Summer goals (reflection)

During the last trimester it started to dawn on me that, though I had improved greatly as an image maker since starting the course, I hadn’t really found a way of making that felt authentical. I had made imagery that communicated successfully but did those images say anything about me as an artist? Did it feel like I poured myself into them? No, it did not. I collaged away in Photoshop so I had full control over every aspect of my artwork and didn’t have to make any big decisions upfront.

I felt like I was missing out on something. I had a feeling that if I managed to really put my energy and emotions into (the devising of) my artwork it would bring me more joy and I would find a clearer voice. Now I’d just been dabbling in different techniques hoping these would provide the answer to all my artistic questions. While techniques are of grave importance to the outcome, I am not sure they provide any answers to the question I was asking myself…

Subsequently I set myself a goal for this summer: to determine what it is that I want to say and make with my illustrations. During my last tutorial this goal was affirmed by Pam. She pointed out that, though I had been making worthwhile imagery and story ideas, she wasn’t sure which one of the three - very different - projects I was pursuing really reflected me as an artist. This summer would be the perfect time to work out who I want to be as an illustrator and what I want to make more of after graduation.