End of Module Evaluation- OUIL504

Tilly Butters OUIL504 Self Evaluation

There’s no doubt that this has been the most eye opening module I’ve had on the course. Its seen my methods towards image making and my practice progress and develop, and made me realise what direction I want to pursue in the future.

The time scale on this project gave me the opportunity to try out so many techniques and gave me the time to explore print methods in detail, as well as the time to change and develop my ideas throughout. It has allowed me to become more confident within the print room, which has resulted in my work becoming more considered. I used to be a little scared to go there on my own, just in case I did something wrong. Whereas, this is now the environment in which I feel most comfortable.

I feel the print room has pushed and moulded my practice, and now I’m constantly thinking how each image I make can be developed into a lino cut or a screen print. It makes me think about image making in a whole new way.

Leonora Carrington was the most interesting person to research, so gathering information was highly enjoyable. Exploring various diverse methods of research has allowed me to gain a depth of knowledge and context, to then use to support my work. I felt that the knowledge I gained from the research helped me to reach a critical point within my practice, and resulted in a turning point within my work.

Exploring subject areas within art/art history that I previously had little knowledge on, by chance, gave me a concept to apply to my work that interested me and that I wanted to adopt to my practice. Surrealism. Carrington was one of the last surviving members of the surrealist movement of the 1930’s, and she was a woman. I personally thought of this very highly, and felt it was a very important part of who she was. And so I made work that reflected this as best I could.

Studying surrealism was very interesting, and is not a path I have taken before. But in doing so, I’ve fallen in love with the principles they apply to image making. Of course for me, communicating something is the core of what I do, however bending and changing the way things look has been thoroughly enjoyable. Its definitely expanded my entire thought process when I’m illustrating something. I think a large part of my practice changed through exploring these methodologies. Not only my style, but also my attitude towards my work. I wasn’t completely satisfied with anything I created last year, and was heading down the route of cute, children’s illustrations, which wasn’t what I wanted at all, but found it incredibly hard to change.

Critiques and one on one tutor sessions really helped me in turning it around, and also having the time to think about what I really wanted to achieve this time around.

I need to continue to push this in the future, and work hard for what I want.

Sketchbook work was also very influential in my practice during this module. I was advised to get a larger sketchbook, which made a noticeable difference. I stopped being so precious and precise and became a lot more experimental. The work I created in my larger sketchbooks is what I went on to do in my finals, just slightly more detailed and refined and after a lot of practice.

Screen printing my finals was by far the wisest choice I made. I loved lino, and will take the skills I’ve learnt from the workshops further in the future, but with the amount of time left towards the end and the sting, it was best to stick with screen printing.

After effects was a complete contrast to the print room, but it was great to work on two completely different things whilst trying to execute the same feel. Trying to link the two was at times tricky, and I started out with an idea that was far too elaborate. However, once id got my prints out of the way, it was a lot easier to focus on my sting without any distractions, and was able to connect them quite easily. My digital skills are getting slightly better throughout the course, and I’m very grateful I get to learn about so many programmes and useful techniques. However, on the whole, this module has confirmed how much I enjoy working with traditional print methods. There’s something a lot more personal there for me.