Visual Journal : Gathering visual examples and quotes

To begin my visual journal I decided to collect some relevant images and quotes from my essay, to draw links between the theories I have researched and examples of possible visual responses. 

Draft essay feedback

• good understanding of subject and good start
• awkward phrasing in some places but what your saying is clear 
• too much reliance on Crow - concern for strength of the argument, needs more triangulation
• semiotics and cultural association - subjective in areas
• bibliography needs development
• compare the different associations we have with abstract art 
• Illustration : communication context, uses abstract style - motifs, mark making - to formulate meaning 
• abstract art - the art gallery, more personal and less commercial routes of communication
• look at other abstract artists - e.g. pollock 

Study Task 8 : Rationale

My overarching theme is aesthetics, but am more specifically looking visual communication in abstract illustration. So far, in reference to this subject, I have primarily looked at the semiotic theories of Pierce, Saussure and Barthes, as written by David Crow, and the work contemporary illustrators such as David Lemm and Nicolas Burrows. Practically I would like to investigate this subject further through distilling the key elements of communication in abstract illustration - looking at how colour influences form, simplifying subjects to their bare essence and experimenting with more visceral forms of image-making that explore the importance of a tone voice and media in visual communication. I am doing this because I want to develop a method of making images that uses abstraction in a functional and meaningful way - which, in order to do, I need to understand the bare mechanics of visual communication. Throughout this practical investigation I would like to focus on using handmade media - such as print, collage or paint. This is because the purpose of my research project is to develop a way of working relevant to my current practice – to which hand-rendered images are very important.