Reflection on Assignment 3

Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills

I think that my visual skills are improving as I move through the course. I have demonstrated competent use of a number of media and my understanding of composition is better than when I started. However there is a lot of room for improvement. 
I am particularly disappointed with the final pieces I produced for assignment three as I feel that they do not represent the best pieces I produced during part 3. Although the composition of the view on to the patio is quite interesting and I am quite happy with the aerial perspective and the harmony of the colours, I do think there are some problems with perspective in the foreground and have not pushed the media to their ultimate limits. 
Being selective in what to draw in order to get the best design and composition on the page is an area I still need to work on.

Quality of Outcome

Again - this is improving and may be adequate for this stage on a level one course but there is a long, long way to go. I think with my assignment I have started to try to communicate visual ideas - In this case the sense of longing  to be outdoors when cooped up inside. However I do not know whether I have communicated these ideas effectively as that can only really be decided by someone coming to the images without any prior knowledge. I have been looking at these images for too long to be able to look at them objectively.

Demonstration of Creativity

I have done some experimental work in my sketchbook over the course of part 3. I have, however taken very few risks with the larger pieces or the assignment pieces. There is still little evidence of a personal voice coming through here. I'm still trying things out - but this is still a very early stage in my development.

Context

I have learnt a great deal about landscape art over the course of part three. I have enjoyed the insights. Where perhaps I fall down a bit on this is in incorporating this contextual information into my own work. I have noticed that sometimes work that I have admired comes out in my work subconsciously (for example my tree experiments reminded me of Mondrian's abstractions when I reviewed them but this wasn't deliberate). I have made an attempt to use my learning consciously when preparing for assignment 3. I'm not sure that this has helped the final outcome, however. Perhaps I was over-thinking and would have a more satisfying outcome with a more instinctive response to the brief. 


Overall, I have found this part of the course extremely difficult for the reasons I have outlined in my blog. This may colour my opinion of the resulting work. I am glad, however that I stuck with it (looking at a lot of other students' learning logs it seems that quite a few 'fall by the wayside' at this point in the course). Although at times I've been clinging on by my fingernails  and I'm, therefore not satisfied with the work I produced, I congratulate myself on the fact I've got through this and out the other side. I am happy with what I have learned. I have certainly made great progress in my attitude to drawing in public and showing my work to others. There are a lot of areas where I could go back and improve the outcome but I need to move on now. 

One area where I disappointed myself was in my aim to continue to simplify and 'leave space for the viewer's imagination'. This was one of my main aims at the start of part three to build on some of the sketchbook work I'd done in the "drawing animals' project of part two. With all my difficulty getting through this section I somehow lost sight of this goal (although I did do some work towards it when drawing trees). My assignment pieces, however do not demonstrate this aim. I am looking forward to part 4 and hope to be able to remedy this with some strong gestural and pared-down drawing.