Practice in Context: Drunk Duck

June 19, 2011

Having been dangerously lethargic over the last couple of days I’m feeling a strong compulsion to move forward and start giving serious thought to how I’ll approach the forthcoming Practice in Context module. I need to begin picking out key texts on the operation of the industry and if possible arrange contact with professionals for advice. As stated in our brief I need to ‘locate’ my practice externally and while a longterm print copy of the graphic and its distribution is on the cards there is another option to consider.

Previous to the MA; drawing comics as a hobby I would often upload to the web comics site Drunk Duck  for criticism. Responses were mixed and I was unable to manage regular updates alongside my university studies, but it seemed preferable to the drawings and ideas festering in my desk draws. The site has had a few nasty technical issues in the past but the community is sizable and vibrant with the majority of comments being constructive rather than crass.

Since the start of this project I’d given thought to uploading my graphic on DD for additional criticism and viewers but held back with the intention of producing a reasonable backlog to facilitate frequent no pressure updates. Considering possible research sources for the module it struck me that opening the pages to a broader range of feedback could actually be quite fitting. It might be a stretch to call this professional practice but it’s certainly one way of externalizing my work and getting a fair measure of its strengths and weaknesses.

I’d like to run it all by my tutor first and I think I’ll be giving it a while longer before I actually do it – four pages is hardly an enormous buffer and the site’s about to see a formidable overhaul resurfacing as The Duck – however so far as I can tell there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be an appropriate route to take alongside more professional options.

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Practice in Context: Reality calls

June 8, 2011

Having just handed in my folders for assessment and delivered my presentation with a moderate level coherency, my Research Methods and Development module is more or less finished. For a moment at least I can breathe.

Or so I thought until the next module raised its terrifying head…

Okay that’s a complete exaggeration, but in all seriousness the next module has a change in focus which has caught me a little off guard. I’ve been so absorbed by the research, planning and production which is going into my graphic that I’ve given scarce thought as to where I might go with it when I finish or what sort of professional tactics I might adopt.

That said being tasked with making contacts, attending events and considering the context of my work in the real world may honestly be a wake up call I needed. I’ve been far too dependent on convenient college resources while scarcely taking my work outside of my room and this blog. It’s a significant shift in gears from the aims of the previous two modules but as daunting as it may initially seem I can’t deny the obvious longterm benefits.

With around three months to tackle the aims and considerable freedom allowed in approach its nothing insurmountable. My only real concern is that I may have difficulty balancing the work demands with production of the main graphic, something I’m aiming to work into a regular routine rather than the piecemeal updates I’ve delivered so far. I’ve probably said it before, but I’ll definitely need to be more disciplined to stay on target.

For now at least I’ll just be sticking out my feelers to see what’s out there before I decide on anything concrete.

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