Journal: Reflect on Proposals and Realisations

When I first started drafting out ideas for my Final Major Project, my idea was to create a calendar using photos of key elements from towns in Staffordshire Moorlands and the surrounding area. While this was a nice idea and a way for me to practice new skills in the area of landscape photography, it was brought to my attention during a group crit with Gwen, that this idea would need to have something that made it different. I realised that they were right and that it would be boring and just like any other calendar. So then, while listening to others talk about their ideas for their projects, I was inspired by what they were saying to take photos of areas in Staffordshire and the surrounding area that had a legend or a story attached to them, for example the Mermaid Pool. I decided to create a book with a photo of each place and some text to tell the story.
Originally, I envisioned a published book (through vistaprint or blurb) with a good quality photograph and some text on the adjacent page, or an illustration. However, I came to the realisation that I want to do fine art rather than photography as a career and after this course, so I started experimenting and trying to find ways to combine the two. What also helped confirm this realisation, was when I seeked out feedback on my plain, unedited photos on talkphotography.com - the comments put me down and made me realise that I am making the right choice with choosing fine art.
While experimenting with trying to tell the story just using pictures, I tried printing on acetate and layered it over a collage with the text from the story. This worked really well I thought, so I developed this technique further and did a couple more smaller samples. I got feedback on the samples and was told that you can't really tell what the image on the acetate is of as it is all black (because I used image trace on Illustrator). So I then experimented with putting colour onto the otherwise black images. It didn't work brilliantly so I added a bit more black in, experimented with the cutout effect on Photoshop and the poster edges effect, and found that the poster edges effect worked the best.
A college tutor suggested that I put the text inside the black image so you can see through the writing. this was very effective so I realised that if I combine the poster edges effect with the transparent text, I would have really effective images. I tried it and it worked very well and realised that this is what I'll be doing for my final piece and also, that if I scan the collage and acetate in to publish, the detail will all be lost so I will put them in a physical book, or bind a book myself.

Journal: Reflect on Exploratory and Pathway Stages in Relation to the FMP

In my Final Major Project, I have revisited many of the techniques from the Exploratory and Pathway stages such as emulsion and tape transfer, collage, wax trapping and Photoshop layering techniques. I have further developed the collage, wax and Photoshop techniques because I felt as though they lend themselves very well to my project of stories from the Staffordshire Moorlands and the surrounding area as they allow me to tell the stories effectively. In addition, I have tried layering and collaging with new techniques such as printing on acetate which I also find works very well.

Journal: Brett Trafford

I really like the compositions that Brett uses in his images - he uses the rule of thirds very effectively. In addition, the images are all very atmospheric - some are dramatic and some are really calming and soothing. This is also emphasized in the colours: the natural, soft colours. The lighting also adds to this effect as he shot most of the photos in the evening or early morning when the light is golden and and its softest, also called the "Golden Hour".
I have been inspired by Brett to shoot my photos during the Golden Hour as much as I can, and to use the rule of thirds in the composition, and also to try to create atmospheric photos.

  

Journal: Personal Response to Own Work

The aim of my project was to create two posters raising awareness for OCD and dyslexia as they are both disabilities but aren't visible and sufferers can be teased or bullied for being "stupid" or "crazy" because they don't understand. 

I chose the two phrases "don't judge things you don't understand" and "not every disability is visible". I experimented with both phrases on both OCD and dyslexia posters and I decided to go with "don't judge things you don't understand" on the dyslexia poster, and "not every disability is visible" on the OCD poster. I felt as though this would make more sense and help people understand the message I was trying to get across. I thought that "don't judge things you don't understand" phrase was best suited to the dyslexia poster because dyslexic people tend to get bullied more than the OCD sufferers because people don't understand that it's not their fault so just label them as "stupid".

I think that the phrase "not every disability is visible" is well suited to both OCD and dyslexia, but better suited to the OCD poster because people don't see it as a disability, but it is because it affects people's lives because they "need" to do something or they're scared to do something because it'll trigger their OCD symptoms.

In the background of the dyslexia poster I have typed up the word "dyslexia" jumbled up to show that this is what dyslexics see. Also in the background, I have used the brusho, mark making backgrounds that I made in a workshop session and added block printed words that say the disability shown in each poster. I think that this works well as it is clear but not overpowering and the main message still shows through.

Compare and contrast two artists

Rankin (left), David Bailey (right)

The artists that I have chosen to use for my comparison are Rankin (left) and David Bailey (right). They are both excellent portrait and fashion photographers and both photograph celebrities. However, they have different styles; Rankin photographs are in colour and tend to have softer lighting, with the exception of this photo, and David Bailey has harsher, brighter lighting aimed down at the model casting shadows underneath the nose, lips and cheekbones which is quite flattering. His photographs are also all in black and white and have high levels of contrast, further accentuating the lighting technique.

The compositions in the two artists' work are quite different too; David Bailey's photographs are usually very central, square and closeup (from shoulders upwards). Rankin has some similar photos but has more of a wide range of compositions, from full body shots like this one of Orlando Bloom, to quite extreme closeups, for example his beauty photos, hair photos, and some fashion photos.

Liverpool Homotopia Exhibition

      

I really didn't like this exhibition, I didn't quite understand what it was about. Maybe because I wasn't in the best of moods anyway that day, but either way I was a bit disturbed by it and my initial reaction was "right... okay". I especially wasn't keen on the photography, especially of the photos with men in corsets and women's lingerie, I found it very strange.

That aside, I did like the lighting in the photographs as it made them look quite interesting. And I did really like the painting techniques in the paintings, as a painter myself I can really appreciate the time that the artist put into the painting and the beautiful blending, it was very smooth and perfect.

I don't feel as though the exhibition was useful to me because I can't relate to it at all and is not the type of theme I will use for my project.

Hans Holbein - The Ambassadors

The Ambassadors, Hans Holbein
http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/the-ambassadors/bQEWbLB26MG1LA?projectId=art-project


The painting portrays two wealthy men, we know this from each element in the painting. For example, the fact that they have their hands included in the painting shows that they are wealthy because painters charged more to paint the subject's hands because they are difficult to paint. In addition, the clothes that they are wearing suggests that they are wealthy. The objects on the shelves all suggest that these men are well educated and consists of globes, instruments and books.

"On the left is Jean de Dinteville, aged 29, French ambassador to England in 1533. To the right stands his friend, Georges de Selve, aged 25, bishop of Lavaur, who acted on several occasions as ambassador to the Emperor, the Venetian Republic and the Holy See" - (http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project#!asset-viewer:l.id=bQEWbLB26MG1LA&projectId=art-project&urlStub=The%20Ambassadors)

When seen from a certain angle, the skull doesn't appear distorted, it appears 3D. It is known as an anamorphosis.







Liverpool 800, The Singh Twins
http://www.singhtwins.co.uk/Album_Painting-Series/Pages/Single_paintings.html#9


This painting is divided horizontally in half, in the bottom half of the painting the twins have depicted events of Liverpool's history that stood out to them personally as they found it very difficult to portray every single event in the history of Liverpool. For example, the man and the woman in the middle at the bottom are shown fishing which represents Liverpool's early days as a small farm and fishing settlement.

The top half of the image represents Liverpool's modern identity in the form of a coat of arms structure. On the right of the coat of arms you can see a Liverpool FC scarf and to the left you can see the entrance to 'The Beatles Story'. These are two things that are a main part of the city.

Contextual Studies 300 Word Analysis

Sheila Gallagher, Deute

http://inhabitat.com/nyc/ny-exhibit-features-sheila-gallaghers-beautiful-recycled-art-created-from-found-familial-objects/

Deute, by Sheila Gallagher is a collection of found melting plastics such as old prescription bottles, bottle caps, and other found objects, arranged to create a beautiful picture of a path down an autumnal forest. From a distance, the piece looks like a painting of a forest, but close up, it is a textured filled with melted plastics which creates really interesting detail close up.

 

 

 

Robert Rauschenberg

Charlene 1954

http://arthistory.about.com/od/from_exhibitions/ig/rauschenberg_combines/rrc_01.htm

 

Charlene by Robert Rauschenberg is one of his “Combine Paintings” made up of oil paint, charcoal, paper, fabric, newspaper, wood, plastic, mirror and metal on four Homasote panels mounted on wood. The colours are very similar to the colours in Deute by Sheila Gallagher as they are warm, autumnal colours. However, in Charlene, the colours have a slightly more darker tone. Unlike Deute, Charlene doesn’t make up an interesting overall image, but is more abstract and focuses on the textures and colours. The textures are what makes this piece interesting, as opposed to the detail and composition that make Deute interesting.

 

Written Reflection 400 words

After the Lewis Noble workshop, I was inspired by him to create texture in my paintings using a palette knife. I made the image more realistic because that is the way that painting comes naturally to me, although I still feel as though it is reminiscent of Lewis Noble's work because of the texture. To make the painting fit in with the Trash to Treasure theme, I created the background with a range of found papers from the college, but I think that the paint covers the collage too much so it loses the meaning of Trash to Treasure.

 

This is the second Rob Wilson inspired piece that I have done and I much prefer the first, smaller sample I did in this style. I didn't really enjoy creating this as I found it quite boring and tedious, I think that it could have done with a bit more colour and maybe some acrylic paint like in my first Rob Wilson sample. I created a collage for this one first, unlike the first one, and I think that it shows the theme of Trash to Treasure better. I was inspired by Rob Wilson to use stitch on a collaged and inked background as I thought it worked really well in his pictures, but it turned out to not quite work for me.

 

 

 

The first sample that I did inspired by Philip Bannister was only small, so I decided to revisit it since I didn't particularly like the Rob Wilson or the Lewis Noble inspired pieces. I am glad that I did because I really like this technique as it is a quick and easy technique that is effective. I added the collage this time round and I think it looks much better. This technique, I feel, is the most effective because the collage is visible in the background which portrays the theme of Trash to Treasure much more effectively.

 

In conclusion, I will use the Philip Bannister inspired style because it leaves the background collage visible so it doesn't hide the theme like the other styles, and it is because of this that it is my favourite style out of them so this is the style that I will continue.

 

Experiments/developments and Listening Critique

This first sample was inspired by Rob Wilson

 

 

The second sample was inspired by Lewis Noble

 

At this stage I am experimenting with different artist styles and like the Rob Wilson and the Lewis Noble samples the most... I wanted feedback on which style I should choose for my final piece and the feedback I got was useful...

The Lewis Noble sample covered the reclaimed items collage too much so the theme of Trash to Treasure was lost

The Rob Wilson theme shows techniques and theme more clearly

The conclusion was that everybody preferred the Rob Wilson style so that is the style that I plan to develop.

Nick Gentry Analysis

Analogue Daydream

Film negatives, x-rays and oil paint on acrylic sheets in vintage wooden LED lightbox crate
60cm x 40cm

Here, the artist has stuck some film negatives and x-rays onto acrylic sheets on a wooden LED lightbox crate, blocked out the background of the person with white paint and shaded parts of the face such as the highlights and shadows with oil paint. Again, like with the colours of the floppy discs, he has used the light and dark bits and the colours to add depth and colour to the portrait. He has used the dark shades in the x-rays for her dark hair.

Compared to Midnight Angel and his other paintings on floppy discs, this painting is very warm toned and a lot less eerie and creepy, but equally as effective.

All of these elements create another very unique, interesting, 3D and realistic looking painting which very effectively uses recycled materials and therefore fits very well with the theme of Trash to Treasure.

Midnight Angel

Oil paint & used computer disks on wood
113cm x 90cm

 

Gentry has stuck some recycled floppy disks from computers onto a background of wood and has lined them up so they are all facing the same way apart from the two near the eyes and has used the circular part of the floppy disc as the pupils. In his other pieces, he has done this for the whole eye because the works have been smaller, I find this bigger one less creepy than the smaller ones as the bigger ones only have a circle for the eye.

He has then drew on the outline of the person and painted the space behind the model to accentuate the portrait. He has very effectively used the colours of the different floppy discs to colour and add depth to the face and used oil paint to shade in areas of the face, highlight areas and also add a small bit of colour to the lips, creating a very 3D realistic and unique painting.

Overall, the image is very cold and slightly eerie, but I really like the effect of it as it is unique and uses the ideas of Trash to Treasure really well.