Phew! - Finished the 1st project with a little time to spare! Reflections of the last week (Week 6).

Today marked the final hand in day for the first project of this first semester.  I thoroughly enjoyed the project, which allowed me to look at a Victorian subject and contemporize it into my final drawing.  The constellations of Draco.

I have taken on the advice from Prof Swindell and Bob Partridge to take my work into a much bigger scale, but I was used to.  I utilising the studio space and one wall in particular, which actually belonged to a couple of first year students who very kindly let me use this for the last two weeks.  I was therefore able to not only use my own art space to open up my conceptual pieces and reference material, but I also had the use of another square of approximately 2 m x 3 m to achieve my final drawing.

I completely concur with Prof Swindell when he suggests that art is a "performative" process.  The set-up of the studio space is critical to good composition.  Secondly, our sense of touch is the central form of intelligence and is a key component of our make-up. To do, or indeed "perform" any art, whether drawing, painting, sculpting, or even the performative arts, needs the most basic of our human senses, - touch.

Some of this intelligence needs to be considered and segregated in order to improve, as it is vital to, in turn, tune it up and to handle the deployment or agent of drawing or painting, such as a pencil, pen or paintbrush, but also the surface pressure, the lightness or heaviness of application upon the medium.

 I spent a little time this evening looking at examples of tape drawings that we achieved a couple of weeks ago and a few copies of the work, but Prof Swindall went on to create is below.

The whole exercise and ritual of drawing and painting must be repeated every day; - you have to play every day.  You have to practice every day no matter what you try to achieve.  Whether you are an athlete or a musician, or any kind of professional such as a solicitor or doctor, or whatever, all professionals practice by repetition.
Professionalism is about practice.  Touch and application is everything in order to achieve competency in your practice.  Think about how a dentist might be able to operate if he was unable to feel through touch the pressure of his drill in your mouth.  It would be impossible for him to perform.  It is exactly the same for an artist.

I realise now how important it is take the studio space seriously.  I have been in the studio every day at some stage of the past five weeks, and I feel that I have engaged with the studio in order for it to work for me.

The importance of creating a series of works has been brought home to me in this project.  In creating a "family" of works  the images can engage together make a "prepared-ness" and to make the experiment.  In a way, it makes the art talk back to me as an artist, and guides me as to how I feel about the work that I have already achieved.  I believe this applies not only to painting, drawing and illustration, but also indeed, to all art.

By taking a concept, an idea, and then to translate it as an experiment in order to perform a series of tests strengthens our eye, hand, brain coordination and allows new concepts to emerge even further.

I often feel a sense of anxiety before I start any work but I have been reminded many times in the past that ego is a key danger to success.  Huberis and self assurance can get in the way of a top performance... but self doubt is good.  - It keeps you grounded and ready to make adjustments should you feel that you are failing, or less dramatically, if you feel adjustments need to be made.  You are more open to their suggestions.

Finally I have understood that studio practice is all about exercise, consistency and application.

-  I think that what is being searched for in all art these days, is consistency, in application, materiality, recognisability, and the aesthetic, - amongst others.

At the moment, I feel that I have been very much on a journey, but on a "linear" style track. - Perhaps I have been on a journey without a destination?
 I feel that now I need to start searching a little further, not necessarily for the sake of the journey, but to help to find the future destination.  The journey without a destination may be enjoyable for a time, but it is the destination but gives you purpose to carry on.  I feel perhaps for the past year, I may have been moving from left to right, or right to left, or left the left, or right, the right.... - in rather a random fashion.
I think now I need to start to "drill down" in the next 18 months of my degree, and start to focus on my signature, my own identity as an artist, and find a place for myself, - that is recognisable by others; which will form part of my destination, even though it may not yet be anywhere in sight.

This does not preclude me from experimenting in different ways.  I think that that is vital in order to keep searching for that final Nirvana or Shangri-La.  But what I do feel however, is that my flow of ideas start to feel as though they are linked in some way, - or be recognisable, like signposts, if you like, in order for other people, or viewers - who follow my journey with me to keep up.