Week 11 Developing Craft Assignment

1. Proposal

. What work of art have you been wanting to create but haven’t had the time?

I had been experienced in making many kinds of books as a book editor when I had worked at publishing company for 7years. One of the interesting books I have made was children’s picture books. At that time, I dreamed about reading the books I published for my own child. The dreams actually have come true after several years. My daughter has really loved the books. 
After entering art education master’s program, I have tried to learn various design software programs such as Photoshop, InDesign, etc in order to make my own zines for final projects of each course. Then, I was thinking that I could make a children’s picture book only for my daughter by using the programs. Since the books I published in the past were not technically made by me (there were great illustrators), I wanted to make my own picture books written, painted and edited by me.   
One thing that has made me scared is that I am not very good at drawing and painting. Besides, I didn’t have enough chance to learn the basic techniques of arts (Yes. I have never majored in art before entering this program). This is one of the things I need to overcome as an art teacher. So, I also want to research and study a specific technique through working on this project. That would be a very beneficial experience to me. Another idea is that the picture book could be created as an E-book as well as paper book.


2. Studies

Watercolor
I chose watercolor as a medium I want to study while making a picture book. My goal would be to create an interesting picture book for my daughter and to learn how to use watercolors and to be familiar with techniques of watercolor.
For the last few days, I assigned myself some kinds of practice studies that would be helpful for creating the piece.   
1) Understanding Watercolor
Suggested by watercolor experts on the internet, I practiced to mixed colors, to make different brightness and gradations of color in order to have a better understanding about watercolor’s characteristic.

2) Sketches
I have thinking about what kinds of story I would make up for the picture book. Spending a few hours, I come up with a pretty good idea for the story. The main character is a traditional Korean goblin who wants to have a shadow. Below is the goblin I sketched. 

3. Reflection

What insight did you glean from the process of developing craft by doing your studies?

At first when I started to work on this assignment, I didn’t know what I need to do even though I know what I want to create. However, while going through the process of technical research which can develop ideas, I could give shape to my idea and plans for creating the art piece. The process certainly made me more confident because I could get a good chance to prepare and practice things required for achieving the art piece. Through the technical research, I actually had a better understanding about watercolor and could have good ideas for creating a main character of the picture book. From this experience, I am sure that doing enough research before working on art piece could bring various benefits. Therefore, I would not only let students know the benefits of technical research but also provide enough chance for them to experiment, explore and research things which can develop their ideas for achieving their art pieces.