end of module evaluation - Context of Practice

1.  What skills have you developed through this brief and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
I found I have developed my ability to respond to texts during this project, I enjoyed reading through my essay and picking out bits or ideas that I could involve in my illustrations somehow. I think I responded well to my theme and that my final pieces do communicate Constructivist architecture as something important and meaningful to that time period. I feel I carried out a good amount of research for this project, I read through a lot of books and articles trying to understand the aims of constructivism, and then about what the architecture stood for, and I think that can be seen in the work I have made. Doing a lot of research, visual and written, has been something I have enjoyed for this project because I like making work that I feel I am well informed about; it adds more meaning to it.
2. What approaches to/methods of image making have you developed and how have they informed your concept development process?
-       collage -       lots of visual research I experimented with collage which I really liked, I think the combination of blocky, photocopied photographs contrasted with the fine lines and bold colours worked well and was a relevant method of working when compared to the propaganda posters from the revolution. They also had a slightly gritty, not perfect feel to them which again links well to the theme. I used photoshop to help edit and add colour to my hand-drawn work, which sped up the work process and added a more finished look to the pieces, and I feel I am becoming more comfortable with using it to advantage my analogue work. I did a lot more visual research for this project than I’ve done for some of the others, I found looking at other practitioners work really helped me out when I was stuck in which direction to go. I found myself looking into other aspects of art separate to illustrators, like fine art, photography, posters; which opened up my options as I sometimes forget I should still keep an interest in other professions.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I think the amount of research I carried out for this project was definitely a strength, as it helped progress my project further and added more meaning to it. I have found in previous projects that the ones I have enjoyed the most and am most pleased with the results are the ones where I have done a lot of research, whether its visual, historical etc. So I will definitely try to keep up research throughout my future projects. I feel my final pieces have been a strength, I spent a lot of time making them and I am happy with the way they turned out and how they relate to my theme. So I will continue to try and make work that I am proud of.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
Although I am happy with the end pieces, I probably could have done some more development towards composing the pieces. I sort of settled with the first idea I really liked, I did go back and improve bits but I could have done some more playing around with it. I spent a lot of time researching, and although it benefitted the project I think I should have spent a little more of that time playing around with materials, I could have pushed the collage theme further I think, maybe combined different elements of each building or done more hand-drawn work.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
-       When working on photoshop when I know I will need to print, always set the mode to CMYK before I start, because I forgot until I had done all the pieces and the colours went completely wrong when I tried turning them to CMYK, but luckily they still printed fine on RGB. -       Think more about how images will look on a large scale, as there were parts I didn’t notice when working on screen, or thought wouldn’t make that much difference but there were parts where lines are slightly messy that I find really noticeable. -       Always click save. I was working on one of the posters for hours and then accidently deleted it so had to start again; so saving work would be a massive time saver. -       Play around with compositions more, which is something I have a habit of leaving until the last minute, and not spending as much time on it as I should, which I need to get out of. -       Don’t spend too much time researching, experimenting and playing is just as important to developing pieces.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance				x
Punctuality					x
Motivation					x
Commitment				x
Quantity of work produced				x
Quality of work produced				x
Contribution to the group			x
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self-evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

my essay

here is a link to my essay on how the Russian Revolution in 1917 had an affect on art during that time

http://issuu.com/astridweguelin/docs/revolution_essay_final_pdf

final pieces

I am really pleased with how these turned out, I think the combination of photos, line work, drawing and bold colour has been a good choice for this project. I wanted to create statement pieces which presented constructivist architecture as bold, powerful structures that are marking a point in history which was creating a positive change for Russia. 
Although I haven't involved anything explicit about the Russian Revolution, I think by using Russian constructivist architecture and the combination of red black and white - which were the colours seen on all propaganda posters during that period, and red being the colour of communism; I think they do convey a sense of revolution about them and can be related back to that point in history. 

I was a bit worried about printing, because I hadn't realised that the documents were set in RGB colour mode until after I had finished them all, and when I went to convert to CMYK the colours didn't look right at all, and it was too late to do them all over again in the right colour mode for printing.
But luckily they weren't affected at all by this. Although, seeing them on A2 size does mean you notice a lot more that isn't right compared to seeing them on screen. 

For example, some of the lines aren't as straight as I would like them and annoyingly it is a lot more noticeable on large scale. 
There are a few marks on the page which I didn't see before, but I think they work quite well with the gritty, industrial feel of the theme.
I think the colour on the last piece is a bit off compared to the other two, and I think there is too much white and not enough dark and black bits, as the other two have sizeable sections of black which make them more bold.
Also the white lines on the tower piece are a bit too white compared to the white used for the actual tower bit, I didn't realise the difference in white when working on screen. 

editing

I decided to go back to my first composition and change it a little. I made all the lines all reach off the page so it gives the feeling of infinite height as you can't see where the lines stop. 

I feel it definitely improves the piece, as it is a lot bolder and eye catching, which is the effect I want. It also fits in better with the other two pieces as a set as they now have a more similar line work. 

final piece development

 Decided to do a series of these illustrations, chose this building - the 'Rusakov Workers Club' in Moscow. From 1917, workers clubs were used as platforms for teaching Marxist values to the working class. I just love how architects designed these innovative structures that were to be used for such ordinary uses, there was no hierarchy with who gets access to these buildings. 

I have gone with this rather than the radio tower because I feel the structure works better with this collage style. It is still a constructivist design and has the same striking affect with its blocky, bold presence. 

Used same style as before, by elongating lines and sections of the building to bring the structure out more. 

I started editing and adding colour on photoshop, but annoyingly I managed to fill in part of the image with colour where it shouldn't be and can't undo it, so will have to start again...

playing with composition

I found another shot of one of the structures I'm exploring, and I was interested to see how it would look if I applied the same style to only a small section of a building.

I do like how it has come out, and I think if I went through the same steps, adding the colour, it would still be  a bold, striking image. 
But its a lot more abstract, and not that clear its a building so wouldn't seem very relevant to my theme. 
It might have worked if I had lots of small shots of the same building that when seen together could be made out as a coherent building. I think that could have been an interesting final piece as well. 

radio tower tests

I had originally planned to have one of the final pieces to be of the Shabolovka Radio tower, so I did some quick tests attempting to use the same style that I have used for my other pieces

These are very rough, but I just wanted to see if I would be able to create the same effect. But it was more difficult than I thought, as there aren't as many different angles to elongate lines off so it doesn't appear as effective as the other structures.
I really like the second photograph, and I think the photograph itself is a  good representation of constructivist architecture - reaching up into social change. But because of its shape, and the way the lines curve round, its difficult to apply the same style. So I think I will try to find a different structure to use.