Part 1 - Reflection

This is my first level two course and I knew that there was much more freedom of subject matter at this level. Subject matter is something I struggle with, some things just ask to be drawn but this can be just an interesting technical exercise for me, it's difficult to also keep things interesting for the viewer. I have drawn pretty much everything I own so the challenge was to get a fresh view.

For project one I wasn't sure that my final drawing was what was called for in the brief, have I been imaginative enough? Is it art or is it too graphical? Previous tutors have commented that my work is too illustrative, should I have pushed the drawing further? It might be more arresting if it was simplified? It is quite stiff and self conscious because it was the first project in the course.

In project two I was much happier with my interpretation of the brief. 

I liked the big double page spread drawing of the Christmas tree but it doesn't represent as well in digital form.

The drawings on black paper work much better on line. 

Whilst I liked the slightly cartoon like effect of the second drawings I don't think they are as influenced by Mattise as they should be. All the drawings are representative and recognisable as decorations on a tree. I haven’t been able to move into any sort of abstraction from these images.

For project three the composition was a challenge, although it works ok I don't think it's exciting or challenging enough. I like working on paper with a medium tone which lets me work in light and dark tones. This is a recurrent theme in work that I am reasonably happy with. I don't feel that I can take this project any further at this stage.

I like drawing living things so I enjoyed project 4. I have never drawn just a portion of the body and I think the results were lively and interesting. Being my own model was liberating, my constraints were the pose I could hold, see and draw rather than a pose chosen for me at a session with a life model. Maybe the final drawings could be simplified but it is a fine line between a very simple drawing and a cartoon.

For the assignment I wanted to build on the work I did in project four with part of a figure. I have drawn my dog hundreds of times but I was aiming for a different view which explored him in a novel way. I focussed on drawing the shapes created by his muscles rather than drawing him as a dog. Working in the way that Leonardo Da Vinci drew to explore shape and form.I'm reasonably happy with the final drawing at this stage. For me the project has run out of steam at the moment and I need a break but I would like to further explore different poses and media.

Assessment Criteria
Technical and Visual skills. I'm quite good at observation and drawing but I find design and composition difficult.
Quality of Outcome. For the drawings not too bad but my work is ok rather than outstanding. I think my written work can be quite boring.
Creativity. Average. I'm not experimental or inventive enough.
Context. I'm working on this... I'm very good at being self critical but I find it difficult to be critical about work that is considered to be good by people who know what they're talking about. This makes my blog shallow as I'm just saying nice things about work I like.