2011 End of Year Review

Visual Design

From where I started at the beginning of term, I think that my drawing ability has noticeably improved. When I had my assessment Chris told me that the areas which show my strengths and potential are anatomy (shown in my dinosaur bones drawings) and rendering, though with my shading I need to vary the strength my pencil pressure on the page to give my pieces more balance and subtlety. Time management is also an issue; I need to start practicing speed drawing faster for my initial sketches. This will greatly improve the use of time I set to spend on the final piece. I need to do at the very least, one still life a day to help me improve.

Game Production

I think that even though an area I still struggle in, things such as unwrapping and texturing I am finding easier to do each time I do it, the process now feels like it comes naturally so I am steadily learning things that I initially found impossible. I just need to spend time perfecting the details, so that the end result looks more polished and professional. More practice outside of projects is a must, so I don’t feel as intimidated by more challenging projects later on down the line.

Critical Studies

The area in which I need to improve in Critical Studies is easy; it’s just a case of making sure I do it, and what I need to do is make sure I write up everything as soon as I need to, as opposed to bloody leaving it all until the last minute. One thing I haven’t done as much, is utilise my blog to just vent about stuff in gaming, art, etc. that I think about all the time, yet always forget to note down.

Overall… Time management! Need to do it, and need to do it properly, writing myself a timetable if I have to. My memory is terrible, so creating one of these and sticking to it will help me a lot I think. I think if I master the fine art of time management, id actually be able to find time to actually play videogames which I have hardly done since starting uni, its kinda depressing… need to keep my hand in, even if it’s only a few hours a week. I think this will keep my passion alive, because that’s the reason im here, so I think it will be good to remind myself what it is I love about games so much.