Tutor Feedback: Assignment 1

 Below is the feedback from my tutor about Assignment 1. I was really pleased with how quickly Michelle responded to my assignment as this enables me to move forward to the next stage with the benefit knowing the areas which I need to work on. 

Overall I'm happy because the feedback is generally positive. I have put my responses to my tutors questions and suggestions in italics and a different colour for clarity:

Formative feedback

Student name Aylish Giamei Student number 516054
Course/Unit Printmaking1 Assignment number Assignment 1
Type of tutorial Written

Overall Comments

You have sent well organised and clearly labelled prints making your thinking and work easy to follow and understand, thank you.
You have produced a very good body of monoprinting work for the tasks in assignment 1.You have very good control of your media particularly as monoprinting readily lends itself to over inked slabs of runny marks. Your work displays care, planning and diligence. Your purchase of a block press looks really exciting I’ve never seen one like that, it looks very ingenious, and I can see why you are so excited! You have undertaken additional workshops and are clearly excited to learn to print.
You have clearly taken your time in the development of your work, patience with printmaking pays off. You have a number of prints that demonstrate your potential as a very good inventive printmaker. 

Very happy with this feedback - this will help my confidence as I move forward.

Assignment 1 Assessment potential 

You may want to get credit for your hard work and achievements with the OCA by formally submitting your work for assessment at the end of the module. More and more people are taking the idea of lifelong learning seriously by submitting their work for assessment but it is entirely up to you. We are just as keen to support you whether you study for pleasure or to gain qualifications. Please consider whether you want to put your work forward for assessment and let me know your decision when you submit Assignment 2. I can then give you feedback on how well your work meets the assessment requirements.

I do intend to put my work forward for formal assessment - I am on the Drawing pathway working towards a BA degree

Feedback on assignment 

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity 

TASK 1 your early figurative experiments 

You have a very good body of early monoprints. You have explored multiple methods of mark making resulting in expressive and experimental early monoprinting. I was interested to see you have access to a press, you have done well to control the quantity of ink. At this stage of developing work it may be worth considering the use of different scale and reflecting on how this can impact on your weight of line and mark. Some of these marks especially your paintly method looks like they could lead to much larger prints A2 or even A1
Yes I would like to try working on a larger scale - I will certainly explore this possibility in part 5 when I need to produce hybrid prints. 


.You have done incredibly well as these are your first prints, I was astonished to read in your blog you had not printed before.
Quality of ink and paper does have an impact on the print but your handling of this is good. It is a difficult balance between using ink too thick and thin - it just takes practice. 
There is so much to learn as there are so many variables which have an effect on the final outcome - this was certainly a challenging part 1 and a very steep learning curve - but I am really enjoying the process. There is plenty more scope for experimentation here.

TASK 2 Positive /negative masked prints

The masked monoprints you have selected are well composed and technically well inked .You have used the human figure as subject matter which has resulted in technically able and well controlled prints. You have used a variety of papers so far –you may wish to do a bit of research on the impact of paper on print quality. Fabriano have just brought out a budget paper that is very good quality called Unica.
http://rkburt.com/products/new-and-featured-2016/
I will order some to try out. I already have samples of several other papers but was not keen to use them on part one because they are expensive and I was just starting out. I have been 'learning to walk' on cheaper papers generally apart from the one small sample pack of Japanese papers that I bought.

TASK 3 

Your storks have worked well, they are composed well and are placed with consideration within the paper. I am interested to know why you selected them to make a print? 
This was a bit of a random choice of subject. I was supposed to be doing a drypoint course that day called "beautiful birds in drypoint' so I had sources to images of birds for inspiration. Unfortunately the course was cancelled owing to tutor illness so I pressed on with the masked monoprints. Out of the birds I had images of, the heron seemed to be the most appropriate one because it had such elegant lines in its silhouette. 



. Many artists use animals as a visual vehicle to talk about wider themes- I would expand your research here and look at how contemporary artists appropriate animals to represent ideas beyond an illustrative image, I attach a few examples.
I would recommend working from life as much as possible to inform your prints, drawings can be manipulated and re worked in your sketchbook by using tracing paper or even photocopiers if you have access to one to enlarge and re compose images with.
http://www.jackieberridge.co.uk/drawing.htm
http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/where-wild-things-are
https://www.seditionart.com/tracey_emin/this_is_my_favourite_little_bird
http://flavorwire.com/168724/taxidermy-art
https://www.henry-moore.org/whats-on/2016/10/15/henry-moore-sheep
http://www.jamesfisher.eu

Thank you - this is certainly something I would like to follow up. I spend most of my working life in close contact with animals. I would very much like to incorporate animal into my work but have struggled to understand how to do this without producing twee illustrative pet portraits - This has stimulated me to do some research about animals in our visual culture. 

 Your backdrawn prints display excellent technical control and some skilled line qualities. But I think the subject matter is a little dull for you.
You are absolutely right - this was a last minute panic and a random choice of subject from what was in the immediate vicinity. 

I found your texture prints especially interesting. This work is demonstrating how much you have progressed. These are exciting and technically skilled monoprints.You have clearly learnt a great deal and engaged with what the process has offered you.
The texture section was my absolute favourite part. I have to credit Mick Welbourn from Leeds Print Workshop for opening my eyes on this part of the course. This was very much process driven - there were no pre-conceived ideas at the start of the working day. The prints evolved from responding to what was going on in one layer when overprinting the next layer. I found this exploratory process liberating and it produced some of my best prints. 

 TASK 4 Four contrasting monoprints

These prints demonstrate how much you have learnt from these assignments demonstrating good handling of monoprint techniques. You have very good use of composition, line, colour and experimental approach evident in this tasks. These really are contrasting prints with figurative and abstract prints submitted. 
The 2 prints I find the most exciting are the abstract line based prints. These remind me of Brice Marsden’s work http://www.matthewmarks.com/new-york/artists/brice-marden/
I’m interested in your paper choice, it has a shiny surface, and did the ink take a long time to dry? Is developing an interest in abstraction something you wish to pursue?
These two prints are my absolute favourites from the ones I have produced so far. I am not sure in which direction to go at this stage. I am attracted to abstract works and certainly enjoyed the process of creating these - but I am also interested in figuration. 

The paper is a coated paper used in commercial printing for glossy magazines and the like. The coating on the paper really attracts the ink so it is possible to get a good clear print from a 'ghost' second or third pass through the press. The coating dries the oil based ink very rapidly. It's like magic!

Sketchbooks 

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity 
Your sketchbook is delightful. It’s an extremely imaginative document full of ideas and subject matter to make work from. I like the scale of the book too.
You have competent drawing skills these are evident throughout your observed work that can lead to abstraction and manipulation for Printmaking. Some very good handling of media is evident. It’s easy to see your progress from observed drawing, ideas and then print. You have also included information about underpinning artists here. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this document and I would continue to work in this thorough way. For development I would add further text to your document that can interweave back and forwards to your blog making your intentions explicit.
Thank you - I thought I hadn't really done enough drawing in my sketchbook this time - on the drawing 1 course I filled at least two for each unit. I am thinking of having two sketchbooks for the next parts - one with the development of ideas for the course as well as research and another (likely smaller) just for drawing practice - the two will obviously have a certain amount of overlap. 

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays Context

You have begun your log in a well organised manner making it easy for the reader to follow. You are diligent in all your research tasks and evidencing who is underpinning your process. You have included images and text.
For development I would recommend writing more around your chosen themes, OCA call this personal voice. The first thing to reflect upon when choosing subject matter is WHY? Ask yourself what am I making working about and trying to say? How will this be read by a viewer?
Yes - this is certainly an area of weakness in part 1 - I have been overwhelmed by the amount of technical information and skills to take on board. Consequently I didn't expend much energy in consideration and research with regards to subject matter.  This is an area to develop moving forwards.

For improvement reflect upon the artists you are researching and ask yourself how and why their work, methods or thinking influences your own strategies for making.
OK - it will probably pay to be more selective in the artists I choose to talk about to look more in depth at their work and how it might influence me - I have taken a bit of a 'scattergun' approach so far. 

Suggested reading/viewing Context

Have a look at Nicola Hicks work from animals – these may be of interest to you.
 Brice Marden for his line based abstract work.
Sandra Blow’s abstract prints may be of interest to you.
Prunella Clough abstract work may be of interest.

Pointers for the next assignment

• Continue to use your sketchbook as an integral part of your process and add some more depth to your text in this document
• Develop your log as a more critical and reflective document.
• Reflect more fully on the wider context of your work and what you are making work about.
• The next assignment is lino printing, I would refer to the images in the course materials as a guide only and focus on developing your own subject matter. 


Tutor name Michelle Keegan
Date 26/3/17
Next assignment due 30/7/17

This feedback has given me lots of pointers for moving forwards to build on the positive start in part one. I have several artists to look at for inspiration. 

I will be particularly focusing on subject matter and thinking about what I want to say or my reasons for choosing my subject matter - I want to do more research about visual culture and critical theory because I think this will help me in terms of the development of my ideas and placing my own work in context. This will hopefully be of help in terms of making my blog more critical and reflective. 

I will try to weave this academic exploration into my sketchbook with more written notes in an attempt to make my train of thought easier to follow.