CAEL1001 Chap.10 The Visual Diary as a Working Record
The Visual Diary as a Working Record
The visual diary and research file is published at 25 per cent as a portfolio or journal hurdle task, due 16 November 2026 at 23:00 with a closing date of 1 December 2026. The unit describes it as a working record of your creative development that should reveal your thinking, enquiry and ongoing development rather than presenting finished outcomes alone.
It asks for at least two pages every week, with two to four images to a page at around six by eight up to ten by fifteen centimetres, putting your own drawings, images of other artists and a few lines of reflection together on one page. It also states that diary material must not go into the other submissions, because one piece of work can only be marked once.
This chapter covers what a marked spread contains, the twenty-minute weekly routine that produces one, and how to upgrade a caption into something that evidences critical reflection.
What this chapter covers
- 01
What the University publishes: weight, task type and both dates
- 02
Why a diary built in November cannot evidence development
- 03
The double dip rule, and deciding where a drawing lives
- 04
What the unit asks for, in numbers
- 05
Anatomy of a spread: own work, reference, material test, reflection
- 06
Why the elements have to share a page rather than a section
- 07
The twenty-minute weekly routine
- 08
Caption, description and reflection compared on one drawing
- 09
The four moves a reflection makes
- 10
Honest recovery when you are behind, and what would be dishonest
- 11
Photographing a diary for upload without losing what it recorded
Upgrading a caption into a reflection
- 1Replace the vague size language with the measured conditions, giving the object's size and the enlargement factor.
- 1Report what each drawing turned out to be about, rather than how long it took.
- 1Identify the mechanism: enlargement converted texture into form, which is why the second drawing required tonal modelling and the first did not.
- 1Remove the preference and replace it with the finding. The second is not better, it is a different category of drawing.
Key terms
- Research file
- The half of this submission that gathers artist references, material investigations and course vocabulary alongside your own drawings, so comparison is built into the page.
- Double dip
- The unit's term for submitting the same material in two assessments. It is not permitted, because the same work can only be marked once.
- Material test
- A small swatch made to find out what a tool does, such as three hatching densities aimed at one value. It evidences experimentation in a form that cannot be produced retrospectively.
- Annotation
- The short written note beside a drawing. It is assessed as reflection, which means a statement of what was decided rather than of what was done.
The Visual Diary as a Working Record FAQ
Can I put my best drawing in both the diary and the project?
No. The unit is explicit that diary material must not go into the other submissions. Choose one home for the work itself and represent it in the other as documentation, so the diary carries the stages and the reasoning while the project carries the outcome. If you are unsure which side something sits on, ask before the deadline.
How many pages is it actually?
Two a week is the stated expectation, which across a thirteen-week semester is a substantial document. The unit also gives a layout guideline of roughly two to four images a page at around six by eight up to ten by fifteen centimetres, and notes that this can vary between pages.
Does it matter that my handwriting is untidy?
Only if it cannot be read at the size the file will be viewed, which is a real risk once a page is photographed and uploaded. Check legibility on screen before you submit. The unit also says not to worry about making perfect pages, because what is being looked at is your thinking and experimentation.
I am behind. What is the honest way to catch up?
Fill forward rather than backward. Bring the remaining weeks to standard and add missing earlier material as documentation dated when you add it, with a line saying it is a later reconstruction. Back-dating pages is both dishonest and usually obvious, because a genuine early reflection does not know what happens later.
Assessment move
Set a fixed twenty minutes in the same slot each week and treat it as part of the studio rather than as homework. Print or paste three or four images, write three sentences answering what you attempted, what you decided and what you would develop, add one material test from that week, name one artist reference and why it connects, and date the page.
Build your own visual glossary alongside it, as the unit suggests, with a sketched example beside each term. Photograph the whole diary during study vacation rather than in the last week, because the project deadline follows six days later and a rushed shoot loses exactly the tonal work you are being marked on.
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