About the Author - Project Progress & Peer Crit

I'd been working through the last couple of weeks on the Author project with no real idea if what i was knocking out was a) out of my comfort zone enough b) different enough from what i usually do c) ENOUGH?!

Despite being fairly happy with the first set of imagery that i'd developed and then screen printed the week or so before, i'd gone back to the way i used to develop my work (involving long drawn out reference image trawls) and it felt like i wasn't making pictures that were my own. I'm trying to keep Victo Ngai's advice in my mind and tying to 'screw physics' and not worry about about making things look exactly how they appear in real life. As i had wanted to concentrate on making images with a surrealness about them this should be a given - but i keep slipping into real-world mode, concerned that what I'm drawing may not be recognisable. Im trying to find a happy medium between imagery that is lifelike and fantasy and at the same time trying to find a happy medium between making minimal shape driven illustrations and detailed ,'traditional'  style ones. I guess its all coming down to trying to make myself as  commisionable, appealing  and versatile as possible, which also feels like I'm trying to be a jack of all trades instead of a master of one. Hard decision is knowing what direction to follow what methods to leave behind, because trying to incorporate many of them is scuppering my progress. "I've moved no further than an asthmatic ant carrying some heavy shopping". (E.Blackadder)

 • P E E R   C R I T •

After coming out of the peer crits id found a new sense of optimism about what id done so far, where i was going and what i needed to do.Stepping away from the work and getting some fresh eyes and opinions on what i was producing and advice on problems i was coming up against has proved to be really helpful and gave me a supportive kick up the ass to plough on with what I've been doing so far. It was good to see & hear what other were getting up to and having similar issues with aswell - its one of the main things i miss from Level 4, the fact that we just don't really get so see each others work much anymore as we're in the studio at our own personal times. (i may have mentioned that previously.)

Main points i need to take away with me from today:

• TRUST YOUR INTUITION

• BE WEIRD

• EMBRACE THE MESS & PROCESS

Brief talks with Ben & Teresa in the studio also helped me to reassure me that even though i hadnt' made a stack of full sketchbooks i was heading in a good direction with what id so far done. Stressing that keeping continuity between artwork and animated sting is essential - this is something, if not the main thing I've kept in my mind. In honesty, I've probably been trying work the imagery around the animation stage rather than the other way around, even though i don't currently have any 'finished' artwork to started animating with.

With advice from peers and tutors i can carry on with a bit more confidence in what I'm doing day-to-day, i just need to start sorting the final artwork out if I'm to make my pre-xmas print deadline.