Part Three: Portrait and Figure – Assignment Criteria and Reflection

Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills (35%)

• Materials: I think I have been rather inventive in my own journey in this part by deciding to use lining paper to help reduce my outgoings, but still having a strong support to build my pieces on. I would like to experiment on more unique supports going forward to see whether I could find anything interesting to work with and the results this could yield.

• Techniques: I have come quite far with my techniques from beginning this course I feel. I have gone from feeling as though I have to create precise lines and details, to enjoying being more expressive with my mark-making and less-than-perfect outcomes.

• Observational Skills: I believe I have developed drastically with this skill as I am beginning to see things much clearer, as well as being able to see the relations between such things as the nose and the mouth for instance to assist in building an accurate picture and ‘road map’.

• Visual Awareness: Again, I think I am becoming more observant as to the awareness of my surroundings and subject matter. I believe I am capable of creating interesting scenes within my pieces.

• Design: I believe the design process of creating my pieces is rather strong as I am constantly trying to achieve an exciting end result and go beyond the usual ‘twee’ design choices.

• Compositional Skills: I feel my compositional skills are improving on a daily basis and, again, I am able to find compositions which are interesting and fit well with my design concepts and the story I am trying to get across.

Quality of Outcome (20%)

• Content: I feel the content I include in my work is rather in-depth and engaging. I do not think I create too much content and am rather keen on simplification both within my pieces and also the written content in respect of the same. I think this is an area in which I do not need to improve much, but there is always room for refinement.

• Application of Knowledge:  I feel I work rather well at researching topics and applying what I have found to my own work. I enjoy learning and also putting this into practice within my pieces, building on what those before me have done and trying to consider it in my own personal voice.

• Presentation of Work in a Coherent Manner: I feel my blog and pieces are very clear to understand and follow with ease. Again, I do not think this an area in which I need great improvement.

• Discernment: I believe I am rather good at assessing scenarios and deciding upon the correct course of action to achieve the best results. I feel I am getting better at deciphering the instructions within my course manual and doing so in a way which is personal to myself.

• Conceptualisation of Thoughts: Again, I feel I have rather good ideas in respect of how best to get from A to B, having chosen a design and approaching how best to make this a reality.

• Communication of Ideas: As with the conceptualisation of my thoughts, I feel that once I have decided on my course of action, I am able to get this across to my viewers in order for them to understand why I have done what I have and the process involved in reaching this stage.

Demonstration of Creativity (25%)

• Imagination: I feel I have a good imagination and am able to bring this to reality rather well. I can visualise rather quickly what I would like to achieve but to also allow this to develop naturally and let my imagination develop throughout the creation process.

• Experimentation:  I feel I could have created more experimental works but was rather pleased with the development of my palette knife skills. This was a really enjoyable process and one which I will definitely try to work on and do more of in the future as it is extremely exciting. I really enjoyed the texture created in the piece and will definitely consider this more in the future.

• Invention: As stated above, I feel my ability to create pieces by using lining paper is rather inventive in itself and I would definitely like to try more unique supports in the next part of my course.

• Research: I really enjoy the research aspect of the course and find it extremely useful to help in progressing my own skills further. I feel I am able to choose rather interesting pieces to consider for the research points and which are actually very relevant to my own style and personal voice.

• Critical Thinking (Learning Logs): As with the research, I feel I am able to work well with the learning log aspect of my course. I don’t think I overdo the content, but apply just the right amount of detail and information to keep the reader interested and engaged.