Thoughts On Presentation

What have I done this year?

• Print Print Print. Print processes and experimentation in 504, learning new thigns, re-discovering old things, figuring out how to make it work together, learning how to package things up and make them look super professional 
• Learnt how to drag my own interests into my uni work. This is something I kept seperate last year as I was worried about wether or not my work would appeal to other people. I used 505 as an excuse to explore imagery that I enjoyed and that I was interested in
• Stopped giving a fuck what other people think. I am past caring about whether my work is trendy, shape based, fun, playful nonsense. My work is what it is, and I am who I am. I'm not going to shape my practice around whats 'in' at the minute, whats the point? Where's the fun in that? 
• MADE CONTACT WITH A BABE. Tallulah Fontaine has been my go to gal for inspiration for a few years now, we might not neccesarily have the same style of illustration BUT i love her tone of voice, her iamges provoke emotion and feeling, they have depth and substance and i got a chance to ask her about her work!! Imagine that!!
• I came into uni. Last year my attendance was at 30%. This year I haven't got a single attendance letter. Surely thats an improvement? I've engaged with the course, I've engaged with my peers, I've tried to engage more with the creative community but I've still a little shy and low in confidence so maybe that needs pushing 
• Went to some print fairs, spent too much money, had a great time looking at cool work

What went right/What did I enjoy? 

• 504 LET ME PRINT. I was eager to print all through first year and disheartened that we didn't actually print things that much. 504 was aimed around printing, I loved it, I enjoy how theraputic it can be at times. I dont enjoy setting up screens though, that takes a long long time and doesnt always go right. 
• 505 LET ME DO WHAT I ENJOY. I always struggled with bringing my personal interests into uni work. The opportunity to make some weird slightly creepy stuff was great! I felt really passionate about what I was working on and feel that my enthusiasm for the subject helped be develop my work to a more professional level. 
• OHHDEER GREETINGS CARD COMPETITION. I didn't win BUT I really like ohhdeer, and their ethics and their shop and their products so it was cool to make something that could have potentially been one of their products. It also opened my eyes to some of the ways my work could sit within different illustrative fields

What went wrong/What didn't I enjoy? 

• COP WENT WRONG IT WENT ALL KINDS OF WRONG 
• COLLABORATION IS A NIGHTMARE, LET ME WORK ON MY OWN FOREVER 
• RESPONSIVE IS A SOUL SUCKING MODULE THAT MADE ME WANT TO CRY
• MY TIME MANAGEMENT IS AWFUL
• DO NOT TRY BALANCE A PART TIME JOB WITH A FULL TIME COURSE, IT WILL BREAK YOU 
• I STILL DONT KEEP ON TOP OF BLOGGING

Where was I last year?

• A nervous wreck
• Little to no confidence in my own abilities - I feel that coming into an art school environement, you're constantly surrounded by really talented people, there's a lot of pressure to try and keep up to that standard and it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking your work's shit and you're not good enough for the course etc etc
• Not happy with my work - I had a rough time last year, I left a lot of thigns till last minute, I rpoduced a lot of shit work, really really shit work. Partially because I didnt manage my time, partially because I kept trying to make work I thought other people would like rather than making work I like and that I'm interested in
• Scared of computers/photoshop/illustrator/vectors/print dungeon/anything digital 
• Not sure what I was doing

Where am I now?

• Still a little shy but way more confident - I've really found my feet this year, I've managed to stand up on my own and really involve myself with my modules and different aspects of the course, this has made me more confident in myself and my work and I'm starting to believe that maybe i am good enough to be doing this 
• I am no longer terrified of photoshop, in fact, i love it, it's a gift from the gods, get ya'self a wacom tablet and some sweet sweet brushes and life is peachy. Vectors and Illustrator can still go fuck themselves though
• I've identified areas of Illustration that I might be interested in - adult publishing, editiorial, printmaking, freelance - I'm kind of getting to grips with where I want to be, I'm not all the way there yet but I feel that I'm taking the right steps towards having a clearer idea of where i 'live'. Saying that, I don't feel that is neccessary for me to be able to say at the end of this year/next year 'i am leah and i am an editorial illustrator', fuck that, play around, explore different areas illustration can exist, be flexible and adaptable, do an illustration for a newspaper article one week, do work on a book cover the next. Why should we stick to one thing?? 
• I feel slightly more professional? I can see my work developing and I think it's come on in leaps since last year. I feel like further fine-tuning my image making will help me pin down the tone of voice i want my work to have. 

Where do I want to be? Plans for summer and level 6 

• BRANDING - I want to look into this over summer and at least have some idea of how i want to portray myself as a professional when I come back in september. 
• TAKE MORE OPPORTUNITES - go to craft fairs, go to exhibitions, get more involved with the creative community around me, meet people, make contacts, make friends - granted this has been tough to do this year, most days I'm in uni from 9 till 5 and then I go straight to work until 10 and then straight home for food and bed. I dont have a lot of free time, I should probably quit my job, but y'know, gotta pay those bills
• GET OUT OF LEEDS, TAKE A BREAK, CLEAR YOUR HEAD, IT'S GOOD FOR THE SOUL
• DO COP WHEN YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO COP - DO NOT LEAVE IT TILL LAST MINUTE AGAIN - (keeping on top of cop was something i mentioned in my first year presentation as an ambition for second year, HAHAHA, that did not happen)
• LEARN HOW TO MAKE QUICK DECISIONS - people aren't going to wait around for you to make your mind up on something, stop taking months to decide on the direction of a project, jsut go with your gut