Reflective Report for the Year

Looking back over everything I've achieved this year, I feel I've made good progress in terms of the work I'm producing and my knowledge of the industry. In particular, I'm more aware of agencies and publishers, looking at the industry standard I hope to work towards so I can start building up a strong online portfolio. A few months ago we had a talk from the AOI which helped me understand the business side of illustrations, figuring out contracts, copyright, finances and loads of other useful information I didn't know much about. With this, I started to think about defining my specialism and realising that I want to go into children's publishing- with a bit of printmaking on the side! At this stage, it's important to be thinking about progression, both into level 6 and after university which is something that has played on my mind throughout the year; finding opportunities to develop and communicating with people who will help me get to where I want to be. Relating back to this blog, I've enjoyed having this platform to document my work in weekly project updates and general note-taking on influences and conferences- all things I can look back on to see my development. 

Although this year has been somewhat altered by the pandemic, I've managed to stay motivated and participate in different competitions throughout the year. These have included art challenges on Instagram, Sainsbury's X Ohh Deer card competition and for my final project, I managed to submit in time for the Macmillan Prize for Illustration, one of the biggest and most recognised publishing competitions in the UK. These have all allowed me to work with live briefs which is something I enjoy doing as it gets you thinking with a different mindset where you have complete control over the work your producing. This year, in particular, I've made a conscious effort to be producing more personal work, going out and doing more observational drawings and playing around with different printmaking processes are both things I want to continue to make more time for as it will help me develop and become more confident in generating ideas. Also, help with forming narratives inspired by nature and the world around me. 

Luckily, I was able to access the studio and in-person teaching most of the year which allowed me to utilise the facilities at uni. This year, I've enjoyed the variety of projects, from editorial to character design and commercial illustration, I'm glad this course is so varied and allows you to develop skills both traditionally and digitally. This has helped me become better at using Illustrator and InDesign, two programs I've previously struggled with. I feel through the editorial project, I was able to work in a completely different way with more focus on graphic design and looking at how illustrations and text sit coherently in a composition. This was useful for producing a Little White Lies cover, but also transferring those skills to a children's book format, thinking about how to link the story and illustrations. 

My knowledge of illustrators and artists in the industry has improved during this year through watching conferences and doing more in-depth research for contextual studies and project work. I enjoyed the contextual influences project and writing the 2500 word essay (somehow!) because it allowed me to explore a question and area that I love, looking at 'How Print and Digital Coexist in the 21st Century?'. This is something I'm continually learning more about, looking at how digital advances have altered and somewhat changed how we approach traditional processes. Next year, I want to explore this further through my blog, looking at artists like William Morris and printmaker Rembrandt as I love seeing traditional processes and bridging them with a love for children's book illustration. The blog is a great place to do this, somewhere I can reflect on these experiences and document my thoughts to look back on. Adobe Max and Pictoplasma's Online Conference enabled me to see artists worldwide talk about their influences, inspirations and career in the creative industry which is something I always like hearing about- how people got to where they are. Through this, I learnt about lots of artists from different specialisms that I wouldn't usually look at so this was beneficial and a good opportunity to have while being at home during a pandemic!

Goals for Next Year and Summer

In terms of what I hope to achieve next year, I think the main one is to continue being experimental and not limiting myself to one specialism. I've decided I want to do the Children's Book Illustration MA at Anglia Ruskin University as it will bring so many opportunities and push me out of my comfort zone to live in a new city. Both personally and professionally it will help me meet like-minded people with similar goals so next year I'll be working towards producing a portfolio of work with lots of observational drawing (another thing I need to work on over the summer and next year). In Level 6, I want to be continually thinking about the narrative element in my illustrations and how characters interact in a scene, this will increase my confidence in storytelling. Over the summer, I'll be taking a sketchbook out with me to try and do more drawing each day, especially for the summer project, setting up for what I'll be working on in September. I'm currently waiting to hear back from Macmillan about my submission, hopefully by tomorrow as they said I'd hear back by the 28th even if I don't place so fingers crossed for that! I'm looking forward to next year and the opportunities it may bring, working towards a website, making an Etsy for printmaking and looking at getting an agent. 

Thank you for reading, see you next year!