WEEK REFLECTION

This past week was full of ups and downs. I traveled to Portugal to buy a new laptop, which was stressful but ultimately a relief to have for my projects. I started by creating a self-portrait with charcoal on a sketchbook. Although I used my own illustration style instead of a realistic one, I was pleased with how I captured my facial expressions and details. The drawing reminded me of the textures in my previous artwork for the Food for Thought Project. I enjoyed the drawing so much that I decided to develop it further and use it as my avatar on social media. After scanning the drawing and adjusting the contrast and brightness in Photoshop, I used the paint bucket tool to add color to my portrait. I was pleased with the final result and shared it on Instagram.

For the Manifesto task, I followed Ellen's advice and chose 10 rules that resonated with me personally, specifically those related to gender and sexuality. I struggled with how to present my manifesto in a catchy yet simple way. The Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules by Corita Kent (1965) inspired me with its simple design and focus on the message. I used a similar typography style to the book I created for the Food for Thought project and incorporated an illustration of myself and a silhouette inspired by a previous silhouette workshop. I chose to colour the illustration yellow, my favorite colour, and created a coloured version with details to use for my website development.

When developing my website, I started by researching different platforms and website developers. Both my friend Inês and my DPS tutor recommended Cargo, as it has an easy coding process and offers discounts for UAL students. To get ideas for my own website, I looked at many websites of artists I follow on Instagram, as well as websites available on the Cargo platform. I wanted my website to be simple and to prioritise my work. I've found four websites in particular very inspiring. Steph Hope's website was my favourite, as she used illustrations to showcase her work. However, I knew it would be difficult to make something similar as her style due to my time schedule. Another website that caught my attention was Nikita Vasilevskiy's, which used 3D elements to showcase products. I found this approach impactful and was inspired to adapt it for my own website. Gut magazine's website was similar to Nikita's, and I particularly liked the use of a white background to emphasise its content. Using this research, I created a sketch of my website and began working with Cargo's basic Wireframe template. I kept the design simple and used shapes and typography from my previous Food for Thought project. I also created a clear structure and used a white background to highlight my artwork. The primary colour of my website is yellow, as it evokes positive feelings for me. Overall, I wanted to create a website that showcases my work in a simple and visually appealing way.

I created all the website decorations using Adobe Illustrator. Afterwards, I added images of my 3D works to my homepage to create an interactive feel. Additionally, I included a photo of myself and my grandmother in the analogue photography section (another practice of my interest) to match the theme and evoke nostalgia. Overall, I am pleased with how my website turned out. I aimed to make it interactive, and visually appealing, and highlight the diversity of my work throughout the years.

Unit: Exploring Studio Practices Project 03: The First Picture of You

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