J'ai fini

So here we are!  All done and dusted.

What an experience! This course has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have learned so much in the space of a  year that I can barely recognise myself.

I think the thing that has made this course so successful is the passion. Both the tutors and the students are just bursting with ambition, it really begins to rub off on you. I have enjoyed visual design the most. What I have learned has helped  me endlessly in improve my technique and speed. Just having the constant pressure to draw more has been a pleasure. I love to draw! I never realised how rewarding sketching thumbnails could be!

Product design has been a battle, but oh boy was it worth it. The bin was a nightmare, it took me days and days to work out how to texture the bugger. Now I have the ability to build a gladiator… and a house… anything I want really. I can honestly say I am looking forward to creating my own projects over the summer. I still have a very long way to go, but I am up for the challenge. Bring it on!

Critical studies have been a welcome break. I have learnt a lot about self discipline, motivation and inspiration from those little Wednesday sessions. Each one has left me feeling invigorated, and filled with a new passion to get on with it. The blogs (in the end) have become a joy to write. I can feel my self easing into them more now, they are no longer a chore.

So what would I change? I am happy with the balance of traditional and digital art - it is up to the student which path they take for any given project. I wouldn't mind seeing some more tutorials for both though. I am still a complete novice at digi painting and I intend on doing online tutorials over the summer. My traditional painting will always need improvement, all of it is self taught and I have no idea if I am using the stuff correctly.

I would love to see more game production tutorials on Blackboard. When I get stuck, it is a pain to have to spend hours looking up tips on the internet, or having to wait to go into uni to talk to a fellow student. But that could just be me being lazy and impatient. I think in the future I may record Heathers tutorials on my phone, so I can refer back to them at any time. When I tried taking written notes, it just confused me even more!

I LOVE the idea of more sculpting. That has been one of the highlights of my year, I never would have though I would enjoy it so much! I feel like it is a graceful balance between VD and PD – it helped me get my head around the 3D space in max. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and would love to get my hands stuck in even more :D

Overall it has been a fantastic year. I have grown in leaps and bounds; both with my work, and personally. I have met inspiring people, and look forward to another year surrounded by them again.

 

Thank you to all of those who have supported me when things got rough…

You will probably never realise how much impact those kind words had on me. They meant an awful lot.