Visual Journal: The Intangible & Evaluation

For this task we were instructed to create around twelve images which conveyed the intangible themes of our chosen author and their books. I chose to communicate a sense of dread and forbidding to compliment the isolated house motif.

Attached below are four of the more successful attempts:

Initially I created textures using a variety of methods, using ink, paint and charcoal to invoke a morbid atmosphere with a desaturated palate.
Once the imagery was dry I distorted them by means of the photocopier, which produced pliant resources for collage.

Upon these textures I added the house motifs using additional paint, pen and tip-ex.

To recognise the work from the past two weeks we gathered for a peer review, adding anonymous annotation to the work of other students.

Having conducted similar crits in past the group has learned to leave more direct and constructive criticism.

Peers were positive in regards to my use of a limited palette, and how this created an intangible atmosphere.

To follow the crit we gathered in small groups to conduct a more formal discussion and evaluated our own work.

During this discussion I concluded the following:

I have improved my ability to use collage as a method of visual exploration. Additionally I have learned to use the photocopier as a tool to produce further resources, and to reproduce rough textures as more pliant collage material. Throughout the initial brief I have improved the speed at which I can generate a hoard of textures and materials which communicated an intangible theme.
Due to the amount of work required, I was prompted to consider a wider range of materials than I am usually content with. I also used colour in a more reserved and considered way, using sparing amounts of red to connote a negative atmosphere within each composition.

Throughout the project I wish to further explore the use of character within my investigations. This will help to establish narrative within imagery and investigate historical fashion related to the time periods associated with Agatha Christie. I wish to continue applying a minimal colour palette, as the peer crit highlighted it as a positive aesthetic quality. I wish to continue using processes which I am less familiar with, however I would like to re-introduce some other methods I have been developing such as the use of line and pencil colouration. I made some consideration of format and composition throughout the tasks, however I with to develop this more in my visual journal.
Additionally, I shall make use of brush media, because I seem to deliberately avoid it,

In regards to themes; I shall continue with my enquiries concerning 'travel', and begin to look at 'mystery' and 'death'. These three themes are the central inviable within Agatha Christie's books and equally her own life.

I have begun to consider relevant locations that I might visit for research purposes; firstly I rather think the royal armouries may present an insight to the British Empire's presence in the Orient, and subsequent historical context to the time in which Agatha Christie lived.
Furthermore, the National Railway Museum has many examples of historical engines and passenger carriages that would make excellent visual research. I also recently visited the Yorkshire Air Museum, which had many historical aircraft and exhibits concerning the Second World War in Britain, so I hope to revisit the site and make relevant studies.