Graphics lesson, 12th December

Could you all please make sure that another draft of the essay is handed in before the end of Monday at the latest.  Marking will be done on Tuesday so that you will all have feedback in time for Thursday's lesson.  The focus at the moment is on building a structure using the writing frame in the shared area, combining analysis and conducting further research to flesh out what you have started.

You all need to research artists, movements and other contextual details more widely, and to help with this there will be a trip to the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the new year.  In order for this to happen all of you will need to register with the National Art Library by following the instructions at the address below:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/n/national-art-library-registering-for-a-reader-ticket/

I would also recommend you visiting local libraries and bookshops in the next few weeks, and use the internet more thoroughly to research content.

Graphics lesson, 5th December

Yesterday you all continued with essay writing, with all of you working at different stages. You should all now have at least 3 pieces of analysis that relate to a single theme (some of you have had to produce new analysis to give your essay a stronger sense of direction).  Beyond that, the stages are:

• Intro written, explaining the question you are exploring.
• Six mini-paragraphs that compare the use of formal elements between your chosen artworks
• Paragraph one written (in-depth research into your chosen artists/designers/movements/companies)
• Mini-paragraphs and previous analysis used to construct paragraph two (analysing the work of your chosen artists)

I expect these sections to still need lots of work, and you can break paragraphs down into smaller sections if you find this easier.  I need a revised draft by our last lesson before Christmas.  For next week you need to also make sure you have completed the following:

• Created a mind map using wisemapping.com
• Renamed blog posts using underlined titles on checklist (see top of page)

Graphics lesson, 28th November (including essay overview)

During this lesson you are comparing your chosen works through focus on the formal elements.  This will form the basis of paragraph 2.  At home, you will need to start paragraph 1, which will be an introduction to your artists.  For this, you will need to conduct further research into your chosen artists, so you can introduce them to your reader with relative authority.  The general structure will be:

• Intro - Explain your focus, what you are interested in and why.  Explain the area you are studying, for example children's illustration, advertising, typography, comic book illustration or digital character design.
• Paragraph 1 - Introduce your artists, explain why they are relevant to addressing your question.  This section will be more research-based
• Paragraph 2 - This is where most of your visual analysis will be.  You need to compare and contrast the techniques and visual language of your chosen artists.  This section will most likely be one of your longest, and can be broken down into sections, covering different formal elements, for example.
• Paragraph 3 - This needs to address how your own work has developed as a result of your studies into the work of other artists, and should refer back to analysis from your previous paragraph.
• Conclusion - This will be a summing up of your investigation, reflecting on what you have discovered and how your understanding of your chosen subject has changed/developed

For next Tuesday, you will need to email a draft of your essay which includes the first three sections (intro, p1, p2).  This should be 1,500 words (or about 500 words per section).

Please also have a read of the blog post here: http://www.studentartguide.com/articles/writing-the-a2-art-personal-study

Graphics lesson, 21st November

Today's focus was your introduction, and bringing all of your analysis together to inform a general theme of interest for your essay.  Please use the writing frame worksheet on the shared area to help you with this.

At home this week you need to start taking passages of text from your existing analysis and pairing them between artists, so that colour, for instance, from one artwork can be compared to colour from another piece of work.  Start a new Word document for this, and enter sub-headings to show different areas of analysis.  Mustafa could, for instance convert the following two sentences:

"the colour of his armour it gives a very angry and warm look" (analysis 1)

"The way Phroilan Gardener uses the turquoise colours on the Lich Kings’s eyes and sword gives the viewer the understanding that this characters soul has been consumed by something" (analysis 2)


Into something like this:

Colour

Whereas Blizzard entertainment's Orc is drawn using warm colours to give an angry look, Phroilan Gardener uses colder colours, such as turquoise, to give the viewer the impression that the character's soul has been conssumed by something.



You should have at least 6 sub-headings on your new document, with combinations from across your analysis.  If you have any problems with this please let me know tomorrow or Tuesday.

UEL etching workshop

Following the workshops led by University of East London students yesterday, you will all need to write up the etching process on your blog, using photos from the folder below.  Make sure you include evaluative comments about what you felt was successful about your use of the technique, and what you might do to improve on your work.

Y:\SIXTH FORM SHARED AREA\Art - Graphics\Graphic Communications A2\2013-14\Work\Etching

Graphics lesson, 10th October: Analysis, Analysis, Analysis

You should now be stepping up your analysis in order to build up content for your personal study essay.  The school is closed on Thursday next week, and we have planned workshops by visiting students from the University of East London on the following Thursday.  This means you will have no Thursday lessons until the start of November.  You need to carry on your practical development on Tuesdays and at home, developing your ideas by combining elements of artists' work.

Independently you will need to make sure you have three pieces of analysis done by the time we come back from half term.  These should be at least 500 words each.  Use the analysis resources mentioned in last week's blog post to do this.  You also need to source at least one of your artworks for analysis from non-digital sources.  Try book shops, libraries, specialist shops, magazines and periodicals.

Formalised areas of focus for coursework and introduction to Personal Study essay

Having now done a series of responses to artists' work, the established focus for each of your coursework projects seem to be as follows:

Stephanie - Interior design based advertising
Victor - Illustration, character design, heroes and villains, iconography
Mustafa - Illustration, character design, computer games, history of character development
Molly - Children's illustration, book illustrations

Your next step is to generate a question that you intend to answer through your studies in Graphics.  This should be an open question that might address how or why particular artists make work in a certain way.  Quite often the question will be focused on a specific formal element, such as colour, pattern or composition.

You will be producing an essay on the subject, which will support your practical work.  Through analysing and interpreting the work of others, you will gain a better understanding of your own work, improving your understanding of visual language.  To get this started, you will need to analyse an artwork at home this week that is relevant to your studies.  Analysis worksheets can be found in the shared area at the following address:

Y:\SIXTH FORM SHARED AREA\Art - Graphics\Analysis

Use an analysis sheet to take notes, then write up a drafted version on your blog.  You do not need to write lots for every question, try and focus on writing more in response to questions that relate to your area of focus.

Graphics lesson 26th September

Today you carried on with response work from previous lessons.  This now all needs to be completed and written up before next week's lesson, when we will be moving on to idea development.  Each response should have some explanations of process and techniques, and you should reflect on how successful each response is, and what you could do to improve it.  At least three documented responses are expected, although the more you have the more ideas you have to draw upon.

Next week you will pull all your ideas together so far in order to create new works that show influence from a range of artists, so consider what type of graphic design work you want to create (e.g an illustration for a book, a layout for a website, an advertisement for a particular company).

Graphics lesson 12th September 2013

Please make sure all response work is completed by the end of next week's lesson (three artist responses).  All these need to be written up on your blog, with processes explained and evaluative comments made about the success of each one.  You also need to make sure all other work from the checklist is done (see link on right of page).  Previous work includes a mood board and an short piece of writing outlining your interests, as illustrated by your Pinterest boards.  Finally, make sure you have links to your Pinterest boards on the right of your page, you can add these by editing the gadgets in your Layout section.

Independent study, 5th September

Molly - Create a typography design inspired by previous studies.  Write up.

Stephanie - Finish first response and complete a second.  Write up both.

Mustafa - Mood board and two responses.  Write up both.

Victor - Finish mood board.  Create a response and write up.

A2 Graphics summer assignment

Today you will be starting a second artist response.  Please write this up over the summer, as well as completing a post outlining three of your areas of interest.  You will also need to create a mood board for your blog design, which needs to be inserted as a page (not a post!) within your blog.  This can be added through your layout design function.  All success criteria for your summer tasks can be seen on the image above.

Weekly Update, 11th July

In Tuesday's lesson you all produced various typography pieces using descriptions of each other. These need to be written up as blog posts for next Tuesday. During today's lesson you have produced a basic map of your blog, which can be added to as your site develops. You have also started formulating a question that will become the starting point of your written study. For next Thursday I would like you to add a link to your Pinterest boards, as well as some contact details(see example on the right). You also need to create a background for your blog using a development of one of your pieces of work so far. Create a gallery page dedicated to your web design work and add your Pinterest profile, blog banner and background.

On Thursday please register with Rachael at the start of period 5. Use this time to work on the following: Finishing and uploading Pinterest profile pictures and Blog banners Sending me your blog web address if you have not done this already Photographing your work from Tuesday's lesson to add to your typography post Developing the design of your blog, including adding a link to your Pinterest boards or any other relevent web content using the layout section of Blogger I will be in after lunch, when we will focus on formalising your ideas into a formal question

The work set so far...

Welcome to A2 Graphics...

So far you should have the following tasks done:

Joined Pinterest and created at least 3 boards documenting your interests, with at least 10 images on each.
Started following Corelli Art or the Graphics A2 board on Pinterest.
Created your blog page and constructed a basic layout

You are currently working on a response to one of the artworks you have researched on Pinterest. This now needs to be written up as a blog post by the end of today's session (Thursday 4th July).

At home this week you will need to create a banner for your blog. This will need to include your blog name, as it will replace the title of your blog. Make sure your banner is the correct size to fit your blog.

You will also need to create a profile picture for your Pintertest account. This needs to be your name created in interesting typography. Your banner and profile picture need to reflect your interests so far as documented through your Pinterest boards. You should also keep both of these consistent in terms of colour, typography and style, in order to create your own consistent brand. This image should be square (example below).

Finally, I would like everyone to contribute at least 2 pins to the A2 Graphics board. These could be images that you are interested in, or that you could recommend for someone else.

Please keep an eye on this blog for further instructions, especially if lessons are missed or cancelled.

Happy blogging,

Mr Davies