2013 Outline Study Plan

Review – What went well? 

·        The development of painting skills to experiment with techniques such as glazing, underpainting and scumbling. This added depth to the paintings and made them more tonal which held the viewer’s attention for longer.

·         I changed the structure of the composition to incorporate whole bodies – this gave a sense of scale and body positions added to the sense of awkwardness and unease.

·         A significant change was placing the figures in context which added more physical dimensions and components to the image. The environments constructed elements of narrative and transplanting figures from one context to another emphasised ambiguity.

·         Juxtaposing pairs of figures was really effective as it created shapes within the composition and suggested dialogue, interaction and power relationships.

Reflection
Post tutorial discussion there are a couple of things I need to add reflecting on elements of my practice which 'went well' as opposed to parts of my paintings.

• Being open to pushing myself far beyond my comfort zone e.g. continuing to work in one piece for a longer period of time, was an effective way of evolving my practice and moving into territory that I hadn't considered before.
• Deliberately considering the way my intentions could be communicated to the viewer and making decisions based on this - this was much more outward looking than I have operated previously and made me much more conscious of how my work could be interpreted.  This also forced me to be more objective, which in turn helped me to evaluate my work in progress to exploit the viewers' perception of meaning.
• Paired discussions were a fantastic way of a having a frank and honest crit of work one-to-one, which seemed less exposed than with the whole group. I found these very rewarding although sometimes coordinating meetings was challenging.
• Time was an overall challenge but I found that having a clear study path made my studio sessions quite purposeful and productive.

Outline Study Plan

·        All my figures were products of collage and digital composite imagery. I think this worked well but they still appear quite static. I hope to capture more of a sense of movement in future paintings. To explore this idea I intend to video figures moving, then take stills from the moving images to capture transitional movement. This should incorporate the suggestion of falling and flying, linking to the idea of spectacle. I anticipate that these photos will explore cropping and contortion more so that previous figures.

·        I noticed that I predominantly use primary colours in my work. I really want to experiment with achieving an overall colour in my work like in Edmund Dulac (shown ‘The Entomologist’s Dream’). I will begin with experimental surfaces exploring this idea – I need to know what the impact of limiting my palette will be.

·        It is very important to me that I work on a larger scale but there are logistical problems with this. Therefore, I plan to explore triptych and diptych compositions to extend the surface area of the paintings.

·        I began exploring shape shifting (scale) in the Exploratory Project and continued to manipulate viewpoints and scale in 1.3. I plan to incorporate animal characteristics or features in some way to emphasise otherness and blurring of boundaries; this may also be developed into other forms such as buildings or other structures.

Reflection
In addition I could also explore making objects which become included in paintings. This will enable me to work from different viewpoints which will make the images less static. I am already thinking about costume, creatures, structures to build onto the body.

Strategies for Unit 2:1 Reflective Practice

·        Electronic Reflection diary with making commentary/immediate reflection/reflection month later – this builds on the reflection process I already use on my blog. It may be mirrored by a notebook of studio ideas or annotated photos on iPad.

·        I must included work in progress images with annotation – I found this really useful in Studio Practice because I could look back and see when and why I made decisions and what the ongoing impact of these decisions was.

·        Another strategy I used was to sit and write notes on the ideas and intentions being communicated by my work; this was objective analysis of specific pieces which helped me to link theory and contextualise ideas as well as evaluate use of formal elements.

·        If it is appropriate I may use the Pecha Kucha format to compile reflection/evaluation with audio. My experience of doing this so far really made me consider what to include and how to edit and link ideas.