[LAUIL602] Preparing and Making My Own Canvas

Canvas Making and Stretching 

I contacted Chris Davies, manager of the 3D workshops, for hep with making my own canvas in a safe and accessible way now that both of my retinas have detached and I don't have much sight at all i my left eye. It is a good connection to make, too, for when I come back to campus for a Masters and require canvases to be made.

I wanted to learn how canvases are made on my own, rather than just send dimensions across and remain ignorant on the process. Here are my notes from our session together:

Step One: Timber prep:

We start with the raw material 3X2” redwood in 4.2m lengths. We then cut these in half to 2.1m so that they are more manageable when machining. The 3x2” is then ripped down the length producing two pieces. When ripping the timber down on the tables saw we put a 10-degree angle on it producing an oblong strip. This angled edge will provide a relief later for the canvas so that it does not touch the frame and producing a crisp edge.

Step Two: Cutting to size:

Once you have the prepped material (as above) you can break it down into your required lengths. This can be carried out with a hand saw or cross cut saw depending on the amount and accuracy you require. I would recommend cutting slightly over sized at this stage as then you will have room for error later. Don’t forget when making a square frame your two opposing sides should be the same lengths.

Step Three: 45-Degree angles:

To produce a 45-dgree angle in the ends of the timber you will need to use a 45-dgrees saw and guide block or alternatively we have a 45-degree guillotine that is more accurate and gives you a cleaner finish. To use this, you need to place your stretch side on the guillotine with the back of the frame facing down and the 10-degree slop leaning towards you. You then ‘nibble’ away at the end of the stretcher levering the guillotine arm up and down producing a 45-degree corner. You then repeat this on all the ends of the stretcher parts. This is when you can check the opsonising sides are the same length and ‘nibble’ down to your finished dimensions if you cut them slightly oversized as mentions in the last step.

Step Five: Joining:

To join the corners, we use two methods; screw & glue and dovetail keys. We start by placing the 45-dree ends on the dovetail machine in the designated guides ensuring that the back of the frame if facing down (same as the guillotine). These guides are already set up at a 45-degree angle ready for frame making. Push the timber to the left of the guide and then pull down on the lever above the timber (similar to the guillotine). This will bring a router up and cut a slot. You then move the timber over to the right and repeat the process, producing two slots in the 45-degree end. This is then carried out on all the end of the timber.

To add the screws, you drill a hole through the shorter sides with a 6mm drill bit. This allows the screw to go through. You only do this on the ends of the two shorter pieces. Assemble the frame by laying out the frame with the backside facing up. Glue the corner together and push the plastic dovetails into the routed slots locking the 45-degree corners together. To lock the corner, you then put a screw in the hole you drilled and ensure that it is countersunk into the frame so it is flush. This is then repeated on each corner and the frame is ready for canvasing.

Step Six: Stretching Canvas:

Start by cutting your canvas oversized. I would recommend adding 100-120mm to your overall dimensions. Place your canvas face down onto a clean smooth surface and place your searcher in the centre with the back of the frame facing up and the angled edges facing the canvas.

To attach the canvas, you start by folding over the overhang material onto the back of the frame and staple it in the centre of the length, then carryout the same for the opposite side. This is then repeated on the other two sides. Next step is you go from one of the staples and pull the canvas stapling left to right towards one corner. When you reach the corner stop and leave 25-30mm. This is then repeated on all four sides and once complete you go back and work right to left. This process should even out the tension in the canvas producing a nice tight material over the stretcher.

To fold the corners you pinch the canvas to the corner and fold over to the right (or left) and then fold down over onto the back, this is then fixed down with staples.

Other:

Its not unusual for artists not to make their own frames and stretchers, they are either too busy paining of others can do it better than they can. “life is hard enough without adding to it.” I was told recently by a painter. 

Some canvas stretchers are easier than others but most bought ones will just slot together and have a wedge to ‘stretch’ the canvas, ours are fixed stretchers. Alternatively paining on board maybe a better option. This can be canvas wrapped or Gesso’ed to prep the surface for paining.

Here are two companies that we use or that I would recommend for good quality paining and canvasses and surfaces:

https://www.jacksonsart.com/ : Tell: 0207 254 0077

https://www.atlantisart.co.uk/ : Tel: 0207 377 8855

• Handsaw is an option and can lock into place for accuracy but slow going and can cause ache. Machinery is programmed to do many woodcuts at once, any length and angle.

• Taken to two different pieces of equipment next. One created the 45 degree angle with a metal bird's beak. The other created the ridges where the frames of the wood slot together. Metal guides to slot into. Clamp down with handle.

•Frame 45* angles that slot together like a picture frame using plastic bow tie, dovetail pieces. Can be hammered or pressed in depending on strength.

• Canvas stretches over the side where the angle dips inward so there no shadows. 

• Stapling: from the centre point of each side first then working from each right side or left side (whichever you prefer) creates an even tension. If you just go around from left to right on each side it will create a huge crease with no stretch or tension. Going from the centre outwards proven to work in an even way.

• Folding the corners onwards neatly. Pinching. Stapling twice.

• Cutting excess canvas fabric so it hangs neatly

• Big canvases need support beams at the back of them

• Rabbit glue for sizing. Creates the tension of a drum. Come in brown pellets that you add water to and put in the microwave. Very smelly. There are water based alternatives that work just as well in replacement of the smell and for those conscious of animal products.

• Not even David Hockney makes his own canvases, he orders them premade and presized - sized as in rabbit glued and gessoed for prepping. No artist gets involved with this process but it's taught as part of one of the workshops so a student has an understanding of how it's done. 

• "Dimensions are sent to the woodwork shop and I make them but I understand and appreciate your desire to learn what you can while you're still here" - Chris

• If any folds in canvas fabric a wet cloth will get them out

• Best to store canvas fabric rolled up and not folded! Mine was scrap so there are a few folds but for something I haven't paid for I don't mind and will use the cloth technique to remove them for a flat surface before moving onto sizing

• I will contact Joanne for sizing assistance 

[LAUIL602] Notes from Conversation with MA Fine Art David Steans

Module Overview of First Year as Discussed in our Conversation:

Overview of the MA Fine Art modules from this year with full permission from David who sent these across to my email

Notes from our Conversation:

• Write statement. Admissions deals with process. Submit and apply. Offered place. RPL Recognition of Prior Learning. We’re having that convo now. Admissions would see illustration as a related course to Fine Art. Emphasis on Professional Practice. Illustration skills are transferrable. 

• Do you want to develop your Fine Art practice? 

• In terms of the difference between disciplines. MA Fine Art - theoretical. No hierarchy or visual criteria. No "that looks like illustration more than it does fine art." It is about ambitions for practice. We have students who work in a wide range of ways. Painters and drawers and video and performance. Overlaps disciplinary boundaries. Design practice. We assume you want to be a practicing artist. Very self-directed. More self-directed. Distinction to MA Fine Art. We don’t set briefs, we don't set themes. The expectation is that you hold responsibility and developing it. We try to develop it as far as it can get. 

• As long as you engage with the course, anything you make is fine. it doesn’t have to be your ambition to be an artist afterwards.

• All open-mode.

• The course is very dialogue-based. Your other course mates are a resource. Social. Participate fully. When we come together fully as a group, independent group activities. Supported by supervisor. Probably stick with you.

• See me (David) every week. Core sessions. 1:1 supervision. Start of year set amount of years allocated. Schedule at mutual convenience.

• In-depth ongoing discussion who gets to know your work. Set you tasks. Asks what you want from the sessions. Bringing other voices in. System works really well.

• Expected to be in one day a week. Expectation to build and develop your practice on your own. Post-grad space based around discussion, seminars, social space. Can work up there and do stuff up there in the social space but it is not designed to hold many people and is quite a "dirty" studio space as it were. It isn't like what you are used to as an illustration student. IT's quite a comfortable space - more getting together and dialogue. Presentations and kitted out for that.

• Floor above the library nice build to it.

• Won’t be allocated any individual studio space. Course is based around post-studio practice. A lot of artists may have studios established already. Resources better spent on staff and elsewhere. One of the things we can help is ideal situation with working.

• At the start it may seem abstract. Challenge of the course is to develop and build and make a productive schedule for yourself. Obligations for yourself. Eye on your project management. Self directed. There is enough structure to not disappear and fall off the grid. Enough space to develop. We are very clear about targets and what is expected and the demand of the modules themselves and to push self-directness. Fulfil requirements.

• Visiting practitioners. Collaborations. Core sessions, students from all post-grad courses. MA Fine Art - Illustration - Graphic Design. Collaboration, social.

• Connection with BA Fine Art. Access to their visiting professionals. Student-led symposium. 

• Keen to build up exciting relationships A lot of presentations across the modules, even the practical modules, a written component. Not tons of essays but all of the submissions are digital. 

• We use writing a lot as a reference. You do a lot of the staging of your own development. 

• You have to apply. Write proposals. Writing emails. You need a solid skill base in presenting, documenting, in a digital audience. Dissertation itself is the largest writing module 6-8,000 words. The rest of the modules are 2,000 words. Criteria quite open and loose. Up to you to interpret. Prerecorded, PDFs, publications. We don’t expect the work to be digital but it has to be submitted digitally.

• You come out of the other end rather skilled.

• Pathways: Full time pathway for one year. Part-time pathway for 2 years.

• Part Time - tend to go to all sessions. Students live all over the place with most in the Yorkshire region. Come in to see one another. Dialogue. Takes a few weeks or month or two to establish as a way of working.

• Part Time - 3 modules in the first year. 2 modules in second year.

Full Time - Full on an intense.

• LAU discount? 

• Full time is very intensive but it is amazing how much the students learn. There are other factors: working patterns. Accommodation.With part time course you have twice as long. Making full use of the workshops. More measured. 

• There's an expectation to wait between to wait between BA and MA. 

• Everything is geared towards a resolution. I benefitted from having a break.-

• We have people doing the course from Sheffield and York. Half the course live in Yorkshire, the other half dotted around the UK. You only really have one day that you have to be in.

• Provides that extra flexibility. 

• Get in touch with admissions about the process, when is the cut-off point, etc. When to see an application by.

• Dissertation to be submitted at the end of the first year

• 5 modules altogether make up the Masters programme. Three "specialist" modules - investigative period of time - body of work - as modules proceed they have different emphasis - not thematic - and 2 "core" modules - practice and research. Run by Sarah Taylor. Shelia Gaffney. Take those core modules with students across post-grad.

• Series of presentations. Write a report about finding a research context for your work.

• 2nd core module is dissertation.

• First year - 701 702 Dissertation The whole year to do those 3 modules.

• Year 2. Remaining modules.

• The current crop of students are excited to submit that dissertation in July and get rid of it and then focus on their practical modules in Year 8. They then know their practice, course mates, students who are exhibiting at this time.

 • Table being sent of overview of how the overview and full-time and pastime and pastime path time.

• Brief as you arrive.

• Post grad officer. Lots of efforts put into opportunities and networking. Stuf coming through me as and when. Bring in professionals. Opportunities.

• No live briefs at the moments. Are trying to establish an MA exhibition exhibition separate from the uni one.

• It’s still a new course in its second year. Building on it constantly.

• Some of the opportunities and briefs come from the student body as well. Lots of emphasis on your cohort as a group and resource. What you do together.

• Those opportunities that filter through at BA also filter through the MA creative practice, Post graduate area

ETA: David got back in touch with me to provide the overview of the first year of the module layout (at the top of the blog post)

Reflection:

• I have arrived at a much different place in my practice than when I began.the BA (Hons) Illustration course, that needs further developing to continue to be engaging.

• I started to prepare and make my own canvas frames with help that I enjoyed doing. There's a sense of graft and authenticity about working with raw materials right from the beginning to create the foundation.

• The idea of the Master beings founded upon open dialogue both intrigues me and makes me nervous. I avoided many of my crits this year for a number of reasons - mostly trauma-related of being so isolated without my Guide Dog. I also struggle to focus and communicate properly since I witnessed my mum have a severe stroke and both of my retinas detached in 2018. I can't offer much visual critique in a quick time-frame, making me feel like an inadequate student. On the one hand, there will be a range of new people to talk to from all backgrounds, akin to Access to HE and that excites me. On the other, I have fears about not being accepted into a cohort because of my disability like in my BA. How will engagement from dialogue be measured?

• The lack of studio space concerns me and will be something I need to investigate further, especially if I am to be making my own canvases of varying dimensions. Duke Studios and Patrick Studios offer space to graduates but there is limited availability and I imagine many people are gunning for places. 

• Accommodation is a concern  too and will be something I need to look into. I'm unsure of whether I want to go back into student accommodation after my experience this past year. The place I have stayed with is usually quiet with lovely students, but the pandemic brought the worst out in everyone in terms of noise nuisance levels.

• I will need to apply for a Masters Loan.

• There wasn't enough time this year to progress directly from BA to MA, with all of the above factors to consider of funding, accommodation, studio space, and finishing my BA into early August. I will take a year out to go back home and look after my mum and rest after the work I have done in a short space of time to complete BA Illustration. I can spend any free time getting the wheels in motion with these elements.

[LAUIL602] MA Art Therapy Research

MA Art Therapy Research

After going through a traumatic few years and employing art as a therapy tool firsthand, understanding itself benefits, and focusing my 601 writing around the subject

I will be collecting my information from the British Association of Art Therapists at https://www.baat.org

Qualifying Training Courses for Art Therapists in the UK PDF

• "Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses art media as its primary mode of expression and communication. Within this context, art is not used as diagnostic tool but as a medium to address emotional issues which may be confusing and distressing."

• "Art therapists work with children, young people, adults and the elderly. Clients may have a wide range of difficulties, disabilities or diagnoses. These include emotional, behavioural or mental health problems, learning or physical disabilities, life-limiting conditions, neurological conditions and physical illnesses."

• There is no funding available for art therapy training and most students self-fund through a career development loan. In order to practise in the UK as an art therapist/art psychotherapist (both titles are inter-changeable and protected by law), it is mandatory to complete a training validated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

• All HCPC validated art therapy trainings are at MA or MsC level and applicants will usually need a primary degree.

• Prior experience of care work is needed before training as an art therapist:, usually a year full-time (or part-time equivalent). This does not have to be art-related, but has to be a task that puts the applicant in charge in a professional capacity of the welfare of a vulnerable person (child, adult or elder). Experiences such as parenthood and being a carer for a friend or family member, although valuable, do not count as work experience.

• Applications can be made to several colleges simultaneously (this is not a system like UCAS).

• Art therapy trainings meet the criteria set by the HCPC and are usually run as a two-year full time, three-year part-time course. However, the way colleges deliver the core course requirements differ with some offering modular provisions

• Applicants for Art Therapy training should normally be graduates in art and design but qualified teachers, social workers, psychologists and other professionals with a commitment to the practice of the visual arts are also considered.

• Art Therapists are employed in many different settings. These include: -• child, adolescent, adult and older aged psychiatry• secure hospitals• departments dealing with head injuries and stroke victims• departments dealing with disabilities which include learning, deafness, physical and mental impairment, autism and speech difficulties• palliative care and bereavement projects• forensic services• psychotherapy departments• drug and alcohol projects• trauma units• education• mental health projects including drop in centres.

• Due to the large number of successful graduates in Art Therapy each year, there is currently no specific funding body that will give grants to those wishing to undertake the MA/MSc in Art Therapy. However, organisations that are known to provide funding, where they see appropriate, are listed in two publications (available at your local library).

Art Therapy Courses Available: 

BELFAST, UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER

MSc Art Therapy

Course Director: Dr. Pamela Whitaker

Email: p.whitaker@ulster.ac.uk

CHESTER, UNIVERSITY OF CHESTER

MA Art Therapy

Programme Leader: Susan Young

Email: susan.young@chester.ac.uk

DERBY, UNIVERSITY OF DERBY

MA Art Therapy

Programme Leader: Kirsty McTaggart

Email: K.McTaggart@derby.ac.uk

EDINBURGH, QUEEN MARGARET UNIVERSITY

MSc Art Psychotherapy (International)

Programme Leader: Adrienne McDermid-Thomas

Email: AMcDermid-Thomas@qmu.ac.uk

HERTFORDSHIRE/HATFIELD, UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE

MA Art Therapy

Programme Leader: Andrew Marshall -Tierney

Email: a.marshall-tierney@herts.ac.uk

LONDON, GOLDSMITHS

MA Art Psychotherapy

Programme Convenor: Dr Jill Westwood

Email: j.westwood@gold.ac.uk

LONDON, THE INSTITUTE FOR ARTS IN THERAPY AND EDUCATION (IATE)

MA in Integrative Arts Psychotherapy

Course Director: Claire-Louise Leyland

Email: info@artspsychotherapy.org

LONDON, UNIVERSITY OF ROEHAMPTON

MA Art Psychotherapy

Course Convenor: Jonathan Isserow

Email: j.isserow@roehampton.ac.uk

SHEFFIELD, ART THERAPY NORTHERN PROGRAMME

MA Art Psychotherapy Practice

Programme Leader: Dr Chris Wood

Email: Chris.Wood@shsc.nhs.uk

WALES, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH WALES

MA Art Psychotherapy

PART TIME – 3 Years

Programme Leader: Blanka Hubena

Email: blanka.hubena@southwales.ac.uk

In Conversation With a Professional...

My conversation with professional Art Therapist, Dr. Diana Basquez-Simpson, can be found here.

Reflection:

Researching into this area a little more thoroughly, speaking with a professional Art Therapist (Dr. Diana Basquez-Simpson), and looking into the MA courses available, has provided me with a lot more valuable insight than before. Before I felt like I had a bit of a false idea of what Art Therapy was and what was expected and that looking after my mum would have been valuable. I have two years' experience looking after a vulnerable person - my mum, who is a severe stroke survivor. Despite this, it would not count towards any work experience of caring and I would need to source that elsewhere.There is also no direct funding available for art therapy training but two publications exist with some helpful organisations who may be able to help.

I would need to make the decision between further education at MA Fine Art - researching into the options and funding available, developing my own practice, or MA Art Therapy where there are a number of challenges ahead. With more clarity on the subject, I don't feel that art therapy is a route I would like to take even though I enjoy 'art as therapy' and feel it informs my practice, my outcomes and my ethos.

[LAUIL602] Study Task 3: Research

Research into Professional Instagram and Websites

Instagram Research:

• Sebastian.merk.art (Painter)

• Shelliegarberart (Painter)

• blue_cormorant (Art Gallery)

• tzieglerart (Artist)

• michael_allow_ (Painter)

• dirkbartnik (Artist)

• tyson_ee (Artist)

• semartistry (Artist)

• kanaknanda (Mural Artist)

• art_by_bezmo (Artist) 

• van.odar (Abstract Painter)

• guimbellot_paints (Painter)

• Jessebellm (Painter)

Reflection:

Shellie Garber uses her Instagram to show her work within different contexts and environments, much like a micro-website. The environments she selects (I believe these "surroundings" are stock photographs that you can purchase and put your artwork in) are very casual to marry with her work. She then uses one to represent the "gallery space".

The most successful instagram pages have a strong element of cohesion and by having a strong visual identity tying the images together by a thread. These can be implemented in a variety of ways: either using the same, or similar, colours in each image to have "brand colours" or "identifying colours", by using identifying mark-making, by using a similar background or parameters (white space or a coloured border), similar scale of art (which is similar to the backgrounds appearing), using the same shapes, which can include the artist themselves in the image each time.

One thing I like is showing how art can live within a variety of contexts. Shellie Garber, for example, shows her work situated in different environments to give the full visual effect: against a white frame / the illusion of a white wall / "the gallery space, hung in different spaces - digitally edited into stock photos, and the piece up close with no borders. There is conitinued careful consideration and curation of her instagram page and how the artwork is situated within the page.

Instagram very much becomes a digital portfolio. There's a harmony in the colour palette and an association / visual identity with the artist. It is very immediate as branding and visual identity and someone can quickly be found through hashtags.

Website Research:

• Sarah Schroder's desktop website is much more digestible than her mobile site where there is too much information on the home screen at once all in one scroll

• There is a coherent colour palette of peachy coral, white, purple and green

• Alison Gann has a low res logo which is pixelated on her home screen

• Low res ID image and her "about me" is text embedded on a background image which cannot be read by screenreader. Aesthetics over accessibility.

• There is a desktop width apart from the splash page to her "About Me" and portfolio which is nice. Breathing room.

• I like how the portfolio is designed in splices and each painting is clickable opening up a new page.

• Kindah Khalidy: Simple and powerful website as portfolio and shop

• Minimalistic. No design problems as a result

• The work itself does the talking. 

• Julie Mikys: Similar vein, minimalistic approach where there is a white background, no fuss, and minimalistic approach where there won't be many design errors as with the first two

• Images should be bigger so more focus is drawn to the work and the portfolio

• https://saraschroederart.com/

• https://www.artbyalison.store/

• https://www.jbarnesart.com

• https://www.kindahkhalidy.com/

• https://blueboomerangart.com/

• http://www.raymondlhaywood.com/

• https://tonithorntonart.com/

• https://drmahumart.com/

• https://julieschumer.com

• https://www.vousetesuper.be/

• https://www.lisamatthewabstract.com/

Common themes:

• Oftentimes very simple / minimalistic making use of white spice

• Portfolio style

• Professional photos of artist in studio on homepage

• Instagram preview

• Newsletter / mailing list (with promotional code to use in online shop)

• Sometimes a blog is included

• Carousel of art

• About section / mission statement

• FAQ

• Contact

• Shop/often powered by Shopify

• Shows / Exhibitions

• Sometimes payment plans are offered for larger painted canvases costing thousands of pounds

• Testimonials

Reflection:

  

Sarah Schroeder: All of this information is in one scroll of the homepage. it is a lot of images and information to digest all at once and could benefit from being on separate pages rather than the immediate home page.

Simple is best - the more content a website has, Sarah Schroeder's for example, the more overwhelmed I personally feel and don't know where to start looking. (Her website is much better viewed on desktop where the content is speed out. On mobile it is on continuous scroll of information on the main page and is quite a lot to take in!)  mission statement provides a concise overview for what an artists' aims and intentions are. An 'about me' section is also good to learn more about the person behind the artI like when the artist comes through the website and it isn't just a company. Authenticity and making a connection. Art is about the artist and their story.Portfolio style overview is a great way to present work online without the need for a physical portfolioI would love to have a video showing how I work as a blind person. This would require a number of things:an identity/logo to attach to the video and marry to the websiteSome kind of filming equipment and editing software. May be best that someone does this externally Studio space with pieces displayed. To work on my appearance a little bit as I have a lot of hang-ups after the pandemic and my Guide Dog's absence 

If this at any point gets too difficult for me, there are a number of options available for logo and website design. I'm truly doing my best with the tiny amount of vision I have left after double retinal detachment, but digital creativity is no longer my forte (photoshop etc) and I struggle so much as it isn't accessible, thus turning to painting

• peacockcarter.com - website design agency based in Yorkshire so would be supporting locally.

• Reason Digital - based in Manchester. They worked with Henshaws Society for Blind People when I volunteered there as a service user, so I know them through an element of experience and trust, and that they would be successful through an accessibility angle which matters to me.

• Marvellous Agency based in Leeds. Supporting locally who have a strong portfolio.

• https://madebyshape.co.uk in Manchester. Supporting from my home city.

[LAUIL602] Study Task 2 - Visual Identity

 Logo Testing: 

• Circular "icon" can be applied across social media as an avatar.

• Braille G for Gleamed or Braille K for Kimberley. Both give the appearance of a button? May just be best to use the panting as an icon?

• Used 6 different paintings and stuck with a template

Final Logo:

I really like this as a visual icon. It reflects the work I do in an immediate way. I am an abstract expressionist painter. It has easy contrasts and a neutral colour palette that suggests a sense of luxury. There is a sense of the canvas surface and more than just flat elements, yet it is fresh, clean and of high contrasts. There is a war waging and it is interesting to the audience. Mark making and visual language are at the helm. There is visual information but not too much where it will be lost if shrunk or made bigger. IT can be applied to and sit within a variety of contexts. 

Email Footer:

• Test version with circular logo and braille KB

• Rather clunky and not well balanced

• Quite dark

• A finalised version without Braille and includes Instagram handle

• A much lighter part of the same painting

• Tidier

• Cleaner

• Fonts and understanding Licensing: Can fonts from DaFont.com be used free for commercial use? "Every font hosted by DaFont can be downloaded for free, and can be used for personal use, without charge." I will need to pay for AnniversDemo if using in any kind of branding. I will need to develop my own font (my own handwriting, or signature, for example). For my signature and the beginning of my practice it will be fine for now.

In the context of an Email:

• Very professional, minimalistic and clean

• Immediately showcases abstract expressionist painting through a thumbnail

• Range of fonts to give a nod to disability and blindness

• What could be better? I do worry about that font and legality of it but I think it works for now for personal use. It cannot be used on printed materials as it belongs to someone but for now it will do. There is a room for improvement here and it can be something I work on in my own time as my brand grows. I can use my own handwriting as a font perhaps.

Basic Invoice Template:

Remember to keep the word Invoice on there for legal reasons!

Uploading to Instagram:

• Consistent use of logo across my current visual identity assets, visual themes, and use of abstract elements.

• Logo sits well within the context of Instagram!

• I use instagram as my professional portfolio space documenting all of my work 

• What could be better? I need to upload more behind the scenes and in process shots of my paintings but in the context of the logo itself I think the circle works perfectly. 

Reflection:

• Keeping it simple and minimalistic is very powerful, reflecting the work I do in an easy to view way.

• Retaining that visual identity across all websites and assets gives me a brand and easily identifiable mark  

* I have a huge sense of pride at what I have created here!

• How far can I push this? At the moment I do not have a website and do not feel it is needed to my practice at this time but the painting could be part of my splash page to further tie into my visual identity. I could retain these brand colours of gold, black and white (gold won't be easily printed so perhaps brown in printed ephemera). These colours can reflect more in my portfolio and become part of my voice. rather than having a portfolio that is everywhere. These colours say "Kimberley Burrows" and "Gleamed Art"

• I need to be mindful of the text and font and that AnniversDemo is not mine to use on any printed materials. It is intended for personal use only while I am finding my feet at the beginning stages of my practice and planning the early steps. 

• Consider business cards, postcards, the website as next steps..

[LAUIL602] Study Task 1: Rationale

My aims for this module:

• To better understand where I am uniquely placed in the creative sphere as an emerging practitioner

• To develop my visual identity through a range of appropriate resources including an online presence

• To create an authentic and professional portfolio of work

• To contact and network with businesses and people I would like to work with

• To apply to opportunities that would benefit my emerging professional career

• To explore the next steps after graduation: further education and business building

• Network with existing professionals in the industry to gain insight and wisdom for the future

I have other transferable skills outside of illustration and painting that include:

• Creative writing through poetry

• The ability to collaborate

• Design

• Publication

• Motivational speaking, lived experience with disability and trauma

This module will help me to better understand painting as a practice, the opportunities it houses, the contacts and the wider industry, and research into art therapy or further education as the potential next steps to take.

Reflection: This past year has been a pivotal turning point in my emerging practice. After double retinal detachment and losing all of my useful vision, I coasted by in my second year and really struggled to create anything of value. I could no longer use a Wacom tablet and my systems of illustrating had gone. In August 2020, just before my final year, found that through abstract expressionist painting I was able to let go of the perfectionism I used to seek when I had some useful sight. It was also incredibly therapeutic to let go of all expectations and just create, to let the unconscious become conscious on the blank page or canvas. I now employ my vulnerability and my lived trauma as authenticity. Illustration is about 'ways of looking' and, through my paintings, I try to explicitly share how I look through my own blinded lens.