Graphics

Series of Portraits experimenting with adding constraints to our work.

 

This is a portrait of Charlie, drawn from memory with my eyes closed. I used a black ball point pen.

 







 

Self Portrait drawn in one line, without taking the pencil off the page. I used a Sepia pencil in a dark shade.

A portrait of Deborah drawn with my left hand (non drawing hand). I used a water soluble grey pencil.

 



This is a Portrait of Safiya drawn using a charcoal pencil, with my mouth.

 



 

Portrait of a face made up of smaller faces.

 

Close up, multimedia sketch of small section of collage portrait. I used charcoal, sepia pencil, graphite 2B, watersoluble blue colouring pencil, and biro.

Type

 



 

Our next project was to experiment with type. We started by creating our own types, thinking about using different mediums and ways of depicting the alphabet. I enjoyed this task, however I think that my work lacked creativity as I only using drawing techniques to create the alphabet. If I had more time I would experiment with using sculpture.

 

Alphabet created from scribbles- considered element of chance in creating a font.

A painted depiction of one of my favourite text creation- only used straight lines.

With this font I used coloured inks and blow on them after creating each letter, this left an abstract, beautiful form.

 

Poster

 

Aim: To create a poster of an exhibition of my work in 2033. To create the poster I had to consider what I aspired to be, then appropriate font, images, layout and where it was going to be exhibited. My ambitions are to work in theatre with makeup/hair/prop making. I started by experimenting with various fonts, I wanted a  font that was artistic, theatrical, and eye-catching.

Fonts

Each font is artistic, dramatic and original, but I think the first font I tested is the most appropriate for my poster. It is clear, bold, yet also very ornate and grand.

 

 

Image

 

When choosing an image for the poster I decided to create my own take on Alice in Wonderland, rather than doing a character that is already on stage at the moment. I think that this image was successful in capturing the innocence, anxiety and curiosity of Alice.

 

I then experimented with different mediums for capturing the picture of Alice onto my poster.

 

Layout

The next step was to consider the layout of the image, border and text: Alice in wonderland, Courtenay, and 2033.



 

 

 

I opted for this last layout because I think that there is a good contrast from colour to black and white, it also works to have the words framing the image of Alice.

Final Poster

 

Overall I think my final poster is dynamic and theatrical. I think the contrast between image and font being monochromatic, and the vibrant ink colours in the background, are effective. However I think this poster is a little too busy, the image in the centre should be smaller so that the text does not overlap, and the ink does not spray over the border.

3D Design

Our first project was to create a structure that could hold a litre bottle full of water. We could only use one A1 sheet, of paper, and our arms length of masking tape. I decided to create a six pillared temple design. The centre columns were slightly shorter than the others, this made the top and bottom a wave shape. The idea was to fit the bottle in the groove of the wave. However it did not work as I had planned, instead the bottle was only supported when laying between all six pillars with the heavy end further left!

 

 

The second task was to create a chair out of six large bits of cardboard, and limitless masking tape, that could support our weight. I decided to create a flower shaped design for the body of the stool. This proved very effective for structural support, and I enhanced the strength by folding the 'petals' in on each other to create a heart shape. However I struggled to get a decent seat for the stool and opted for a simple round shape, to create a final flower look. Although not very comfortable it could support my weight, and even the weight of 2 people!

Our next project was to create small bridge designs from A4 sheets of paper and masking tape. The designs had to be creative and original. I had one bridge made from a series of cones I had created, another I made by twisting a slither of paper which resulted in a croissant shaped bridge. The third bridge was made to look like the petals of a flower, and the last was made by interweaving strips of paper.

 



Bridge designs:

 

As groups of 6 we had to create a large bridge spanning 5 metres from one table to another. It had to be higher than 1.3 metres and be able to hold the weight of a remoted controlled car with a width of 23 cm. We could only have a maximum of 2 pillars supporting the bridge by touching the ground. We had a limited number of cardboard sheets to use.

 

 

We opted for an asymmetric shaped bridge, with a peak closer to one end.

 

 

To make the peak of the bridge less sharp we decided to create a suspension function. We had to sew many elastic bands along the sides so that the car did not fall off the bridge. We also had structural supports both above the bridge and below, and only used one point connecting with the ground.

 



 

The final project was to create a structure out of spaghetti that could hold three light balls. The aim was to make the structure creative and original, and as high was possible.

I created miniature structures from crossed spaghetti to hold the balls, and then worked on creating a large structure. I used a lot of glue for support, decoration and grip for holding the balls. The final product is delicate, pretty and meets the criteria.

 



Sketch of complete spaghetti structure.



Tate Modern: Energy and Process Review

 

 

The exhibition Energy and Process uses a divers range of unorthodox sculpting materials; Arte Povera describes the generation of Italian Artists using 'Poor Materials' (no Author, 1980-2). Some of the materials were very industrial but Giuseppe Penone's Trees of 12 Metres uses the organic material of Timber. With this piece he experiments with energy as his tree sculptures are upturned. Penones crafted the tree by carefully chiselling, following the knots and rings in the timber blocks, to recreate a younger tree.

When first viewing this piece I was initially struck with confusion of this gravity defying tree, yet also intrigued, upon closer inspection the viewer realises the tree is not real but has been expertly carved out of wood. Penone really seems to explore the relationship between industry and nature; questions the choice of materials for industrial materials and the environmental impacts. Whilst manufacturers aggressively shape the timber into crude blocks, Penone returns dignity to the tree through intimate, delicate carving and polishing. The reverse process of making a tree from a plank is an intriguing concept. I was also fascinated by the idea of making a tree from a tree.

I also considered the theme of time in this piece. The huge timber tree, with many rings, taking years to have grown, then destroyed to manufacture planks, then the time consuming process of Penone's carving. The cyclic pattern of tree to plank and then back to tree reflects the cyclic patterns in nature and all life. The visible rings and Penones carving exposes a younger version of the tree, so his work seems to convey the lifetime of the trees.

Overall an intriguing thought-provoking sculpture, using unconventional methods and materials to effectively convey a powerful concept.

 

 

 

Sketches of Giuseppe Penone's 'Trees of 12 Metres'







My Timeline

 

 

 

 

I decided to use photography to create my timeline. I chose photography because one week is such a short period of time, yet it was densely packed with emotion and experiences. The first image depicts the first day of work that I did, containing photographs of my possessions and sketches I created. The second photograph contains every photo I took on the trip to the V&A and the Serpentine gallery, with my responses. The final image is a documentation of burying my time capsule. Each photograph is densely layered with multiple photographs, I used the opacity setting and contrast to layer them. Images which signify more emotion to me were enhanced with increased contrast and opacity so they effected the final picture more. I think using photography effectively depicts the short, congested time period of the week. By having 3 photographs signifying different days differentiates between the different experiences. Colour was less effective because it disrupted the final image too much, as the photographs are particularly busy, so black and white was more suitable. It could be improved by using more than 10 images per photograph, this would really add more depth to the photographs.

Research-Blade Runner

 

Whilst watching Blade Runner I considered these themes of the film; memories, emotions, morals, and what makes us human?

 

This is a drawing I did of one of the skins 'Pris' alongside the quote "I think, Sebastian, therefore I am". I found this quote to be very powerful, it suggests that a self awareness, and individual thought process is enough to be a real human. I used 2B, 4B and 6B pencils to sketch Pris, this created a lot of depth and tone to the drawing.

 

 Observational sketches from scenes in Blade Runner:

 

These 2 pages are sketches of futuristic scenes and emotion within the film. Although the film is set in the future, memory is a key element of it. The sketches are very simplistic but capture the basic shapes and movements.

 

 Memory is considered essential to be a real human, the skins only have implanted memories, but does that make them any less real to the individual? They frequently have emotional responses to memories, such as loss, or anger or frustration.

Emotion is another important theme in the film. I took some screen grabs of when the emotion of the skins was being tested.

"Is this an empathy test? Capillary dilation of the so called blush response? fluctuation of the pupil. Involuntary dilation of the iris...." - Tyrell, Blade Runner

Tyrell very factual description of emotion dehumanises him as it is spoken completely devoid of emotion.

 

 

"I make friends. They're toys. My friends are toys... I'm a Genetic Designer."

-J.F.Sebastian

"We are not computers, Sebastian, we're physical."

-Batty

Whilst watching Blade Runner I was fascinated by Sebastian's Genetically designed toys and humans. They are made from genetic material, have self awareness and are physical, yet they are genetically designed, but does this make them any less real? The skins have a belief that they are real, for example "I think, therefore I am" explains Pris, so therefore they are real. The idea of physical toys inspires  me; the idea of bringing an inanimate object to life is intriguing. We also have an emotional connection to our childhood toys, they bring back memories of our past. I decided as a response to Sebastian's Genetic toys, I would experiment with creating a 'real' toy. From memory I recreated a wooden doll belonging to my Grandmother, that used to terrify me as a child. It was clownish and puppet-like in appearance. My aim was to soften the borders between reality and fantasy.

From the series of photographs I had taken, I think these four images worked the best. My expression was most lifeless.

Burying my Time Capsule

 

 

I chose to bury my Time Capsule in a compost heap at the back of my garden. The garden has always been an important place for me in my childhood, it was a place to be alone and escape from the struggles of growing up. I chose the compost heap as it is very deep set and has never been emptied throughout my entire life. I decided to present the whole process in a series of photographs as I found it quite a messy procedure and could just capture each step. I chose to only bury some of my chosen possessions.

• The ammonite in a stone; intrigued by the notion of burying something I dug up as a child.
• The handmade Flower Pot man; was initially used to hold soil, now to be held in soil.
• A print of the sole of my first pair of shoes; far to valuable to me to bury so I just created a print of them.
• Only one of the earrings from my grandmother, just in case it got lost I still had the other one safe.
• Little Cartoon 'Toothache'; will be interesting to see how it ages.
• Natural items; Rhino horn from and scallop shell.
• Jewellery; my Great Aunties ring and my necklace with collections from my travels on it.