Digital Graphics Basics Class

Today, we began by going to the 'Digital Graphics Basics' class as part of the Graphic Art study programme. It started at 10.30am so we arrived for this time. On entering the room, I asked a student if we were in the right place and explained we are exchange students from England, she replied that this was the right room and asked if we knew what the class was about. Of course we didn't and neither did she for this particular session because it was their first class back after the holidays so she said we just needed to wait for the Professor to arrive. Christina also asked the girl if she was going to any of the other classes we plan to go to today - Graphic Art: Literature Interpretation and Graphic Art Basics. She was actually heading off to the Literature Interpretation class shortly, she said it was a little boring last semester because they had to choose 1 word and then interpret it to create visual imagery. I thought it sounded quite interesting and hope we may be doing something similar this semester. She also told us we can go to the classes earlier than the times stated on the timetable.

A snippet of the Digital Print Studio

About 15 minutes later, Marta Pogorzelec (the Professor) arrived. When she saw us, I explained who we are and she said to give her a moment and then she would speak to us. At this time, there were 4 Polish students making up the rest of the class and they all sat round our small square table. The Professor introduced the new project to the girls, I could pick out some of the words she was saying because they are spoken the same in English. These words include 'semester', 'technique', 'experimental' and systematic. She was holding a booklet titled, 'Utrata rownowagi' that translates in English to 'loss of balance/control'. This was informing the students of the theme of the new topic. After she had finished this briefing, she sat down with a couple of the students to do 1 to 1 consultations, an important part of Polish art education. The students would show the digital work they had produced on a large computer screen and discuss it with the Professor.

I know that all of the classes we take at ASP Katowice will be predominantly taught in Poland because Polish is of course their native language and the full-time students that study at the university for the whole three years of a Bachelor degree need to be prioritised over us. Each Professor we have spoken to so far has been perfectly able to explain the units to us in English and I think it is perfectly acceptable for us to speak to them individually. We can't join in with the group discussions because we haven't learnt enough of the Polish language yet but the main thing is that we are able to have a communication between ourselves and the teaching staff so that we can do the work.

Once Professor Pogorzelec had finished speaking to the other students, she spoke to us briefly about what the unit entails. The classroom is called a 'Digital Print Studio' and she is in charge of the Digital Print classes held at the University. The unit mainly involves using Adobe Photoshop but she encourages students to use it in a different way that is less conventional. This involves working in an explorational and abstract way. The topic is what we believed to be earlier as the booklet states ' 'Loss of control'. She gave us her email address and asked us to send her propositions of our ideas for the topic via email. I think this is a good idea because she can go through whether the ideas will work or not before we come back for the next class, allowing us to work on these ideas in the time between this class and the next class. We will next go to the class either tomorrow or next Wednesday at 9am, whenever we are ready to share our initial ideas with her. I also asked about the printing of digital work and she said that there are facilities on campus that are cheap and of a very good quality.

Examples of student work exhibited on the studio walls. I love the top work, the trees have been digitally produced beautifully and skilfully. The colour palette is almost neon and stands out well against the black backdrop. It is more realistic than some of the other work but in an explorational way, almost dreamlike in quality and subject matter.

I made a few observations whilst we were waiting for the Professor to talk to us... the class size is very small and there aren't many tables in the studio. There were 3 computers in the room and most of the other students had brought their own laptops. I am impressed by the digital work displayed on the wall, a mixture of digital painting, editing and exploration and photography either alone or combined. The studio feels light, airy and creative so is a perfect study space. There is a room next door to the studio that you can walk through to. It is completely white from floor, to ceiling and walls in between. There is student work exhibited on the walls so it may be a small art gallery.

The Professor mentioned the piece on the right when she spoke to us, I think it may combine photography with digital painting. She said we could combine disciplines to create abstracted and unique pieces. I like the emotion conveyed by the action of the couple hugging each other tightly. 

A black and white colour palette has been used successfully to create a bold image full of tonal variation and creating a slightly mystical mood. The figures appear to be floating babies, perhaps it is supposed to be like a pregnancy ultrasound scan of twins in their mother's womb. An interesting piece that shows skill in using Adobe Photoshop.

To summarise, I would like to choose this unit because I would like to improve my digital graphic skills by creating artwork using Adobe Photoshop. I think I would get on fine because I have used Photoshop alot and I enjoy drawing and painting using my Wacom Drawing Tablet that I ensured I packed to bring with me. I look forward to beginning to experiment with the topic we have been given. I'd like to experiment with colour and think about the type of style I could use to convey a particular mood and atmosphere within my work so that it reflects the topic well.

Read my next posts to find about Graphic Art - Literature Interpretation and Graphic Art Basics. We weren't able to talk to these tutors today but we have correct room numbers now and email addresses. We also found out today that there is a Poster Design class available for 2nd years that is worth 4 credits so we will be able to do it hopefully.