Self Evaluation

At first I got into the course because I had been rejected from my undergraduate degree and I still really wanted the men’s offer, but at the beginning of the course I thought it was just a language and basic knowledge class and I was just passing it by. But after three terms of experience, I realised that my initial thoughts were wrong. At the same time, there are a few things that I really enjoyed in the class.

Firstly, the atmosphere here is different from the one I had at home, as the students have a strong fashion sense and I really enjoy painting and creating in this atmosphere. Secondly, I also enjoy meeting students from different countries, which broadens my horizons, and of course the different cultural clashes give me a lot of new inspiration. Finally, I enjoy working in my own unique style, without any rules, which I think is something I would not be able to do at home for a while.

I have learnt a lot from the iisf course. Firstly, I have learnt how to be better at taking inspiration, something that I can clearly feel has improved over the year. I was able to search and take inspiration more effectively and to express it in the simplest way possible with the most detail. Secondly, my understanding of clothing has deepened and I am no longer limited to the final product, but I am thinking more about the process of the garment. I have learnt how to research and otherwise transform a garment from a fabric product into a unique piece of art. Thirdly, my communication with my classmates and teachers in class improved my English speaking skills and I learnt a lot of new terminology in the process, such as the names of fabrics. Finally, through the recording of PPD during the course, combined with the teacher’s advice and my own subsequent ideas, I also managed to master some ways to identify my own shortcomings. This will enable me to reflect on myself and make improvements in time for the future.

For the Term3 project, I have combined my experience from the first two terms. Firstly, I researched first-hand, and secondly, I researched second-hand for further development, which gave me a more refined inspiration in the research phase compared to the previous two terms. I also used a partial white space in the digital portfolio, instead of filling the page, I chose to leave some white space to help the viewer focus on a single point rather than scattering it all over the page. For the collage I still opted for a combination of figures and cut-outs. Based on previous experience, I started with a digital collage combining research and stereoscopic work, and then developed the stereoscopic work as a separate project. The fabrics as well as the colour stories I don’t think are any different from the previous ones, but I found myself being more daring in the process when looking for colour stories. I chose a lot of fabrics this time compared to before, and I think it was an evolutionary process, a trade-off for fabrics. For the final illustration stage I still used my best combination of markers plus coloured pencils as this was by far the most satisfying way I could draw. The markers are used first for the underpainting and shading, then the coloured pencils for the detail and texture. This work gives me a bare minimum for my studies in October, but I think more preparation will take place over the summer.

To be honest I am not happy with this portfolio, I think it has too many mistakes and is not innovative enough, but of course time is also an issue. Firstly, I need to improve my mobility and time management, which is a major prerequisite to start working on a project. Secondly, the portfolio was not detailed enough in many aspects, including the choice of colours, the choice of fabrics and the final illustration. In the coming years I will try to get in touch with more fabrics and try to present them in the form of paintings. Thirdly, the layout of the digital portfolio, which I have to say took me very little time to do, I only had to do it all in one day. I always believe that time and results are directly proportional to each other. So I will be practising on this part of my digital portfolio to create more and better pages.

I had so much fun working on the whole project that I could have eaten and drank nothing and I am grateful to Tutor for giving me such a wide range of topics to create and play with.

I am very happy with the results from October to now as he is constantly improving, which would prove that I am not a genius. I think genius is the furthest thing from perfection. I am also very grateful to Giles, Carlyn, Andrew, Sing, Janice, Fiona, Ian, Claire, Will, Matilda, Sarah and Mark for taking care of me during this period of time, even though the classes taught were different, they all helped me to build the basic foundation for my fashion studies. I am truly grateful to them.