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HI Marcus,
I know from seeing your sketchbook and now the actual snowdog in progress that your project is going really great - you just need to upload some of the photos of your sketchbook and of different stages of painting/drawing the snowdog to record your progress here

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Today I began sketching my final Snow Dog design onto the Snow Dog itself, I have mainly been experimenting, like drawing shapes and landmarks to get the feel of the dimensions of each shape and landmark, if certain drawings didn't look correct, I rubbed them out using an eraser. I also experimented before hand by placing A1 sheets of tracing paper over the Snow Dog and used masking tape to hold the pieces of paper together, this was so I would be able to get used to drawing on a 3D, rounded object instead of flat, 2D paper.
So far I have sketched out each of the landmarks in their appropriate positioning, adding very abstract patterns within each individual landmark. I am hoping that I will have the Snow Dog finished and painted by the end of this week, giving me the half term off to complete any unfinished sketchbook work also to start my powerpoint for the presentations on the following Monday after half term.

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Today I will attempt to finish experimenting with acrylic paints on the manikin by finishing the abstract shapes and painting over them using various positive colours, I will also aim to complete each of my artist research pages, complete with colour and annotations.

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Today I began painting my abstract design onto the manikin and it will be done tomorrow, I also will begin my designs on the snowdog template in my own time while also completing other various unfinished pages.

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This lesson I will begin to add abstract patterns onto the snowdog template, whilst also experimenting with acrylic paints, seen as though that's the type of paint I will be using on the snowdog itself. By experimenting I mean I will create a pattern on a manikin and paint it so I can have a better idea of the composition of the patterns/shapes.

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Today I have added extra detail to each of my artist research pages, and my moodboard page, although I still haven't completed any of these pages fully, they're all coming along nicely using the abstract and colourful style I have demonstrated throughout most of my projects here at Gateshead College, including my BALTIC Live Brief.
If I could have done anything differently I would have began sketching out my responses to each individuals artwork that I am researching, I also would have finished my thumbnails seen as though they're still incomplete.
Over the weekend I will hopefully be able to maintain my current progress, by completing each of the artist research pages, thumbnail designs and my moodboard instead of leaving it till last minute like I used to do throughout the 1st year of the course.

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Last lesson I began my thumbnail designs, completing 10/20 of said designs, this lesson I will complete the remaining 10 thumbnails and finalise each of my artist research pages, and if I can, I will also annotate previous pages in my handmade sketchbook

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Marcus - traditional methods of research and ideas in your style are coming together nicely. Try to encompass further visual images on this wall to create a blog style diary linked to your written targets.

We have discussed creating a 3D sculpture of the snowdog to help you visualise how your designs will work, alternatively could you produce a digital one? Aim to move quickly into the ideas stage now so you have time to refine your final idea.

The material defined to be used on the sculpture is acrylic paint - think about how will your transfer your designs in a professional way.

Use the document below to identify where you are in terms of grading for LO1 - what else can you do to stretch and challenge yourself

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This lesson I will try and complete each of my artist research pages seen as though every image I printed off is stuck down in my handmade sketchbook. I will also attempt to begin my thumbnail designs, exploring different themes and ideas using different techniques and materials.

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This lesson I completed my moodboard and began planning the layout for each of my artist research pages, I have also updated my padlet wall, adding pictures of my mindmap and front page for this project.
Next lesson I will have completed at least 2 of my artist research pages.

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This is my project mindmap where I explored as many different ideas, styles and artists as I could. This mindmap will help show my choice of direction throughout the project seen as though every idea/theme I thought of is wrote down on this page, I am quite pleased with the way this mindmap turned out, I personally think it's unique and quirky.
Yet again you can see the shaped patterns used.

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This is the opening page of my project, not only is it a colourful piece of artwork in itself, but it also keeps all of my work safe and together, acting like a folder binder.
As you can see the abstract shapes theme is shown ad it will be throughout my entire project. I also incorporated the Snow Dog silhouette template in the centre of the page just so the page had relevance to the actual Snow Dog.

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This lesson I will try and finish my artist research pages, seen as though my moodboard is completed.
I will start by sticking down all of the research images I have printed off, afterwards creating the abstract, creative shapes around the images, also recreating work in the style of each artist once the rest of the work is complete.

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You have done some interesting work so far, take photographs and upload them so that we can follow how your design ideas evolve.

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This lesson I will create and finish my artist research pages using creative ways to layout the page and creating a response to each of the artists works, if I have enough time I will also begin to create my moodboard for this project.

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An awesome website for inspiring creativity

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Many musicians who use recording technology as a compositional tool refer to their studios as gardens. It's an interesting contrast to Motown, which was conceived as a factory, or Warhol's studio, which was actually named The Factory.

Prince recorded a beautiful song called " Roadhouse Garden" to christen the Flying Cloud Drive Warehouse, a rehearsal space he worked in before the Purple Rain tour. The lyrics go like this:

This is the garden where emotions grow
Twenty-four feelings all in a row

(There were 24 tracks on the tape and recording console Prince used.)

Ralf Hütter, leader of the band Kraftwerk:

[Our music is] like gardening. There are certain plants that you work on, and others that grow [themselves]. It's seasonal. That's how it feels. It's why I call Kling Klang my electronic garden.

Brian Eno, perhaps the producer most famous for playing the studio like an instrument, gave a whole talk on "Composers as Gardeners":

My topic is the shift from "architect" to "gardener", where "architect" stands for "someone who carries a full picture of the work before it is made", to "gardener" standing for "someone who plants seeds and waits to see exactly what will come up". I will argue that today's composer are more frequently "gardeners" than "architects" and, further, that the "composer as architect" metaphor was a transitory historical blip.

He says, of his process of making music:

...one is making a kind of music in the way that one might make a garden. One is carefully constructing seeds, or finding seeds, carefully planting them and then letting them have their life. And that life isn't necessarily exactly what you'd envisaged for them. It's characteristic of the kind of work that I do that I'm really not aware of how the final result is going to look or sound. So in fact, I'm deliberately constructing systems that will put me in the same position as any other member of the audience. I want to be surprised by it as well. And indeed, I often am.

Of course, musicians are not the only creative people to use gardening metaphors. In her book, The Gardener and the Carpenter, Alison Gopnik champions a kind of parenting which is like gardening, explained in this Guardian review:

When we garden... we do not believe we are the ones who single-handedly create the cabbages or the roses. Rather, we toil to create the conditions in which plants have the best chance of flourishing. The gardener knows that plans will often be thwarted, Gopnik writes. "The poppy comes up neon orange instead of pale pink ... black spot and rust and aphids can never be defeated." If parents are like gardeners, the aim is to create a protected space in which our children can become themselves, rather than trying to mould them.

After all, a "kindergarten," as it was originally conceived by Friedrich Froebel, would be a garden of children, with the teachers as gardeners.

My wife has taken up gardening in our back yard in the past year, and observing her and learning more about it, I'm attracted to gardening as a metaphor - for parenting and my own creative work...

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Many musicians who use recording technology as a compositional tool refer to their studios as gardens. It's an interesting contrast to Motown, which was conceived as a factory, or Warhol's studio, which was actually named The Factory.

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Have a look at this to get you feeling creative.  From just one circle, so many possibilities!

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Inspired by the belief that creativity is everywhere, we gave 1000 people a blank page with a circle on it and asked them, simply, to 'be creative.' The people who participated spanned all ages, stages, places, and races and the work they produced was equally diverse, resulting in an exciting, varied, and fascinating exploration of the creativity that's possible not only for artists and creative geniuses, but for everyone.

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Hi Marcus,  there's a good start on your targets, note and self-evaluation here - keep it up.  Try to post your project proposal, creative ideas, photos of your mindmap and sketchbook progress etc, notes to yourself of things to do, interesting weblinks, research and inspiration

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This lesson I completed my front page for the project and began creating a contents page inside my handmade sketchbook.
If I could have done anything differently I would have began my artist research pages.
I will do research over the weekend in my house.

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For the 3rd lesson of my FMP, I eventually finished off my mind map and I began creating a front page for the project which relates to the design style i have chosen.
I have also began researching multiple artists including DZINE, Jen Stark and Helen Musselwhite. I also plan to research art movements as well, including the Memphis art movement and the Cubism art movement. Once I have researched the people and movements above I will create pages for each of them including a response to their artwork (my own piece of artwork where I have taken influence from them).

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For the first lesson of my FMP I began creating a mind map which explores different ideas and concepts for my final Snow Dog design, including which materials I will be using over the course of the project, possible artists that I could research due to their similarity to the style in which I'm working, and a colour scheme (mainly consisting of bright and vibrant colours).
I roughly know which design style i will be approaching, the style will be a continuation on my BALTIC project, borrowing DZINE's style of artwork (quirky, abstract and colourful shapes which fit together like a jigsaw puzzle).  Another style which i could implement into my work is the style of artists involved with the Memphis art movement, or artists within the Cubism art movement.