Learning Log: Part One – Tutors Report

16th October 2011

Overall Comments:

A good beginning to the course. In particular, the drawing exercises showed creative energy which shows potential for development work. Stitch exercises seemed to have been adequately undertaken (difficult to see them on the OCA website) However two textile pieces sent with no backup material to enable me to see them in context with the drawings.

(was included with the independent Learning Log sent as an attachment with e-mails but was not able to be accessed and/or correlated with the images on the website)

Feedback on assignment one:

Project 1, stage 1 and 2 making marks in an expressive way. You approached these exercises with energy and showed a great deal of creativity in doing them. Your approach was quite loose yet in some drawings (feather) I could see that you showed that you can tackle the drawing of an object with similar energy and objective observation.

Stage 3 Using marks to create surface textures using a viewing frame to isolate areas from first 2D images (postcard, photo etc.,) then 3D objects. This exercise is designed to encourage you to both observe closely the texture of the surface of an object and then to do two things: 1. analyse and recreate the surface using drawing marks, then 2. use more expressive media to interpret or recreate the surface. What we are not looking for is a drawing or painting of the object itself.

This is one of the most important aspects of the translation of what we see into a piece of art – not a copy, but (as Paul Klee said “an equivalent to nature”. You are extracting information – translating into marks on paper a resource for development into another media. What we want is that you should get into the habit of focusing closely and looking closely at “images that are rich in surface texture” – a building up of a resource to use later in the stitch exercises.

Looking at your sketchbook I think you undertook this stage very well especially where expressive use of media was employed.

I think the close observation through drawing an area could have been done with more concentration. (Having said that, you might have done more work which I haven’t seen. I am emailing some sheets to clarify this – see recommended reading).

Stage 4 (Project One: Working from Sketchbook) asks you to identify some work from the sketchbook work and to work from these – enlarging and developing in a personal way. I think you undertook this well. I could clearly see where you were going from the photocopies you sent in the sketchbook. However it is important that in future there are reflective evaluative notes alongside the work you are doing – not simply labels.

(My task now is to learn  about how to add such notes so that my work becomes more meaningful to both my tutor and me. I will look for the suggestions/videos on the OCA website – under resources I understand.)

Project 2 Stage 2-4  projects 2-6 asks you to explore mark, line and texture through stitches. (What is looked for, is that if possible you are using your own drawings or photos, using a viewing frame to isolate an interesting area and thinking of stitches as a means of making a mark, rather than a technique for making an exact copy of the drawing.)

(See Part One: Project Two – Stage 5. Work-in-progress for an example/sample)

I was a bit confused over the textile samples. You only sent two. Neither had any backup material at all. One was unlabeled, but I could see where it was from on your website.

(NOTE: This process was slow and tedious. I am not sure why – whether the website is not powerful enough to enlarge images quickly, or that you might have made your images too large to download quickly)

The second piece labeled (project two stage 6) which I think reflected the expressive quality of the drawings you had made, but I had no information regarding its origin or development. I could see that you had done all the exercises in the manual  from the website , but it really is vital that in future you send me back up material E.g. a sketchbook page with design roughs, stitch samples, A3 worksheets showing the development of each piece from the initial drawings, or photos.       

You don’t have to send a large amount of work, but

each major sample that you are doing should have a good deal of back up work with annotation notes cross referencing drawings to samples in the sketchbook/notebook. Think of the notebook as a visual diary.

Other:

It is vital that I see enlarged images of the work you are doing if I am going to advise you adequately – (especially since it is expensive for you to send a good deal of work for me to look at.) Remember that if you are going to be assessed you need to send the log, or it needs to be accessed online. I could not see where this was on the OCA website. It needs really to be separate from the conversations you are having with other students and really if you are reflecting on a piece of work, put an image there – especially if you are not confident that you are on the right lines. I am not saying get out of the OCA – this is where you make contacts with others, but possibly have a separate blog which is a reflection – not just images. Also check size/resolution of an image is not too large to be viewed quickly. (If you are not sure about this I can send you some info,) Incidentally, I followed a link to your OCA contact. http://cumbrianangiestextiles.blogspot.com Her blog is a good model as I could easily follow her progress.

(I didn’t find it very helpful actually)

It is also useful for me if you fill in the “What have you achieved” in your log and send it with the work in future, so that I can see if I need to focus on a particular issue.

(Yes I did in actual fact but my tutor missed it in my learning log)

NOTE: Your work did not arrive in the bag provided by OCA. I am not provided with bags to send your work back to you. Do you want me to hold on to this until you send assignment two?

P.S. My judgement is that:

1. providing that you continue producing work of this Quality and

2. I am able to see adequate samples and good quality on-line images at the end of each assignment that

3. there is a realistic likelihood of your reaching undergraduate level by the end of the module

Pat Hodson. 16th October 2011.

(As a consequence of my tutors comments concerning the OCA Website being too slow to access my images I have set a learning blog https://acreativeapproachtotextiles.wordpress.com)