Shelby Redfern (1600979) BA (Hons) Illustration: Unit BA1a Fundamentals

Reflective Journal
Upon joining Norwich University of the Arts I had no previous artistic education, having
focused on essay-based subjects during my entire educational career. This in mind, I
therefore came into this degree with an idea of what illustration was, its applications and
believing that I had formed my own style that wasnt adjustable. This unit has absolutely
turned things upside down for me, in the best way.
I found adjusting to the education side of illustration opened a whole new world of
techniques and a different angle to take in creating. Due to this, I certainly feel that I dove
into every workshop with an open mind and attempted to take as much out of it as I possibly
could, and I feel that this has benefitted me greatly. I view this as a strength of mine during
the first term as I knew I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could, and I believe this
benefitted my project outcomes considerably as I strayed from my comfort zone and ended
up very much enjoying it and being pleased with the things I produced. Furthermore, I found
that I was expanding my use of materials and steering away from sole use of ink and
watercolour. Lectures and workshops (in particular those given by Robert Nicol in the
beginning of the year) showed me that how I considered the application of acrylic in work
was not necessarily the sole application, and instead can be used to compliment my work in
more ways than I had expected. Moving on from this, I would like to experiment with more
materials in my work such as use of collage, and possibly add a more digital aspect to what I
create through Photoshop and InDesign.
Having not studied any artistic subject before I found I spent a lot of time fretting over how
to conduct research as it seemed very different to the type of research I had done before
which was usually more based on facts and statistics. Something I am very proud of
personally is that I did not let this affect me, instead I dove into Internet columns and library
work; in particular, reading Fundamentals of illustration by Lawrence Zeegen. This helped
to give me guidance in terms of how to approach projects. As well as this, understanding
and connecting with the projects was a big element in giving my research clarity and

knowing where and what to look for. However, I do feel that in terms of improvement, I
intend to explore more avenues in my research rather than just following a single route and
creating based on that, i.e. Not just running with the first idea I find, as often the first idea I
have is not the best idea. I very much learnt this in the progression from the postcard project
to the machine project as I certainly explored more avenues and did more in-depth research
for the machine project as I felt more out of my depth, and so needed to give myself clarity.
In retrospect, I should be doing in-depth research into all projects, even the ones I feel most
confident in carrying out as there is always room to improve and there is always room to
learn something new; a very big lesson I have learnt from studying at university.
Throughout the term I have been using the Cornell note taking system and have found this
to be very helpful in terms of recording information. I particularly make use of the side
column for important points for further research which has benefitted me greatly and lead me
to explore the Varoom periodicals, and take an interest in the works of itsnicethat.com after
the lecture given by Alice Moloney. I intend to carry on with this method of notetaking, but
give myself more to research in the key points margin, and spend more of my free time
researching the things I note down during lectures to have a wider and better understanding
of illustration and its application to everyday life, and the potential places it could take me in
a career, as well as where illustration has come from and where it is going.
Overall this unit has given me a solid grasp on the study of illustration, as well as opening
my mind to where I may fit into the world of creating. I am more aware of the process of
researching, using lectures to expand this, experimenting and creating an outcome. In terms
of improvement I intend on beginning research as soon as I receive a project brief and not
waiting until I have a specific avenue to follow. By researching around the subject and being
non-specific I will open my own eyes to areas of work that I may not be aware of and that
could potentially be a turning point in the creation of my own work. As well as this I intend on
experimenting with more materials and techniques and not limiting myself to the minimal, as
the workshops in this unit has shown me that I am more capable with different materials than
I thought, and that they have a far wider breadth of application than I had first anticipated.