Friday, 12 January 2018

SWOT Analysis - Practice Enrichment



Due to the recent completion of my fourth project studying my level 4 Animation & Illustration foundation degree I shall be completing a self-assessed analysis to determine my current skill set regarding this project and how I want to move forward in development. The way in which I shall be analysing my work is using a structure called 'SWOT' Analysis. 'SWOT' is an acronym for the questions:
  • Strengths - What are the strengths of my unit, research, Pre-production, time scaling & final result.

  • Weaknesses - What are the weaknesses of the aforementioned.

  • Opportunity's - What are the opportunity's that I have come across during this unit, did I take full advantage of them and what opportunity's am I looking for moving forward

  • Targets - What are my targets to consistently improve my creative works and skill set. The aim of these targets is to set the goals to becoming more industry standard.
Practice Enrichment - SWOT Analysis

Strengths
 
Reflecting on the week I spent engaging in life drawing workshops during this project, one area that I feel I performed well in is the drawn study’s that involved accurate measuring techniques to capture shape and form effectively. I feel this due to the intuition and resulting product that I took confidence in when taking the time to study from life. I would admit that when it comes to drawing from memory that my confidence pails in comparison to others in the industry but using measurement techniques such as my thumb and pencil as ballpoint figures against the perspective of the head downward is something that I am confident in completing to a high technical standard.

Following on from this I feel that my studying of lighting such as the drawn observations with white chalk on black paper are something that I am also keen to suggest as my better quality’s when discussing my life drawn responses from across this week’s workshops. When capturing the 3d form of an object or person from life lighting is key in portraying this as a 2 dimensional study by manipulating the perspective through techniques that imitate the lighting situation on paper. I feel in my work I have effectively demonstrated such techniques improving the impression that the work portrays.

My investigations and research are also something I am satisfied have provided me with a wealth of knowledge due to the quality I have installed into my scripted investigations. By going into detail of the concept, style, process, and composition in each artist illustrations and iterated on it I am confident I have gained insight which I can transfer into my future productions increasing the effectiveness in my illustration and animation skillset.

Weaknesses

Continuing from the subject of research, although I covered a comprehensive investigation into 12 illustrations enabling opportunity’s and knowledge I am dissatisfied with the number of artists I covered during my research process. I feel that if I had planned my time scaling out more effectively considering my weakness in writing that I would have been able to cover more artists illustrations from life over the time I had diversifying my learnt understanding.

A technique that I am not confident in my ability to utilise is quick gestural studies of a person’s pose, shape, and form. This technique is also in duality with creating drawn study’s in motion due to the pace in which a solid gesture is required to convey an effective motion study. This issue contrasts with my preferred approach of life drawing by taking the time to using measuring techniques to be accurate with shape and form. This is an area that I feel needs to be improved if I am develop as an animator.

Although I made great attempts in working through this and solving these issues drawing foreshortening from life study’s is still something I find difficult to capture accurately. Many of the poses that I drew happened to not include foreshortening from the perspective I was drawing from, but when I was in a situation that I viewed it I am not confident with the drawn responses I gave when challenged to draw from this angle. I believe that his perspective is an area of improvement that I require.


Opportunitys

The time I spent exploring, experimenting, and responding to my research and workshops in drawing from life has provided me with the opportunity to explore new sources of inspiration, practice approach, technique and process as well as be informed by the guidance and teachings of industry professionals. This has resulted in an improvement in my traditional skill set as an artist in all fields of creative works.

Further mentions that I have had the opportunity to learn from are the scripted and drawn responses to illustrators and artists both contemporary and historically. The specific artists I have had the pleasuring of studying and learning from are:
When working full time in the industry it can often be hard to find the opportunity to explore new direction and experiments with innovative new techniques, materials, and processes. This project has enabled me with such an opportunity by challenging me with this project brief enabling the stimulation of growth as an artist and content creator

Finally, every brief that is put my way including this one provides me with the opportunity to better myself in every aspect from initial ideas to presenting my design results to peers. To be successful in the industry is not just about been technically superior at your vocation but the ability to be innovative with how you carry your trade and apply it. This projects aim was to practice the enrichment of drawing skills from life study’s, whilst studying this it gave me the inspiration and stimulation to consider how my traditional skills can be applied in new and exciting ways as well as techniques to make it happen.

Targets

In order to consistently grow as an artist, it is imperative that I understand how I can improve in order to allow my skillset to naturally evolve in a productive direction. Reflecting upon my SWOT analysis and my project there are a few key areas which I would like to create an action plan for to balance out my skill set moving forward. 

Target 1 - Study and practice gesture 


Practice and reflection makes perfect, but consistently practicing and reflecting improves what my perfect is.

Earlier in my post I outlined that my prime weakness when it comes to drawing from life study’s is my ability to capture an accurate gesture when it comes to the shape, form, and pose that an individual conveys. As an animator whose aspiration is to convey intention effectively for an emotional reaction it is imperative that I spend times improving this skill as an animation can only go so far unless it 'feels' visually appropriate

Stating this fact alone will not improve my situation and I must spend time studying and practising drawn study’s form either photographs, people, or other reference to be able to improve the quality of this skill. I believe that as a plan making time once a day, if not once a week to sit and draw iterations covering the topic of gesture will be my only route for improvement. This development can be improved by seeking information from my peers, other industry artists, online and in the library. It is important for me to outline that practice alone will not see great improvement but reflection and acting on those conclusions will invoke an increase in technical skills.

Target 2 -  Investigate tactics to combat foreshortening issues

Practice and reflection are effective means at improving to a high standard but seeking the tips and tricks of peers and industry professionals will kickstart progress like swapping from a horse to a motorbike

All artists universally agree foreshortening to be a painful technique to develop for, and simply practicing through observation can prove to also serve as a problem because although certain linework can portray an angle accurately the illustration may still lack the depth needed to convey the foreshortening effectively. This issue is something that currently holds back my work when it comes to my desires to draw characters in unconventional and interesting poses.

A plan of action to combat this is to make use of websites such as YouTube and, the more effective option, Skillshare to have industry professionals convey the tips and tricks needed to improve the impression of my drawn response regarding life drawing. These websites provide the current and contemporary solutions for such issues but reference and information that can equally give advice from professionals are books which can be bought or found in library’s. Consistency is the key when hoping to improve in drawing, studying, and responding from sources are my goals when it comes to improving this skill.

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Having reviewed my 'Practice Enrichment' project and applied my feedback into a clear action plan for me to work on, I am satisfied that I have grown from my time developing and analysing my work in this unit. I hope that everyone reading this has taken on board from my experiences and learnt a little something for themselves. Thank you for reading till next time.

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