Ranking research project...

For this project we were asked to select an artist from a list and present a 10 slide powerpoint presentation about that artist. I researched the american figurative artist Eric Fischl and was blown away by his work.
I love how he uses the chiaroscuro technique to theatrical effects of light and dark.

http://www.ericfischl.com/

Print...

Print was the last elective I had and I was quite looking forward to it. we were given a talk on our first day about the processes we were going to be using (monoprint and drypoint) and a demonstration of how to go about everything.
The brief we were given was basically to be aware of the composition of our images. the negative space is as important as the image itself.

I knew straight away that I wanted to work with the figure. I went back to last semester's work when I was using simple line drawings but I wanted to add an edge to it. Using very famous photos of Kate Moss I traced them out using acetates and markers then I distorted the images on the photocopier by moving them around while it was copying (I learnt this trick accidentally when I was trying to photocopy an image from a book)

So after I prepared my first etching plate I started to print

Here I printed a purple mono plate onto which I poured methylated spirtis and blotted it. It didn't really do anything because I should have used white spirit instead. I then printed the etching plate on top. This print is a bit crap really... totally flat and nothing going on.

This one is a little bit more interesting. I dripped white spirit onto a green mono plate and blotted off. that effect in itself isn't too exciting but the slight pink left behind after the first print is quite nice?

Started to add a bit of depth to the print by layering 2 different tones of the same colour and adding some purposeful mark making to add to the effect

The orange colour just works a little better I think?

This is the second image I used. With this print I tried to get a different effect with the white spirit blobs by dripping it on and then blowing it to give it direction?

I printed in blue first and then laid down a transparent pink over it to give depth. The effect worked but the white spirit dripping thing was just not happening so I had to move on.

With this print I tried to give the effect of movement by rubbing of the intaglio ink in a manner that gives the illusion of movement.

it really worked and this was my favourite print of the 2 week block

Experimentation with the same image. I like the effect, looks like she's swimming!

Another image I worked with. By rubbing off different levels of ink I tried to give the effect that the figure was being pulled out of the ink? Don't know how successful it was??

St. Joseph's street mini-project. We were sent to St. joseph's street to take ONE photograph and create a representation of that photograph through monoprint and drypoint. This is the first edition of my print which I really liked but I decided to experiment a little bit with it.
I don't have a photograph of the final image but I'll see if I can get one and update :)

Painting...

I had painting second and this was the important one. The one I had been really nervous about because it was the discipline I wanted to get into.

On the first day we were to put together installations from the items that we had brought in and to paint from those installations. We were encouraged to first draw up some thumbnail sketches of what we intended to paint so as to ensure that when we went to begin the actual painting we didn't leave out any important components.

I did this painting over about a day and a half I think

The next morning we did life painting. I had never tried it before and I loved it. The model was sittin for 3 hour poses which was great. I picked up lots of helpful tips from the tutors; things like trying to alwats use a big brush to avoid drawing with paint and to always paint the background first, followed by mid ground and then foreground.

You  should always consider a painting as areas of tone or colour instead of lines

I spent the last 2 days of the first week painting this with a palette knife. I had only used palette knife a little bit and I had certainly never painted a whole painting with it. I really enjoyed it. It's a lot freer and you don't have to wash the knife, just wipe it clean :)

Laying down the back ground first and then middle ground etc is especially important when using palette knife as the paint is laid on so thickly.

Over the weekend we were given an assignment to reproduce 2 paintings by either Lucien Freud or Vermeer. I much prefer Freud's style so decided to go with 2 from him.

During the second week I wanted to challenge myself more so I decided to paint on a much bigger scale. the composition of the piece was quite complex too with the transparent glass barrier of the balcony and the dip down into the gallery itself along with teh fact that the lamp was so close to me and the reflective nature of the mirror. i had really challenged myself here but I really enjoyed it too.
Above I have only the background painted in using a cool purple grey colour. Using a cooler colour in the back creates the illusion that it is further away - another tip picked up during this elective

This is the finished piece, the foreground was painted in a warmer purple/yellow grey colour which gives the illusion that it is closer to us than the cooler colour.



The last painting I did during the block was this quick colour study of a section of the same installation. I used a lot of the tips and tricks learned up to this point in creating this piece. I added a little blue to the yellow ochre colour of the board to push it into the background and added a little purple to the yellow to dull it down and ensure it didn't compete with the bright orange which is more in the foreground.

Ceramics...

Ceramics was the first 2 week module I started just after we came back after Christmas.
We learned a number of processes within this block, from throwing on the wheel to constructing vessels using both coil and pinch pot methods.
I've just posted a few photographs of the processes and of the pieces I made:

Formation of my first coil pot

When I got the height I wanted then I decided to change the shape of the pot so I indented the base and worked on waving the mouth of the pot. A point that was hammered home to us was that you must always focus on form before surface.

Here is the pot once I had decided on the form. At this point I focused on smoothing the surface by scraping with toothed tools and then smoothing over the give a more consistent surface.

Second coil pot formed

Wire piece to complement the vessel

Vessels were fired in a kiln to harden the clay and then they were dipped into a resist slip followed by a sacrificial glaze. The resist prevents the glaze attaching to the clay and gives the distinctive raku smoked effect.

Pots going in for the raku firing.

When the pots come out of the raku kilm they are immediately put into a bath of sawdust and the lid is put on. The smoke generated gives the exposed clay it's distinctive colour.

Pots in the sawdust bath once the smoke and fire has subsided.

the areas that had been glazed came out a dark grey metallic colour which was then picked off the reveal the smoked effect underneath. In the second photo you can see the marks made from scraping through the glaze and slip using a knife.

Finished pieces

My bowl I threw on the wheel, really enjoyed that!