Back for another year!

Week 1

So first year is over and done with, so I'm back for round two :)

I've learnt a lot since last year, one of the main things is to stop wasting time, and try and get things done as soon as possible. So I have made a plan of when I'm going to do things so I have plenty of time to finish things, and still have a social life at the end of it. I'm really going to try and focus a lot more this year and put more effort in. One of the changes I've made is I'm going to start getting an earlier bus to college, so I turn up early, so I can work on things before class. I also bought a bigger bag, so I can carry more supplies into college so I can work on things in class, instead of putting it off until I get home. Also I bough a new camera, as I am planning on taking more photos this year, and am also going to invest in photoshop.

PDP

This class was mostly dedicated to introductions to each other, since new people have just started college, and also people have came form HND classes, and to the lesson plan for the year and we also looked at reflection.

Creative Practice

So we got our first brief, which is 'Multiples' and during this we take a trip to Edinburgh for research.
I think I'm going to like this brief, since this is my only studio class, meaning I will be able to focus entirely on this brief and not have to keep going between different ones.
I have been thinking about a few ideas for this brief including religion, people, and also graffiti, but I'm not going to focus on one at the moment, until I've been to Edinburgh and took some videos and photographs.

In our film class, using anything that could film, eg our phones, we were to capture different things around the college. First we were to film three separate areas around the college, we were then to film someone else doing some thing, and finally we were then to film three objects and keep the camera static. After this our homework was to edit all our footage into a one minute video using windows live movie maker. I've used this programme once before, so I knew what to do, like how to trim clips, and how to apply transitions. Since I was using my phone the video quality is pretty terrible, and there is virtually no sound to the video, but this was only an introduction to a class that I am looking forward to this year.

In our painting class we had a little pop quiz! It was mostly questions on paint, colour, artists and techniques. This quiz showed me that I need to look at more artists (and actually remember their names, as I tend to forget them) and also pay attention to the pigment names of the paint, rather than just picking up the first one that I need, as this would be helpful in the future. I also learnt what 'Scraffito' and 'Frottage' are. Scraffito is when you use oil pastel as a base and then paint over the top of it and then scratch into it to reveal the pastel underneath. And frottage is basically a posh word for a rubbing.

Contextual Studies

First we looked at the run down for this year. I think this year is going to be better, as it looks like we will be more prepared for the essay and the presentation, as this time around we have two drafts to hand in before the final submission, which I am quite glad about. In terms of what I am going to write about this year, I am not entirely sure. I want to stick to a similar theme, but not necessarily the same one. Last year I focused on Hitler's degenerate art show and how he used it as a propaganda tool. I think this year I want to look more at censorship in other ways or areas. For instance there is modern day censorship, and Stalin also used art as propaganda, who I also mentioned in my essay last year. Anyway I have a few weeks to think/ start panicking about that.
We then looked at Knowledge and Power, and the lecture mostly focused on Michel Foucault's theories on how Knowledge = Power during the 18th century.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this year,
See you soon :)
- Róisín -x