Tutor feedback assignment 2
Formative feedback
Overall Comments
Thanks for uploading the latest batch of work. This report is based on the notes you sent, with comments by me in RED. You also have a recording of the conversation to which you can refer.
Assignment 2 Assessment potential
I understand your aim is to go for the Painting Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, providing you commit yourself to the course, I believe you have the potential to pass at assessment. In order to meet all the assessment criteria, there are certain areas you will need to focus on, which I will outline in my feedback.
Feedback on exercises and assignment Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity
Bryan opened the meeting and briefly discussed the content of Assignment 2 project work and how it has informed some of the work in the parallel project, especially the subtractive drawing using charcoal in Project 1. It’s good if there’s some ‘leakage’ of influence. The exercises should force you to make work you might not otherwise make and this might then influence the work you make for the PP.
NC acknowledged that he felt he hadn’t fully engaged with some of the exercises as well as he might have, in particular with the experimentation of mediums but this was at the sacrifice of getting ahead with the self-portraiture work and influences from Rembrandt and Caravaggio as per last meeting tutor recommendations as well as NC’s self-imposed undertaking of the Charles Bargue Drawing Course. BE did inform NC that this work would not be used towards the course but did accept the importance of understanding line and tone and artistic ability in order to express yourself well. It’s crucial to not put off the ‘creative’ work. Reaching for something that is beyond your grasp is part of the stimulus to learning.
Student name
Neil Cramond Student number
515702
Course/Unit
Drawing 2 ID Assignment number
2
Type of tutorial (eg video/audio/ written)
GH
Becoming technically excellent (in the terms of David or Ingres) is fine, but it’s important to allow yourself to develop your own voice. There are – trust me – loads of people who can draw like that and while it’s impressive thew work produced is often sterile and dull. We appreciate Rembrandt for his humanity as much as his brushwork. Read my blogpost about Jenny Saville and watch the short film embedded within it: https://www.oca.ac.uk/weareoca/ creative-arts/jenny-saville-on-rembrandt/
Discussion over using contemporary influences as well as Rembrandt and Caravaggio and Sargent in Critical Review, BE provided link of Jenny Saville talking about Rembrandt, NC considered the inclusion of Lucian Freud for artists famous for self-portraiture. See above. BE encouraged this but also advised not to look at too many artists as there is a danger it can become a bit narrative, better to focus on a few and back up your findings from a broad range. This isn’t a licence to pick favourites or play safe, though. Find artists that matter and ones that bother you. The might not be ones you like, but provide food for thought.
NC understood this and discussion followed about Rembrandt’s etchings and the importance of line which was what informed my decision to include this Drawing Course, and the influence is clear in some of the self-portraits that I have completed. Overall BE happy with NC’s work and encouraged to keep producing more. BE advised that NC could always go back to exercise work in blog and add more at any time.
The use of the Pheasant Tail Feather: the material informed the type of mark and line that I could make. A good thing. Think about possibly making your own ink pens from reed / feathers. This would force you to generate your ‘own’ marks.
The ‘reverse’ drawings – black to light – are tough and robust. More please.
Your underlying technical skills are good and you are capable of making some convincing work. I am concerned that you think that ‘creativity’ is somehow an idea that you need to execute. (see the ‘poem’ piece). It needn’t be. The creativity of Lucien Freud, for instance, is in the brush marks and the way he portrays people. Don’t over-conceptualise the work you make. I don’t think it suits you. That’s not meany in a bad way. Your internet is in looking and representing. Keep hold of that idea and explore it as thoroughly as you can Sure, there are exercises that will ask you to do things that aren’t ‘natural’. Engage with them and think about what you can take from them. Look at other Drawing Two students’ blogs to see what they do. The next section ought to be useful to you. Projects 1, 2, and 4 especially. Embrace what they have to offer. Project 4 might be bit strange, though. If you want to adapt it – keeping it personal and addressing your own emotions – then feel free to do so. Research Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis
As discussed: ● BE addressed the written work and research on Angela Eames, Michael Borremans, Jim Shaw, and Cornelia Parker (which NC carried out early on to help inform outcomes in exercises and projects). Clear research and arguments helped NC to understand the point of the project and this also led to some exploration of process and materials to inform self-portrait work. ● Action NC to add a menu heading of Books I have read such as Graham-Dixon’s ‘Caravaggio – A Life Sacred and Profane’, write in blog about my struggle to find a process and BE advised that NC should watch the scribbling effect in some of my work and show more quality of line. Yeah. Don’t scribble. Make the marks deliberate, even if they’re fast.
● Go through Vitamin D and pull out half a dozen contemporary artists you could learn from. Add content to the blog. Learning Log Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis
As discussed: ● Include links in blog to show influence of earlier exercises, effectively linking back to help inform assessors by writing about what I have taken from each exercise to inform the project. It should build up to be a complex document that cross-refers. Making and thinking about art is not a straight line. The way you demonstrate your understanding of it ought to be complex, too. ● The tone of the blog writing is generally fine, but it would help you to integrate the thoughts of others into your text in places. This will help you when it comes to the Critical Review. Suggested reading/viewing Context ● BE advised looking at some of Hieronymus Bosch works. This may or may not be useful. He’s a strange artist. ● Watch the documentary ‘Nothing Changes’ about an old artist in New York (Hank Virgona) who sketches people everyday in the Subway en route to his studio and works on the sketches in the studio to add mood or tone etc to complete the work. He has a well-practiced process. Whats important his to understand how small pieces build up over time. There’s an authenticity you should admire in him. See if this process might be useful and to write about my own process in my blog. ● Kallir, J, Egon Schiele: Drawings and Watercolours (2003, Thames and Hudson) ● If you can’t get to the Lucien Freud Royal Academy Show, it’s still worth looking through the website and – perhaps – snagging the catalogue: https:// http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/lucian-freud-self-portraits The unfinished / abandoned images might be a useful strategy to think about. Yes, they’re a way of divining his technique, but there could some thing profound about them too.
● Look at the way Giacometti painted and drew. He built up tone to show form from (thousands of) lines:
Pointers for the next assignment ● Reflect on this feedback in your learning log. ● Follow up on the suggestions I have made. ● Keep making PP work. Don’t worry about a final outcome/ There’s plenty of time for you to make work and then review it at a later date. ● If you need more time, please ask for it. Better to explore stuff fully than cut it short to keep a deadline. You have plenty of time, so don’t be afraid to use it.
Please inform me of how you would like your feedback for the next assignment: Written or video/audio. For Level Two and three students I recommend having as many video tutorials as possible though you’re under no obligation to have any.
Well done, I look forward to your next assignment.
Tutor name Bryan Eccleshall Date 4/11/19 Next assignment due 10/1/20 – We didn’t discuss this. Let me know if you don’t think it’s suitable.
Neil C Drawing 2 