Conclusion of module

I have found this module to be one of the most interesting, yet challenging modules that I have worked on so far in my academic studies.
Unlike a lot of the previous modules, this newest one has allowed me to have the most amount of freedom to date, and I feel as if this module has a allowed me to explore, and has enabled me to keep my focus, and to produce higher quality work, due to the subject I am undergoing being a passionate topic of mine.

I decided quickly after beginning the module, to base my module around the creation of a wildlife zine, focusing on British wildlife, and I produced a detailed learning agreement on the topic, highlighting information and criteria.

My completed zine contains 20 pages, and contains at least one illustration for each per page, with some animals having two pages featured.
I began the development of my zine by researching a large amount of animals, which enabled me to gain a good understanding of them, helping me more accurately portray them on paper.
Once I had assembled a sufficient amount of research, I created many different illustrations, and this module has been one of the largest for me since the first in my opinion.

I don't feel as if I have illustrated so much for a module, since the very first one in 2013.
I feel as if I have made leaps and bounds in terms of progress, and I will provide some examples of my work below.

The pieces featured above contain just a handful, of the many drawings that I have worked on for the module, and not all of them are found in the finished zine.

Of course I have done so much more over the project than illustrating. I have produced an extensive wealth of research into all aspects of the creation of a zine, the animals featured, illustrative processes, other artists work, and also time management.

Just a few of the around 100 blog posts making up the bulk of the module's work.

I feel as if all of the research I have done has been very beneficial to my module, and has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding into the work required in the production of a zine.

Despite my many successes in the module, a few things about the way in which I have planned out the module has disappointed me however,
For example, when I began the drafting and research into the production of my zine, I made up a time plan, which went on a week by week basis.
My time plan can be seen below in full, and it can also be found on my learning agreement that I produced much earlier on in the project.

When making my time plan, I underestimated the workload that would be required to create the zine, and I spent far longer than anticipated producing illustrations, most of which ended up not being used, as I never felt that they were good enough. I took so long trying to perfect each drawing, that I ran behind schedule, which made me realise that it would be unlikely for me to produce a fully printed copy of the zine, in time for academic hand in.
This being said however, I will have enough time between hand in, and the market stall in London, for me to produce hard copies of the zine to sell.

All in all, I think that this module has been my favourite to date, and I love the current level of creative freedom that I have, with the ability to make my own brief, and also the ability to tailor my practise around my interests, I feel as if this negotiated module prepares me well for the major and minor modules next term.












Thomas.