Brushtrokes and Pallet Knives

Continuing with my experimental abstract-style painting, I decided that for my next few paintings I should focus on the different ways I can apply paint to canvas. In my next two paintings I experimented with rough, "choppy" brush strokes and pallet knives, which proved to be rather entertaining. 

Working in this way allowed me to have fun with the paint, applying it spontaneously to the canvas without fear of going too far, like trying to draw inside the lines of a colouring book as a child. Experimenting with different language within art has always been something I have enjoyed, however, I feel that working in an abstract style has changed my approach to painting and released any fears I had about the media previously.

22 x 18" acrylic on canvas.

This painting - shown above - I found harder to work with even though I felt I applied the same brush strokes and techniques involving the pallet knife. However, I managed to get around what I felt was a creative block by turning the canvas 90 degrees every time I began to find it difficult. In some respect, it also created a challenge as it cause me to look at the compositions I was creating from a different a angle, which ultimately enabled me to create lots of different dimensions within the piece.

Close up image.

Though I haven't deployed this tactic with my other recent paintings, on reflection it seems to be something I would like to explore further.

Finger Painting

After collecting lots of ideas over the summer for my upcoming projects, I thought a lot about the ways in which I'd like to execute them, but mostly considering the media I would use. In previous projects I have worked on a small scale; throughout my foundation degree I confined myself to working with collage and drawing in pencil, only allowing myself to incorporate other two-dimensional media occasionally. However, with the start of my BA fine art studies fast approaching, I decided it would be a good idea to break my previous habits and allow myself to create art more freely, without the need to think too much about what it is I am creating.

That was when I considered working in an abstract style - a risky move as I have never particularly practised working in such a way. (I'm assuming that a brief project at A-Level does not quite count.) But to my surprise I was able to completely throw myself into the piece. Without thinking too much about what I was painting, I was able to free my previously tightly controlled ways of working to play with the paint. I say play as I painted the entire piece with my fingers.

It was a complete experiment - I had no intention of liking what I had painted once it was finished, yet I did. But most of all I actually enjoyed the process, which hasn't always been the case when I've previously worked in acrylics. Furthermore, after I had finished this piece I had an urge to carry on, to experiment with different ways of applying paint (which ended up involving pallet knives and experimental brush strokes).

Above: the final outcome. Roughly A3 sized.

Starting Over

And so it would appear that I am a terrible blogger. So terrible in fact, it's almost an art form. But after a year long hiatus I'm prepared to start documenting my work again, though this time I plan on sharing more of my ideas, personal likes and photographs in order to keep an open mind when I do come around to creating artwork.

I've been to quite a few exhibitions, museums and galleries recently, where I took a lot of photographs and managed to squeeze a few sketches in. (Posts to follow.)

Though places such as these with great collections of artwork can be inspirational to my own ideas as a fine art student, I've recently become quite interested in finding inspiration in other avenues, including books, film, wildlife, architecture, ceramics and many more. In addition to this, I've been experimenting with different kinds of crafts, such as sewing, which I hope will help me keep an open mind when drawing inspirations from different places. In doing this, I'm beginning to discover what it is that captures my attention in different art forms, which I'm thinking is something I would like to explore in my upcoming art projects when I start university in September. 

Portrait Practise

I draw this a couple of weeks ago - it's a portrait of a model I saw on my Tumblr dashboard that caught my eye. Her hair is originally a bit darker and her eyes were brown, however I wanted to play with a little more colour. I haven't really drawn anything as well as this before so I'm pretty happy with it!

It isn't part of any projects of mine, it was just a way of keeping me occupied this holiday and building up my personal portfolio.

Disney Sketches

This week I've been having fun drawing Disney characters (well, Peter Pan and Alice) as part of my art project. I'm aware that Alice in Wonderland is over abused so I probably wont use my entire collection of drawings of her in my project but some may be useful. It's been a good way to try out my new set of Faber-Castell pencils I was given especially!

Summer Update

Seeing as I apologise frequently about my lack of consistent updates, I feel no need to start this post with yet another one. (though I do feel slightly guilty for not posting!)

I've finally finished my first year of my foundation degree! It's been an awesome year studying my favourite subject and I'm actually rather excited to start my second. I've achieved satisfying results, though I know I could have worked harder and received higher grades. I guess that's motivation to work even harder when I return in September, especially since it will be the year that counts.

Since my last post I've been to Kurt Schwitters exhibition at the Tate Britain and Ellen Gallagher's at the Tate Modern - I'll have posts on those to follow.

I've also started my fine art project for my second and final year of my foundation degree (a little early, I know) as I wish to keep myself occupied this summer. I only have a few cartoon sketches at the moment but I shall post those also.

And if that's not enough, I have pictures to post of Jonny Craig at The Underworld from just over a month ago.

Easter Holidays

I guess this is a formal apology to anyone who follows my blog about my lack of posts in the past week or so. I've had a lot of written modules to complete and submit recently and so I've been concentrating more on those than any art work that I have planned.

Just as an update; I haven't made any additions to my Fine Art collages since my last post (which was towards the end of March, whoops) but once I have completed my WBL report I should get back to working towards an outcome with them. However, I am currently working on a painting for my SPT module involving symbols. Naturally my fascination with Oriental culture has taken over - I don't want to give too much away before I can post an image of the final piece, but it involves Chinese dragons.

I'll stop being a terrible Fine Artist soon and post some more of my work.

Odd Collages 2

Continuing my experiments with collage, I've created a series using photographs from my childhood that explore memory distortion (my fine art project). Some of them are particularly odd, though I feel the majority of them work and convey my idea well. I paired one photograph I cut up with others - all of this should be apparent, if not, whoops.

These ones are from my "forest collection" which are less scary than the ones I made from my photos of Disneyland. The one below is my most favourite, whether it works well as part of my art project I'm unsure.

Odd Collages

If you have seen my previous posts then you may be aware that I have been experimenting with collage involving my own photographs and images from magazines. I've also been toying with composition, textures, line and materials as a way to incorporate something different to them.

Though simple, I thought that this collage using two of my own photographs (from inside my bedroom window and my front door, both taken accidentally and a very long time ago) was effective in man different ways. I liked the colour combination the photos created together for one element, but I particularly liked the way I positioned the image of the door over the windows and in the centre. The torn effect almost looks like the door is being revealed through the image of the windows, yet this cannot be possible as in the photograph, there is nothing directly outside the window. I like how this plays with the dimensions in images and asks the mind to consider ways that this can or cannot be possible.

This was a spontaneous collage I created to experiment with a lack of colour and what would happen if I added a section of bold colour, in this case, the holographic gold card. I then tried to reflect the angles created in the images I had taken from magazines by outlining them spontaneously in graphite crayon and black marker pen.

Roy Lichtenstein

Today I attended the Roy Lichtenstein exhibition at the Tate Modern in London. I'm an avid believer that it can never be a bad thing to experience things you are unsure of or may not particularly enjoy (at least, when it comes to art any way) as I like to keep an open mind and don't "knock it" before I try whatever it is. "It" in this case, Lichtenstein's art, did not originally appeal to me as his graphic-like canvases are - in texture and technique - simpler than the art I tend to enjoy.

However, I was pleasantly surprised to see such a variety of his work displayed throughout the exhibition. Ceramics dotted in primary colour and glamorous brass sculptures - two things I was most definitely not expecting. And in addition to this, the size of the canvases he produced was just spectacular. 'Interior with Waterlilies' was particularly illuminating; it was such a large canvas and incredibly bright, I actually had to squint a little when I saw it.

Some of Lichtenstein's experimentation with brush strokes and line drawings were also displayed, which I loved instantly. Quite a few of his paintings resembled Cubism (Lichtenstein openly admired Picasso as an artist) which I was instantly drawn to. 'Reflections on Interior with a Girl Drawing' I liked especially, but was most disappointed when I couldn't find a postcard of it. 

Lichtenstein's black and white collection was rather interesting as the form of the compositions became prominent and I thought his take on Chinese art was lovely. 

I didn't think I would be as drawn into the exhibition as I was; needless to say, I am glad I went. Details on the exhibition here for anyone who might be interested.

Experimenting with Collage

As part of my Skills, Process and Technologies workshops I've been experimenting with collage involving images of my own and general ones from magazines that take my fancy. These three practises were taken from a collage I created of images from Elle magazine - the background in the original is plain white, but silly me has forgotten to take photographs of it.

I made many photo copies of my original collage in both colour and black and white and experimented with extra layers, textures, colours and changes to the background. In the first image I cut the entire collage away from paper and applied it to holographic green card. The lighting on the card changes when you view the collage from different angles, making it look as if it has been places on a moving screen. In the second image above, I experimented mainly with drawing and overlay of other collages. This one with in black and white.

In this third image, I cut out simple shapes from a magazine displaying pastel colours and then placed them over shapes previously created in the colour to manipulate its colour. I then highlighted these areas with gold pen.

Ink Studies

I haven't worked in quink ink in so long and I don't believe I realised how much I'd missed it. It's so much more fun to work in as it gives off quite a spontaneous and uncontrollable effect, which I happen to like. These pieces will be used for my fine art project.

Composition Practise

I've been studying my own dreams as part of my fine art project and have been trying to record them visually, which isn't particularly easy. As my dreams are not always vivid, I've been practising drawing them in a way that reflects how vague aspects of them appear to me, whilst other elements are clear and recognisable.

Sketches done in free hand watercolour. Experiments with layering, something I think may be interesting to use in later work.

Life Drawing

Since the start of my foundation degree I have been practising my life drawing skills in workshops and have built up a body of large studies in pencil, ink and oil pastel. I thought it was time to share some of my favourite pieces. 

 

I feel that my most successful studies are the ones I experimented in media with and with composition. Just click the images to see a larger view.

Juergen Teller

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the ICA in London where Juergen Teller's exhibition is currently being held. It was extremely interesting - his collection of photographs displayed on the walls in the "reading room" were strange, graphic, unexpected, yet humanly natural. I highly recommend giving it a visit.

On the same day I also went to the Photographer's Gallery, currently host to the works of many collage artists. I was particularly excited by Peggy Franck and Laura Letinsky's work, both of which have given me inspiration (something I seem to lack recently) for my own art projects. I think I'll be taking another visit soon as I attended both galleries in a group and feel I did not pay the exhibitions as much attention as I could.

Christmas Lights

Now that I have my new camera (thanks to my rather generous parents) I have been able to take some great photos of all the things that my previous camera was never able to focus on. I haven't done much personal work this holiday - though I do have some ideas for my next piece - but here are a couple of photos I've taken that really show off the quality of my new camera.

Click the photos for a larger view.

Print Making

I'm not the biggest fan of print making (probably because I have a tendency to injure myself with lino cutters) but I'm quite pleased with how my most recent prints have turned out. They're not anything spectacular - just something simple to experiment with - but I though it would be nice to show you anyway.

The print is based on a photo of chestnuts (to fit with my project theme of nature).

 

Two colours, two layers (left) two colours, one layer (right).

Blend of blue and purple, one layer.

Light Exposure

I will admit, this isn't a particularly artistic post. However, if you wish to interpret it as a collection displaying my - appalling - photographic skills then be my guest! It is in fact a collection of accidental photographs that I took at Waddesdon Manor with my pretty useless camera. I went to a Christmas carol and mulled wine evening held outside on the Manor grounds and there were a few baton and flame throwers there keeping everyone entertained. Anyway, I managed to get some pretty interesting photographs of the patterns their electric and flame batons made as they twirled them around.

Flame above, electric below. The electric ones came out the best. Also, I'm getting a new camera for Christmas so hopefully in future I'll be able to play around with the exposure more when taking photographs like these.

More Paper Art

After pondering about what I could potentially create using paper, pins and foam board I finally came up with an idea that also related to my project theme of gardening. I got hold of some decorative scrap book paper, cut flower shapes out of it using a stamp (not very imaginative, but I was under a time limit) and assembled it together using the pins. I also created an extra level using another layer of foam board and dusted the finished piece with a little silver glitter and voila, my own paper flower patch!

Below are some more photos taken at closer views so you can get an idea of what the final piece looks like up close. I think I'd like to do more work in this style as I feel it was successful. What do you think?