Week 11

08/02/2016-14/02/2016

Summary:

Following the previous weeks work, I've decided to begin working more towards a 3d medium, as I want to work more towards sculpture as I have really started enjoying sculpture after tasting it in the workshop before the Christmas break. I therefore have spent this week creating a life size sculpture of an animals head. I started by creating a 2d skull design from side profile by merging a horse and sun bear skull together. from which I made a 2d foam board silhouette cut out. this was the centre layer for a foam board cross section skull as seen in images 1-4 below. This was then wrapped in mod roc making a solid object, on top of which I then used modelling clay and plastacine to form the muscle structure of the animals head. which I then sealed inside an outer layer of mod roc, which I smoothed over spreading the plaster into a smooth layer.

1.2.3.

4.

5.

6.7.

8.9.

10.11.

12.

13.14.

15.16.

17.18.

19.20.

Below this is the final stage of the sculpture this week as you can see this is a work in progress, roughly just below two feet long. I'm going to use this 3d head to develop the next animal for my menagerie.

Wek 10

1/02/2016-07/02/2016
Start of my own new project
Summary:

In my last tutorial I was introduced to the work of Charles Avery specifically The Islanders project, In which the artist has devoted himself since 2004 on developing and creating an imaginary island, along with the people, the animals, the towns, the landscapes, and the gods; all of which represent specific ideologies and themes which Avery focuses on. This has inspired me to combine my interest in forms and figures with that of the human capacity for violence, therefore I intend to create a range of creatures that embody aspects of human violence. Therefore I have spent this week researching Charles Avery and other artists who relate to his work, and my own or who influence my own. Furthermore I have spent this week working in my sketchbook using the painting of the road kill badger that I made previous as a starting point for the creation of my menagerie of violent beasts.

I have scanned and attached pages from my sketchbook below, documenting the development of the first two animals.

 

 

I started by creating a 3d visual representation (a small model) of the badger, using plastacine and mod roc, two materials that I have grown quite fond of, due to the easy manipulation of plastacine and the rough crossed patch work that solidifies into a unique surface of the mod roc. This small model acted as a basis to start looking at form and considering what animals to use as inspiration for my own creations. This model is shown below:

I settled on four primary sources of inspiration from existing wildlife.

Horses, Grey Wolves, Turkey Vulture, Sun Bear.

I chose Horses as in my research I have highlighted that Horses have driven the human war engine for thousands of years, therefore they are an engine for advanced human conflict.

Grey Wolves are interesting as these are highly social animals like ourselves, yet 65% of wild grey wolf deaths are apparently caused by other grey wolves in conflicts of their own. Therefore this is a self destructive species although nowhere near as destructive as us they do resemble our own self destructive nature.

Turkey Vultures are vicious scavenger that are opportunistic killers and occasionally cannibalistic, therefore their sinister nature resembles sinister natures of our own indirectly the human characteristic of hunting for sport/fun. Killing for fun.

Sun bears are highly protective of their young and are extremely aggressive in their defence like ourselves if a humans child was threatened they would react similarly. Furthermore although the smallest bear species, the sun bear is the most aggressive and violent.

Below are the sketchbook pages documenting the first two animals.

 

 

 

Week 9

25/01/2016-31/01/2016
Week 9
Summary:

This week was a studio week, where I focused on creating outcomes in response to the ten rules. First of all I concentrated on rule 1.  A painting visibly including letters, words, numbers or instructions. For which I considered phrases that related to my theme of human capacity for violence. Pleasant be the unspoken truth we are all mad. The meaning being that it is more pleasant to live our lives ignoring the fact of how easy it is for u to snap all it takes is a catalyst event that sparks an episode of crazy violence. The meaning of the phrase can my violence conquer yours? is that if civilisation as removed we would be left in a primeval state where if two individuals stood between the others survival the only rule is that can their violence conquer the other persons?

As the three week workshop is over this week was a studio week, where I focused on creating outcomes in response to the ten rules. First of all I concentrated on rule 1.  A painting visibly including letters, words, numbers or instructions. For which I considered phrases that related to my theme of human capacity for violence. Therefore I came up with a few phrases or statements:

• Pleasant be the unspoken truth we are all mad
• can my violence conquer your violence

From which I made two paintings based on these phrases as shown below:

 Above, this is a simple wooden A5 piece that I've left un primed so that the wood chips show through the paint creating a blotchy cloudy appearance under a melancholy colour pallet, with the phrase written in white acrylic Pleasant be the unspoken truth we are all mad. The meaning being that it is more pleasant to live our lives ignoring the fact of how easy it is for u to snap all it takes is a catalyst event that sparks an episode of crazy violence.

Above I have taken my preferred phrase and written it straight above my studio desk and complemented the text with frenzied clawing hand prints. The meaning of the phrase can my violence conquer yours? is that if civilisation as removed we would be left in a primeval state where if two individuals stood between the others survival the only rule is that can their violence conquer the other persons?

Secondly I looked at rule 10. A painting in which the frame or framing device plays an integral role and is non-rectangular. I saw this as a particularly good rule to focus on my theme o forms and figures, by creating a unique form to frame the painting. To do this I chose to use a sheet of plastic bubble wrap that would be suspended in a way that it takes on a 3 dimensional form. I then poured watered down acrylics over the plastic that would run down over the relief of the forms surface. these streaks became similar to veins turning a sheet of plastic into a unique form or organism. I have documented the development of this painting below.



1.

2.3.4.

5.6.

7.8.

9.

 Below Is the finished piece.

 

 At the end of the week I began another painting, this time in response to rule 4. A painting featuring more than one visual language or style. In this painting I intend to paint a high detailed beast/human skull, with a face painted on top in an expressive style. Below is the starting point of this panting.

Week 8

18/01/2016-24/01/2016
Painting Workshop Part 3-Abstraction
Summary:

This week for the third week of the workshop the focus is Abstraction. I've never fully considered working in an abstract style, primarily because I'm not overly fond of such a style. However I entered the workshop with an open mind. At the end after experimenting on canvas and paper, using acrylics, ultimately I still I do not fully see the appeal of such a style. Mostly because as I have said in the past I am a figurative artist. I prefer to create work that features visible figures, and unique forms, however in my opinion abstraction removes all visible forms and rearranges them into something unperceivable.

Finally I am now fully better and once again am able to participate in the workshops, this week being the third and final part of the painting workshop, this week the focus being Abstraction. I've never fully considered working in an abstract style, primarily because I'm not overly fond of such a style. However I entered the workshop with an open mind. However at the end after experimenting on canvas and paper, using acrylics, ultimately I was not swayed still I do not fully see the appeal of such a style. Mostly because as I have said in the past I am a figurative artist. I prefer to create work that features visible figures, and unique forms, however in my opinion abstraction removes all visible forms and rearranges them into something unperceivable.

At the start of the workshop we were given a small seminar based presentation expressing what abstraction is with a wide variety of examples, we were told to keep in our minds whilst we painted a few simple questions:

Is abstraction about the act of painting?

is the aim of abstraction to paint an image of something that never existed in the world until the day it was painted?

Can abstract painting offer an antidote to the abundance of instant imagery in the world?

Is abstraction more real than representational in that it never pretends to represent something else?

 At the start of this workshop we were all given an envelope with three shapes as starting points for our paintings.

Above is a photo of the three shapes that I was given. using these shapes as inspiration I began making five minute paintings on a3 card, below are the images that I made.

 

1.2.

3.4.

5.

6.

Above and below this is a canvas piece that I made in the workshop, the image stretches over two separate panels. What I've done is red wash the entire canvas and then layer with thick paint these rectangular shapes. 

Outside of the workshop for the rest of the week I continued with the ten rules paintings. Starting with a painting of an ending. For which I wanted to link to my theme of human violence. Therefore I chose to paint in a realistic high detail style a road kill animal, the concept being that this is an example of human arrogance. A driver kills another animal yet cant be bothered to spare the time to check for life or even to move the carcass.

1.2.3.

4.5.6.

7.8.

9.

10.11.

12.

13.14/

15.

Below is the finished piece.