Interim Review - Unit 1: Anatomy 06/10/09

Hi Aj,

Plainly speaking, there's not much here and so my feedback will have limited use; remember that the blog is just the publishing forum for your creative development, and your creative development is 40% of your overall mark; therefore, it is hugely important that your creative development is as dynamic, comprehensive and exploratory as is possible in a five week period; therefore, your blog should/must be those things too; currently, your creative development is painfully undernourished, and I encourage you to spend a good hour or so visiting the blogs of your classmates as a reality-check.

So, there are no ideas here about your own portrait; be sure to go back to the brief and familiarise yourself with the must-haves of assessment; failure to include all that you've been asked for will simply result in a non-submission - and you know what I think about those.

So, your essay question; it is very general - dangerously so - the only way you can make it precise and tight enough is by carefully choosing a series of portraits that let you discuss the various 'arguments' put forward by artists; the 'yes, a portrait captures the soul' argument vs, the 'no, it can'ts' - you will need to identify examples of their work which must be put in their correct cultural context and analysed accordingly; you'll need to find quotes supporting both views, and then, finally, by way of a conclusion, you will need to return a verdict... if you don't structure this essay strictly, you'll just be making a blancmange - all jelly, and no substance. I don't like blancmanges either!

It looks to me as if you've got some serious catching up to do - you've just about got time if you focus and RE-READ THE BRIEF!