Exercise 2

Reflective commentary

Use this exercise to take stock of your practice by reflecting on your creative journey so far. This is a chance to employ the resources in this document to evaluate your creative experiences and skills, identify strengths and areas for development, and set out your aims and ambitions for what you want to do next. 

Develop a reflective commentary on your recent practice. Try to establish an overview of your practice, drawing on specific examples to support your commentary. As a starting point, respond to some or all of the following prompts:  

• Describe your practice. Does your practice operate within a particular discipline, specialist area, genre, or context, or across different areas? What name(s) can you put on your practice? 

My practise is being an Illustrator, I have painted since I was young and have just returned to it about 8 years ago. I want to make it my career since I was made redundant in the first lockdown in March 2020. I did a few course with a well known designer of Surface pattern design, and used my hand painted illustrations to create repeat patterns and prints. I used this skill to create products which I sell on my websites, and wholesale.

In 2022 I got a part time sessional tutor job at the local community college as an art tutor, teaching watercolour art, acrylic and sketching. Soon to be teaching gauche painting, oil painting, pastels and illustration.

My main aim for completing this degree is to become a children’s book illustrator, I have always wanted to do this since I was tiny, and spent many years writing children’s books and working on creative writing courses.

I ultimately love watercolour painting, I love the translucency of it, the delicacy and the quality to layer. But I do love gouache paint, and using watercolour pencils and other mediums to become a mixed media artist, as I love texture and feeling in my work.

I have developed my art work to become more digital, and incorporate digital work with my traditional painting, I use Photoshop and Illustrator as well as Procreate on the iPad.

But ultimately I am an Illustrator.

• What are the key moments in the development of your practice? Have you had any ‘penny dropping’ moments or other key learning events? How has your practice evolved in the last few years? How do you learn?

I would say my penny dropping moment has been this last year, I have worked my way through different illustration areas of work, mediums and digital software, and feel as though all though elements have come together to create a practise and mixed media style, that I can transfer into children’s books to create something different, new and unique.

I have learnt a lot more about paint this last 8 months about investing in better supplies, new mediums, and new watercolours with different ingredients that give different textures, and also about last fastness for commissions.

I learn by doing things practically, I watch a lot of You Tube videos on techniques, then I attempt them myself. I research about paints and mediums, then try them out myself, I am hands on and creative.

• What are the strengths of your practice? What are your observations of your creative process, and the work itself? What positive feedback have you had on your practice, and how you might build on these. 

I have a lot of attention to detail, although I’m not a fine artist, I prefer more characterful illustrations, that are colourful and have texture, they have a lot of detail, there’s a lot to see if you look closely.

I have had some feedback on my work having lots of atmosphere and feeling within it, which Is something very positive and something I want to create and continue with.

Colour and texture is good and the character’s are cute, great for little girls.

• What drives your practice? Identify what you enjoy doing? What motivates you to study and to make work? These could be intrinsic motivations, such as curiosity or a love of the discipline, or a desire to do something else meaningful. 

I love to paint, I love to create little characters mainly from nature, animals and flowers, plants etc. I love colour and texture, I love the way painting can make you feel, it calms you, its good for the mind, its good to be creative, its good to talk about it with other artists and makers, its good for socialising.

I want to help children through books and art, I want children to learn about the environment through fun, colourful books that capture their imagination. I want to create self help books for children on anxiety, I would like to create books for adoptive children to help them understand.

• What ideas underpin your work? Identify the kinds of themes, ideas, questions, or debates your work explores. What are you interested in making work about? How do you feel these influence what you do?  

I have a couple of children books I have already written so I would love to illustrate these, these are general children’s books, some young in age, one more older age 9-11 fantasy style.

But as mentioned above I would love to illustrate books on the environment for children, self help books for children, so they can understand what is happening to them better. As well as illustrating books for adopted children.

I would like my art work and illustrations help children to better understand the world and their life, in colourful, textured and imaginative visuals, so they don’t feel scared or worried and it helps them to cope better.

• Describe your creative process. How do you talk about your making, writing, or creative process? What kinds of materials, processes, interests, knowledge, or experience do you bring to bear on your work? 

I start by coming up with some ideas, usually with a spider diagram, I then move onto creating key words, which sometimes I create in a mood board, to add visuals.

I go out on inspiration days out, taking photographs, at the zoo, park, city, garden, pets, people etc. (dependent on topic)

Then rough sketches in my sketchbook, explore colour, research paints and mediums.

Thumbnails of the piece in different settings compositions etc.

Narrow down to three, re-work anything that needs it.

Re-look at colours, mediums and composition.

Work on two pieces with colour, texture.

Annotate both pieces, re-work both pieces then narrow down to one final piece.

Work on the final piece to the end.

My actual creative process is to use layers of watercolour paint (which kind depends on the topic) on my sketched out illustrations, then I use watercolour pencils to add more details, like feathers etc. I then use some acrylic ink to add highlights or fur/ feathers etc. If I am doing a landscape, I use water soluble wax crayons to add pops of colour and texture. Sometimes I use pens to add more detail or a different texture.

I like to add in one piece of surface pattern design to my illustrations and scenes, this is the point of difference between my work and another’s. Usually this is in a collage manner by I do it digitally so it looks more seamless.

I would say I have generally good experience with watercolour art, I have been using watercolours for 28 years. I have only just in the last two years branched out into new media and different watercolours. I have about 8 years experience of illustrating. I have about 5 years experience as a surface pattern designer. I have about 18 months worth of experience as an art tutor.

• Where might your work develop? Where do you see areas for development? What ambitions do you have for your work? Are there unresolved areas that present possibilities for new work? How might you pick up on these and develop them further?  

I think areas for development are continuing with composition for spreads (of books), bring everything I have learnt over the last 3 years into one place (illustrating, mixed media and surface pattern).

I would love to illustrate children’s books, whether that’s my own written ones, or someone else’s, I don’t mind, and to make this my career going forward.I wouldn’t say there was unresolved areas that prevent new work, it would just be trying to illustrate new books, I am on the start of this journey of bringing everything together, so I think that’s the best starting point, maybe after a little while, this can be an area of reflection, to see if there are any unresolved areas, and answer this question then, and make a plan.