samanthadaisyart

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Evaluation

Final Major Project

I was quite excited when we first got handed the brief for our final major project, titled curiosities. There was no clear set task to work to, meaning we could come up with our own interpretations of what we find interesting and want to know more about. However, this could also pose a problem, as the requirements of the brief are not as clear as previous projects. There are no clear guidelines to follow, as everyone is following a different project proposal. You also have to find your own artists and designers to research, as they have to be helpful to your specific work. Initially, as a class, we brainstormed a list of words to help give us ideas within our brief, such as ‘extraordinary’, ‘intriguing’, ‘unique’, ‘desire’, and ‘mystery’. These were the main words that I took and used within my project. This peer discussion helped my find my original idea, and made me develop an understanding of what the brief of ‘curiosities’ could be about.

My original plan was to create a set of illustrations of certain everyday objects, as I am curious about the sentiment behind things. Ordinary, plain objects that do not have any monetary value are often held dear within people’s hearts, giving them more value.This is usually due to the history of the object, and how important memories have been created with these objects within them. Ultimately, exploring how backstories can add sentiment and value to an object or memory. Originally, I wanted to create a series of rotoscoped animations, as well as illustrations, to portray the objects coming to life within the memory they are held in, for example, I wanted to create an animation of a zombie cabbage patch kid due to a story I heard of one being found from being dug up in the garden after being missing for months.

However, as the project progressed, I wanted to centre my work more around tattoos, as this is the career path I want to go into. Going forward, I used my curiosity for the sentimental value behind objects in a more specific way, as I also directed my work towards the curiosity I have for the reasons why people get specific tattoos. I, myself, have tattoos, with personal reasons behind them, and realising that most people’s tattoos have a reason and story behind them made me very curious and interested in the stories behind them, as well as making me want to create my own designs based around the stories people have told me. In the end, I chose the specialism of illustration, as I created a series of tattoo flash based upon stories and life experiences that people have told me. The purpose of my project was to ultimately show a range of different reasons why a person would get a tattoo, and how sentiment and memories are influential enough to make someone get a tattoo of something that is overall worthless to most people. Furthermore, I want people in society to realise that certain tattoos they may view as pointless and bad, will have meaning to others, making them special.

As a class, we were told to research such artists as Eduardo Paolozzi and David Carson. Comparing these artists, I found that they created pieces of collage with miss-matched imagery to create new meaning within their work. I wanted to do the same, by bringing together things from childhood and creating them within an adult setting (tattoo designs). This then creates new meaning, as it loses its naïve imagery. I also took a lot of inspiration from David Carson and one of his quotes, “Don’t mistake legibility for communication”, as none of my final designs have text that helps to portray the meaning behind the illustrations, as the meaning should be understood by the person getting the tattoo. Additionally I researched Michael Craig Martin, who also influenced me due to the fact he was able to transform seemingly meaningless objects to iconic, recognisable line drawings and illustrations. This linked in nicely to my project by allowing me to create designs which were based upon ordinary objects but became eye catching when illustrated. I also researched Joseph Cornell, who was a pioneer of assemblage. Cornell had an interest in childhood, which links to my project as I also created work around infancy. One of the most relevant artists to my work however, was Sailor Jerry, as he was one of the pioneers of tattooing. Within my work I used Jerry’s method of bold line work and colours, as the pieces are designed to be going on skin which means the lines are needed to be of certain thickness and the colours bright enough to hold when the tattoo is healed. As a class we also took a trip to the design museum in Kensington, where we viewed a range of different installations, including a wall of history where everyday items such as the telephone and television sets were displayed. However, these things are only viewed as ordinary to us as the design of such products were so innovative and successful that they became iconic and recognizable,as well as a staple in people’s homes. Within my project I wanted to show that even though some things may be ordinary to other people viewing the design, the memories will make the tattoo designs more valuable for the owner of the tattoo. Within my work I also developed and took inspiration from artists such as Art Spiegelman and John Pound, the creator and artist for the parody series ‘Garbage Pail Kids’. My tutor had originally told me about this series due to the fact my first Cabbage Patch Kid pieces reminded him of them. I became inspired by this series due to the fact that I was creating parodies myself of the Cabbage Patch Kids, as I was drawing them as skeletons and zombies. Furthermore, i created a piece inspired by the art style of John Pound on the Garbage Pail Kids art, using rough, painterly brushes, but still keeping my work digital, to hopefully provide some messiness and brutalness to the piece. However, my work also resembled the work of Eric Carle, so in the end I also ended up researching him.

As well as researching online, I also relied heavily on primary research to create my pieces. This is because I wanted to create pieces of illustrations based on people’s memories, so I went about collecting stories from various people about different items / memories they hold dear to their hearts, whether it be in person or on the internet. The main stories I took inspiration from was the Cabbage Patch Kid doll, which was lost for months but then dug up in the garden, stories about being LGBT and coming out, rebellious and heartwarming teenage memories, such as the story of a girl falling through a shed roof when trying to get out of the allotments, and many different pets and animals, such as a chicken called Nugget and a lamb called Timmy who acted like a dog. I also created a piece of my guinea pig who recently passed away, who was called Jerry, as I am actually wanting to get a tattoo in memory of him. I created the ‘Sailor Jerry’ by illustrating Jerry in bold lines and colours, along with a pipe and an anchor to give the piece a nautical feel. Furthermore, I created the tribal seal piece for my mother, as an actual tattoo design she wants to get in the future. I drew this due to the memories we share of going to see the seals at Ravenscar, as that is “a memory [she] will treasure forever”, showing that some of my designs will definitely be used in real life situations.

Within the FMP, I believe my experimentation was quite wide and varied. Although I stuck mainly to digital work on procreate, I experimented a lot within this app, with colour, textures and themes / subject matters . I also used the process of using a tattoo gun, although I did not develop this skill much as I wanted a refined outcome at the end. I believe I used my time quite well to develop my work, as I managed to create 4 flash sheets as well as extra designs that weren’t on the flash, along with the design for a tattoo studio sign and a few rough pieces made with prosthetic skin and a tattoo machine. I believe my main process of using Sailor Jerry style lines and colours was a good choice, as all of my pieces look like they belong together as a part of a series. Not only this, I was really passionate about the whole concept of my idea, as I myself have a lot of tattoos and also want to become a tattoo artist when I leave college. I love that idea that most tattoos have an interesting story behind them, and becoming a tattoo artist can allow me to create a piece that tells a tale to the viewer. What I also believe to be a good creative decision of mine was to base my designs on actual stories told by real people. This means that they already have a valuable story to be told behind them. This also meant that the designs I created had to be quite polished and tasteful, due to the fact I was going to show them to the person who had originally told me the story that I was to illustrate. This then lead to me refining my illustration skills, as all tattoo designs have to be high quality if they want to be paid for and put into someone’s skin. Not only this, I have started developing the skill of using a tattoo machine, which will come in handy when I (hopefully) become an apprentice. Creating these pieces digitally was also a conscious decision, due to the fact that it is a lot easier to photoshop a digital piece of work on to the body than it is a traditional drawing. This means that all of my designs can be placed on a photo of the body quickly and easily to see how the design would look before choosing it indefinitely.

When creating work for the FMP, I encountered quite a few problems. Firstly, I had the problem of coming up with various designs for just one memory, such as the cabbage patch doll. Often within tattoo parlours, customers can be very picky and ask for multiple redraws of a design, as they want it to be perfect as it is being tattooed on them. Bearing this in mind, I created multiple pieces with a variety of different outcomes, no two alike, so the different designs would satisfy a range of people. As well as this, I often find it difficult to portray texture within my work. However, in this project I used the illustrations on the Garbage Pail Kids to inspire a piece of textured work, so I managed to successfully add coarseness within a piece. Within the FMP we as a class had all come up with our own personal time plans, which, in the end, I did not follow, due to the fact that I originally wanted to create rotoscope animations as well as illustrations but ended up creating purely illustrations instead. I also encountered a problem within my exhibition. Initially, I had the idea of hiring a projector and a mannequin so that I could project my tattoo designs on to the mannequin. Unfortunately, when tested this idea did not work, as the projections were not clear enough and warped around the mannequin as the projector was too far away. To overcome this, I instead printed out my designs, and pinned them on the mannequin. This method also allowed me to show more than one of my designs at once, so was altogether more successful than the projector anyway. In the exhibition I also placed some flash sheets up on the walls of my exhibition space too, within sleek, basic black frames in rows next to each other. I displayed both the line work and colour versions of my designs, as some clients looking for a tattoo may decide that they only want an outline / black and grey piece. Altogether I was pleased with the outcome of my exhibition as it looked like a place where a tattoo artist was advertising their work, along with the mannequin standing alongside the flash to allow the customer to imagine where a tattoo could be in terms of size and placement. Above the flash sheets I also created a logo for my very own tattoo studio, complete with a (digitally drawn) neon sign reading ‘Sam’s Tattoo Studio’.

In conclusion, I feel like the most successful outcome of my project was the exhibition. Although I encountered a few problems when installing my work, the outcome looks finished and professional, and I think, personally, the designs I have created would not look out of place being advertised in a tattoo studio. Although some of the meanings of the illustrations I have created may not be clear, this was the original purpose of my project, as my ‘curiosity’ was about the backstories and memories behind certain objects and tattoos, and why people get tattoos of these memories. These designs are for people who want to tell their stories about their objects, as they hold these stories with high regard.

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My final outcomes for my exhibition.

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A piece I created of Princess Bubblegum and Marceline from Adventure Time, the first lesbian couple showed in children’s television.

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A piece inspired by the recent episode of Arthur, which included the marriage of Mr Ratburn to his boyfriend. This episode became banned in Alabama for being too controversial, even though it only showed scenes of a happy gay marriage.

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A memorial piece for my girlfriend’s father who sadly passed away due to a brain tumour. I created this piece due to the fact his ashes were spread in the Camen Islands, which was a place he had always wanted to visit but never got the chance to.

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A memorial piece inspired by my girlfriend, who loved to go fishing with her father who sadly passed away.

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A piece inspired by my own experiences with impacted wisdom teeth.

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developing a piece using Joseph Cornell’s method

I wanted to emphasise the message within the piece by giving the ‘Bad Decisions’ and skull illustrations more focus, as they stand out to the viewer.

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I created this piece due to a memory my girlfriend told me about, where she got hit in the face with a swing and got two black eyes and a broken nose.

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This design was created for me and my mother actually intending to get this design, due to the fact we remember seeing the seals on holiday together in Ravenscar.

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Developing a piece of work about a zombie cabbage patch baby , due to a memory I got told of my girlfriend losing her favourite cabbage patch doll to find it buried in the allotment months later.

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Drawn to due memories of keeping bulldogs in childhood.