Presenation and Group Crit (2000 word blog 2 of 4)

Today we had a group crit talking through our revised plans for the module. I felt that over the last couple of weeks I had a much clearer idea of what I wanted to do and today helped me to solidify those plans and put them into context. The group thought my choices of brief were relevant to my practice and would help me develop my portfolio. I plan to submit 2 stories to the Macmillan Prize and given that the brief only asks for 4 completed spreads this should be achievable within the time frame. I plan to continue these books and have them finished and made for the exhibition in June. I also plan to create some personal work based around the stories to explore applying my illustration to a variety of products such as clothing or homeware.

I have nearly finished the Carmelite Prize brief and also plan to finish my book cover for the Penguin design brief. These two are my current focus which I aim to have finished in the next two weeks so I can concentrate on the Macmillan submissions.

I wanted to complete the Elmwood studios brief as a warm up for larger briefs but after finishing my work and evaluating the process I felt like it had not been the best use of my time. I feel like I need to make sure my brief selection is tailored to my practice. At the start of the module I could only find one brief (the Carmelite Prize) that focussed specifically on illustrating a children's book but fortunately now that the Macmillan Prize is open I can continue to develop my skills. Working on The Carmelite Prize has given me the opportunity to learn how to develop a text into an illustrated story book, and the Macmillan Prize will add writing skills, idea generation and story development to create stories that are appropriate and appealing for children. As the module progresses I want to keep a look out for more briefs that offer opportunities for development and possibly exposure to publishers.