January/Artist/Inspiration

ADRIAN DADICH

BRUNO BIAZOTTO

MIKHAIL RAKHMATULLIN

JAN WESSBECHER

IGNACIO FERNÁNDEZ RÍOS

JOHN GRELLO

YURI SHWEDOFF

SERGI BROSA

JINWOO SONG

DAVID SEQUEIRA

XUEXIANG ZHANG

RAPH LOMOTAN

JAEMIN KIM

Creative Elements x Design Discourse; Module Reflective Statements

Creative Elements Module Assessment

The Creative Elements module was challenging in its time constraints, there was a vast amount of knowledge and technique discussed in tutorials but due to the massively time consuming nature of team work there simply was not enough time to really delve deeply into any particular area of what was being taught. At the beginning of the year this felt overwhelming, and that I was not performing to my best ability because my priorities were trying to meet assignment deadlines and to try to cooperate with difficult team members that I was sacrificing precious time I could have used for technical development. However I understand that the social aspects of this industry are equally necessary after this experience. Before embarking on the course, although I am easy-going and comfortable in social situations, in the the context of art production I would have been nervous to describe my creative thought process or really showcase my art to others for fear of judgement of something I attached a lot of sentiment to.

I have learned to withdraw that sentiment from my work, my pieces can hold meaning, but at the end of the day they are steps in production. If I have gained something from a piece that was all it was, a step to creating something better the next time. My roots are still embedded in Fine Art and I still hold myself to the mantra “Art is never finished; only abandoned” and I am adamant not to lose the alternate fine art thought process although I have embarked on a Design course. I will continue to use my interests and experience, including my love of Art History and particularly the Renaissance period and the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements to inspire my pieces.

This course has definitely broadened my horizons, I have struggled working with difficult teams but it makes you appreciate and work so much more productively when you are placed with a good team, which is what I learned in the last assignment weeks of the module. On reflection, I should be more organised about how I go about the written aspects of my work, but no less chaotic in my sketchbook. Having an entire module to produce a sketchbook has proved very successful to explaining my chaotic thought cycles, and my goal for next semester is to develop a larger sketchbook so much further. Another goal of mine is to become more confident in producing work digitally, and to familiarise myself with the necessary software to do so. In the instance of AfterEffects, which I saw as pretty daunting, was so easy to get a handle of, and this has raised the confidence I have in myself learning the technical aspects of these production programs.

Design Discourse Module Assessment

The essay portion of the Design Discourse module was an excellent opportunity for me to explore a niche area of film making that I had a burgeoning interest in, which made for a highly enjoyable section of the assessment. I am very interested in art history so it was very beneficial learning about the few sections on the history of animation, being such a wide topic it was impossible to discuss the full continental history of animation in one class, so I found that I would research it in my own time and expose myself to great animation pieces from around the world which influenced the industry.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I took to Maya and how much I enjoyed it as a creative outlet. I found that I would have to teach myself the techniques through a combination process of video tutorials, trial and error and then feedback from Alec. However I have really taken to the software and feel confident in creating a short film by applying the techniques we have learnt in the near future. I thought my strength was in the traditional aspects of illustration but my exposure to Maya has made me rethink that assumption and I feel vastly more confident in understanding digital software after this experience.