Drawing with different methods

Today we were looking at using experimental drawing techniques. For example, drawing with boot polish, thread, masking tape and paper etc. I'll probably put some pictures of what I did up soon.

One artist who uses experimental media to draw with is Gavin Turk. Here he has used overlapping tea stains to create cylindrical looking forms. I think that this works well as it is reminiscent of woodcut or potato printing and yet it is subverting the genre of what constitutes art. I also like the varying tones of the tea stains as this gives an interesting effect.

Sophie Calle, The Hotel, Room 29

This series intrigues me because it is artwork created by such an unusual process. When people think of art or photography they are unlikely to think of a person elaborately pretending to be something that they are not to gain access to information about people they don't know. In this way creating this series Sophie Calle seems more like a spy or detective than an artist. Also the fact that she was working as a cleaner in order to build up this series and had a role to perform adds an element of performance art.

All of Calle's work that I have seen I find very interesting and original. This may be partly down to the fact that after leaving school she travelled for seven years which may have given her a unique perspective on the world.

I feel like it would be interesting to have a film of her life.

Damien Hirst, This Little Piggy Went to Market, This Little Piggy Stayed at Home

We've moved on to exploring Fine Art now so today we have been looking at some Fine Artists. We've already established that Fine Art can basically be anything as long as there is a concept behind it.

One of the artists we looked at was Damien Hirst. I've never quite been able to understand his 'Natural History' series with the animal suspended in formaldehyde but I think it's clicked more for me today. I realised that it is basically a natural extension of anatomical drawing and could have its links to this. In this way it could be seen to be making a connection between past methods of art and modern ones. People are often shocked by the use of animals in Damien Hirst's work but if you think about it all the great animal painters of the past were experienced in anatomy which involved dissections and such like. For example George Stubbs dissected a lot of horses to be able to do the paintings he did but because the direct result of his work is merely a painting of a live horse and not a real dead animal, people would tend not to think of the fact that animals have died to create that work too.

I don't know if that paragraph makes any sense.

But anyway the concept behind this piece is being in two minds about something. The two cases slide backwards and forwards from each other so sometimes the pig will look whole but at other times in two halves. This definitely builds up an idea of the pull between two different ideas or plans when you can't decide something. However did this concept really require a pig in formaldehyde? I would argue, probably not.

Dawn Dupree

Another artist whose use of colour is important in their work is Dawn Dupree, a textile designer. I like the choice of subdued, muted tones in this piece because it gives a quiet, reflective and quite nostalgic atmosphere. But again there are some spots of warm colour to help balance and lift it. I think this shows that it is important to include both warm and cool colours in a colour palette. I also like this choice of colours because it reminds me of traditional Chinese painting, as well as the prominence of the red sun.

Patrick Heron

We were asked to look at Patrick Heron's work with colour. I think the colours work well in this painting because most of them are warm and complement each other, but there are also elements of cool colours which helps to balance it and add depth. I like that a relatively limited colour palette is used because it stops the colours from looking too overpowering and busy even though the colours are bold.

Colour Work

Yesterday we were working from still lives and experimenting with colour. We tried different drawing techniques like using our left hands, not looking at the paper, and drawing with ink on a stick and masking tape. This gave a very abstract effect. Here is one of the pieces I did.

I like how the colours worked out because they look delicate but vibrant. I think that the different colours and media work well together. I also think the drips from the ink give a good effect.

(It's meant to be a rabbit btw)

Photo edits

 I used one of the photos I took at the weekend and tried out different edits of it to make it look bright and surreal.. Sort of inspired by Timorous Beasties. I like how they turned out because they are very colourful, striking and magical looking. I feel like they could be used as a starting point for some textile or wallpaper design.

Weekend photos

Here are just some random photos I took on an expedition at the weekend.. I don't think these are great art.

Olivier Kugler

I find Olivier Kugler's work interesting because he uses drawing as a form of reportage, when a lot of the time, photography and film would normally be used. The combination of text and image builds up a vivid idea of exactly what it is like in the places he has gone to. There is a lot of information in them and you find out a lot about the people he meets. Because of the use of names and speech bubbles, it makes his work feel very personal to the people he interviews.

Timorous Beasties Wallpaper and Textile Design

 I really love the designs by Timorous Beasties because I think they give a modern twist on old fashioned designs. For example this one is very reminiscent of Toile de Jouy and willow pattern but features scenes from the modern city of London including futuristic buildings like the Gherkin. This makes a very fun and interesting effect.

This one reminds me of Victorian floral wallpaper but the use of acid bright colours and a slightly more disordered design also makes it look modern and different. I think the colour palette has been very carefully considered as the colours all complement each other nicely.

Stefan Sagmeister Graphic Design

For two weeks we are going to be exploring 2D design. There are four disciplines which are Illustration, Graphic Design, Textile Design and Animation. We have been asked to research the work of some artists and designers. Stefan Sagmeister is the first one I researched.

 I like this piece because of the combination of text and image. In fact the image itself is used to create the text using the branches of the trees. I like that there is also a strong message behind the piece about not waiting for the future to be better but to seize the day. This works well as it seems to be an advert for a school of visual arts and it could make the viewer feel like they will be able to immediately improve their future by joining the art school. The way that the tree branches create the text could also catch the eye and appeal to creative people, which shows how it is meeting its target audience.
Although it is an advertisement it could also stand alone as a piece of artwork because the image has been very carefully considered. The message could also be interpreted in lots of different ways depending on the viewer.

 I think this image is interesting because of how Sagmeister has used the unconventional material of a flower to draw his text onto rather than something ordinary like paper. The contrast between the pristine whiteness and neatness of the first image and the wilting and destruction of the second creates a strong visual effect as well as meaning behind it. The first image on its own would seem to be romantic and because it has been been photographed, kept the same way forever, linking with the concept of 'always'. However in the second image the text has been destroyed by the wilting process and the flower is dieing. This gives an idea that actually there is no such thing as 'always' and that nothing lasts forever.


























I like how this piece also uses unconventional materials and the contrast of textures it makes, for example, the rough, brittle straw and the shiny, smooth horses. I also think the choice of colours is good because it gives a very strong look and atmosphere. Again this piece seems to link to the theme of 'always' not lasting forever, because the lettering is made of straw or hay, which the horses are coming towards, and if they were real, the text would soon be eaten and destroyed.

Weekend Work

Over the weekend I decided to develop the themes that I had collected in a collage as part of the scavenger hunt by using them as a basis for a fabric design. Here are some of the pages from my sketchbook (sorry for the really terrible picture quality)~

 My original collage. My general idea when making this was to find yellow things and interesting type, as well as anything else that interested me. I was carrying on with the theme of bananas that I had already been exploring. A lot of the images came from fashion magazines which gave me the idea of creating some patterns for use in a fashion context.

 My initial designs based on the collage.

 I arranged my images into a repeating pattern and experimented with different colour-ways and effects on Photoshop.

I then used some of my ideas on some clothing designs. I quite like how these have turned out because they are very bold, fun and vibrant.

Photos from a rainy Friday

Last Friday I was bored whilst waiting for a bus home and I had my camera with me so I ended up taking some photos. I was feeling nostalgic because it's the route I've been taking home from school every day for the past two years, but now all that has changed..

'Scavenger Hunt' Sketchbook Work

The Scavenger Hunt project involved collecting images in our sketchbook. I tried to use lots of different media to do this. It was good to be able to experiment with different things without worrying too much about neatness and perfection.

I don't really like how this page has ended up because I think it looks quite messy and I don't like how the colours work together. But I like how the project has made me experiment with different things to what I would normally do. I think I need to worry less about things looking bad/ not perfect and just concentrate on developing my art and trying to improve.

I think that this page has come out better because although things are still overlapping the composition looks less hectic. Using a narrower colour palette also helps it to look less clashing, and I think the lilac and yellow work well together. I think I'm sometimes wary of using a lot of colours together because it sometimes ends up looking tacky. This is something I want to improve on.

Scavenger Hunt

For our second day at college we were set a one day project where we had to find different things and record them through drawing, photography, words and collecting. We had to collect:

• A piece of type of lettering
• A reflection or shadow
• An interesting corner
• Your lunch
• A face
• Something yellow
• The name of a magazine or journal in the library that you find interesting and why
• The name of a book found using keywords

I took 119 photos yesterday but here are the ones that don't suck too much.

 Something yellow + Lunch

 Something yellow + Lunch

An interesting corner

  My lunch

 Close-up of lunch

 Something yellow + lettering

 Something yellow + lettering

 The magazine I chose

 The book I found using the keywords 'Bill Viola'

 Another interesting corner

 Interesting corner

 Yellow stairs.

 Something yellow + A reflection

 A piece of lettering on the side of a building


I found a yellow house with a yellowish car while I was walking home

 A face

A shadow?

From this project I have learnt that I prefer photography because I find drawing more stressful ^^