Final Piece Update – 10th May

I have been continuing with my final Piece and as I mentioned in the last post, I have been making good progress. 

As you can see, the images above show my previous development, which continues to the images below. I feel that the tones to the painting are merging well together and I recently decided to add the colour green, which I personally think adds definition to the subject.

Throughout my work, I have been constantly thinking about the different Artists, which I have recently been studying such as Elly Smallwood, and I have been making sure that my work is in some ways conjunctive with their styles without echoing their work too much. Furthermore, I feel that it has been important for me to keep other Artist’s in mind as it encourages me to be more open with my palette and brush movements. 

As you can see in the image below, you may be able to see that there is are some lines from where the paint had ran down the board, which seems to add interest to the painting on a bigger scale.

I was also faced with the problem of the sun shining onto my board, however I think the image below works well as the light is only highlighting certain aspects of the painting, which I think creates a visually interesting photograph. Overall, I feel that this piece still has a long way to go before it reaches it’s completion, but I want to carry on with the direction, which I have so far taken. 

 

Final Piece Update- 9th May

I am reaching the final stages of my piece, which is so far progressing well. I have been capturing each stage of my painting using my camera, which I may put together to create a time lapse, however I feel that there may be some problems as I didn’t take enough photos to create a long enough video. Due to the scale of my Final Piece, I have been unable to bring it to college and so I have been working from home quite a lot recently.

Along with working on my final piece, I have also been studying a variety of contemporary and past artists, as I want to continue developing my understanding of different methods of practice.

To conclude, I feel that I am managing my time efficiently and I feel that if I keep up the pace, everything will be completed by the deadline.

Artist Research-Vincent Van Gogh- 5th May

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”

I have recently been looking at the Artist called Vincent Van Gogh, who is thought to have been one of the greatest dutch artists after Rembrandt. I became intrigued by his work after seeing some of his famous pieces of work at the Tate in London. 

Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands. Van Gogh was a post-impressionist painter whose work, notable for its beauty, emotion and color, highly influenced 20th century art. He struggled with mental illness, and remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his life. Van Gogh died in France on July 29, 1890, at age 37, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

As it states above, Van Gogh died in a tragic way, and I personally believe that his mental struggles had some sort of contribution to his popularity in today’s society.

‘Starry Night’

I love the movement displayed in the painting above and the cool tones, bring about a feeling of calmness .

When I look at the image above, I immediately think of a warm breeze, due to the movement of the brush strokes in the painting, which have a strong sense of dynamism to them.

‘Sunflowers’

After doing some background research on the painting above, I learnt that Vincent painted a series of four sunflower paintings, which were intended to be used as a decoration for Gogh’s friend, who lived in the so called Yellow- House, where Gogh and Gauguin worked together between October and December 1888.

The dying flowers are built up with thick brushstrokes (impasto). The impasto evokes the texture of the seed-heads. Van Gogh produced a replica of this painting in January 1889, and perhaps another one later in the year. The various versions and replicas remain much debated among Van Gogh scholars. 

8ft x 4ft Oil Painting/Final Piece- 1st May

I have recently begun work on my final piece, which has so far turned out fairly well. As you can see in the first image, I had already completed the preparation for my board, which I have discussed in a blog post prior.

I began with the eyes, as I feel that they are the most important feature of the image I am painting and require a higher level of detail. If you look closely, you can also see that I had faintly marked out the outline of my Dad’s face, to make the painting process much easier.

I decided that Oil Paint would be the best form of paint for me to use, as I have the most experience using it and so, I knew that there would be a smaller chance of me having issues with blending and layering the paint. As you can see in the image below, I was keen to make sure that I incorporated a wide range of pastel/nude tones, as I felt that these colours add a certain level of interest to the painting, due to the fact that they don’t necessarily go accordingly with the colours from the actual image of the picture, which I had taken of my Dad.

I like that the colours do not match the picture and that I have taken on a more sporadical method of applying my paint, as I want my painting to serve a different purpose, rather than just echoing a picture; I wanted to create a sense of movement and dynamism and that is why I might choose to leave areas of the board unpainted.

As you can see, I have been recording the progress of my painting and I feel that it is important to capture the profession of the start to the end. Also, I did mention to Sally, that I would be producing a non-stop time lapse, which could be included in the final show, however I didn’t think I would be able to fit such a long video onto my memory card and so, I have decided to take lots of images instead, which will hopefully work together as a slideshow.

Contemporary Artist-YUE MINJUNO- 1st May

‘What was important to me was the creation part of painting. But it seems that something has changed. Maybe it’s the way money is becoming more important in society. I’m actually trying to make sense of the world. There’s nothing cynical or absurd in what I do. At first you think he’s happy, but when you look more carefully, there’s something else there. A smile doesn’t necessarily mean happiness; it could be something else.”-Yoe Minjun

As you can see in the painting above, Yoe Minjun has in fact painted himself, with a huge grin across his face. Due to the style and the subject of Munjun’s work, some critiques label him as part of the Cynical Realism movement, however Munjun has mentioned in previous interviews, that he does not like to be labelled into any sort of movement or school.

I personally like the fact that Munjun’s first pieces of work were at first, based around self- expression before he built -up his own style.

In my own work, I feel like I have gone down the same route and my final piece will hopefully represent my own style, which I have picked up after having the opportunity to explore what I am capable of, during my time on the course. 

More work by YOE MUJUN pictured below

Artist Research/ Scale of Work – 14th April

As we draw nearer the final stages of creating our final pieces, I have been thinking about the sizing of my work and the costings, which will be involved with buying all of the tools, which are necessary for completing my piece.

I began by thinking about the kind of impact, which I want to create, when people look at my final piece and so I began by looking into the idea of “How Scale in Art Influences the Viewing Experience”. I discovered from my research, that scale does not actually represent the size of something, but it is more about the size of an object in relation to another.

After recently getting the chance to visit The Tate Modern in London, I got the chance the witness the use of Scale and the impact it personally has on me. Firstly, I cam across the piece of artwork, which is pictured below by Magdalena Abakanowicz, a Polish sculptor, who just recently passed away. I felt that her work held an organic sort of feel, and I am aware that she was very much into the study of biological systems and regeneration. In response to receiving a commission in 1979, for the Venice Benalle, Abakanowicz began to create lots of these soft shapes, which were compared to ‘rounded like bellies, or elongated like mummies”.

I feel that the picture below does not justify the grand scale of the piece as a whole, however when I walked into this exhibit, the concept of the sublime immediately came to mind; I felt overwhelmed and insignificant. When I create my final piece, I want the onlooker to feel dwarfed by the scale of my work.

Contrarily, I would agree that small- scale work can also be just as effective as bigger -scale work, however I have personally never got the chance to go above A1, and so I feel that the Foundation provides me with the perfect opportunity to be brave with size.

After deciding upon my size, I have begun to look at the different types of board, which would be suitable for painting onto and a primer, which would make my painting application easier.

Below, I have created a list of things, which I need to purchase in preparation for my final piece and the estimated cost of the different materials.

• Winsor & Newton Artists’ Acrylic White Gesso – £8.40
• Board- £15
• Paintbrush- £2.59
• White Oil Paint-2.00

Total approximate cost=27.99

 

Distorting Identity- 3rd April

As you can see in the images below, I have been distorting the face of the subject in some of my 35mm film photographs, as I want to try and challenge what other aspects of a character might also represent; it gives the onlooker more of a chance to focus on other areas of the person.

In the first image, I drew a black, circle onto the whole of the face. I’m not sure if it has quite worked, as I feel that it might have been more interesting if I was to have left the eyes, mouth and nose uncovered, so that it draws one more into the whole of the picture. Personally, I feel that eyes can create a sense of intimacy between two people and so, I feel that it wold be interesting to think about that in my development.

In the second image, you can see that I have attempted to paint a face onto the black, circle overlay. I like this effect, as it makes one wonder whether the man in the picture resembles the face, which I have painted and so, this adds a sense of intrigue.

 

 

 

Kandinsky- 21st March

I have recently been exploring the Artist, who goes by the name of Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian painter and theorist and is known for creating some of the first- recognised abstract pieces of his time. Kandinsky explores the idea of sound, and how that can transcend into a piece of art depending on the different sounds, which ones hears.

Kandinsky viewed music as the most transcendent form of non-objective art – musicians could evoke images in listeners’ minds merely with sounds. He strove to produce similarly object-free, spiritually rich paintings that alluded to sounds and emotions through a unity of sensation.

As you can see, Kandinsky’s was certainly abstract, filled with lots of bold colours.

In my own work, I am going to explore sound and maybe consider incorporating it into my paintings. I plan to paint listening to different types of music as a form of experimentation and hopefully I can piece together some sort of explanation for the reason Kandinsky was so engrossed in the idea of sound and art.

 

Watercolour Experimentation-9th March

As you can see below, I have been working on something, which has been inspired by the images, which I took of a piece, which stood out to me at the Tate Modern in London. I wouldn’t usually choose to use watercolour, however I decided to step out of my comfort zone and put together some collages, which hopefully will inspire me to create some bigger pieces as part of the final piece.

In the image below, I have tried to interpret the movement from my images, to create an abstract and contemporary- style piece of work. I have come to a realisation after the previous project, that I need to be more experimental with my work, and try and create pieces of Art, which are more fitting with what you might call modern art.

I created this composition by tearing up my paintings and layering them onto another piece of paper, to get a very loose and expressive outcome. 

Personally, I can definitely see the themes of distortion coming through in these pieces of work, as they are a product of an original piece of Artwork before being manipulated and distorted by myself.

NHS March, London – 4th March

I decided that I would also go to witness the NHS protest, which took place in the centre of London near Downing Street. I found the event to be insightful and I did manage to capture some interesting images, which I have attached below. I am personally interested in current affairs and politics, and for me I found this march to be really insightful. I would definitely agree that more money needs to be put into the NHS, but I also feel that it is important to make sure that all investments are spent appropriately, in the right places.

 

 

 

The blue sky in this image gives off a feeling of positivity

I like the girl’s reaction to the T-Rex in this image; adds a sense of humour

The sign stands out to create a dramatic impact. 

 

I like the look on the policeman’s face, he looks kind of angry. 

These images have influenced me to think about maybe incorporating figures of people into my abstract paintings.