Just So Happeneds

• Visually the control Obata displays over water colour is  amazing, there is always thought put into where colour is deemed necessary and where it's best just to use negative space.
• On the whole I felt that the storyline within this and creating a bond between the reader and the main character and their emotions was the main focus within this narrative. 
• As a result the illustrations made were used to back up the storytelling whereas in Maps of Days it felt like the storytelling backed up the illustrations.

Moving further into the novel the story starts to break away from it's almost diary like structure and becomes a lot more about personal identity struggle. Using the kabuki actor as a visual symbolism for the constant struggle she feels about her identity is a smart and effective way of getting across her constant to the reader by staggering the kabuki actor throughout the storyline and having them appear whenever the main character faces doubt about her heritage. 

MEMEME! Teddyloid

• Is a critical look and criticism of otaku culture and the objectfication and hypersexualisation of young women and idols creating a completely unrealistic standard that women are expected to adhere to.
• Creating a rift between hetrosexual young men and women within geek and youth culture, especially in Japan.
• Uses anime art form which is seen as a major factor (if not thee major factor) for the hypesexualiation and objectification of young women, as a way of exposing the flaws and harmful effects of otaku culture
• It's set up in a way that overwhelms and seems to circle round, showing through its semi-sequential narrative ow fast and effective getting this male-centric misogynistic mindset is for young men.
• It also looks at how violence and sex are so closely linked as well as how seeing women as mindless sexual objects makes it easier to be violent towards them.

Maps of Days

Robert Hunter

 There were two really strong things that hit me about this book. Its use of colour and world building.

Throughout the book Hunters use of colour is always well planned out. For example his decision in the pages above to use a pink-orange sky stops the blue in the giant face from trying to create an orange to contrast and it also allows for a well colour balanced illustration. Although Hunter gives the illusion of using a fantastical amount of colours, it is clear when looking in more detail that Hunter selects specific colours such as a cardamom yellow and a sky blue and the choices variants of tones and shades that fit within that spectrum.   

In relation to Hunters worldbuilding I personally find it so engaging how he creates this narrative that bases itself around the yearns and wants of one being which can be seen as a commentary on how narcissistic and selfish humans can be when they are in love or want something. It mimic this thought process that we as a species seem to go through where we believe that our wants are more significant than the wants of others. It also reflects this almost one track mindedness that people get when they want something in that they tend not to care about the effects on those around. 

This book is both thought provoking in the theory inside the story telling and the theory within its use of colours.

Princess Kaguya

Overall I have found this film to be very enjoyable, it entwined both storytelling and media in a more experimental and looser way than other animated films. It shows that pushing the boundaries and the ways in which you create a piece of artwork can create something that is bot original and easily relatable. Pushing and experimenting with the boundaries of your art practice is important for developing and understanding your practice.

The use of watercolour and brush pen can be seen to have caused limitations within the animation however it made the film not just an animation but more of a beautifully illustrated sequential narrative that moved.  

The films visual approached allowed for a lot of subtlety and delacy within the way it told the story.

Because of the freer style of media used to animate it allowed for expressive lines and more energetic movement within certain scenes  such as the one above. Buy allowing the images to loses some form and more abstract it reflected the emotion and speed of the scene.

Character Design- Body Silhouettes

              Heidi Smith                                                                Kim Roselier

 What both of these character designs show is how effective the silhouette of the body can be to creating a characters personality. By using only the visual symbolism the silhouette of the body creates you can already see that these men are domineering presence and mostly likely physically strong characters. 

Katie Mitroff 

Michael Mccabe

We start to see in both of Mccabes and Mitroff's illustrations that the slumping of the shoulders indicates a sense of uncertainty within both the silhouette and the body language of the character. A pattern you begin to see emerging as you look closer into charter silhouettes is that body language is integral to how characters silhouettes are perceived by the view were. For example slightly lowering of one side of the silhouette creates a sense of stumbering and discoordination within a character.

OUIL404 End of Module Evaluation

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL404 Visual Language	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME	Naomi Crompton

1.  Which practical skills and methodologies have you developed within this module and how effectively do you think you are employing them within your own practice?
·       Developed an awareness of how to dissect an image by and look at the key elements within it (line, composition, tone, value, texture, frame) Towards the end of the module I have found myself looking at not only my work but the work of my peers and other practitioners and seeing what elements of their/my work is strongest. ·       Composition and frame have become essentials for me in mapping out and creating images. I have occasionally fallen back into not using these methods but this always affects the quality of work I have produce making me realise how essential composition and frame is to my practice. ·       Redoing and image or scamp until it is right to me. Especially towards the end of the module I began to see how being tireless with my scamps was important but also being able to look at a scamp and make the decisions on that would need to change to improve the next scamp.
2. Which principles/ theories of image making have you found most valuable during this module and how effectively do you think you are employing these within your own practice?
·       Perseverance is important to image making as it forces you to not give up and look and reflect on the way you are doing things and then try something different. I persevered with some tasks (line and mark) more than others (shape) this is where I needed to find the motivation to move further with tireless experimentation. ·       Using your sketchbook, as a tool to experiment in is crucial to pushing how far you can take certain aspects of Line, tone etc. within your own practice. It is some thing that I personally needed to do more of.
3. What strengths can you identify within your Visual Language submission and how will you capitalise on these?
·       Composition has been something that I feel has really improved my work, it goes alongside frame and depth in having helped me create more interesting images as well as helped me work within a more dynamic way because I have to compose images that work within a frame and don’t feel too overwhelming. I will capitalise on this by most likely using frame and composition a lot more within my developmental sketches within my work to help me build and develop images so that when I finalize them they are not as haphazardly put together. ·       Colour, tone, value has become something that I know will be critical within my practice, this module along side colour theory lectures has helped me develop my understanding of colours as well as the way I use colours to express mood within an image.
4. What areas for development can you identify within your Visual Language submission and how will you address these in the future?
·       Playful – I haven’t been playful enough within my sketch book and at some points saw it more of a chore than away of being able to try and play with new things, this has effected the way I have developed in some weeks. However I see within my texture and collage piece and depth piece that that’s when I started to become playful and even now I believe those pieces are the ones I probably learnt and understood the most from because I was having fun. ·       Exhaustive experiments- I barely experimented within this module to my on downfall as I believe it stunted the amount of learning I took away from this module. Which is why within future modules and modules I am doing now I will experiment with lens abstract images and media that I haven’t touched in a while/ before. And even though I abhorrently despise lens I think that lens could be a important factor within the development of my practice.
5. In what way has this module informed how you deconstruct and analyse artwork (whether your own or that of contemporary practitioners)? ·       As I have stated previously I have developed an awareness thought the months of weekly lessons on different aspects of image making of how to dissect an image a key element within it (line, composition, tone, value, texture, frame) It has helped inform me how artist both old (Delaroche) and new (Ping Zhu) use certain tools or methodologies to make successful art work.
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.

PPP- Statment Task

1. I will manage my time better
2. I will develop my knowledge and application of colour theory
3. I will set up a website which I shall use as an online portfolio
4. I will begin to collaborate with other artists, designers and professionals within my practice
5. I will explore other medias of art not just drawing
6. I will allow myself to experiment and challenge the fundamentals of what illustration is
7. I will do live briefs to develop myself as a freelance artist 
8. I will look to all artistic endeavours for inspiration
9. I will begin to network outside of college 
10. I will focus more time into the finishing of products