For this exercise I was asked to make an ‘action list’ for the final assignment, considering the work I had done in Exercise 5.0. The exercise posed several questions to me, prompting me to consider media skills I want to develop, approaches to drawing I enjoy, and my own questions I might want to find answers to. It recommended I make a list in response to the statement ‘I would like to use the final assignment to….’, and then go through that list and highlight which are most important to me.
I continued using the A4 paper and design style that I had developed in Exercise 5.0, and began by responding to the suggested statement. This was a really helpful way to take what I discovered about myself and my interests and find a way to apply it to a specific project. My answers included:
- Explore making sketchbooks from found materials
- Study other artists who inspire me
- Have fun, let go, be loose
- Work with a clear goal towards a self-contained ‘project sketchbook’
- Repeat exercises I enjoyed and push them further
- Use the materials and processes I identified as enjoying
- Build back my confidence and enjoyment in sketchbooking
- See how my sketchbook can take me on a journey
- Draw and explore the things that make me happy
- Express my thoughts more (in words)
- Complete a final piece concluding the project
As a few of these are quite vague, I decided to elaborate and clarify what they meant, so I could reference them easier and have them clear within my plan. I wrote the exercises I enjoyed, the materials I want to use, and the processes I want to explore. Then I summed up my plan with a short statement:
I would like to set out with a goal, marked reflection points, and then to see where it takes me. Other than reflecting, I will focus on fun.
I feel really excited seeing my action plan laid out like this. I think this is a great task to undergo every so often to figure out what your creative goals are in general and to see how you’re progressing with them. Whilst this is an action plan for Assignment 5, it also is an action plan for my creative journey in general, a direction for it to go in, and some structure to focus on. It feels almost like a personal statement evaluating where I am right now.
I want to make an A5 sketchbook for this assignment, and I want to be able to quickly and easily reference this plan. So, to finish off the exercise, I wrote a ‘mini action plan’ summarising and bullet pointing all I hope to achieve in my sketchbook. I aim to use this almost as a bookmark to revisit and get inspiration from when stuck. I added tick boxes, but I’m not going to strive to achieve every single thing very strictly, as part of my goal is to just let go and see where the journey takes me.
Reflecting on my work in this way is wonderful, and planning my own project in such a detailed and interrogative manner is bringing me a lot of joy. I am excited to see how Assignment 5 ends up and how I progress through it.
Learning Log 