End of Year Evaluation

This year has been a huge learning curve for me. I developed an interest in going into concept design during the first year, and so wanted to focus my work around that area of the industry this year. I especially wanted to get to grips with using Photoshop to a more industry standard, and creating images (such as backgrounds) that could be used for animation. I found using Illustrator particularly useful because I could block out shapes with it really quickly, and I could get certain parts of the the work done finished faster than if I had drawn it by hand. It also cut down on the time of the colouring because it was being coloured as it was being drawn, and Photoshop could be used to add shadows and textures.

However, because I could work so quickly in this style, I ended up using it for both projects, which for me was a drawback because my work looked stylistically very similar towards the end, although I tried to use more traditional methods when developing. Next year I will probably move away from this and try and create a much more elaborate style, maybe using Photoshop to paint and drawing images by hand. I would really like to work on traditional methods, so might try watercolours as an alternative to digital work.

One part of this year I particularly enjoyed was the collaboration, which I was eager to take part in because I enjoy working with other ideas and styles. I worked with several different people and managed to create some work I was really happy with, and seeing some of it working in an animation makes it all the more rewarding. I do think I perhaps worked on some of it a little too much, and my project did suffer slightly as a result, but nonetheless I think it was my favourite part to work on and I will definitely be working with (less!) people next year. I think this is something I'd really like to take part in in the industry, so want to get as many different working techniques as possible.