Summative project report

I initially decided to do the degree because I wanted to work as a creative some day. I want to earn money using my strongest ability which is my creativity and the toughest learning curve has been realising the complexity and practicalities of doing this. I've had to negotiate a compromise with the perfectionist in me. 

Over the 603 module I've realised which contexts my work falls into and how to adapt my process to communicate effectively. The module has been an extended trial and error process throughout where I've resolved the bad habits that were holding my process back.

I needed to stop, reflect and ask myself, 'What do I want from the module and degree as a whole?'. It came at a time in the module when I was really struggling and became very self critical. I was blinded by tunnel vision for a while, making work I didn't believe in so I'm happy with how I've resolved my practice as a whole over the module and proud of the work I've made. 

Self imposed restrictions were crippling my productivity as well as my ability to create an environment in which to let work flow naturally. I fell into a laborious hand drawn process which really slowed my productivity and didn't allow me to communicate ideas or let me realise my ambitions of making inspiring work. 

To have a USP I had to fully express my fresh perspective on the world. I needed to be open and honest to let this happen. Using collage has helped me realise my ambitions for the kind of work I truly want to make. It's allowed me to fully express my voice and create darkly humorous work that challenges both my audience and the subjects in the work. A huge benefit of collage is I don't overthink, become precious or fussy as I make the work so I can visualise a finishing point and a resolved image as I work that captures the tone and message I'm looking for. I rarely achieved this with drawing so it's eliminated the dread that came when starting new projects before. With drawing, my ideas were dictated by which ever drawing I rather randomly came up with. With collage, the idea always drives the process and outcome. 

I've been able to reach out to my audience, realise what it is I want to say to the world and how I want to say it. I believe I can create a stunning spectacle that grabs my audience and I've been able to absorb my passions and influences such as film, TV, science and nature into my work. I've rearranged and adjusted my practice to fit my mental health and personality. I believe I've achieved that through being less hard on myself and allowing myself to enjoy the process of making. It was becoming unsustainable before and it wouldn't have been worth the mental strain I was putting myself under. I've fully realised the importance of finding a process that is flexible and fun as well as being efficient at realising an idea.    

Being able to incorporate type into my illustrations has also been a massive breakthrough for me. I'm pleased with the Beautiful Beast final outcomes because they've allowed me to create the kind of work I want to make professionally and visualise my work in more varied and exciting contexts such as editorial and commercial illustration which often inspires me so I was able to contextualise and format them into mock up editorial articles. 

While I was disappointed not to produce any significant work with Kubrick films as the focal point as I'd planned, this failure was precisely the failure I used as the spark to change my process, stop and ask myself why I couldn't achieve the spectacle I'd wanted and do the work justice. The Kubrick project failed in the same way the adidas brief had. I've been able to use these failures and try new methods and that has been my biggest success. The module has been as much about reflecting on my process as it has been about building my portfolio. If I hadn't realised, learned and adapted from my previous projects in the module then I'd be finishing my degree with a much more pessimistic mindset. 

Whilst researching Kubrick's The Shining I started to see parallels in the jittery madness between the film and my head space at certain points. Luckily that's where the similarities ended and I've finished the module with a very positive and optimistic outlook on what I can achieve with my practice after my degree.   

Presentation Boards

7 x 7

Reflection 4

I feel in a much better place about the direction my work has taken in the last few weeks. What was meant to be a side project alongside my Stanley Kubrick project has become my best work. I've made it my main project because I'm more excited by it and my responses to my Kubrick project ideas weren't having the impact I'd envisaged.

My new direction has allowed me to use my strengths and the work has flowed much better. I've focused on the subjects I'm passionate about focusing on the shift in society towards climate change and our new perspective of how we look after the planet and it's species. 

It's been liberating using collage because it's allowed me to reflect on and express my views on these subjects much more effectively. I wouldn't of been able to get across the sharper, darker tones of my views just using drawings. My collage has a 'f*ck you' edge (my girlfriend's description) to it, a humour and a reflection of my personality. The collages are a combination of my desire to make something beautiful that brings pleasure to people but also with a message that was lacking before. 

I realised I was using cliched motifs of native american culture and slightly shoehorning them into other Shining references. It wasn't interesting enough to just draw Shelley Duvall and stick native American clothes on her. It was saying the opposite to what I think about the film which I thought was a beautiful film that needs a more in depth analysis and a fresh opinion to say about the film rather than pointing out the flawed interpretations of others. Also the themes of the Native American genocide in the film were serious subjects that I was on the verge of trivialising with lighthearted drawings. 

My partner has been really influential in helping my practice. She's honest and critical in a useful way about what she thinks of my work and her positive reaction to the new work along with friends has been a massive boost. Most importantly I'm enjoying my own work and not stressing as much in general. It's also been a proper reminder of the importance of making work for things you're passionate about. I've definitely felt the stress lately and it feels like a much needed breakthrough which is a relief. It can be a lonely place when you're not happy with your work and can't see a way of resolving it. 

Using collage again has allowed me to experiment combining typography with my work. I'm able to use the warm hues and colour schemes I prefer too and offset that warmth with the darker humour that was absent before. I need to start seeing myself as a creative worker with multiple skills covering multiple areas such as graphic design, rather than restricting myself by thinking 'I just do the pictures'. Labelling myself as a singular thing has held my practice back and I've realised I'm able to use type effectively and use it as visual tool that works alongside my artwork. I feel more optimistic and confident about expanding the range of disciplines I can work in, in the future. 

The Shining

Collage has been fun to use again to take a break from the drawing. The drawing took a while to come up with but the collage is so much faster and has more impact especially for the Room 237 film theory that The Shining is about the genocide of Native Indians. 

With the drawing I wanted to look at the way the Room 237 contributors took apart the film and over analysed it with lots of far fetched theories. I tried to make a poster with the drawing but find it really difficult to combine my drawings with type. It never works and the type and drawings take something away from each other. 

Collage fits much better with type. I'm still a novice with typography, it's always been a weak point for me but I want to use it more and in more interesting ways than just plonking it next to an image. 

Using one colour is helping eliminate indecision with colours. 

Evil Vultures

This BBC documentary has inspired me to start a side project about the bad reputation certain animals have which I looked at for my COP. 99.9 of some vultures have been wiped out. I want to also highlight the facts of decimating a species and the knock on effects on humans to challenge the myth that there are no consequences for us when a species is wiped out. Vultures are vital to the ecosystem and the demonising of them has led to a lack of caring about the rapid decline in numbers. I want to highlight the thought process of embracing some animals but not all and the how neglect and ignorance can lead to devastation for humans as well as the species being driven to extinction. Without vultures, dead animals are left to rot and spread decease. It's just one species but it shows the dangers of allowing just one animal to disappear and highlights our ignorance and abuse of the ecosystem.  

Room 237

The main focus of my work will be about Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) and specifically the wild theories about hidden meanings within the film. He has a reputation for being a reclusive genius who acts like a dictator when making his movies but a bit of research shows that's not true.

I want to make some work in response to these theories, most of which are told in the documentary film Room 237 (2012) which has some elaborate and ridiculous theories from some of the commentators. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sz6AXOQU4A&t=6092s (proper version on Amazon Prime).

Kubrick's films are so thoroughly thought out and so clinically executed with such depth that I think focusing on one film will be better for time keeping. Each film deserves a whole project to itself. Plus I'm now obsessed with The Shining.

There's loads of layers, symbols and props I can use. I want to highlight the absurdity of the claims in the film and try have some fun with it so I don't get too bogged down with the project.

603 - Kubrick Exhibition

Good for research for my Kubrick project and beyond...

https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/stanley-kubrick-the-exhibition

603 - Stanley Kubrick research

I had a visit to the Stanley Kubrick Archive when we went down for the Hanbury trip. I only had an hour and a half so only got to look at a few items from the Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey films. There's so much to look at so I had The Shining scripts with Kubrick's notes on them scanned and managed to have a look at Jack's Eagles t-shirt, and Wendy's yellow jacket. It was slightly surreal seeing the clothing which was faded and weary looking. It wasn't much time but it was worth a look for a bit of inspiration and shear curiosity as a fan of the films.

Stanley Kubrick Archive scans...



I had an idea of a tongue in cheek mini project that drew similarities between my experience on the course and The Shining. The stress has been getting to me lately and it was funny to match up some of the iconic scenes from film's hotel and the university. Room 237 is the best comparison. I wasn't sure what the overall contextual meaning would be and it wouldn't be worth just copying and pasting the characters from the film into the university building for a cheap laugh so might shelve it for now.



Shining (DVD) screen shots

Archive ref

SK/12/1/2/2 Typewritten notes on yellow paper giving plot and character points relating to the storylines for the scenes on board the Discovery Spacecraft and mainly relating to the computer character for the storyline of 2001: Space Odyssey

SK/12/2/1/31 Black and white photographs of the surface of the Earth taken from space

http://archives.arts.ac.uk/CalmView/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=SK%2f12%2f2%2f4

SK/12/2/4 Pre-production Artwork

SK/12/2/4/10 The scene depicts a teacher with children painting a pond area in the moon base.

SK/12/2/4/11 The file contains large pictures of concept artwork depicting spaceships as well as life on alien worlds. Included are pictures of the giant Monolith above Jupiter with an astronaut standing on it.

SK/12/2/4/4 Storyboards

SK/12/2/4/6 Roy Carnon Artwork

SK/12/2/4/7 Richard McKenna Artwork

SK/12/2/2/10 Pictures by Chesley Bonestell of futuristic spacecraft and planets in the Solar System. Also included are photographs of distant galaxies.

SK/12/2/4/21 Earth Art Transparencies

SK/12/3/16 Lists and photographs of costumes worn by the cast.

SK/12/3/16/2 Three colour positive transparencies of the ape masks

SK/12/3/2/19 Colour transparencies of scenes in Africa for Dawn of Man sequence.

SK/12/9/1/2 Black and white photographs of members of the cast and crew members on set.

SK/12/9/4 Commissioned Drawings and Paintings

SK/12/9/1/2/11 Prints of actors in costume, including Ed Bishop, William Sylvester and Leonard Rossiter.

SK/12/9/1/3/3 Final Bedroom Scene

SK/12/9/1/8/2 Pictures of the Starchild model, seen at the end of the film.

Shining

SK/15/3/4/2 Jacks Manuscript: eight sets of typewritten stacks of paper on each sheet of which is written "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"

SK/15/3/3/3 Clothes and shoes for Wendy Torrance (played by Shelley Duvall) in six boxes.

SK/15/3/3/2 Costume for Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) in 5 boxes.

SK/15/3/4/10 Instructions for using the radio. The radio was used several times by the character Wendy, including a scene where she tries to contact the Sheriff only to find that Jack has broken it.

SK/15/3/4/12 The letters comment on not being able to think at the Hotel, and of strange dreams, and cuts off mid-sentence

SK/15/3/4/13 Overlook Hotel Letterheaded Paper

SK/15/6/1 Photographs and photographic material of set models

SK/15/6/2 Photographs of sets, both during the creation process and completed. Sets include hotel exterior and common rooms.

SK/15/6/4 Two files of images of the prop labyrinth

SK/15/6/3 Photographs and photographic material related to production, and especially filming. Many of these images appear to have been later used for publicity

SK/15/2/5Letter to Jan Harlan from Rudi Fehr with list of popular songs from 1920 to 1935.

SK/15/1/19 A one page description of a possible finale,

SK/15/1/1 Handwritten notes on Stephen King's novel 'The Shining'

SK/15/2/2/7 Photograph - Piano Lounge of the RMS Laconia

SK/15/2/1 Location Research

SK/15/2/3/3 61 drawings of floor plans, elevations and projected appearance of Overlook Hotel

SK/15/1/22 Partial draft script

Reflection 3

Hanbury 

Hanbury was a reminder that it's possible to have a multi-disciplined practice. It's possible I won't end up doing just 2D illustration and I shouldn't restrict myself to 2D illustration. I feel just drawings and collage won't keep me fully satisfied forever and I want to try 3D/CGI illustration after seeing the stunning work on Dust Studio's site.

I had a great talk with Michael Crozier from Dust Studio who I've been in touch with and his CGI work had inspired me to be much more ambitious with my work and what skills I want to learn. He recommended drawing pads he uses and the best software for 3D. Learning the software and creating 3D work is for the future. More than anything it's inspirational seeing the of kind work Dusk Studio do and what's possible. 

The restrictions of my hand drawn illustrations is something I need to be ruthless about from a professional point of view. They take longer and because I'm working to a deadline, rather than drawing for pleasure or just to experiment, they are losing their purpose of communicating. I've been having fun playing with collage for my other project about animals/nature/trophy hunting because I'm less fussy and precious. I love drawing, and have developed a fluid, bolder way to draw, realising the importance of having confident, bold strokes. Switching to a brush pen has helped rather than my slightly hesitant pencil drawings which always felt not finished or committed somehow. 

However, in the creative industry I will need to collaborate, compromise, be fast and flexible in making adjustments to my work and right now my collage feels much more superior to my drawing as a problem solving method. I'm happy to keep playing and experimenting with my drawing but I'll keep pushing my collage work because it's allowed me to incorporate typography which I've shied away from when using drawings, which I've consistently struggled to gel with type in a coherent way. I want my work to be bold and clinical enough to stand alongside type. I love the contemporary journals and magazines such as Wired and feel collage fits better with the aesthetic realised through my article mock ups. 

Drawing is such a personal and hard earned process. Considering I started my degree only three years ago I have plenty of time to develop my drawing practice for future work and if I get success through the drawing then that's great but I also want to learn how to make work that really connects with people and I want to do what ever method is necessary to communicate to my audience. It's taken a while but I've realised the key is to communicate an idea, ideas are the most crucial part to being a creative and the process is merely the method you communicate best with. This might end up being film, photography or illustration but I can keep working on all at once. I believe I can excel at anything I try now I know how many hours I'm willing to work creatively. 

Hanbury

It was really useful and interesting hearing the speakers at Hanbury. I got to have a chat with Michael Crozier form Dusk Studio. Hearing his advice and seeing his work has been a big inspirational kick. It's made me curious about learning the 3D software and attempting to make work as beautiful as the Cthulhu Mythos series. Absolutely stunning work. It's a good reminder of what's possible.

D&AD - Adidas brief

For the D&AD adidas brief I've decided to use it as an excuse to brush up on my Adobe Illustrator skills. It's probably a brief more suited to a slick advertising campaign so I've used it to create a short story about a girl isolated in her bedroom who is drawn to her local tennis club. 

It's been useful to use the perspective tool and learn a new way I can get a solid back drop I can drop my hand drawn characters in for future work. It's pretty simple but I'm pleased with how much I've learnt messing around with Illustrator. I've come to hate it a it less. It feels so cold sometimes but making a little bedroom was actually quite fun. It'll be useful for when I need perspectives or for simple manual or architectural illustration. 

Research 

Reflection 2

Although I'm frustrated with the amount of finished pieces of work I've done for 603 I'm realising my drafting process is exhaustive and I try to get as close to what I want each time even if I fail. Failure has become my best friend this semester and I have to embrace it. With each drawing and re drawing I'm having to ask constant questions of what works and what doesn't. The time I've spend this semester will be really valuable in the long run. Perhaps what I've seen as terrible indecisiveness is in fact a journey of realising what kind of work suits me. And perhaps my negative perspective of thinking I've only done pretty pictures is in fact a realisation I simply care about my work. 

I'm doing collages again and instantly the process speeds up but also I feel less limitations to what I can achieve aesthetically and in terms of a narrative. I'm much less precious about my collage work but it still has the same level of impact and narrative if not more. Collage has also allows me to experiment with using typography.

I have a purist need to have drawing as my primary way to communicate my illustrations but I know I can have both the drawing and the collage and both are pure forms of making work. Communicating through images can be done in any way and that's the exciting thing to remember. I've been researching Stanley Kubrick a lot for a project. He was the ultimate perfectionist and was known to do many takes before he was satisfied as well as scrapping whole scenes altogether. His films were masterpieces though and I believe the act of doing something many times such as my drawings even if it comes to a dead end is vital to getting the right outcome. 

I've been so invested in finding a process I can be flexible and informative with. I'm starting to think I have more of an eye for more commercial work. I find the short deadlines and practicalities of editorial force me into a way of working I can see myself adapting to with drawings as I'm developing a less fussy way of drawing characters and people. I find drawing from reference is useful but I need to avoid copying references exactly. I find drawing characters from imagination is liberating and loosens up my drawings which gives a nice flow to them. I'm starting to see the limitations of doing portraits and appreciate the value of capturing a likeness or characteristic of a person rather than making a copy which adds little.

I don't know why I ignored my collage work for so long despite the success and enjoyment using it I've had in the past but I also have no regrets in that I consciously committed to a hand drawn way of working and exhausted it. It was my journey even if it was the long way round, I'm learning the painful way but that's the best way sometimes. Collage takes pressure off my drawing which makes it fun again and will inevitably lead to more authentic and interesting drawings that can develop naturally for future personal/paid briefs. 

Editorial

This was meant to be an editorial series about the new Brazilian president who is a far right disaster for anyone none white and the amazon rainforest. I liked my idea for this one, ominously looking over the amazon and it's indigenous people but it took too long for an editorial and still feels unfinished. It feels too digital because I'm leaving too much to do when I scan my drawings in. I'm still seeing Photoshop as a fixing tool to make stuff look good rather than a tool to edit finished drawings and add a bit of colour.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/02/brazil-jair-bolsonaro-amazon-rainforest-protections