SELF EVALUATION

At the end of this module I'm happy to say that I've really enjoyed it, which is a really nice feeling considering this is the module I usually struggle the most with. It has been satisfying to produce a body of work which directly relates to the themes within my essay, as again this is something I usually find very difficult. I feel quite confident that I have achieved what I set out to do, and I'm glad I chose the subject topic I did as I found it extremely interesting; especially looking more into Art Therapy as this is something I'd love to do in the future.

I have really learnt to manage my time a lot better, and starting the essay earlier and being able to work a bit slower made it a lot more manageable for me. It also meant I could research extensively instead of rushing things which I think has had a really positive effect on my writing. Something else I found to be really helpful (and interesting) was gathering my own research, for example the email conversation I had with Nous Vous really informed the case studies chapter of my essay; It was useful to get this kind of information as it's not something you can find on the internet. Looking back I actually wish I had done more of this and maybe emailed or got in touch with some more people, as I think these are some of the most valuable quotes within my essay. At the very beginning of this essay I almost felt like I had picked the wrong topic as it wasn't easy finding relatable sources or anything that seemed to link in, but when I delved in a bit deeper and sources some information myself, I began to really enjoy the topic I chose.

I definitely feel like all the research I gathered informed my practical work well, which I enjoyed making so much! It was interesting to think about what other people would like to fill in, and what would engage people instead of bore them. I feel happy with my final book, and from the pages that people have filled in it's evident people have engaged well with them. I do think there could have been more pages and a wider variety of tasks, so this is definitely something I'd like to have another go at in the future. I'm really happy I got some people to fill in the pages i'd created; it almost bought them to life! this is exactly what I wanted to achieve.

FINAL DESIGN BOARDS

FINAL ESSAY

FINAL PRACTICAL OUTCOME

WHAT I LIKE:

• I've said this before but I love the colour palette I chose! and i'm really glad I stuck to the same three colours throughout. I think they are so fun and bright, and using them on the covers I think will draw people in. 
• I'm really happy I had the time to put a good level of craftsmanship into the books. It feels really satisfying holding something in your hands you've made completely from scratch. 
• I like the idea of the blank covers, I was on the fence about whether to have a front page with the title on it but I think it works just as well having it on the inside covers
• The tasks I decided to include within the book i'm happy with. I wanted a mix of fun mindless activities to ones that engaged creative expression a bit more, for example the 'draw your day' page urges you to use colours to express how you are feeling
• I'm really glad I decided to use character design within my book; it gives it a playful tone of voice and feels more inviting 
• the combination of hand-drawn, digital and collaged elements works really well together. the collaged bits give it quite a 'cut and stick' aesthetic 
• my favourite page is definitely the art gallery page

WHAT I DON'T LIKE SO MUCH

• I know I wanted to keep it quite minimal but some of the pages look a little empty. Maybe I could have added in more characters 
• I noticed only afterwards one bit of the text on one of the pages is orange instead of black. very annoying
• some of the colours didn't come out quite how I wanted them to, they weren't as bright as I'd hoped
• I think some of the pages could be more refined; for example the 'draw a hat' page. it's difficult to say as they are made to be filled in by other people

WHAT I'D DO DIFFERENTLY?

• if i were to do it again I think i'd probably add in some more pages, as I had loads of ideas I didn't test out. I thought 20 would be enough but there is definitely room for more
• if i was to make a book I would think about adding another colour to the colour scheme
• maybe printed the title neatly on the front of the book? as much as I love the block colours they do look a bit like regular sketchbooks. although that might be a good thing? I don't know 

A VERY MESSY ESSAY PLAN

I feel like this probably won't make sense to anyone but me! It does seem really messy but this is what I have used to gather all my inspiration and quotes while writing my essay. I made sure to highlight the ones i'd used too. I found this helpful when coming to write my bibliography (which in hindsight I should have written as I went) but it was really handy that I had all my sources in one place.

Pages of my book filled in!

I decided it would be really cool to give out some of the pages i'd created to my family and friends to see how different people would interpret the same tasks, and I love the outcomes! It's really interesting to see the different ideas people have come up with and it's exciting that my work was the starting point.
I also made sure I gave it to some people who weren't very creative to see how they would fill it in, in this instance it was my cousins, and they said they really enjoyed going through the different tasks even though art isn't really a strong point for them.

Title pages

For the beginning of my book I decided i'd start it on what technically would be the second page; I decided against having a 'front cover' as I wanted to have the cover as a plain colour; I thought this way people could then pick the colour they liked the best as this would make it feel more personal. 

I titled it 'quite literally unfinished' as this was a quote which stuck out to me from Umberto Eco in his book 'the open work' which was what a lot of my essay was based around. 

I chose to use all three colours in the first image as I think it ties them all together! I want to make each of the covers blue, orange and red as well to carry on the colour scheme.

A Conversation With Lorna Scobie

After more research into the idea of open work, I came across another artist who channelled it in their work ! This is a book by illustrator Lorna Scobie, and it's filled with creative activities for everyday of the year. I actually came across this on instagram, and thought it would be worth getting in touch to ask a couple of questions to inform my essay in the hope she'd reply. I decided to message her through instagram which I know isn't the most professional way of contacting someone but I noticed she was very active on there so there might of been a higher chance of a response! and luckily a few days later I got a nice reply from her. Here was what I asked:

Hello there :-)

My name is Marnie and i'm currently studying illustration in my third year at Leeds Arts University. I can switch over to email if you'd prefer. 

I'm currently working on my dissertation, and focusing on the 'open work' model, i'm not sure if you are familiar with it! It was a book by Umberto Eco focusing on open ended work- much like the books you produce!

After a lot of research I came across your book '365 days of art' (can't believe I hadn't come across it sooner!) and thought it would be a really good example to mention in my essay. I was just wondering if you had time whether you could answer a couple of questions as it would be really helpful for my research. 

The questions i'd like to ask are:

While thinking about ideas of activities to include in your books- what do you take into consideration? Do you follow any particular rules or is it completely random?

Where do you get your inspiration from? and what target audience are you trying to reach?

Do you think this type of work (open ended) can be helpful within creative expression? This is something else i'm focusing on within my essay as I think it can be beneficial for a lot of people to have creative prompts in order to express themselves creatively. Is this something you'd hope for with your own work?

It would be amazing if you could answer even just one of these questions- I understand you're probably very busy!

Thank you

Marnie Cox

and here is my REPLY!:

Hi Marnie!

Thanks for getting in touch. That book sounds really interesting and I will definitely check it out!

Basically my general formula for coming up with things is to creative activities that I myself would love to do. 

I figure that although not everyone (probably not even most people!) would like to do the same kind of creative tasks as me, there are enough of us in the world that some people WILL enjoy doing them too. 

So my target audience is people like me - that may sound small minded - but I guess it's just that that's the target audience I know best. I think about what my friends might like, and my family. I try not to target people I don't know anything about.

And I think it can be incredibly helpful for people for one main thing - and that's building confidence.

I believe that everybody can create and draw, and sometimes a prompt can take away that initial worry that people have of 'messing up a page' or not knowing where to start. I hope that my book gives people the confidence to take the first step and pick up a pencil :)

Anyway.... hope that helps! I'd love to read your essay when it's finished, do feel free to email it to me. X

some final pages

• here are some of my final pages ready to be made into a book! i'm really happy with them
• i especially love the art gallery page as i think this is a perfect mix of each of the media's
• it's lovely to see them all coming together after all of the research. 
• they feel spacious and minimal which is what I wanted. there is enough room for people to make them their own

Building Creative Confidence in Art Therapy: Carolyn Mehlomakulu, 2017

I'm so glad I found this article written by an art therapist, as it covers so many themes I have written about within my essay! and it was really interesting to see an art therapists point of view on these subjects as it's been really difficult trying to find any sort of crossover. She made a list of things to do to help clients engage in art therapy the they are lacking confidence:

1. Reframe art-making as play and embrace messiness.  this idea links perfectly with my Keri Smith case study, as she always states she embraces messiness and her book 'wreck this journal' encourages people to make a mess. It also links in with the idea that many people are put off by creative tasks as they fear they might make a mess. 
2. Try changing the art media
3. Teach techniques to help build confidence.
4. Focus on creativity for self-expression. perfect link to creative expression! this shows creative expression is the basis of art therapy. 
5. Dialogue with the inner critic and practice medical acceptance.
6. Unravel the source of belief.
7. Work small. this could be an idea for an activity within my practical work? one of the tasks in the work book could be 'start small, go bigger' for example 
8. Provide more structure.  a direct link to open ended work! an art therapist explaining that structure can be beneficial towards creative expression is going to link into my essay really well. 
9. Hold space for all the feelings. another link to creative expression! 
10. Expand the definition of "art"

USEFUL QUOTES:

"art therapists believe that the process is the most important, not the quality of the final product"

"reframe art-making as play and embrace messiness"

"we encourage clients to not worry about creating a masterpiece, just focus on what feels fun and enjoyable"

"all of us have the capacity to be creative and to use that creativity to express ourselves. We also may need to remind clients that part of authentic self-expression is recognising that not everything we need to explore and communicate is going to be beautiful"

"Using art to express how you are truly feeling and what you are struggling with can be much more powerful than trying to create 'good art'"

"A lot of anxiety can result from a blank sheet of paper or an invitation to engage in non-directive art therapy"

"some clients need more structure on the page"

"one way of providing that structure is through giving a clear directive to respond to or a suggestion or the art medium. Another way is to provide some actual structure on the page"

"for example, when I have clients create a mandala in group therapy, one of the options is to start with a page that already has 4 concentric circles. This structure makes a potentially anxiety producing art activity a lot more accessible for someone who lacks artistic confidence"