WAY TO GET THEM BACK EXCEPT TO USE THE CRAPPY MOVIE MAKER TEST VIDEO I MADE EARLIER )': AGHHH

AGHHH

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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PHOTOS IN THE GARDEN

ARMY OF ELVES

Strings were stressing my brains out and I couldn't handle it. Ripped them all out and started again.

Much too fiddly and there is no way that I can control all of the puppets on set! I'm going to have to compromise here and go back to a wire armature memory joint so that I can have these creatures hold their own pose until I move them again.

This feels a bit like a failure to me. I'm technically not using Henson's processes am I? I'm not using hand puppets, or marionettes and I'm not using live-action performance.

I guess I'm still trying to think and work in a similar manner and I'm following his philosophies of world building, but I wanted to challenge myself more than this. This is still challenging, I'm exhausted, but I wanted to learn new things too. Get funky with media etc. Make the landscape but NO TIME. NO TIME!!!!!

Need a whole village of Gelflings but don't know how many I can actually get done in a day and then I need to fabricate their outfits, hair and apply faces.

  

A process shot. Never as elegant and magical as Wendy Midener (now Froud), who worked in the Creature Shop with Henson during the filming of the Dark Crystal AND Labyrinth, but it's pretty groovy to capture the physical and mental exertion of puppet-making before the creatures come together. Here's me - in the zone. Here's me MAKING THINGS.

Spoiling the magic. Behind the scenes. The realm of Jay.

Realm of Froud

Jim Henson and the Realm of Froud are two worlds that are closely connected.

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For Jim's fantasy films, he was inspired by the art of fantasy artist Brian Froud and the pair worked together to produce the world of THE DARK CRYSTAL and LABYRINTH.

Unlike Henson's other work (his comical, over the top Muppets), these fantasy films made CREATURES - realistic things and organisms that could actually live in this land.

The materials they used for these creatures weren't Henson's signature fun fur and felts, but materials that matched the real skins and textures of beasts.

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Above is Ludo, one of my favourite characters from Labyrinth. He's a believable monster but he's also loveable. It's incredible to see the translation from Brian's sketches to the HENSON creation, and interesting to see how this relationship works.

I will be taking on the roles of both Jim and Brian, so I need to understand how they worked in harmony to invent these incredible films worlds.

The body suit for Ludo is made from foam latex, a rubber-like material that is quite light so can be moved easily by the actor (although, with a beast as big as this the finished Ludo was DEFINITELY NOT LIGHT). The hair of Ludo is laid individually, each strand attached to the creature's skin.

These creatures took hours of work to produce and a lot of effort from an entire creature shop team, so I'm going to be working on a much smaller scale in order to make something even a fraction of the quality of these legends!

Puppet Designs

Worked up pencil sketches of each character for the film.

- still a little caught in the translation from drawing to creation. I'm not sure how long to spend developing these designs before moving onto sculpting.

I haven't really used my sketchbook to explore colour because I want to see them in the flesh. A coloured pencil can be used to rough out a basic colour palette but I can't know how the colours will show on screen until I physically make them.

I can't know how the fabrics will hang until I sew them.

I can't determine how the Geflings will move until I've tested their wire armatures and rigged up the marionette wires.

I'm really happy with this idea to use Jim's children - a homage to his private life and his role as a father - but because the references to his kids are so subtle, I don't think anyone will really pick up on that. I didn't want it to be an overt link to his children but rather a quiet cheer for that side of his life. I don't think it's really necessary for the audience to understand but it would be good if they knew that these characters had SOMETHING to do with Jim (they're not just plucked out of thin air).

The King is probably the character that people will recognise. His philosophies about recycling, living in peace and his role in the community as the 'director' reflects that of Jim's professional persona.

'The child' is the most abstract character because I want this one to be relatable. I want it to be symbol of childhood and the innocence that Jim so passionately valued in other people and himself.

Villagers - Character Development

IDEA ALERT:

Make each character inspired by a HENSON.

I wanted to make some villagers to live in a fantastical world inspired by Jim Henson for the fan film.

I'll need to design and create at least 5 villagers to create a crowd.

JIM HAD FIVE CHILDREN. HOW ABOUT I MAKE THEM?

It's quite a sensitive subject and a personal relationship for the children so I don't want it to be too obvious but it would be nice to have a basis for these villagers.

STORY

I spent the entire day being super boring and fretting over this story. I just don't think it's FANTASY enough - it's too childish and petty. Needs some more battle, or a death of some kind to really fit into the world of the Dark Crystal.

I've written out several variations of the narrative so far but I want it to be perfect and it's not getting there so I'm going to keep fiddling until I find a solution.

This creature would move my film into the fantasy realm but I can't work out how to make it fit into the story line... is it truly evil or is it friendly?

STOP TRYING TO BRING A MORAL INTO THE ENDING JAY, YOU LIL' PANSY.

He looks sufficiently creepy and his legs are so gross but it's going to be so fiddly to string up his SIX LEGS and control them all! Agh! I need a whole team of puppeteers...

Should I get rid of the marionette controls? No strings attached? Just memory joints (stay in place until moved again)?

FAN FILM COMPETITION

THERE'S A FAN FILM COMPETITION GOING ON FOR THE DARK CRYSTAL.

THE WINNER GETS A TRIP TO HOLLYWOOD, A TOUR AROUND THE HENSON STUDIOS AND MEETS THE HENSONS!!!!

I know that this brief is to make a poster, postcards and stamps (still images) and not a film (moving image), but I think this is a perfect opportunity for me to do both at the same time. I can make a film, submit it and take frames and photos of my creatures to use as promotional material in answer to the module brief.

'But with The Dark Crystal, instead of puppetry we're trying to go toward a sense of realism - toward a reality of creatures that are actually alive and we're mixing up puppetry and all kinds of other techniques.'

'The most important thing, however, is to love what you're doing and go after those visions, no matter where they lead.'

LABYRINTH ARTWORK

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WOAH WOAH WOAH

SOMEONE MADE THESE AWESOME FAN ART POSTERS ABOUT LABYRINTH CREATURES

DAMN THEM FOR GETTING THERE BEFORE ME

there's loads of them and they're full to the brim with information. You clever thing, you.

I'm not sure about the digital-ness of the posters though. They don't suit the handmade magic of Labyrinth… They feel too modern and HUMAN?

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Joints

Henson's creations weren't just 'dolls'. They weren't sculptures designed for ornamental value. These creatures were never meant to be static. They were made to move.

Jim Henson was a puppeteer and all of his characters were created with the intention of telling a story and being used by an actor. Whether on stage or behind the camera, his puppets had to move and interact with the world.

To make a moving puppet, I'm using paper mache as a base for the doll before adding a clay surface and then making a mould of the puppet in silicone.

To make my dolls move, I normally use bendy wire underneath the 'skin' so that the limbs can be bent into a pose and will stay in that position until moved again.

Henson used traditional puppeteer principles - flimsy felt that follows the hand's movements - and animatronic technology. His creatures always had an suggestion of realistic life thanks to these movements.

I'm going to have a go at making more realistic movement by creating joints at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles.

Ball jointed? Starting with an easier method - hooks.

Process

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So I'm not going to be able to get into the Ceramics rooms, at least not yet.

I work better from home anyway and I have three whole weeks of independent study. Here's my chance to make my own CREATURE SHOP.

I've read some books from the Library about the process of mould-making and resin casting, but they're all about sculpture rather than puppets or creatures, so I'm now caroosing the web for some REAL PEOPLE talking about their experiences with CREATURE MOULDING.

I'm looking into buying some silicone and resin to work with from home. The image I posted at the top of this post is of some beautiful girls making porcelain dolls. Such a magical process.

IN THE WORDS OF JIM HENSON

'The only way magic works is by hard work. But sometimes hard work can be fun.'

Jim's Dark World

WORLD BUILDING

'I want the feel to feel like this'

Jim wanted a rich, organic feeling reflected in some of the landscapes.

Research into religions, philosophies and art forms. Want these characters to be alive and exist in their own world. We want to know that when we leave them at the end of the film that they are still living.

'when you create an entire world, our world already has an immense amount of things in it already. Our world has this incredible texture and depth to it… in creating the world we had to create all of that depth from the beginning.'

'we had to create all kinds of history behind the world'

different animals and plants

very little of this ends up in the finished film

but we all have to believe it so that we are dealing with something that has substance.

Brian Henson: to create a world for somebody else, to let the visions coincide.

Yes Brian! That's what I want to do too. Be true to Jim but translate his ideas.

MATTE GLASS PAINTING LANDSCAPES TO BE MARRIED WITH THE LIVE-ACTION - so clever!

Creature Building

I'M GOING DOWN TO CERAMICS TO MOULD AND CAST SOME THINGS!

At least I hope I am… I've not had an induction but I'm going to go down anyway and find out what's goin' on! Sent some emails. Wrote my name on the HELP whiteboard for support with making a silicone mould for FRIDAY AT 9AM.

Thought I should probably make something to take down and make a mould of. Got some air drying clay and started work on a Henson-esque thing.

I should have spent longer designing this and working on a concept but this is really just to test the process! I wanted to take a full BJD model down to make a mould of but I'm not sure how much time/silicone that would take. Making a one-piece creature.

Used some big beads for the eyes, not sure how these will read when moulded but THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT.

I love clay when it's all smoooooth but this chap looks way too alien. Henson's creatures are more detailed and furry than this. A lot of the detail would be applied with paint and fabrication after moulding but heyyy let's not make an alien or ET or YODA.

Ughhh clay hands grossness

Becoming more creature-like but I've spent like four hours on this and it's just a lump of clay. FEEL MY PAINS, JIM.

HERE WE GO, TEXTURE! Uhm slightly worried that it's now beginning to look like one of those tacky Me-to-You ornaments from Clinton Cards. Darnit. LESS CUTE PLEASE.

Henson is known for that fine line between CUTE and OBSCURE.

Quite liking the snout/nose and the horns but need much more definition on the arms and legs.

Tail or no tail? Tail makes it more animal-like… perhaps a fiercer tale? More dragony.

Slightly Gremlin. Want to do a full body, jointed doll so it's not stuck int his position all the time.

Responses - Bye Liz

I've got plans for both Salt and Henson:

Titus Salt - making a model village of Saltaire

Jim Henson - making my own creature shop and creatures

Queen Elizabeth…? Her clothing? Her story? I'm not really feeling excited by her as a concept. Sorry Liz. I just don't think there's much potential scape for what I could make in response to her history. Well, I guess there's loads and she had a huge impact and reigned for so long but there's just nothing that I WANT to do in relation to her life. I appreciate her life's work. Don't get me wrong, top lass.

The only things I can think of are superficial and don't interest me as much as Titus or Jim.

I've chosen to leave Liz for now and move forward with Salt and Henson. 

Narrowing down my research.

HENSON HENSON HENSON

I've scratched the surface of Titus Salt's philosophies and the history of Queen Elizabeth I, but I know that it's Henson I want to study.

There's interesting elements in the lives of the other two and they both have a huge legacy behind them, but Henson has had a direct impact on my life, whilst the other two I don't have a direct relationship with.

http://www.darkcrystal.com/site_images/encyclopedia/enc_jen_inset_5_580x280px.jpg

Henson was a maker. I really like finding these odd 'behind the scenes' photos, revealing the magic behind the puppets and creatures he made. Above is a photo of Jim with Brian and Wendy Froud, working on creatures for The Dark Crystal. 

I want to learn how Henson worked. How did he make the casts? How did the studio work? What was he like to work with?

Time Piece is a very early Henson production that I'd never seen before. It's his first short film and I think it reflects him as a person - obeying the rules of time but constantly questioning it.

Quietly doing his thing.

Being something more than just existing.

Rules for Saltaire

So Saltaire is quite and interesting historic place! Sir Titus Salt himself was an enterprising and generous fellow, but it's his creation of this village that interests me most. He brought his ideologies and political values into a place where his workers could live.

1. Throughout the village, cleanliness, cheerfulness, and order must reign supreme.
2. Only persons who are good, obedient, honest and hardworking will be allocated a house in each village.
3. Anyone caught in a state of inebriation will immediately be evicted.
4. All persons living in Saltaire will enjoy ‘comfort utility, healthfulness and convenience. Each house and its immediate exterior is to be kept clean by, or at the expense of the occupant.
5. Any damage to any of the houses or fixtures, must be made good by the occupant, otherwise the cost thereof will be deducted from the weekly wage……….
6. No animals to be kept in the village including chickens, rabbits, or pigeons.
7. The founder will make a periodical inspection of the village & housing…………..
8. No washing to be hung out to dry in front or behind any of the properties, or in the vicinity of the village.
9. The founder would recommend that all inmates wash themselves every morning, but they shall wash themselves at least twice a week, Monday morning and Thursday morning; any found not washed will be fined 3d for each offence.
10. All children living or working in the village must attend school half time, up to the age of twelve years and learn reading, writing and arithmetic.
11. None of the inmates…..shall underlet the tenement assigned to him……or take any person to lodge or reside therein, without the written permission of the founder……..
12. Gatherings or loitering of more than eight persons in the streets is strictly forbidden.

HENSON

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HENSON ON PUPPETRY:

'not a career that one would plan'

'when I went into puppetry, I found that I could combine all that stuff.'

JIM DIDN'T WANT TO BE A CHILDREN'S PUPPETEER

we're all seeing ourselves in all of this work

THE DESIGN IS IMPORTANT - that feeds you, how the character looks

characters do not work in a vacuum - they need another character to play against

character building

The original Kermit was made from Henson's mother's old spring coat and a ping pong ball cut in half.  Harrison Rainie in U.S. News & World Report quoted Henson as calling Kermit "literally my right hand."

Disney merger: Henson had doubts about the merger because Disney's corporate policies were quite the opposite of his.

HENSON'S PERSONALITY:

'he believed in the people he worked with'

extraordinary leader - so quiet

does not like to be told what to do - not rebellious but a free spirit

couldn't contain his energy

not a rule breaker but saw the rules as being questionable and absurd

there never was enough time for Jim - he knew that

instigator of silliness, instigator of fun -we allowed our looney selves out

he was the fellow who uncorked the bottle

real craft - taken years and years to learn

Harrigan of Life magazine described him as "a quiet, authoritative, beloved man without a trace of aggression but with a whim of steel.'

A kind and patient man, Henson did not alert a doctor or visit a hospital because he did not believe he was sick; nor did he want to bother anyone. 
"Through his work, he helped sustain the qualities of fancifulness, warmth and consideration that have been so threatened by our coarse, cynical age."

MY IDEAS FOR MAKING ARTWORK:

Make my own RED BOOK diary

BEING JIM - call myself Jim, talk like him, dress like him, write like Jim

Open my own Creature Shop

Use his techniques - casting and moulding, puppetry

Queen Elizabeth I

I don't know much about Queen Elizabeth I at all… now where oh where would I find historical information to help me understand (but won't bore me to death)? HORRIBLE HISTORIES!

As a comedy, this programme makes Queen Elizabeth I into a silly caricature of herself.

I'm a little confused as other reading I've done into her life and reign refers to her as 'GOOD QUEEN BESS', 'THE GOLDEN AGE OF ELIZABETH'. She's described in biographies as a selfless woman who sacrificed personal happiness for the good of the nation, but Horrible Histories represents her as strange and ugly.

Legacy

Selling the Muppets and Sesame Street to Disney... disappointing. Sell out?

CLOSING DOWN the London workshop - such a shame!

I've watched so much Labyrinth and know too much about it

I want to study DARK CRYSTAL further and the philosophies behind it

the team and the making of

http://www.darkcrystal.com/encyclopedia_urru.php#prototypes  

What an awesome website! Thanks Cheryl!

Jim's children are continuing his legacy and even building on the worlds he founded.

It's so lovely to see that photos and documents about the development of the film have been kept. PROCESS.

Persons of Note

INTRODUCTION TASK

Make a poster of a famous person using shape - NO TEXT OR FACE

Initial thoughts: famous people with notable hair/facial hair/costume?

Morrissey - his quiff, his glasses and his gladioli. I've looked at Mozz before and I don't want to repeat myself.

Kate Bush - Famous for her waily voice and sensual personality. Difficult to visualise!

I chose to celebrate the legendary Jim Henson, a personal and professional hero of mine.

I desperately tried to make my poster simplistic and focus on the IDEAS of the famous person rather than their face.

SOLUTION

Henson was a puppeteer, and he was famous for what he did with his hands. The things he made, the muppets he performed. 

I wanted to make a poster of his ARM AND HAND in the classic hand-puppet position. To communicate the visual signature of Henson's career, I chose to paint this arm green and balance two classic Muppet style eyes on the top. A little Kermit collar to finish it off, and there we go! A SIMPLE poster of Jim's legacy.

I didn't like the actual image I produced but I was proud of the idea. I'd really like to revisit this concept.

PERSONS OF NOTE

SOOO EXCITED WHEN I WAS GIVEN HENSON AGAIN FOR PERSONS OF NOTE!

A whole brief giving me the opportunity to explore Henson's legacy and his artistry.

Also Queen Elizabeth I and Titus Salt… I enjoy research but I want to dive into ONE idea rather than skirt around possible ideas that I'm not sold on.

How much research do I need to do into these two? I am already so drawn to Henson.

Final Postcards

Vectors are over forever and I'm so relieved that this brief has ended.

I've made some ALMOST groovy postcards, but I don't think it was worth the hours of torture sat infront of a computer screen. My eyes hurt and I hope not to use Illustrator again for a while.

THE COLOURS ARE MUCH BETTER WHEN PRINTED. THEY LOOK BRIGHT AND WEIRD IN THESE JPEGS.

PLEASE NOTE: I'm going to be really critical right now and that's not fair my lil' Jay, you did try really hard. It's just that now it's over I can allow myself to hate vectors and let this all go. I can stop clinging to any hope I had for these postcards, forcing myself to like them. Although I'd finally got them to a state where I thought they could be shown in the crit, I can still see so many errors... but I had to find a point at which to stop working on it and this is it.

I'm still not happy with this one. I don't think it's possible to create a translation of water in this medium - vectors are flat and horrible and not how I would choose to work again. I understand how they work and why people DO use them but they're just really not for me. I don't find them attractive and they make me feel sick.

There are still issues with the composition of the above image and perhaps if I worked on if for another 1000000 hours I could get it to look acceptable but it's just never going to be something that blows my mind, you know? It's never going to make me go WOAH HOW DID THEY DO THAT? WOAH WHAT IS IT MADE OF? It's just some colours on a screen and I'm sorry that I hate it but I do.

Think this one really captures the act of RUMMAGING and finding treasure.

Not sure it really represents Berlin but my main intention was to communicate the sense of the MARKET and what goes on there.

The character is quite sweet… it's a translation of my hand drawn character but it's lost a lot of that energetic movement and the rush of pen on paper as the character comes to life. It lacks life and any energetic quirks in the lines just look wrong - because vectors are meant to be mathematically perfect, any asymmetry reads as an error rather than information.

So happy with the mountains and the mist in this one but the apples and fruit look horrendous. Still too busy! I want there to be PRODUCE and items but vectors demand simplicity.

Took me a long time to get this one right but I think I got there in the end... the mangoes look enticing and the dude looks Indian. I've created a scene without including EVERYTHING. It's a fraction of the full picture, but it's all the audience needs to work out the story.

FEEDBACK

IDEAS

successfully interpreted the meaning!!!! They guessed that the postcards were about market stalls in different cultures - nobody guessed the cities but that wasn't my main intention, I was trying to communicate the 

COMMUNICATION

movement/action

involved in their environment

these images have an effective form of communication. it is obvious that each scene is trying to tell its own story from a different setting and city.

IMAGE

Like the choice of colours used in these images. The pastel tones are easy on the eyes and complement the images

Images are quite flat but they have a nice sense of composition and depth

A varied use of composition and viewpoint in the set, making them work nicely together

effective use of shape, lovely use of texture in the fruit and other areas but used selectively which works brilliantly

The fruits are really easy to look at because of the colour and the composition, maybe except the fish one. Something is not quite right with the composition, the character on the right is too close? the yellow in the background distracts form the scene

SPECULATIVE AND CONSTRUCTIVE QUESTION

They all focus on one person except the fish one, if you did it again would you make this one more personal?

How would it look if you had used some texture?

Maybe the simplicity of one character works better?

composition works well, maybe you could have a consistent theme/structure for al the images?

WE LIKE…

the composition

the characters and colour scheme

the faces

that if feels like I'm there - observing the markets in first person

the consideration of movement extended through selective use of values

characters are awesome

really nice colours, characters and interactions amazing all round

I like the colour tones

really cool characters

JAY LIKES...

This group crit has given me the chance to look around and see how other people tackled the tricky VECTORS and what they did with the brief.

I loved Bronte's subject: she chose to research and study cities related to witch hunts and witchcraft - something very different to everyone else in the room.

Marnie's composition was very clever - she repeated the same plate design on every postcard but changed the food and tablecloth to suit the city. This consistency made her set work well together.

Emma's postcards were beautifully coloured using pastel shades (trendy). Limited colour palettes worked really well and I saw several examples of this tying sets together.

OUIL 404 VISUAL LANGUAGE END OF MODULE 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?
I’ve developed a productive and playful sketchbook practice that’s helped me to be more experimental, trying out techniques and ideas in this space as often as I can. I’ve used sketchbooks before but this module’s taught me to use it as a tool rather than a diary. I’d been precious about my sketchbooks before but have come to appreciate the unfinished and uninhibited nature of development. The mini-briefs tackled specific practical tasks each week. Drawing is the most obvious and trusted method of illustration and I’d taken it for granted prior to this module. I’ve unlearned comfortable drawing habits and embarked upon using the whole body not just the wrist to make an image. The Photoshop workshop refreshed my knowledge of digital software, which I employed within the VALUE brief and used again for my Visual Narratives book. I’ve found a great passion for 3D illustration and have independently explored practical processes related to this, such as model-making, photography and costume fabrication.
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?
Being exposed to different principles of image making has changed the way I’ve approached challenges across the modules. I embraced COMPOSITION within the week’s ELEPHANT challenge but also applied my understanding of composition to the postcards I made for Visual Communication SB2. Since learning what makes a successful/interesting composition, I’ve noticed that the way I plan images has become a lot more of a structured and a strategic process. The illustrations I’m making are a lot more successful in their immediacy as the result of these sessions in line of sight, depth and scale. As the creator, I have control over how the viewer ‘sees’ my artwork and I’m excited to see how I can use this to my advantage in future work. Understanding the rules of value and colour theory has changed the way I see the world and in turn has affected the way that I use value in my work, making the images I produce much more aesthetically pleasing.
3. What strengths can you identify within your Visual Language submission you capitalise on these?
I think I’ve produced quite an ambitious body of work– especially towards the end of the module, I have been taking challenges seriously and making some really inventive outcomes. I’ve invested a lot of time on these tasks outside of the taught sessions. I’ve used my blog consistently to reflect on my own progress from the start of this module. My curiosity has led me to investigate artists and fields of image-making alongside the practical tasks. I’m constantly expanding my knowledge of artists and this is educating the work I’m making and the artist I am becoming. I’ve become a lot more confident in presenting my work through the weekly routine of showing our outcomes; this is a personal achievement that I am really proud of.
4. What areas for development can you identify within your Visual Language submission and how will you address these in the future?
I’ve tried to be playful and open-minded but I still hold back. I am still a perfectionist at heart and hate the uncertainty of experimentation. I’m getting better at this the more I practice making and sharing my work. I need to continue keeping a personal sketchbook for myself. Visual Language requires attention, reflection and development, so it shouldn’t stop just because the module has ended. I want to continue developing my visual language throughout my personal and professional work. Though I tried to avoid sticking to a ‘visual signature’, I think it is still present in lots of my work. I should intervene and question my habitual image-making decisions.
5. In what way has this module informed how you deconstruct and analyse artwork (whether your own or that of contemporary practitioners)? In the sessions we were encouraged to draw out the basic arrangements of existing illustrations and this opened my eyes to see how all visual products are deliberately constructed and carefully considered.  Using this process, I can visually decode the elements of artwork and identify where image-making principles have been followed. ‘What makes a good drawing’ is a very subjective measure, but I do believe that this module has refined my taste in artwork and encouraged me to have opinions. Reflecting on my progress and reviewing the work I’ve made for Visual Language has helped me to identify the strengths in my skillset and which practical skills I need to continue developing. I am even more critical of my own work, because I know what I am capable of and I am very aware that I could always improve.
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.