Response to Tutor Feedback Part 1

 We began Part 1 by looking at other illustrators and identifying what they are making and how they are making it. This exercise helped me to take a deeper look at the illustrators I am inspired by and analyse their illustrations in terms of style, colours, themes etc.

My tutor pointed out that I need to look deeper still, understanding who they are targeting and what their use of colours, line work and materials communicate. This is an area to work on during the course and be more conscious of as I create my own illustrations and research the work of others.

I  was also advised to broaden my search into other locations, rather than relying on Pinterest or Instagram. This is something I need to make an effort to do as researching on social media has become quite a habit for me. I checked out the links suggested by my tutor for other places to conduct me research. I do tend to gravitate towards certain styles more than others and find some illustrations quite uncomfortable to look at, which definitely affects my willingness to go down those paths.

The term 'context' has become something I need to become familiar with. It's not something I consciously think about and yet it is important to my practice and understanding. I'll endeavour to deepen my knowledge in this area.

My tutor encouraged me to look at my mark making and line work in more depth. To understand how different types of marks say something different and influence the communication in a sketch. Again, this is something I have not consciously considered. I tend to use my marks quite intuitively and don't think too much about why I use the types of marks that I do. This is something for me to practice.

Working on my perspective skills is something that I wanted to address, so it was a good opportunity to do this during part 1. I definitely focused a lot on trying to get the angles right and didn't think too much about how the perspective of different drawings altered the communication.

I've learnt during this part of the course that I tend to do a lot of things unconsciously and need to make more effort to consciously make decisions whilst making and researching. I will continue to work on my observational skills and use the links mentioned by my tutor to help inform and shape my practice.