Supervisor Meeting 01

I've taken a bit of a break since the last hand ins two weeks ago, taking time to relax and hopefully not make my wrist worse. I went to the doctors when I was back home for the holidays, and I have what's called a ganglion, which is essentially a build up of liquid in the joint in my left wrist. Thankfully I'm right handed, but I support my sketchbook or tablet with my other hand, and the intensity of work over the past two months has caused it to flare. Unfortunately, my doctor has said that at its size, it isn't worth draining the liquid with a needle as they'll only get a few millilitres from it, and then there's the risk of infection she warned me of. The good thing is that the pain isn't bad, it just causes quite a bit of discomfort in how my wrist is angled and restricts how far it can bend. As such, I'm going to switch back to reading, writing, and researching to get a bit of a break. I mentioned this to Ryan in our meeting today just in case it causes trouble in the future. He reiterated our meeting times are for an hour each fortnight, and I got the Thursday slot at 3pm, and that I should come with the Diary sheets filled out, and what I should be showing and talking about. The group seminar is about the dissertation, not practical work, and to bring whatever form it's in. We'll discuss theories and relevant ideas.

My ethics form got approved, on the condition that Ryan has to agree on the content given to human subjects. I asked about how to convert my blog to a PDF and was recommended a site, blog booker I think it was, but it seems easy to do. I also asked about the best places for business cards, and Moo looks to be the best for quality, even though it's more pricey. I was warned away from Vista Print, and that doing things early is the best way to go. I questioned if I could use the same layout from my Proposal for my dissertation - orange bars and titles - but was told the colours might bee too intense, and it's best to keep things clean and easy to read.

So, I've been working on theoretical stuff lately, reading and noting quotes. I've studied my animal inspirations, as I want to have a balance between originality and familiarity, and certain animals have been overused in design such as cats, wolves and lizards. I've collected visuals on bears, deer, kangaroo, otters, and exotic birds, as well as work from Terryl Whitlatch who has a nice process of breaking animals down to their bones and muscles and then merging them with another. I've also gone over my notes of creature design in entertainment media, in particular how fashion is applied to the range of different forms and sizes. Ryan actually lent me a book called How To Draw Wild Animals In Simple Steps by Jonathan Newey, which builds animals from shapes, and seems a helpful process similar to some Disney concept art I've seen.

A major focus the past week has been researching art styles and genre associations. I looked at games, from unique abstract or artistic pieces like Okami, through blending styles like Borderlands 2, onto realistic visuals like Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. I know I don't want to do heavily realistic styles, and am aiming for something that maybe has nice line art, uses shapes in the design, with lightly exaggerated proportions and texturing, and interesting colour schemes. I want to define my work as concept art, but show that it's applicable to 3D. I started a media test as a response to the games and individual artists I showed, which Ryan liked and said was healthy to explore, and that I had good examples.

I mentioned I was behind on my blog, but that I'm keeping offline notes, and that I noticed gaps - things I've mentioned in my presentations but not made a post about - which I'll go back and fix. I've started thinking on how I should present my portfolio, and hopefully a printed book. Ryan recommended speaking to another student that did this. I also went over my plan for the showcase and how I would lay things out, as well as for the survey, and possibly using individual cards for the characters instead of on a single sheet. Ryan said I've done so much detail done this early, which I hope is a good thing. I showed him a rather messy draft of a learning contract, and said I've started preparing for the next presentation.

Ryan stated I'm really well prepared, and that I talk confidently. He praised me on the level and depth I talk at, which is a little embarrassing as it doesn't really feel like that. I've shown good pieces, and he'd love to see more of that practise and experimentation. He's very happy with my standing on the theoretical side for research and the dissertation, that it ties together as expected and beyond, and he has no concerns. I just need to work on the practical, but still take it easy.

Action Points

• Finish art style media tests.
• Investigate Blurb & Moo for printing.
• Study borrowed book.
• Catch up blog.