2.1 Reflective Practice

Outline of Study Plan.

Review: What Worked Well.

The use of different mediums rather than concentrating on painting, by working in different ways I have been able to gain a stronger understanding of composition within the work, and how composition can be manipulated and used to produce pieces that move away from the idea of a classic portraiture style.

Furthermore the use of photography and the use of inks allowed experiments into colour and depth, and the reflection of light and shadow influenced the imagery.

Mark making into the photographs has given me thought on how the paintbrush creates mark making, in the nature of the instrument itself and the actual materials involved within creating a piece of work.

Working through the difficult periods by creating imagery either by photography, sketches, I found continued ways of creating work.

What didn't work so well?

The loss of Emma Bulley from the course created a sense of turmoil and I found it a really disruptive time in regards to the course, and I found this period very hard to concentrate and to create work for the MA.
The paintings I produced were not up to standard and I really struggled to be creative and it took time before I could find a way of creating imagery.
Furthermore my academic writing is my main area of weakness, I can express myself verbally but I do struggle writing in that expressive way. 

What were the big shifts?

The major shifts came once I started to use photography as a creative process, and continued to use inks as a medium. Combining the photography and the inks as well as concentrating on mark making helped me to focus and enabled an unlimited medium to work with as I could print the images and rework into them using different equipment and mediums. 

 

What do you wish you’d done but you didn’t?

The only thing I wish I had done but hadn’t was to have the confidence to paint in the style I usually do rather than rushing to complete a piece to hand in, and should have considered the piece and the application of paint and how I painted the piece.

 

What were the most important things you learnt?

I have realised that I can and do have valued opinions as an artist, and I do have an academic enquiring mind because when I speak to the tutors I can articulate myself. I just need to use this articulation in my writing.

 

What reading was most influential?

‘Freud at Work’ by Bruce Bernard and David Dawson, 2006, I learnt a huge amount from this book regarding the working practices of Lucien Freud, his studio space and the dimensions of his work.

Paula Rego: Behind the scenes by John Mcewen, 2008 How Paula Rego works in contrast with Freud was a good comparison in the differences of approaches to how they create work and how they as artists are/were influenced.

“Art and Feminism” by Helena Reckitt, the arguments and discussions within this book has expanded my understanding of Feminism and how this theory has affected artists in the past and now.  

‘The Art of Reflection’ by Marsha Meskimmon , 1996.This particular book is interesting to read and understandable, the discussions are again evocative, the areas of interest are quite broad as well.

 

What support was most helpful?

The most helpful support was the writing support from Angela, and I would be interested to be involved in more of these sessions if they came available.

The paired discussions worked very well, and the variety and diverse discussions was interesting and gave a fresh perspective on the work I created.     

 Outline of Study Plan

I am going to begin the process of creating work, by starting off from unprimed canvas in which I stretch and then prime myself. In doing this I am in control of the materials from the start, and the basis of the application of mark making.

I will use the blogsite as the reflective summary of this module, this communication on the site will build up gradually into a more concise and descriptive reflection of the work. Furthermore I will be collating my notes, ideas and reflecting on these on the blogsite, hopefully by using this format I will be able to coutextualise my work in a more concise manner.

I am going to create work with an awareness of structuring the image, composition would be the basis of the work. The use of photography and computer enhance imagery will help me be creative and being inspired. 

Are there any skills you want to acquire or improve on?

Due to a change in my work pattern I am hopeful that I will be able to spend more time on the MA and especially on my reflections of my work and the technical aspects of the work, also commenting and exploring the theoretical aspects behind the work.

 

How will you reflect in more depth in this unit?

I need to gain confidence in my opinion and apply this in my writing and musings, furthermore I will be using my blog site far more, as I have been reflecting how I worked at University and I used to pour all my thoughts and I used to spent a lot of time reading journals and books really exploring the subject matter and I found this easier today in these journals, possibly due to the physical application of writing and images, and I feel that I need to apply this more in an electronic manner onto the blog site.

 

What new reading or areas of reading do think you’ll be doing?

As I have discussed with Angela during my tutorial I will be exploring the reasons why people are using Tumblr and the origins of this particular social network, the differences between Tumblr and Facebook.

Furthermore I want to read more on the idea of Identity and the psychological theory on identity in more depth. Furthermore I need to explore and research more artists and practices.