Yesterday afternoon I had my portfolio tutorial with Derek. It was really quite useful and helped me to figure out what will and won't work in my portfolio. We looked through the selection of files I had brought with me (I have a few more things to have a look at but they are currently in my Mum and Dad's loft!) and agreed on which pieces were stronger and which weren't quite right.
These are some of the pieces that are likely to make it to the final portfolio, including some book covers, typography, sketchbook work and final illustrations:
Looking at all of this work together we were also able to figure out what needs to be added, and therefore what I need to produce during my Final Major project. Derek made quite a few points that were similar to what Louise said in last week's tutorial, particularly when it came to the thickness of my lines. This is definitely something I need to experiment with (using a brush to vary the thickness etc.) throughout this project and use in my final outcome. In general Derek said that although he wouldn't recommend working in an entirely different style, it is always a good idea to use the Final Major project as a chance to push myself a little bit, in a way that the work is still true to the style I have developed, but with a few changes and 'added extras' to really show off everything I can do. Again this is similar to what I discussed with Louise last week, and we already came up with a few things I can try (using textures in the background etc.). For now I will be focusing on varying the thickness of the lines in my initial illustrations, so far I am quite liking the results in comparison to using a fine-liner (I shared some of those illustrations in my last post).