Art Class

This is a scrapbook page that is rather different to what I usually create. This is mainly due to the fact that there isn't a piece of white card in sight! Instead I've gone for this wacky, chevron-esque background paper which came free with a magazine last year. I feel that the bold pattern and bright colours helped to symbolise just how much fun the class was, and the bright bubbly people that were in it.

I've also tucked a tag into the layout so that I can write down my thoughts, without getting lost among the patterns and the picture.

I really like using bold letter stickers, but they're quite difficult to find around where I live. I feel that a good title can make a page completely. I'm also now thinking of having a completely separate scrapbook for school things, as I have so many photos from the past 13 years of being in school, and I'm feeling nostalgic now, having finished for good.

Have you scrapbooked any school things?



Mocks

My first week back at school (which was, admittedly, three weeks ago), meant that I had the delight and pleasure of having to sit my mock exams.

 

This was really scary.

 

Admittedly, I only had three of them, and art doesn't really count, but this is the last chance I'm going to get to sit in that hall and practise exam conditions before the summer. Which is a little bit terrifying.

 

I've always found exams a little daunting, and I full out panicked on my history paper last year, and I have now learnt the hard way that that doesn't work. I'm retaking that paper in the summer, and then I have three others. One A2 History, two A2 Physics papers. Art will already have been completed.

 

And then it's over.

 

But that all doesn't really kick off until June-ish, so I've still got time to prepare. Now is the time when I will start bugging my art teachers for how to get extra marks. My History paper was the first time we've ever been given a full thematic question and I need to work on them. Physics, we need to just learn the stuff (yes, it didn't help that topics appeared on our exam that we haven't studied yet).

Before anyone asks, my grades were really good, I got an A in Physics, and was 2% off an A in History, which is fantastic! (Art didn't grade us...)

 

I can do this. I just need to calm down.

Autumn Shades

It's been a while since I first introduced you to my art journalling. I have found that I use it to be the complete opposite to what my A-Level course demands: free, brightly coloured and a general expression of what goes on in my brain. Some of my pages are too personal for me to ever consider sharing, but I hope that you enjoy this selection on the theme of Autumnal, leafy shades!

School is tough, and I am wading my way through coursework, personal statements and physics tests galore, but finding time to craft is difficult. I have, however,started my Christmas Cards and Christmas Gifts,which make me very happy,although I must remember that my sister's birthday comes before the Christmas Holidays, and that means I need to make something at least passable before the week where I hope to make her a Cath Kidston-esque quilt, which if you like, I could show my step by step process. 

I hope to post again soon, but I wonder what this next half term shall bring me!

P.S. While Yes, this past week has been the half term holiday, I have an excuse! I was in Edinburgh! Lots of lovely pictures and I adore the University, so perhaps I'll share some soon!

Art? Maybe...

Ok. Now, Video Youtube link is being stupid and not letting me to link a Youtube video but THIS LINK will lead you to it.

 

I posted this months ago, about me starting an Art Journal. I haven't done a video since as a) I haven't had the time and b) I'm not sure that I like the look or sound of me on the camera.

 

Anywho, here are some close ups of my first few pages:

 

Similarities and Differences:Final Piece

 

My final piece, I now realise was rather disjointed to all of my previous work. I stuck with my developing theme of windows, and found one of this design in Cambridge, on one of the Churches as you walk into town from the train station. I did not include any references, really from what I had developed previously, and that probably was what put me down to an A rather than an A*.

 

The piece it self is showing the similarities and differences of various media and techniques - coloured pencil, watercolour, acrylics and oil paints. The window design itself was far more complicated, so I simplified it. Even so, it still found me crawling all over the floor with an improvised compass comprising of a piece of string, a drawing pin and a pencil.

 

On reflection, there are some other ideas which probably would have been better, but this has an almost abstract quality, and I'm quite proud of it. It hangs on my wall above my bed.

 

This is one of the pencil sketches I did originally of the window. This page was later filled with various artist research and secondary developments, in order to make it look like I'd thought about it more than just panicked and did the first thing that came into my mind.

 

Oh and it's enormous. It's a metre square.



Similarities and Differences: Ely Cathedral

I took a visit to Ely Cathedral for my Art. It's a beautiful old building, with towering spires and intricate details, and if you ever get a chance to visit it, I would recommend it. However, what caught my eye were the windows. Beautiful stained glass windows.

I first did two stylised pencil studies of a section of one of the windows, one in colour and one tonally. I very much liked them indeed. The colour one also was a chance to experiment with tone and flat colour and seemed to be able to stand as a piece on its own.

I also did a coloured ink study of a section,but I wasn't best pleased with it. I hate the streaky and uneven colours that occur. However,it did capture the translucence and vibrancy of the glass in a way that other media wouldn't have.

Up next, my final piece!



Similarities and Differences: The Library

Another one of the places I used for my studies was the Library where I volunteer. The building dates from the early 1900s, as one of the first Carnegie Libraries. I found it to be a fascinating study, and extrapolated it into both stylised, modernistic studies, and my own traditional ways of working.

 

 

 One of the original studies I did was the painting above. I initially did it in flat colour and detested every inch of it. So, to rectify, I added stylised cross-hatching and lines This brought out the colour and definition of the brickwork and the window, the latter of which I had already begun to become fascinated by.

Below are a few of the prints I did as an experiment, which I also added stylised lines to.

 

 

 

I then did a highly intricate pencil drawing, which took me hours and hours to complete. Yes, those are tiny little circles filling all of the brickwork. Then, taking that as a base, I photocopied it and reproduced it in several different media.
 

 

My favourite, watercolour

 

 

Oil pastel.

 

 

Oil pastel in the style of Monet.

 

 

And Chalk Pastel.

Exploring all of these with one picture shows experimentation again, and with photocopies,it makes it much easier to do so.

 

 

My final test was a bit of monoprinting the design of the library. I am not entirely pleased with it, but it was the best one I could find. In actual fact, this was the negative print I got after doing one of the monoprints, and in actual fact,it is more effective than the actual prints were.



Similarities and Differences: The Houses of Parliament

 

A year and a half ago, I visited London to view an art exhibition in the Tate Britain with my family. We had lunch by the river, opposite the Houses of Parliament. Being the arty person I was, I sketched it in the about 30 minutes - ish. This photograph is terrible.

 

 

 So, when I had decided to study buildings for this project, I reverted to that sketch.I 'm not proud of these two pages particularly - they really could've been done as one page with lots of flaps and swinging things.
I tried a variety of different studies for media, neither of which I really liked, so I said that in my annotation. It proves selective thinking and an ability to form opinions and reasons.

 

I then did a page with reference to the Strasbourg seat of the EU Building,which, is very different. Much as I am iffy about modern art, so am I about modern buildings,and I said so. This particular building appears to be unfinished, for example! I also did a page of artist research on Monet's Parliament paintings.

 

I love Monet - his technique and the overall feeling of his paintings. I did a study of the painting in oil pastels (below), and I felt rather proud. This led me on to look at more old buildings, and at their features, as,although it is a brilliant painting, this one is only a silhouette. The real magic is in the sky and the river.

 

Bad photos again, sorry.



Similarities and Differences : Sport Now and Then

 

My first page in my new sketch book was an artist study Here I chose to study the Architect Zaha Hadid, and her design for the London 2012 Aquatics centre.

 

I did a Watercolour study and a pen study of two of the pieces of concept art. My favourite is the watercolour, as it gives a nice smooth texture,one of the reasons I like working in that media.

I also then compared the effects of each design,and the use of each media,crossing off of the list one part of the similarities and differences brief for one subject.

 

I then compared this with an ancient Roman amphitheatre, the third most complete one in the world, in Tunisia, in a town called El Jem. I used tonal pencils and photography to document this one, and then used these to compare with the previous studies. Then, I wrote a huge, A3 Page on this, and the comparison of the two structures. It was from this that I got the reputation of writing too much.

 

 

I did this a long time ago- last year, October-ish. I didn't know then that I would be visiting the Olympic park. But,now, in hindsight, I can add a photo of what the aquatics centre actually looks like.

 

 

It's pretty amazing.



Similarities and Differences: Introduction

My Second Coursework Project revolved around the theme of Similarities and Differences. It sounds confusing, but it's very open. You could compare mediums, textures, styles, designs, subjects, anything really! We had a very broad spectrum of work across our class.

But, we all started with the same still life.

 

 

A Sustained Drawing can make or break an entire grade sometimes. The more, and better quality drawings you have, the more marks you get. Hence why at the beginning of every project, our teacher set up a still life, and we had to draw it (apologies for bad photography).

This one she set up involved lots of contrasting textures, heights, metallic and varying states of organic and synthetic; a collection of weird, wacky and wonderful items to which nearly none of them match. Differences.

 

My favourite part was the bowl of wool (three guesses why...) but mainly because of the challenge it posed. This was solved by drawing in the strands themselves with long, sweeping pencil marks.

 

This drawing I did in half coloured pencils, and half tonal, so that in my annotation, I could compare them. Throughout the entire project, I tried to make everything as blatantly clear as possible. Which, I'm told, is a very good thing.

 

This project is shorter than the other one, as we had less time, and I myself went through a very bad patch, so was unable to work to my fullest potential. However, everything you do contributes to the final mark, so never give up.



Craft Review: Week 37: Sunday 2nd - Saturday 8th September

I went back to school this week.

But, it's a new school, and this time, I'm studying A-Levels - they're a lot of work.

Things are going to get a bit more sparse around here - There's only so much one can cope with when they return from school at 6pm, 11 hours after they left...

 

So, before anyone asks: Physics, Maths, History and Art. So, I'm not being completely hopeless, I do Art every single day.... Every Single Day!!!

The flip side of this is being the only girl in a class of 5 boys in Physics... I'll let you know how that gets on.... It would be better if they even tried to talk to me....

 

Anywho,back to where we were.

 

On Monday, before my return, I completed the other petals for mum's poppy. That's all; I still need to stitch them and create the middle, but I have the petals.

 

Also, on Tuesday, when I got home, I finished knitting a scarf for one of my cousins for either her birthday/Christmas Present.... (Photo unavailable, as mother has squirrelled it away!)

 

And then we have Art, where, at the moment, we are just drawing/painting/recording ANYTHING that we want AT ALL!!!!

It's just so wonderful.

 

 

 

Final Piece - Surfaces

My Final Piece idea was actually given to me by my best friend. The concept was to paint a Greek pot, but instead of it conveying a traditional mythological story, I would depict one of our favourites.

This relates to surfaces as, on a first glance it could be perceived as just another ancient  pot, but beneath it, there is that link to present day.

Tada!

This was my design idea. From this, I realised just how much I needed to work on the form and proportions of the pot. I've tried here to link as many sections of my studies and experiments as I could, from the History, to the silhouettes, the storytelling and the Greeks.

This is the double page spread that drawing belonged to, exploring the various different options of finishing for the foot and the lip.

Here, returning to my love of maths, I mapped out all of the precise details and proportions to ratios and measurements so that the image would fit the canvas that I had bought. I planned colours and the symmetry, all so that I could get the curvature and details correct.

This was essentially my 'final draft'. A quick experiment to see where I was going on,and what more I could do to improve it before starting on my canvas.

And here it is! It's only an A2 canvas, which is actually quite small now that I think about it. I spent hours layering for the orange mid section (which is less red in real life) on its own! I used acrylic paint, with a watercolour background, and overall it's quite stylistic.

At the time I remember being very proud of it, but now that I have grown as an artist, I'm not as pleased as I was. I see all of the mistakes, things that I could have done a lot better. It's a very personal piece, and wouldn't be to certain people's taste, and in a way, possibly childish.

But those are just my thoughts. What do you think?