Fine Art workshop week 3 ( Continued); Print making.

 

Similar to the First week, we were asked to construct an image of a setup displayed in front of us, without the aid of a pencil. However this time, we were to print make ( Print making being imprinting with objects other than a paintbrush). Some examples of objects I used were a comb, spoon, corrugated cardboard, Heart shaped biscuit cutter, a sponge etc. 

 

Again, I personally didn't enjoy this task as much as others, as I prefer to use a pencil, but once I had added background I really managed to get into blending the colours together , and being quite expressionist with it. I used quite rustic colours especially at the bottom, and kept layering colours over one another to build some depth.

some areas didn't work out how I wanted them too, for example the top right corner; The colours blended together and didn't show much texture, which wasn't what I wanted. To improve I could've been a little thicker with the colours. Nevertheless, I like the way the typewriter came out; I Used corrugated cardboard and spoons and began to layer colours over one another to create a more 3d effect. The end result made it appear as if I had screen printed it, Which I liked as the black and yellow really contrasted.

Behind the actual set up was a pink tablecloth. In my watercolour version (displayed below) I really paid attention to the cloth, however in this piece I wanted it to blend into the background a little and not show so much interest. To do this, I just added a quick sweep of pink paint with a sponge, and scraped some yellow in using a comb, to highlight.

Overall I did enjoy this towards the end, however I wouldn't chose doing this all the time.

 

 

 

Fine art workshop week three; Painting from setups.

Similar to week one in the workshop, We were asked to paint a study without the aid of a pencil, however this time we painted in water colour. Using a similar setup to week one also, we sketched out the outline of the study, aiming to fill the whole page, with a paintbrush then filled everything in. I aimed to use bright colours to make certain areas stand out, such as the pink table cloth and the dog. After painting everything We had a fine liner to sketch in any extra detail; for example, I made the feathers more defined by adding wisps with short strokes of the pen. I also defined the skull by blending the pen afterwards with some more water.

To make it appear more realistic I added a darker pink in areas of the tablecloth where it curved around the box underneath.

I would say I was influenced by Henri Matisse also in this painting, as I used the bright colour scheme he used in his work. I also aimed to be more imprecise with my lines. Like Matisse, his work is full of expression and that is what I aimed to create. Personally I enjoy to be more precise and use a pencil when sketching, but nevertheless I enjoyed doing something out of the ordinary.

Fine Art workshop week Two; drawing collections from a study.

 In week two of four in the fine art workshop, we began to look at collections. We looked at an artist called Lisa Milroy; fortunately I had done a study on her before So I knew a fair bit about her work and materials used to create it. Milroy paints collections of things in neat rows, such as shoes and dresses, and also food. Her work is bright, and really stands out, she makes boring everyday objects appear more interesting by using mainly primary colours to make them stand out.

 

Around the room, were different set ups, similar to the work of Lisa Milroy, for example; There were Various shells lined up, Some skulls and antlers, pencil sharpeners and three mannequins, the one of which I chose. We were asked to tonally shade the set up in front of us the best we could.

 

I began by drawing the outline of the three mannequins, each one being slightly different in shape and size, and then shaded the inside. I experimented by using different pencils, from 3H to 5B, and used crosshatching in the inside of the mannequin to create an effect that looked more like material. I used darker pencils for the stand to make it look more soft and smooth like wood, and lighter pencils for the top to create thinner more precise lines. I drew the lines in different directions to give it a 3d view. Overall I enjoyed week two as it is more effective to draw form a setup, than it is to draw from a picture or screen.

 

Ceramics workshop week four; Finished pieces, painting and glazing.

These are all of my finished pieces in the ceramics workshop. As mentioned I was waiting to upload these after everything had been glazed and finished. From over the four weeks in ceramics we made Tiles,  Buttons and bugs ( and with some left over clay in the first week from the extruder, I made a pot, As shown in the top left). I like the effect the glaze has given to my pieces, as it really makes the colours stand out. After being firstly heated in the bisque, The pieces were then painted, glazed and fired again.

 

The Butterfly tile, pot and lion button were all heated in the gas kiln, as they were painted using different inks (Oxides), each one made of different chemicals, so the heat from the gas caused them to react and change colour. However, everything else had been glazed and painted with regular ceramic paint, which is like acrylic.

Close study project; drawing still life from home.

For the beginning of our Close study project, we were asked to draw a kitchen cupboard. I began by looking at my cupboard (I chose the nice cupboard because It looked neater than the rest!) and started drawing out the depth and width of each shelf. I drew using pencils from 4H to 6B, so I have a wide variety of densities of pencil. I made sure to focus of the light hitting each object in the cupboard, and achieved this by using an eraser to rub out any highlighted areas.

However, I also used a darker pencil to focus on the Shaded areas of the cupboard, as I drew in normal daytime so there wasn't much light around, nor was it especially dark. When doing the reflection of the glasses in the glass shelf, I used a much lighter pencil to create exactly what I did with the glasses, but on a lighter scale.

I like that I have included a range of tones in the drawing, and I enjoyed drawing it; being able to use different pencils to show different light.

To improve I could have worked harder on the proportions of the plates, especially the jug in the bottom corner, and I could have also worked a little more on the glasses in the top corner. However overall I am happy with my piece.

Below I included a photograph of the setup I worked from.

Fine art workshop week one; painting in the style of Henry Matisse.

In the second part of our lesson , We began by stretching a board, and using the same setup as before, we painted the setup, using inspiration from Henri Matisse's work.

As you can see, Matisse's painting style is very bright  and quite fast; he was an Impressionist and Fauvist, and if you look closely into Matisse's work you can see the paint is very thick and messy. To create his style, we were only allowed to use the three primary colours, beginning with blue. With no help of pencil lines, it was all very imprecise, something I'm not fond of, although I did have a good go, and by the end really got into it! Using the blue we drew the outlines, and then worked in with yellow, and then finally red. Our aim was to be quick and to fill the whole page with colour. After using these colours we were allowed white, to dim down some of the sections so it wasn't all full on. My favourite part of the painting is the skull in the corner, I really paid attention to the shading on the corners of the skull. Personally, I wouldn't chose doing this again, although I did enjoy working with this style further to the end.

Fine Art workshop week one; Still Life study in pen and water.

 Our recent project is in the Fine art workshops, where we have been asked to do studies of still life, landscapes and portraits. In our first week we have been studying still life, and were put around a large setup, and asked to study it. In the first part of the lesson we drew the study in pen (sketched out briefly to begin) and then added water. The water makes the pen blend a little better, as it seeps into the paper and disperses, giving quite a rough effect. I enjoyed doing this as  found that the more water you add to the page, the paler the pen showed up, and was interesting to create different effects. As you can see in my piece of work, I added more fine liner in certain areas to create shading, and splashed some water on (especially near the top) to really make the pen blend out into the paper.

To improve my work I would probably add more detail into the right section, and maybe add more into the piece overall.

Ceramics workshop week three; tile making

In week three out of four in the textiles workshop, we made tiles out of clay. we rolled out the clay evenly, around 5mm thick, and placed it onto a board, cutting around a square template, so the clay did not stick to the table, and wouldn't be tricky to take off, ruining our piece. I took some inspiration from William Morris' work When creating my first piece (the Flowers). I wanted to create a contrast with my second piece and made a tree, sticking pieces of extra clay on to make leaves. When painting the pieces (in week four) I made my first piece bright like day and the second warm like evening. My third piece I wanted to show nature in a different way so made a butterfly, and stuck extra pieces on, cutting into them to make flowers. To improve on the tiles, I could have used a wider variety of materials to made texture such a textured rolling pins and cutters. I also could have added more 3D pieces instead of mainly etching into the clay.

 

In the fourth week we painted everything, My pieces are waiting to be glossed so will post those at a later date! 

(More pieces of my tile work, before and after being painted.)

I couldn't post all the painted pieces as they are covered in gloss so as mentioned I will post everything at a later date.