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Street Photography From Around London, During Gallery Visits. Taken With My Phone's 20.7MP Camera.

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Prints From My Coventry Gargoyle Figurehead Painting I Did During Six Form. Printing Method Is Intaglio Etching Which I Recently Learned At University With Simon Harris & Laura Onions. I Really Enjoyed Etching & I Plan On Producing More Throughout This Year.

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One Of My Favourite Work From The Tate Modern. By Bruce Nauman. Violins, Violence and Silence 1981-2. #wsafoundation #tatemodern

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Screenprint Workshop 27/11/17 - 11/12/17

For the printing workshop I decided to use one of collage for the print, as it could make an interesting and exceptional unique print. For my Bitmap I used 21 Halftone so that the dots are smaller and won’t the print too complex. I did have other designs which were based on landmarks of my hometown Nice and also some from Lyon to relate to the new theme in Identity which was Location. Although my print doesn’t seem like it relates to a location the photographs I took to create the collage are from the old industrial sign around the School of Art. 

Before I could start print John told me to mark out the areas I want in white, and we both agreed on having the word ‘STAR’ and the tears in white will have a great impact on the print. For the colours I decided to use Florescent Blue & Red to create a neon effect overall, it was the first time according to John that someone tried to blend both colours so we didn’t know what to expect for the final outcome. Overall I really like how my prints turn out as the blend turn out better than I expected as both colours blend together in harmony. The white really stands out just like I wanted it and the black to finish off the print completes the print marvellously. Overall I would like to do more prints blending different colours again and see what come from it, the printing workshop has been my favourite out the three workshop we had this year as it is something I’ve always wanted to do since Six Form but never got the chance to did.

(Sorry for the bad quality photo of print I could do any better, I took this at the last minute when it was stuck in my sketchbook)

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Ceramic Workshop With Paul

On the last two weeks before the end of the first semester Julia set up a workshop with Paul to teach us different techniques in ceramics. At the start we got so clay and was told to make a bowl shape afterwards, Paul showed use how to the extractor next to the roller to get long piece of clay. You had to select the mould you wanted which was then placed in the extractor, then you will place your piece of clay in and would push the clay in to get your shape. For this Paul made long tubes for us to build our bowls up. 

We then left the clay to dry to work with for next week. On the last week we added colour to them by cutting different pattern on newspaper which we then stuck on the bowls/vase using water then used coloured slip to paint other it. We then used an hairdryer to dry the slip and then pulled off the newspaper. For my bowl I used various abstract patterns from the likes of Kandinsky. My designs were really fine and delicate so I had to be careful and remember where I placed them when I was adding the slip in order to pull them away easily without any trouble.

Overall I think this workshop was suitable and great to have as they didn’t get around to teach us this during our workshop tutorials on Wednesdays. I really like the outcome of my bowl and it was interesting to see what other people were able to produce, not all of made bowls some made pots, boats, vases and a hash-tray. In the future I hope we get more of these and it will help to introduce us to new techniques and procedures in art, but hopefully they are different to our normal tutorial rotations.

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Typography

We were given a task to go around the School of Art & Media Block and look for Typography in which we took photos of various types of typography in the block. We were then given a Lecture on Kurt Schwitters and Tracy Emin. We were ask to create a collage using our photos we had gather. 

I mostly preferred working in Kurt Schwitters style as I had in the past in various units in Six Form. For my first collage I decided to go for a Black & White Collage with a little bit of colour emerging from the collage. I also teared the paper slow and was more careful with it so I can achieve a white border around it which can also been seen in all throughout all three collages. For the second collage I did the opposite to the first collage and decided to use colour all around but, had Black & White photo to complete a photo if they were the same and also to have to make it more interesting to look at. I also used Burgundy card paper for the collage to have a different surface texture and to also have big block of colour to make the collage more interesting. For the last collage I used various types of text from the rest of the photos I had gathered. I also printed the photos in different sizes for me to work with so there is a difference in size and scale between the text. Also for this I used a mixture of Black & White and colour, photos to compete the collage. The photos I mainly used for the three collages are for the old sign on the third, fourth and fifth floor in the build and other posters and signs around the building. 

I before I started the collages I would plan on how I want it to look and which photograph I would be using for each one, so I know what I wanted to achieve and the end of it. But most of the time the final outcome if totally different to the plan I created for the collage, this is mostly because while working I would find that most of the things looks better and more interesting then I previously planned. Kurt Schwitters wasn’t the only artist I used for this I also did some research on Raymond Hains, Jacques Villglés and recently Mark Bradford.

I also plan on working on a bigger scale using different techniques such a Image Maker and Décollage to achieve my piece.

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Ceramics Workshop Week 1-3   09/10/17 - 23/10/17

In the first week of the ceramic workshop we talk about the environment we will be working in and the techniques we will be using in the upcoming weeks. We then made maquettes for our slab building which can be seen in my previous post. We were also told to do some sketches on designs we wanted on clay and to bring things to add texture on the clay. Being interested in Norse/Viking Mythology I spent my time on various designs I could produce looking at runes and norse knots, which I’am still producing and exploring. On the second week was introduced to Latex, Colour Slip and Pressing On Clay. For Latex I produced various patterns that were not related to my theme as I wanted to practice with the Latex and I new to this techniques and wanted more time before I went and started doing something like knots ion clay which I will need have a steady hand to them. But I was pleased with the outcome of the latex piece and I will probably go back to do one with the norse knots. 

For Pressing On Clay we taught to use different coloured clay which we could cut in different shapes to create a design. For this the theme was waves in which I cut the clay into swirls to be pressed on. Not knowing if I was using the right clay for this the swirls didn’t press into the clay properly compared to others work on this. But I think did as work in my favour although it didn’t go the way I wanted it to, the piece looks very interesting and the texture to especially when glazed the colours stand out. I used the yellow as my base to represent the sand and the blue for the waves and the grey for the depth of the ocean, as you go deeper into the oceans it gets darker. For the next piece the theme was runes in which I produced various runes, in these piece they are randomly put in as I didn’t have the alphabet out to know what each symbol means but I drew what I could what I could remember with the colour slip. I then produced various patterns using the colour slip to finish the piece. Out of the 5 pieces of clay I produced this is one of my favourite piece.

For the last week we was told to produce designs that we wanted to engrave into clay and produce more designs we wanted for slab-building, as on the last week of the workshop we were going to work with engraving and slab-building. At this point I didn’t produce the dragon norse knots. So for the engraving I decided to do a mixture of norse symbolism working with knots and runes. For this the dragon was hard to produce as I had to use the edge of the loop tool to thin line which then be engraved to has I didn’t want the line to thick and the design too big. I did the same for the runes and designs which is why some of them can hardly been seen. I like working with engraving and would like to work with it more if I have the time. For slab-building I didn't have enough time to produce a piece and also the first attempt I had at it the clay was to hard for me to work with as it was to dry, as I was cutting the piece that were necessary for my design and the piece I had cut started to crack when I was using them due to them being to dry. Next time I would speak to Pip about my design as she could give me some guidance on how to produce it. The design I was trying to do was helix design I did for my maquette.

I was glad to work with clay again as there was still new things that I could explore and work with which I didn't get to in the past. I also felt comfortable using clay as I used it in the past for my BTEC Unit in Year 10 and Six Form for African Masks and Animal Heads.

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Tuesday - 31/10/17 - Abstract Art, Kandinsky

On Tuesday we had a lecture on Abstract Art and Julia introduced us to Kandinsky which most of us knew about. We analysed his work by trying to decipher what we could see in his paintings to understand what they were about. We also had a look his book called Sounds (1913) which contains woodcut prints, poems and typography. We also learned that it was believed that Kandinsky had synaesthesia which is the individual is able to join objects such as letters, shapes, numbers or people's names with a sensory perception such as smell, color or flavour, which perceived as if by one or more additional senses such as sight. He also combined music with painting. He recalls hearing a strange hissing noise when mixing colours in his paintbox as a child.

After the lecture we were then asked to make our type of abstract art based our selfs, starting by drawing different lines or forms using charcoal and graphite. For this I produced a range of lines, circles and crosshatch in different sizes I based this mostly of I did in the past and what Kandinsky mostly included in is works. We were then asked to collect texture, I used the radiator and the wall in the corridor for this. I started off by going by putting less pressure at the start and then applied more pressure to get a different outcomes. We then cut them out to make a collage or if you wanted to a mask. For the first collage I made a range of shapes by cutting out different sized circles and triangle and also fold paper in a diamond shape and also ripped paper. I first tried different types of combinations be deciding on the final outcome. I felt like this worked well as the different types of shapes I made seem to join up at some point also combining the two different piece of work well as the first one was light and delicate and the other was rough and combined together make an interesting piece of work. For the second collage I did the same but added colour by using inks. I used my brush to splat the ink so it spreads in parts of the collage and also make rings by using their lids as when opened contained a lot of ink. I used the fingerprint as the ink got on my fingers when I opened them and the first time it happened by accident look great so I decided to do more of them.

Back in secondary school in Year 7 we did an exercise on synaesthesia, our art teacher at the time gave us a plain piece of paper and a range of colours to use, she then played different types of music and we then had to draw what we could see or what colours we can associate with the music. After each song we look at each others work we had done we could see that everyone had a different perspective on the music played as we could see that people used different colours and drew different figures and some people only had lines. The music played as generated different emotions which Kandinsky most used as most of his works look very expressive.

I personal like Kandinsky having used him many times in the past for Art and Photography as a source of inspiration. I would mostly look at his Composition series when working, as they contain a lot of detail which makes it interesting to look at and the style is very expressive and also are they are probably my favourite series from Kandinsky. I’ve use is Composition for my Photography A-Level in Six Form looking at Street Photography, I would make stencils using the different types of line and shape and used them for sketchbook work on portraits and buildings. I also created a final piece using image transferring technique which allows to transfer your work on any surface, which I did for MDF. I then use different types of spray paint and used the stencils I’ve made to create a composition. I have also tape to create thick lines in certain ares. The piece I create is one of my Art/Photography teacher’s favourite piece of work I’ve made.

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30/10/17 Lecture on Writing In Art

On Monday the editor of Black Country Arts Foundry, Louise Palfreyman delivered to our class a lecture about writing in relation to art, in which we explored the artist vs the critic and the artist as the critic. We started off the lecture dicussing the role of writing with Art & Design and considered the places we read about art, the modes of recording our own artist process that we currently use, and where does and could our writing/recording appear. In which we found out that most of use the same recording/writing process and they can mostly be found in on our blogs and sketchbook. 

We then explored and discussed the role of the Traditional Art Critic, versus the Artist-Critic. We found that if the artist is the critic of their own work, the information is coming direct from a reliable source, without needing the intelligent speculation of a art critic. Having critics on your work by others is always to have as it starts a open or written discussion about your work. We then discussed what platform we can self-publish our own writing about our art. In which spoke about Tumblr, Instagram, Wordpress etc. We also talk about Interviews and Q&As and spoke about how they are useful for artists as it also others to comment or ask about their work and also allows us to comment on the work of others.

We were then split into twos and was asked to write down three questions that we would ask out partner about art: a work in progress, general observation or their inspiration. During this task I was working with Edward and asked him the following;

W: What inspires you in art and what drives you to create a piece of work?         E: Mainly Pop Art and Art Deco with there boldness in colour and lines. This is transformed into my own work. But I tend to also connect artists like Thomas Romain and Shepard who are quite delicate.

W: What art paths are you thinking of taking in the future?                                   E: I am not 100% sure how I want to advance my artistic career. I quite enjoy Illustration, Graphics and Fine Art to name a few. I have also looked at Textiles. Where ever I take my career, I would like to continue with character designing.

W: What sort of techniques do you work with and practice with to create your work?                                                                                                                    E: I tend to experiment with medias. This can range from Painting to Fabrics. I have also looked at Digital Drawing. If I have to choose my favourite medium, I would have to say the effects that felt pen create. The interesting marks and blocks by ink (Promakers and Chameleon Pen mainly).

Overall I thought that the lecture was very useful as it gave us more confidence to write about our work in our blogs and to look for another platform where we can write about our work such as create a Wordpress Blog, Facebook Page or a profession Instagram Page. Having a professional Instagram Page already where I then to post most of my personal artworks I could also start posting what work I do a university to create a bigger and more interesting online portfolio. Louise also asked used to submit some of our work to https://blackcountryartsfoundry.wordpress.com which can then be published into a journal in 2018 which most of really like the idea as it is great opportunity as an art student to have your work published in a journal at a young age.

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Photoshop Workshop Tutorial 16/10/17

This was another manipulation I did last week using my fossil drawing. Using the Magic Wand I selected parts of my fossil I wanted to edit and then use then used the Ajustement Tools to create a new vibrant and colourful representation of the original drawing which was originally done as tonal drawing.

I personally like the bottom left and the top right as they are vibrant and colourful as the colours stand out especially in the bottom left, they also almost look like screen prints as the colours overlay each other in a block style.

The other I still like as they were the main inspiration for the poster manipulation as I working on these I was thinking about photography effect called ‘Colour Splash’ which I’m familiar with. This effect is done by having parts of the photograph are in colour and the rest in Black & White. Which I then decided to incorporate in the poster as it will have a bigger impact on the photograph.

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Wednesday Workshop Session 1 - On the 11th of October we started our workshops and we were split into 3 groups. Group A was doing Printing, Group B was doing 3D and Group C was doing Drawing. Being in Group B we were told that we were working with Clay with Pip and we went around looking at what previous students have done using clay and some of their design and final outcomes of their products were interesting and the story being it was too.

Were then told to design some forms using photocopies of our collage and different types of paper. Looking at some of the geometric forms others had produced before I decided to tried and play with that idea, the first design I made using my first collage almost looks like an helix which is used to represent DNA which I found worked really well with the Identity theme we were given at the start of the semester. 

The second design I based around spirals which I based around my knowledge in art is constantly growing as I’m learning new things about my self as an artist and new things about art everyday. I used the shape of the curve which remains fixed but its size grows in a geometric progression to represent this in my design.

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Collage Board 3 - About Me

This board is about me and my interests. In the centre you have my mother and father, my date of birth and birth location. There is also a picture of my hometown Nice, next to the photo of my father. In the top right corner you have images of sports that I watch and teams I support. The sports out of the 3 that stands out for me is Formula 1 as me and my brothers watched it together when we were kids with our father and still do to this day. The left centre is about my favourite movies and tv show, and also my favourite games that I’ve played. 

In the bottom left corner is my favourite quote from the movie Gladiator which is "What we do in life echoes in eternity." 

At the top is about the type of music I listen to and the music artists or bands I listen too. I used music notes to represent music as it is interesting to work with and to make a composition with. Music also helps me focus and block my surroundings when I’m working and helps me through tough times. In the bottom left you can see runes which are based on Norse Mythology which I really like and became interested in after the Vikings tv show. They also have interesting tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition. And finally in the background are drawings from my own personal study on natural forms which I used to represent my interest in art.

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Photoshop Workshop - I change the original image to Black & White to have a different in Contrast and in the outcome of the image manipulation as I knew what I wanted to do. I then uses the Magic Wand to select parts of the poster I wanted to manipulate. After I had selected the part I want I created a Layer Mask. I then added a colour fill background added a Clipping Mask. To do a new one I had to copy the original image to repeat the process. After I was done I use the Adjustment tools to make the Black & Filter darker and the Colour Fill Layers more Vibrant and stand out. I really like this outcome as the colours stand out well against the Black & White, also it is interesting to look at and there are various possibilities and outcomes that can be made to the image.

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Induction Day - Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Exhibition Sketches

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Collage Board 2 - Family & Friends

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Collage Board 1 - My Journey & Influences In Art