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?

Sgraffito, Silhouettes and Story-telling

I'm realising now that I started to flit around a lot at the end of this sketchbook... This post is a collection of me finishing up all of the ends of the book.

Sgraffito - isn't that a cool word?!
 These here are a selection of studies that I did experimenting in the sgraffito style. Here's how you do it:

1) Paint a block all over the paper. You then leave this to dry until you could essentially sandpaper with it and no paint would transfer (but I would not advise trying that). The best thing to do is to leave it overnight.

2) Then, very quickly, paint another layer of paint over the top,making sure that none of the bottom colour is visible.

3) While that top paint is still wet, use an implement to scratch and take away the top layer, leaving the base exposed.

There we go. Very simple,but a bit time consuming. The effect I created was very similar to the red figure Greek Pottery,and I became particularly fond of the bottom pattern...

Then, at this particular time, silhouette cameo's were in fashion, So I took a look at the history behind them, creating a few examples in different styles of my friends. I used traditional paper, then acrylic paint and oil pastel as well. The pastel one adds more texture, which is very nice, but is not keeping with the tradition of being a plain shape. The paint was the easiest of all,and also had a very good finish to it.


Storytelling was the final idea I took a spin at, inspired by the stories conveyed through the Greek pots. I looked at several more artists, and chose to create my own version, with a more modern story that will and has travelled through decades.

I started off by looking at storytelling in art, being directed to look at Tracy Emin. Once again though, I had extreme problems actually liking the work. I could see how it worked, but I didn't necessarily consider it nice or good. I did however, set up my own version and took photos of my revision.

I then started to look at stories being told through people, by emotions and their body language... taking inspiration from both Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings.

Here is a greater development on the study of the LotR photo, explaining its meanings and my attempts to draw them myself. I did a paper cut out, and a pencil drawing. Unfortunately,with the cut-out, I forgot that if you turn things round,everything will be backwards... so now the Fellowship is walking in the other direction....

Bent backs, faces pointed down; tired, dejected and scared. The body language of the Fellowship says it all. Also, their order shows the rolls of each of the group. Gandalf the Leader, Aragorn the loner to say but two.

These last page was focused on showing how colour can affect the mood of the painting. This is an oil painted study of one of Picasso's Sorrow Paintings. The image is done in various shades of cold, icy blue, depicting a man that the viewer can immediately see is sad.Those colours heighten this, making for a rather depressing picture. My study,however,I was particularly pleased with - I am very proud of the undulating waves of light and shadow on his cloak/blanket.

Well, nearly there! That is most of the prep done, now comes the final piece!

Vase Studies

After exploring the world of Greek Pottery, my teacher urged me to take a look at modern versions, at flower vases and jars, also so that I could experiment in shaping the ellipses and curved surfaces suitably.

Here is the still life drawing I did. The varying differences in height, size and shape make for an interesting composition. As I had previously looked at the warm, earthy tones of the Greek's pottery, I chose to use colder, icier colours such as white, greys and blues for this study. I used oil pastel as my media, as I find they are easier to blend and give a smoother surface.

This picture is of the page in my sketchbook, including an additional study, picking out the highlights in blue across one of the vases. This one grew on me over time.

I also had to look at a modern day clay pot artist, so I was given Grayson Perry to contrast and do some research on

Now.I have this thing about modern art.I hate it.

It's disturbing, it's weird, and it practically never makes any sense and is often quite disgusting.Which is pretty much what I said in my annotation. That, and that my study was thankfully done in charcoal so that I could stop drawing it quicker.

So yes. That is my exploration into modern pottery.