Wednesday 29 August 2012

Collage


A self directed collage inspired by Derek Gores.

I watched a few videos on YouTube of Derek Gores' work and wanted to create a monochrome image of a pair of headphones. His work is quite complex, however, he creates smaller, simpler images like a pair of high heels.

This was made up of fashion magazines mainly. For example, the part that would rest on top of your head is made up of shoes etc. The cushions for the ears are made from a black leather bodywarmer in a H&M magazine. 

Size = 15 x 21cm.

Sunday 19 August 2012

Summer Project: Part Two

Part Two of the summer project was an editorial task. 

We were asked to read four different texts, articles that would be found in a newspaper like the Independent. They were to be a rough idea of what it would look like, in a client visual format.

The size of each was 102mm x 104mm


Text One:
An article about how the majority of people are dishonest when it comes to handing in lost items. Statistics showed that people were nosey as opposed to being honest and acting in a Christian way. 

The crossed fingers represent telling lies and the open padlock suggests that what they are saying is not secure, you can't trust them.



Text Two:
Text two was a piece of text based on Richard Branson stating that in order to be successful you must tolerate failure. 

I chose the greek symbol for failure, Icarus, who flew too closely to the sun with wings made of feathers and wax.


Text Three:
This article went on to talk about getting older and how you see yourself mentally being younger than you are, and having a fear of death. It mentions a book in the article, which is about overcoming that fear.

A symbol for overcoming things is hurdles, so I have replaced hurdles with coffins, representing them overcoming the fear of death.


Text Four:
The final text was about 'Schadenfreude'; finding pleasure from other's misfortunes, and enjoying irritating someone who has a different opinion to your own.

The sun is happy because the cloud is sad and raining!

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Summer Project: Part One

The first part of the summer project required us to create at least seven characters that we had designed and created. There were no specific targets, so the characters could be absolutely anything. 

I chose to stick to people because I have always found them challenging. I used mediums and materials I am not as familiar with (as this project gave an opportunity to do so) to look into different techniques and improvise with them. The characters were to be in an appropriate pose.

All are around A4 size because this was the approximate size guide we were given.

All had to be influenced by an artist, so some of my characters have been heavily influenced and others only slightly. 

Below are the characters in the order I created them:


One. Punk.

This was created using Photo Impact (very similar to Photoshop), as I have never really used the computer for creating illustrations, I decided I would try out the software to broaden my ability on it. I enjoyed experimenting and creating this image, perhaps because it is based on something I am interested in. I chose to pick out the main lines by using the 'Contour Drawing' option and changing colours and levels from there.

Artist Influences: Jean Michel Basquiat.



Two. Baby.

I have never attempted to draw a baby before and I imagined them to be quite awkward to draw. Over the summer I obtained a pyrography kit, so I found a piece of plywood around A4 in size and using pencil I created an outline to go by. The kit included different parts that could be attached to the pyrography set in order to create thicker lines or patterns. 

As you can see the lines are quite fragmented because it is difficult to produce an even line as the metal burns the wood as it heats up. I am pleased with the outcome however, and will use this technique in the future. 

Artist Influences: Keith Haring and Otto Seibold.



Three. Old Man.

This was a character I produced as I went along. I just began sketching different types of people and this was one of them. I was thinking about what the posture of an old man could be like and this was the result. 

The colours are very faded and pastel like opposed to fully saturated (colours influenced by Quentin Blake), which symbolises the physical effects of ageing. I used watered down coloured inks (including blue, sepia, green, gold and red). Pencil lines are the only outline. 

Artist Influences: Piero Piluso and Quentin Blake.



Four. Scientist.

This began as a tiny sketch on a piece of yellow paper using a biro pen. I realised my sketches were becoming better than my final images and I wanted to keep the same quality in the final product.

I scanned it into my computer and changed it on Photo Impact and this was the result. Again, I used the contour line option, with a much thinner line to represent the precision of scientists and their work. Some lines are more prominent than others and they are mainly dark grey in colour, which suits the yellow background colour, which I decided to maintain. 

Artist Influences: Phil Wrigglesworth.



Five. Psychiatrist.

This character was inspired by Saul Steinberg's 'Techniques At A Party' (the inspiration for the project itself) as there was a man sat cross-legged in an armchair and I thought it suited what a psychiatrist's pose could be.

I decided to create a collage because this was an area I stepped into during my second year and I felt confident with it and wanted to go further with it. I chose articles from a PostScript magazine and in selected newspapers that were appropriate (images too such as mazes that could symbolise the brain). 

The character himself looks quite strange and perhaps not someone you would want to talk to or confide in. He also possesses an uninviting grin.

Artist Influences: Jim Flora.



Six. Girl.

Again, a character created from random sketches, this time looking more closely at the artist Gary Baseman. 

This was experimenting with collage but using coloured materials this time without text. This has created more space in the image. The sketch I drew at first looks better than this image, so I feel it might look better in black and white. 

I looked closely at how Baseman draws faces, eyes and the background. He spends a lot of time creating a setting for his characters, which I haven't looked at much before now. 

Artist Influences: Gary Baseman.



Seven. Soldier.

Another collage, again showing text.

This was not heavily influenced by an artist, only influenced by the character himself. The text displays reports and articles about the Second World War. This was very much my own design as originally I was going to follow closely to Otto Dix's work and also produce the work in monochrome. However, as I began planning the character this was more what I had in mind. 

Artist Influences: Otto Dix (Soldier and WW2 theme only)