Final Evaluation

Final Evaluation Unit 13 – Order & Chaos

 

For our final major product in unit 13 we were assigned the task of producing a professional project in our specialism surrounding the theme of Order & Chaos and this was a theme that I was at first conflicted with due to the difficulty I initially encountered attempting to outline the true definition of the theme as Prior to this project I had not worked on any personal or course work surrounding a theme like this and so for this project I was able to explore my artistic skills in an area that I have not yet explored which has allowed me to exit my comfort zone. This final project was completed so that I could present a professional art piece that can help me with getting into university as well as branch out more on my skills within the 2D specialism and to start off with this project I first began by researching the theme so that I could branch out my knowledge and gain a greater understanding of the project before jumping straight in to the final product and not having it link to the theme of Order & Chaos.

 

Order & Chaos Theme Research

 

To start off with my research for this project I began by searching for the definition of Order & Chaos as at this time in the unit I did not possess a clear understanding of the theme and before I continued to any of the advanced phases of this project I needed to gain this understanding so I knew how to produce my work around the theme.

My initial wish for this segment of the project was to be able to outline the definition in my own words but I eventually decided against this as I wanted to have an effective outlook on the project that is provided by the official definition as if I phrased it in my own structure I may miss out some areas and cause myself confusion further down the line and so the definition that is seen in this area is from an official source that provided me with greater context than my own thoughts. Seen below the definition is my annotation for this area where I have explained why it was necessary for me to produce this section of research as well as how it will help me along with what stands out to me the most about the words and what type of thoughts they produce. This was necessary to include as the viewer needs to understand what my thoughts were at the time so that my work flow is clearly understood by anyone who views my art work and research efforts.

Moving onto the next phase of research and expanding my knowledge on the theme of Order & Chaos I worked on the production of a word association where I branched off the definitions I had gathered during my previous phase and for each word I have managed to collect 12 additional words that can be linked to the original definition and this was a necessary area to include in my research as although I had gathered an official definition of the project theme I still hadn’t worked on linking it to anything and even though this word association is simple and rough it did help to expand my knowledge and ultimately give me a heading on where I need to go to so that I can expand upon my research in greater detail.

This screenshot captures the word association that I have produced featuring all 12 words that I have branched off of the theme of this project and below this area I have included an extensive annotation  detailing the process that I went through for this area and to go into even further detail I have stated why these words are the ones that came to mind and which ones stand out to me the most as well as which words on the list will I be most likely to use for the development of my final product. Overall with this area seen in my research my understanding of the theme increased greatly as at this point I was now able to link topics to the theme which provides me with sources that I could then delve into for greater research that provided me the assistance and reference material I needed to produce the final product for unit 13. With this area complete I was then able to progress further into my initial research around the theme and further increase my knowledge of what can be produced for the project Order & Chaos.

 

My initial research wouldn’t be complete without the production and inclusion of a mindmap and so this is where the next phase leads us and in the production of this mindmap I utilised the words I linked to the theme from my word association and with these implemented onto the mindmap I have branched off them and delved into further detail to expand upon them and gain a larger insight as to what topics they can be linked to as well what existing products have been influenced by them and so the inclusion of this mindmap was the most beneficial to me due to the vast amount of topics I have branched off from the original title and this then gave me the pointers I required to be able to select the topics that interested me the most and talk about how I can use them to influence the development of my project along with how it is influencing my creative thought. A mindmap is a brainstorming activity that has always helped me greatly with these projects and so to include one for the fmp was an effective decision that substantially increased my knowledge surrounding the theme and ultimately influenced hte production of my proposal and final idea.

The mind map that I have spoken of can be seen in the above image taken directly from the initial research section of my blog and in this image you are able to see how many topics I was able to branch off of from the original theme showing how effective this area of research was for myself and underneath the mind map I have produced an extensive paragraph detailing the reasons as to why this area of research was produced along with how it will be providing me assistance and alongside this I have also spoken of what stands out to the me the most about it and what topics I am immediately dragged to upon viewing this mind map close up and reading through the vast selection of research areas that I can explore. It was important for me to outline to the viewer what I believe was most effective about the mind map and what topics stood out to me in a stronger light than others as I need to be able to document my workflow for them and show how I am able to come up with ideas for the theme as well as how I have extended my knowledge on a topic I have no prior experience in working with. With the definition exploration phase of my initial research fully produced I was then able to move deeper into the topic and produce a series of mood boards that provided even greater context to the theme and how I have interpreted my understanding of the project into my own words.

As outlined above my next phase of research was producing a series of mood boards and the flow that I have gone through for this procedure is I have selected a number of words that I branched off of and included within my mind map and then explored them through imagery that provides a visual depiction and representation of the topic that I am delving into in areas such as Tyranny which is presented as the first of my mood boards and includes a large number of images which include posters, political figures known for abusing power, historical individuals as well as behaviours such as the professor and the chalk board. These images all work to provide the viewer with a visual depiction of how I view the topic that I have outlined in the definition research I previously produced and to create these mood boards I made use of the site Pinterest which includes a feature that allows you to create these boards and then post links into your blog that present them for your audience. After producing these mood boards I have then worked on annotating this area of my research where I have talked about my research and what influenced me to select these pictures as representatives of the topic. Alongside this the annotation also includes my reasoning as to why I decided to produce mood boards over any other form of research and I have also spoken about how useful they were for me as well as how they can guide me to other forms of research that can give me extra insight to the theme. In these annotations I have also spoken about what topics they can lead me to from the pictures I have included as selecting a series of images that I have presented here give me a lead on what subjects I can delve into for more context into the overall theme of the project and influence my creative thought as to what ideas I could produce a rough outline of for my final product.

As well as focusing on mood boards I have also extended my research to books and games that are focused around topics that can be linked back to the theme of Order & chaos and the games that I have gathered are titles that I am experienced with so to include them in my research shows that I am taking information for the theme from a variety of media sources and along with gathering games that can be linked to this theme I have also listed a number of written  material in the form of books that focus around the subjects I have listed in my mind map and previous forms of research that can be seen in my word association. Including these aspects of research greatly expanded upon my previous knowledge and show that I have explored the theme deeply which has given me a suitable outlook on the theme that provides me with a vast amount of ideas that can be created for a suitable portfolio piece. In this area of research I have also extensively annotated each source I have collected as it was important to make sure the viewer understands as to why I decided to perform this area and give them insight as to what ideas I can take from it and what my own experiences with the title are and how it can help to influence the work flow of my assignment. With the initial research completed at the conclusion of this phase I was now prepared to move on with the initial ideas and proposal which without the conduction of this phase of my project would have been a significant challenge but overall now with the necessary research gathered I will be able to produce a suitable outline of ideas and ensure that everything I visualise links effectively with the theme of Order & Chaos.

Initial & Final Ideas

With the production of my initial research into the theme now being complete I was then able to proceed with the construction of my initial ideas in which I compiled the research I gathered and used it to produce 3 ideas that I could transform into a final idea that I can then follow through with into producing as a professional portfolio piece and for each initial Idea I have produced an outline describing what this potential project will include and how it will be linked to the theme and this brief also includes the outlines for colour scheme, assets as well as the specialism that I will be working in to produce this idea and this area of my research includes 3 initial drafts with one being chosen to be further developed as my final idea.

 

These images have been captured from the initial ideas section of my blog where you can see the outlines that I have produced for my ideas and with the 3 rough drafts being successfully produced I then formulated an evaluation comparing all 3 initial ideas together where I have discussed the appealing aspects of each idea and stating what I like the most about each one and in this evaluation I have also spoken about the specific idea that I am considering the most for my final idea and I spoken what I like the most about this idea and why I am going to put it through further development and produce it as my final idea. This evaluation was done to show the viewer what I think about all of my initial ideas as well as the ones that appeal to me the most and how I have compared it to all the others that were formulated through this process. To finish off my initial ideas I approached the tutors and outlined the idea that appeals to me the most so that it could be approved for developed which would allow me to then move on with the project and continue the next phase but before achieving this I first returned to my chosen idea and then produced a more extensive brief that outlines my chosen idea in a more detailed fashion than the others where I have explained how it links to the theme and what my process of creation will be. Producing this area of my blog presents to the viewer how I have interpreted the project as well as the way in which the research I had gathered influenced the development of my ideas as for each of my initial ideas I focused around one of the topics that I researched within the initial context phase of my project and so the viewer gets an insight as to how I have let influence my creative thought and develop a series of ideas that are focused on the theme. With this phase of my project now complete with all ideas being produced and the final outline being approved by my tutors upon the completion of my evaluation and comparison I am now free to move onto the production of my proposal where I will in greater detail expand upon my final idea and produce a more effective and professional brief which presents the project that I will be creating for Order & Chaos.

 

Moving onto my proposal I began by producing an initial review where I have spoken about the skills I have gained over the past year as well as my reasons for choosing my chosen specialism for which I have put in the inclusion of images showcasing work that I have produced using my traditional art skills which provide the viewer an example of my improvement in this sector of art and alongside stating my reasoning for selecting this specialism I have also spoken about my inspiration for the games and course and what the opportunity to study this industry means to me, to finish off this section I also spoke about what my future plans are and my intentions to progress into higher education. This area was produced to give the viewer insight as to why I chose this course as well as to show them how I have developed my skills since the initiation of my experience and allows them to see how I view my own work as well as give them a glimpse to how I view my future so that they can see where I aim to go to after the conclusion of this project.

In the next phase of this proposal I produced a more detailed outline of what my concept for this project is and this outline includes a brief which presents a rundown of what I aim to produce where I have also explained how it links to the theme and why I have chosen to do produce it in this style, the outline also includes a list of what I aim to create such as the character designs I had planned which for the first time include turn arounds which are art pieces I have not previously worked on. For this section I have also spoken about what software I will using to produce these art pieces as well as how I will be maintaining my development log throughout the process of constructing this project. After this area I then finished off my proposal by producing the evaluation where I have described how I will be evaluating this project and what procedures I am going to go through to maintain a consistent work flow and I have also mentioned the production of my development blog as an ongoing evaluative activity and this section of my proposal allows the viewer to see exactly how I will be working and what flow I am going to use to maintain the consistency of my blog which will feature the entire development of my project. This evaluation also includes the mention of other forms of documenting my work such as the capturing of screenshots which are a frequent form of showcasing my ongoing work throughout the project which allows the viewer to know what to look for when wishing to view the production of my project.

At the end of the evaluation I have also included a list of potential sources that I could use for further research into the context of my idea as now that I have a more professional outline produced in the proposal format it will necessary for my next phase to be structured around gathering research specifically focused around the topic that my project is being produced around and so in this following section these sources are listed and they include locations such as libraries along with books and games that possess relevant settings and topics to the project that I will be producing. At the end of this section I have also included a bibliography providing links to the sources I have previously listed and to finish off the proposal for good is a time table that I have structured to take place over the course of this project and I have outlined the tasks that I will be focusing on for these weeks as well as when I aim to have them finished along with what I will be using to create them and for this in each weeks section I have provided a list of the apps and software that I will need to ensure the full and effective production of this project. This schedule shows the viewer how I aim to structure my time management for this project and presents the time I aim to have it fully produced by whilst I have also included the exhibition dates at the end which feature the tools that I will require to set up the presentation boards so that they can be showcased for my audience. This time table also presents the half term break and for these 2 weeks I have included a number of tasks that I aim to focus on during this time period which did not relate to the project although this did change due to the declaration of a global pandemic which caused the college closure and lockdown of the country, due to this I was given a version of photoshop to do work at home and so during this time I was able to work effectively on my project and scrap what my previous intentions for that time period were. This time table was necessary to produce as it gave a me a firm idea on what I should be doing during the time we have been given to produce this project.

Production of Developed Research

As outlined in the previous annotation I now have a clear idea of what I aim to produce and so due to this I will now need to produce a body of research focused around the theme of my idea and using the sources that I have listed I will be gaining information from by performing extensive research into these areas which will be produced in a more developed and professional manner than the previous studies that I have performed as this research will be focused entirely on the topic that my final idea has been presented around and this is so that I can create a professional art piece for my portfolio. This research will show me what I need to include on my project as well as present to me potential ideas that I could develop and include into the final product.

To start off my developed research I began by producing an extensive outlining detailing what my research needs are where I have spoken about the production of additional mood boards as well as what sources I will need to be able to gather the information that I require to expand upon the current context. For the features I have included in this area I have also gone through the process of explaining as to why they are necessary for my use such as the ways in which they will help me and influence the more detailed production of my research. This area also includes the flow of how my developed research will proceed which has been done to allow the viewer to see how I will be working through this next phase of my project as well as what the sources I outlined in my proposal are going to be used for, overall this area of my developed research works as an outline for how I will be producing this research which gives me a clear view of where to start from for this next phase of my assignment and how I can develop it from there whilst keeping it all relevant and consistent to the topic of my project which has been thoroughly outlined my previously produced proposal.

 

Starting out with the next phase of my developed research I began by focusing on the fantasy genre which was the fictional setting that I have chosen to produce my project around and what I have done to gather more context into the genre is the process of gathering videos that present the theme and include tips on world building and character creation within this specific genre which I have annotated and spoken about the ways it will help me so that the viewer is informed of how I have interpreted it and as well as including these videos that produce information on the genre I have gathered a trailer that presents a trailer that presents a snippet of a major fantasy film that has a dark atmosphere and is set in a world that I was allowing to inspire my creative thought, the inclusion of videos such as this present to the viewer how deep I have delved into the genre and it allows them to see what my project may be related to as well as how it can inspire the reference material that I will be collecting as these inclusions present an art style that greatly appealed to me at the time. As well as the inclusion of these videos I also presented triple A titles produced in the game industry that were massively successful upon release and in this area I have spoken about my own experience in these areas as well as how they will be influencing the development of my project and for the viewer they can see what my own gaming experience in the fantasy genre which gives them insight as to how my work may be presented and what format it is going to take. The annotations for this area also outline the reasons why I have chosen these specific titles as well as what aspects I enjoy the most about them which was necessary to include as I need to state how I will be inspired by these titles so that their influence can be easily seen in the development of my project. To flesh this area out I also read through a variety of books all of which presented different pieces of concept art from major film and game titles that have been produced by professional artists and these gave me a first hand account of professional concept art pieces created within the industry which I can use as reference material as well as look into the techniques they used to produce the pieces along with using them to see how the work has been presented to influence the development of my own exhibition boards once the project and final product has been completed.

Moving on from this section of my research I have produced the following phase in a similar structure though rather than just focusing on the fantasy genre I have collected research on the types of characters that I will be representing within this project as for the product I aimed to include a Vampire and a monster hunter and so this next area of my research involved me gathering information relevant to these individuals which included areas such as producing moodboards and then looking into ways they have previously been represented in other forms of media as well as how they are most commonly presented within their respective titles. To show the viewer how I have interpreted this research as well as convey my understanding of what I have gathered through this production phase there are extensive annotations that I have detailed in each of these areas that state what the research is being used as well as why I chose to produce it in this form and I have also spoken about how each item of research helps me to understand my chosen project more as well as showcase how I have gathered references and what I have done to link my research with the overall theme of the FMP.

As well as including my character research within this section of my blog I also finished off this area by producing a body of research surrounding the propaganda poster that I aimed towards creating during this phase and this research includes the same format that I have used for the earlier reference gathering with extensive and detailed annotations conveying the information to the viewer to ensure that they are aware of my understanding of the project and as well as focusing around the poster I followed this by finishing off the developed research with a body of information and images gathered for reference material as well as a delve into art styles used by professional artists which was done so that the viewer can see what styles appeal to me most and which ones I am most likely to make use of whilst the references present the viewer what I aim to use for the inspiration of my project whilst this was also produced for my own assistance as I needed to ensure I can effectively produce a body of work relevant to the theme of my project. The final section of my developed research includes a session that I spent gathering a tutorial which was important to include in this area as this project includes areas of art that I previously had no experience in and so to gather a tutorial that focuses on teaching the viewer about production techniques was important to include in this section and the annotation that I have produced outlines the reasons why this was done and informs the viewer what my intentions are with the information I gained from it. Once this area of my blog was complete and all my reference material and research gathered along with the tutorials and art style inspiration the next path of my development blog was now opened which leads into the production of my problem solving and ideas generation where I have utilised this research to create an extensive body of my own references using my skills in the 2D art specialism.

Problem Solving & Ideas Generation

For my ideas generation I went through the process of producing sketches, photobashes and developed concept pieces so that I could produce rough work of what I aim to produce professionally for the final product and during this phase I also experimented with different art styles, colour schemes and art work presentations that allowed me to gain experience in this areas and create rough designs before moving onto the final art work. This area was important to produce in my development blog as it showcases the processes I have gone through in refining my skills in an area of 2D art that I have struggled with previously as before this project I had not worked on creating turn arounds of character designs and so to showcase my efforts in this section of my blog presents the viewer what techniques I have utilised to produce a simple yet effective collection of reference material.

During the sessions I worked on during these weeks of ideas generation I maintained a development log for each week where I have written a list for each date stating a number of tasks that I aimed to get done for that weeks sessions and following after this I have then uploaded screenshots and showcases of my work which I have annotated so that I can show the tasks that I have completed that show how I have been experimenting with my skills before working on the final product. The blog template also includes a conclusion for each week where I have spoken about what tasks I was unable to complete as well as the details of any conflictions I encountered during the productions I practiced during the sessions and to finish off each week I outline my plans for how I can catch up and if needed how I can improve my work flow. The production of my problem solving was a crucial element and starter task for this project as it gave me the time I needed to practice in my chosen specialism and work on producing my own references that I can use for further development when I start to create the final product and each week template presents to the viewer how I have structured the way in which I have worked and showcases how successful I have been at managing my workflow during this project.

 

Within my ideas generation I also worked on producing a series of developed drawings of which I went through the process of a full character design concept though with it acting as a rough reference that allows me to practice with texturing and structuring before beginning the final more developed piece that is yet to come and including this in my ideas generation I have been sure to showcase the entire development process which started from outline to sketch to finished texture and line art and this was important to show in this area as it presents the viewer my entire workflow from how I structure character outlines to producing a final and solid character concept. This section of unit 13 took place over the course of 7 weeks and provided great assistance for my final product as from the work produced during this time period I was given many more references that were produced from my own work which gave me the vision that was necessary for me to visualise before moving onto my final product and so with these references I was able to take them further and develop them into solid art pieces that showcase them in a more professional presentation that fits them firmly within the theme of Order & Chaos and with the ideas generation and problem solving task of unit 13 completed the road was open to begin producing work on the final product and penultimate task of this course.

 

Project Management & Final Product

With the conclusion of my problem solving and ideas generation I then began working on my final product which was produced over the course of 4 weeks and this was a particular challenging part of the project for me not just due to the hard work that the final product requires but also from having to produce all work at home outside of a college environment due to the closure of the college and lockdown of the country which proved stressful for me as I experienced moments of demotivation where I felt disheartened and unable to effectively produce annotations but despite this I have worked consistently for these sessions and produced my final product to the best of my abilities and to start off with the final product I of course set up a number of A3 canvases as this is the standard resolution in centimeters for the production of any art work on the app photoshop which I recently acquired from my tutors so that I could work effectively at home and for these canvas I made use of my ideas generation and selected my favourite sketches and concepts that I produced over the previous sessions in the weeks prior to this assignment so that I could have some inspiration from rough designs that I have personally worked on which in the end helped me to develop solid and presentable concepts over the period of this phase of production.

 

The first concept that I began during the sessions where I produced the final product was my monster hunter character design and this one started with a faulty design process as mid week I changed up the design due to my unhappiness with the previous concept as I felt it was lackluster for presentation and did not showcase the full ability of my skills and so in my development log I have outlined the decisions I made in the process as well as what the main influences were and in the re designing process I went through the practice of using outlines produced by professional artists which gave me insight as to how I can construct my character using simple shapes and get the correct proportions that will allow me to present the effectively using correct scale and anatomy and this was one of the most effective decisions I made during the course of this project as it has lead to me producing a character design that represents the inspiration I received from my reference as well as one that fits into the theme of the project and can be presented effectively without the conflictions that were present in the original design that I started out with. The development log for this week also presents to the viewer what all my thoughts were during this process as well as how I envisioned my work to completion before having it fully produced and so maintaining this area whilst a struggle at the time has since proved to be very effective due to my detailed annotations and development process of the first of my final products.

 

Due to my effective and enthusiastic work ethic during the first week of producing the final product I was able to complete 2 major stages of the tasks that I had set myself which allowed me to pursue the extensions that I detailed in the weekly task list that allowed me to remain consistent and produce a large detailed body of work in such a manner that I did not feel overwhelmed. The texturing phase finalised the full design of my final product and allowed me to express more creativity in this phase of production and due to my improvements in texturing made during the ideas generation and earlier problem solving phase I was given an outcome that appealed to me greatly and increased my confidence and motivation in this project due to effectively working in an area of 2D art that I have previously produced no turn around designs in and so to meet my weekly tasks throughout the duration of this project reignited my motivation and led to me being consistent all around with my art work.

 

 

Over the course of the production of the each of my final products I maintained a development log which details the full process I have gone through and I’ve attempted to keep it as consistent as possible and minimise any large time jumps that may occur in the blog so that the viewer is able to see how I have worked and what each stage looked like during the flow of this project and so the images above showcase sections of my blog where I have outlined the most important parts of my development log with extensive annotations that detail the current state of my work as well as the techniques I am using and stating what my intentions are for the product in different phases which shows the viewer how I am envisioning my project whilst it is in the works which was a crucial part of this project as to show off my development for this project over these final weeks shows that I am consistent at maintaining two areas of work to good quality with an assurance of extensive detailing.

 

Explain your approach to the THEME, how does your final product link to the THEME

My approach to the final project theme of Order & Chaos took a route down the sci fi and fantasy road which is the genre I selected for this project as it is one that appealed to me greatly at the time as well as due to my own experience in this genre as the majority of my personal art pieces and sketches can all be linked back to sci fi fantasy and so with this project I took the opportunity to use my skills in this genre to produce more polished and presentational art pieces and the way in which I have linked this genre to the theme of the project is through the implementation of characters one of which belonging to a religious order who serves the role of hunting down monsters and restoring stability which has made them the representation of order within the project and the reason why I chose to have the representation of order be fairly sinister is due to my own feelings on the definition of order as it is an imposing word and tends to associated with authoritatrian regimes and organisations that take extreme measures to promote a stable society.  For my representation of chaos within the theme I worked on creating a Vampire Turn Around and the reason why I went with this design is due to this creature always being assocaited with some form of evil as well as being known for their intelligence and manipulative nature and so this is one creature that I believe fits effectively into the definition of Chaos that has led to me producing this as one of my final products. To further link my final major project with the theme of this assignment I also produced an additional character design who serves as a representative of both definitions which was done by presenting them as a priest whilst also bearing the visual appearance of a mutant/monster like humanoid who can serve as a moniker of both order and chaos within my project.

 

 

Compare your proposal to your final product

In my proposal I produce an effective and detailed outline of what I wanted to produce for my final product at the time and from the work that I have since produced only minor changes were made besides from one major alteration which includes a new character design that was not mentioned in this phase of the project whilst the propaganda poster that I spoke of in the concept area has since been repurposed to serve as an introduction to my main art pieces.

This image features the area of my proposal where I outlined my project concept where I have spoken about the character designs I will be producing alongside the propaganda poster I originally had in mind and for the initial 2 turn arounds that I produced there is no difference from how I have outlined them in the proposal to how they are presented now as I had these concepts fully visualised before I began producing the artwork and so comparing them to my proposal presents little differentiation from what I have spoken of and what I have produced through my practical skills. For my poster it is outlined in this section of my proposal as an in universe propaganda poster meant to promote the services of my monster hunter turn around and this is the area that went through significant changes as the way in which I went about producing this area of my project led to its role as a propaganda piece ineffective which led to its re design into the current state it is presented in now.

Despite remaining fairly consistent to the project that I outlined within my concept brief for all my final product ideas there is one major alteration that I created due to the necessity of having to create an additional exhibition board as for being an artist I need to have at least 4 boards and before making this change to my project I was only creating 3 and so what I decided to produce to remedy this confliction is an extra character design who works within my project as a representative of Order & Chaos making this the largest change I made to my initial outline produced within my proposal.

 

Reflect on your research and how it informed/changed the development of your final idea.

Through gathering my research I was given insight to a variety of genres that have effectively showcased the theme of order & chaos within their settings such as fantasy and science fiction which greatly informed the development of my idea as looking into fantasy game titles such as Skyrim I was presented with a variety of concepts that could be inducted into my project ideas and from the start of this project I had the fantasy theme in mind as this is one of the genres that I am most experienced with in my specialism and another way in which this informed my development is that it presented me with the most suitable candidates for my own character designs through the footage and images I viewed from the title.

Reflecting on my research now it shows how I interpreted it into the development of my own project as the similarities in the references I have gathered show that I have made use of this section of my blog towards producing an effective final product that has taken great inspiration from the developed research section of my development log.

 

How well did you manage your time? What methods did you use to manage your project? Explain answers

Throughout the development of this project I made use of a development log template that details the work that I have produced for each week we were given to produce the project in and to set this up each week begins with the date as well as the week number since the project commenced and beneath this I have listed a series of tasks that I have set myself to be complete by the end of that weeks sessions and using this template has allowed me to set myself realistic goals for when I can have a section of my project completed which has prevented me from overwhelming myself with a large amount of work that would stress me out and cause me to fall behind on project work and so with this template I have been able to narrow down the tasks I wanted to priorities for each week which allowed me to focus on the most important sections of my project without causing any convolution.

As well as producing a development log I also worked on creating a project action plan and timetable which can be viewed within my proposal and this helped me to set up my blog as it includes an outline of tasks that I should be working on each week at a time which allows me to see where I am currently at in my project and ensure that I am up to date with completing the tasks that I have set myself on time. For effective management of work in my development log template I have outlined the work flow I have gone through for that week by showcasing screenshots of the work I have produced from the tasks that I have set myself with extensive annotations that describe my entire development process. These were the only 2 methods I utilised in managing my time and workflow as they are the ones that I am most confident in following due to their simplicity and their ability to make a lot of work seem like a lot less which allows me to approach things in a more gentle and less anxious manner which has ensured the quality of my work for presentation.

 

What skills did you use?

To produce the final products that represent the theme of order & chaos within my project I made use of my skills in the 2D art specialism which includes sketching, texturing character designs, photobashing and the features available for use on photoshop. For sketching to ensure the maximum effectiveness of my skills I made use of a cintiq graphics tablet which mimics the feel of traditional drawing commonly done on paper and so the use of this device allowed me to make great use of my skills in the traditional sector onto the digital one. Another skill that I have made use of during the production of this product is my ability to work consistently and manage the development of my project which can be seen the log that I have produced over the duration of this assignment and this was an important skill to present during this fmp due to having to explain my development process to the viewer and so with my ability to produce extensive annotations I have provided the viewer with the necessary development needed to see my workflow. Photobashing was an important skill as well due to my project including a poster design which I decided to have the dominant image in it being a pre existing image that I have photobashed into the poster through the tools available with the majority of the edits being highlighting and shadowing which are two tools I have gained more familiarity with due to the production of this art piece. All of these skills were crucial to the development of my project due to the specialism I have they are all necessary for being able to create effective art pieces that represent the narrative of a theme.

 

Another skill that I made great use of during the course of this final unit was my ability to gather a wide range of sources for my developed research which was one of the most important areas of my project due to it including all of my references as well as theme research and information gathered around the characters that I was aiming to produce and to keep this skill developing effectively I provided extensive detail under each body of research as to be able to efficiently present the theme of the project that I am delving into so that the viewer was given a firm visualisation of what it is I am attempting to produce. These skills alongside the practical ones all proved greatly beneficial to the production of my project due to the context and expanded knowledge they provided me about my target of production area.

 

What problems did you face?

A key problem to took the first place of issues that came into existence in the production of this project was motivation and work ethic as the vast majority of the fmp including all of my final development was produced at home outside of a college and learning environment and instead within one that was filled with distractions and factors of demotivation. Another issue that I encountered were some minor issues with photoshop such as tools failing to perform there destined function as well as disk usage and my slowing down tremendously whenever the app was open although these issues did not prove to be too much of an issue and I was able to work through them and produce the work I needed for the final hand in. Overall I did not encounter any work hindering problems as I was able to produce all tasks I outlined in my development log to the standards required for presentation and so this did not prevent me from working on my project.

 

What have you learnt during this project? What would you do differently?

Throughout the duration of this final project I have learnt various new skills with the most important one being how to produce work in an independent environment and maintain consistency on annotations and art detail whilst dealing with copious amounts of stress. I have also learnt how best to utilise references and online materials to influence the development of my project as through the utilisation of pre existing art pieces and my own ideas generation sketches I was able to get the influence and inspiration I needed that has led to the outcome of my final product. If I were to do anything differently for a more effective development of my products I would work harder on the presentation section as I would have liked to include a series of glyphs on the background mixed with the colour gradient which I believe would have added a lot more atmosphere to my product and allowed for a far more effective presentation board to be put up for exhibition and the showreel. One final area that I would produce differently is the poster I created as although I have gotten a more appealing outcome I am still uncertain about its appearance and so this is one area that I would focus on more through a series of tutorials and techniques to give me greater assistance before final production.

 

Reflect on peer and tutor feedback

Whilst working on this project I was able to receive feedback on my workflow and project tasks and this was primarily done through the process of filling out peer reviews through a template that was present on google doc, this form of peer feedback allowed me to see what other students thought I was doing well as what they think about my project and they have also added in an outline of areas that I could work on whilst grading my work to a refer, satisfactory, good or excellent mark according to their opinions on my work. This feedback that I received allowed me to work effectively on this project and improve on the areas that stood out to my peers which has allowed me to produce greater quality art pieces. As well as peer reviews I also consulted friends privately and received feedback on the work I was producing which helped to influence the outcome of my final product through advice on texturing and perspective which provided me great insight into how my work should be presented. Consulting my peers also helped me to improve my motivation levels as this project was produced during a very stressful and lonely time where my work ethic tended to slump in areas but due to communication with friends and other students I am close to I was able to finalise my project and submit a fully presented series of art pieces for the final deadline.

 

Conclusion

This project has had its challenges and enjoyable parts and I have learnt a lot whilst producing these art pieces such as ways I can texture my work as well as how I can highlight certain areas and what I can do to present them and make them appear professional. From what I have learnt I can apply these new skills to personal projects that I will be working on over the summer before I figure out what is happening for uni due to the current closure of all campuses in the UK and whilst I will be improving on my skills in 2D art I also want to branch out to 3D as this is a specialism that has always appealed to me and is one that I enjoyed working on in our workshop sessions as well as my own practicing hours and so with this project done I will be spending a lot more time in Maya learning new skills and seeing what I can do with the software before returning to improvement on my 2D.

Despite some of my projects being touch and go with room for improvement still largely being seen I have greatly enjoyed my time on this course as it has given me the chance to pursue a career that I have great passion for as well as give me an opportunity to begin producing 2D art and improving my skills in it as drawing has always been a skill and hobby I have wanted to gain more experience in and so with this course I was given that chance and although I still have a lot to learn my art skills have greatly improved and with more practice and feedback I am confident I will gain the necessary skills to begin producing professional art work. With this being my last year of college after 4 years I was not expecting it to end the way it did with the lockdown and so the production of my art work for this final product went through a long process of motivational issues but with it being the one thing keeping me busy during quarantine I was able to pick up work on it and successfully hand it in. At this point in the project I am mostly pleased with getting all my tasks done even if it isn’t up to my target grade as due to the issues I encountered and the current situation  I am just pleased that I was able to produce what I outlined in my proposal and hand it in for presentation on the college showreel. Working on this course has reignited my enjoyment for 2D art and it has also helped me to open up more with other people and find something that I want to pursue into higher education and so with the conclusion of this project I am positive that I will continue to improve and with a confirmed place at Staffordshire I will go as far as I can with it.