I began my project, by making a mind-map of words associated with the Tour de France. I wanted to be creative, so using a secondary sourced image of a wheel I placed the wheels around the spokes, to look asif they were moving, and if you span the wheel, when it stopped you would have a word relating to the tour. Also, it gave me some keywords to help plan out my project, and know what different aspects of the tour I can make sheets on.
I went to watch the tour on the second day (photographs will be posted shortly), and
seeing as the tour rode past my home town, I thought I would dedicate a page to it. I chose this photo, as it perfectly showed the atmosphere surrounding me at that time. It was just before the riders came past so all was calm, and the weather was bright which gave a pleasant atmosphere to the day. I painted the photograph in water colours, and tried to be quite loose and sketchy, as if the people were moving in the photo. I like the effect it gave, and I also added some fine liner to define areas. I found a map of my home town, and added some sequins in the route the riders were going. I wanted to add some texture to the flat image, some contrast.
The first artist I researched was Eliza Southwood, whom I found in the Civic in Barnsley. I really love the bright colours she uses, and I made my own interpretation of her work using a variety of printing methods. I etched into some acetate using a scribe, and printed using the printing wheel, which didn't work as I planned. I used the wrong printing inks which resulted in the print being very faint, something which I shall work on next time, and remember to check my past work to help me how to do it. I must also use more force when using the scribe to create a deeper mark. Southwood is an illustrator from Bath, who bases her work on cycling, and has created prints for many magazines and companies. Her work has a very modern, almost pop art touch to it, especially with the bright colour scheme. She also limits her colours, as majority are prints, which I feel really helps to bring he scenes together, and really set the mood at the time she created it.
I wanted to try something a little out of what I would normally produce, so I used my textiles skills from the workshops I participated in last year, and created a stencil in the shape of a tyre track. I used a cutting mat and scalpel to cut out the small pieces (which proved to be difficult!). I then printed the stencil, firstly dabbing paint through the gaps to appear as if I had rolled a wheel onto it; the outcome was very precise, and bold. However, I then painted directly onto the stencil, and printed it straight onto the paper to great an opposite effect. This came out rough and a lot looser than the first time, which I really liked, it made the tracks appear as if they were moving, as it is quite blurred. I feel as though I could have improved by adding colour in to my work, maybe overlapping some colour to give some more dimension.
I wanted to specialise my project on muscles, so I began to look into the muscles that are mainly used by cyclists. Using a mixture of water colour and white acrylic I Painted each leg, using secondary sourced images. I added pencil crayon to my studies, because I could then add in he definition in which I couldn't with the watercolour. I am pleased with my work, as I really managed to get the definition on the lower leg. I feel each piece really stands out. I added some fruit and leaf printed paper underneath, to link in with the natural theme. Using previous biology and physical knowledge, I included the names of each muscle that are more predominantly worked when the cyclist rides. I feel to improve I could have done some further studies in other materials, maybe in oil pastel to do some abstract based studies, or maybe in collage for some texture. I could also have done some close ups of the muscle membrane. The materials I used however were effective in what I wanted to show.
As previously mentioned, I went to watch the tour on the second day, and I took photographs. I printed some out and stuck them into my sketchbook. Due to the printing inks, my images were very smudged so I had to spray hairspray to prevent them from further smudging. Because of this accident, I thought I would draw over one of the photos, of me and my sister. We went to watch the tour together, and being sisters reminds me of our childhood. I thought drawing over the faces would produce a child-like effect, which made not only my photograph more visible, but remind me of my sister. I painted a watercolor study of one of the riders, really trying to get the highlights in his jacket, to give the effect of lycra. I used my finger to smudge the paint to look as if he was moving. Although messy it turned out well, and I feel I gave good definition out the sides of his limbs, where the sun was shining, as it was very warm. I maybe could have included some secondary sources into my sheet, however I found a photograph of a rider from a tour de france in the 1960s, from a flyer advertising an event linked to the tour. I added it to my sheet to show the contrast between the uniforms and how it has progressed in this time, using better technology and materials, so that the uniform is durable in all weather conditions and able to be flexible when the riders are in motion.
For my second artist, I chose Andy Scullion; an illustrator and graphic designer from Nottingham. I included information about the artist in my sketchbook, and incorporated my annotations into my work, to make it blend a little better rather than be next to my work. I love the way Scullion presents his work, especially with the colours he uses; the pastels really give off a friendly vibe. To create his work I produced one study using pencil crayon, which really paid off as pencil crayon can be used subtly, which is soft like Scullion's work. The second I used fine liner and watercolor, which I thought was quite messy, although compared to Scullions work it looks pretty similar as the colours are flat, as Scullions work is graphically produced. I should have used some secondary sources to mix it up a little, and show what I was working from.
My third artist is Mauro Pezzotta, an Italian photographer. As I wanted to base my project on muscles and the body, I looked briefly at diet, and found an artist who based their work on food and transport. Despite bicycles, a lot of vans and floats were used in the parade before the cyclists arrived, which is how my artist links in. I interpreted two of her pieces, one being a car, which I showed my drawing skills and used coloured pencils. I could really show the definition of the vegetables using pencil, rather than paint. I used lighter colours for highlighting as I presume the photograph was taken under white lights, so I used the yellow in the background to really being out the green. My second study was done using various materials. Over a patterned background I had attained, of cylindrical flowers which look like wheels. Using a mixture of magazine, coloured paper, tissue paper and colouring crayon I cut and stuck together to look like vegetables. I scrunched the green magazine to look like beans, and then to make the oranges I used orange coloured paper, which was worn so had a rough appearance. I then stuck on some tissue paper to make the orange pulp, and coloured over in crayon. Crayon is very thick, so gave texture, unlike using coloured pencil which is less pigmented.
To begin my development, I produced a sheet linked to everything I created in my sketchbook. I Added the coloured wheels as they were an experiment done in my book, although the previous time was done with puffy paint. After not being a success, I used regular ink instead, as it is just as pigmented. As I looked into muscles I added some more muscles used by cyclists, being the back muscles and the inside of a muscle, which were painted in watercolour and pencil crayon like the ones in my book. However the muscle inside was done in oil pastel; I chose oil pastel because it is something I rarely use and wanted to try and increase my skills. I reprinted an Eliza Southwood stencil I made previously, just so that I had a variety of processes on my sheet, rather than just painting and drawing. The inside of the bike is also a tyre track stencil I cut out. I had some coloured papers, which I had used in my andy scullion page as I thought they had a bike like feel to them, however this time I drew over the circles with a fine liner to make the look like bike wheels. I did this just to draw it in a little bit and link better to the rest of the wheel-based outcomes. Overall I am pleased with my outcome, however if I was to change anything I would make the colours scheme match better as everything is a little mixed up, compared to my development sheet two (Displayed below), which teams together a lot better.
Once again taking snippets from my sketchbook work, I created my second development sheet, based on muscles and movement. I took the muscle drawing of a lower leg and enlarged it, using the same technique as I had previously. I used the same technique as I felt it turned out really well last time, and I created the same effect on another part of the body; the shoulder. I was really pleased with this outcome, as I layered the paint to make more pigment ,and again colored over in pencil, where I could really add in detail, especially into the veins. I used the same technique when painting my wheels. I wanted to incorporated muscles in any way I could, so I coloured the spokes in the colours I used to paint the muscles. I felt it matched with the rest of my work. To mix things up a bit I thought I would try some illustration, and created a man made of vegetables. I soon realized the man was running and not cycling, which doesn't link into the tour de France, however it is made of fruit and is to do with health, so you could say it still links in. I used coloured fine liners and coloured pencil to blend the liner in. I think it made a nice contrast to the rest of my work, as it is sketchy and loose whereas the muscle studies are detailed. I made a stencil of a foot, and printed it around the page. I don't think it fits in very well, as it stands out too much, to improve I could have printed it in a different colour maybe, or made the stencil smaller so it was less visible. Overall I am happy with my page.
I based my first artist research page on Andy Scullion, as he was my favourite artist out of the three I researched. Reason being because I feel his work gave off a happy calm vibe, compared to Southwood and Pezzotta as their work is bright, but has a less eerie vibe in my opinion. I used various techniques in this sheet, including sewing, printing and painting. I sewed along the outline. I then cut out some blue iridescent material and some red material and sewed them to make the union jack flag. I am pleased with my outcome, although the quality of my thread was weak, so to improve I could have used some better thread. Trish Wright, mum, said "I love how you have presented your work; I love how you have incorporated your own style into his work, but have still produced your work how he would.'' I do feel as though I added my own touch to Scullion's wok, as previously mentioned so agree with what Trish has said.
For my second artist research page, I chose Eliza Southwood. After already completing a page on her work I am aware of her background and how she produces her work. I took the stencil I used before and printed a couple onto my sheet. However I had not pressed my stencil own firmly enough which made my print very messy. However, to improve it I reprinted over the top with another colour and made sure to press down firmly on the edges. Despite the blip I was really pleased with my outcome, because the foundation colour created a kind-of shadow, and brought some dimension to the print rather than it being one flat colour, which was effective. I cut out some tissue paper buildings, which I took from a few of Southwood's paintings, and added them in a collage style in the corner. The buildings represent Yorkshire in my eyes and the industrial revolution, especially Sheffield for its steel, hence why I wanted to incorporate it into my sheet. Using gouache, I worked into one of Southwood screen prints (names of her pints are not displayed on her website). I followed it on, and I feel I matched the colours quite well. I used gouache as it is thick and matte like her screen print, compared to other paint which has a shiny look to it, or oil pastels which are grainy. To differentiate from using paint I sketched a cyclists leg with biro, which contrasted nicely to the rest of my sheet. I also made some wheels out of tissue paper and water colour using the same colour scheme. Overall I am pleased with my sheet. Compared to my Andy Scullion sheet I have a lot more components included, and is packed whereas my Scullion sheet is simpler. I am pleased with both sheets however. Everything flows nicely, especially the rider in the center, which I painted in acrylic. I painted a road curving round the sheet, to look as if he has just rode past. The acrylic worked well, however I added my own streak by shading n the edges with coloured pencil. I am aware that Southwood's work is screen printed and is flat, but I wanted to bring some life to my studies.
We were asked to produce three final paintings in the style of one of our chosen artists. I chose Eliza Southwood because I loved her style and thought it would be easier and more effective to create her style. I didn't use Andy Scullion as he is an illustrator and doesn't have as much to work from as Southwood does.
