Life Drawing Begins

Week 8

PDP

We learnt about creative and reflective learning for this we had to pick two objects we owned and describe how they were similar, this was to show us how to analyse things and help to show us how to evaluate our work. We then had to find objects in the room that could be opened, used at home and used for something else and then had to write down how to catch a mouse, which was to show how there was more that one answer and how everyone else in the room had different answers
To prepare for future mid modules in our other projects, we had a mid module tutorial, and learnt the process in which to self evaluate. In this we had to assess our progress in PDP.

Drawing

So I had my first ever life drawing class, which was a bit daunting at first. But after I relaxed and got used to it I really enjoyed the class more than I thought I would. I loved the freedom to express myself on paper using only charcoal. The first class was for us to get to used to the proportions of the body, which I found out I am able to do quite well.

Our first drawing was to draw the model in a standing position for ten minutes.

We then had another ten minutes to draw again, this time with the model in a different position.

We then had warm up 5 minute drawings on one piece of paper.

Our last drawing was to draw the model in a reclined position for forty minutes.

We also handed in last units work for assessment.

Specialist Skills

We filled in our vac. forms from a couple of weeks before with plaster. To make plaster I filled a bowl with cold water and then added plaster until the plaster formed dry islands that sank slowly. For my black plastic I had to add in clay walls since it was too shallow for the plaster, so it would break. The first mix of plaster I made was a bit too thin so it might not set properly, but we'll find out next week if it's worked. The second mix I made was thicker so it should probably work.
The 2d workshop was transferring, which is when you stick an image down using glue or gloss/mattee gel and then, once dried, rub off the pulp of the paper with your damp hand. The image is then transferred onto the paper which you glued it down on to. My first one didn't work so well, since a bulk off the image was lost, since I probably didn't stick it down properly, so I drew the rest of it in with brown ink. The next one I did worked better and is a lot clearer. For the images I did in glue, once the paper had been rubbed off, I had t coat the image with a layer off glue, so that the paper fibres still left dried clear. Another image that I did was a decayed car and I glued this on to a newspaper article of the Grangemouth INEOS strike to represent the breakdown of communication and society.

Creative Concepts

Since the hand in date is Tuesday, I have been focusing on this unit more.
 I made my dead sea fruit and seed out of clay, and have left to dry. I also made some wire structures for my cordycep and dead sea fruit and covered in paper maché.
Using air drying clay I made my cordycep fruit and a seed for my dead sea fruit, once they had dried I painted them using poster paint.
To make my final fruit, out of air drying clay I had at home, I made my dead sea fruit. Then covering this in liquid latex I made a mould. When taking this mould off, a small part of this ripped because the latex was too thin. The next time I use this process I will make a clay wall surrounding the bottom so the latex is able to thicken to make it stronger. However, even though it was ripped slightly, I covered it in sellotape and filled it with plaster. In about an hour I took I out of the mould and shaped the plaster to how I wanted it too look, and then left it too dry out more. The next day I painted it using acrylic paint If I were to do this again, I would have made my fruit bigger, and maybe chosen a different colour for my fruit, since with the acrylic paints I have got in the house, A bright blue/ purple colour is harder to make.

Contextual Studies

We got a new lecturer and so we all introduced ourselves. We then talked about symbols used in language for communication and how different groups will have different names for objects e.g. English speakers say "door", French speakers say "porte" Spanish speakers say "puerta" yet we all picture a door as a rectangle with a handle. We then watched the music video for The Prodigy "Smack my Bitch up" and talked about how the symbols in the video are used to covey the main character as a male e.g. drinking, drugs and violence etc., and the viewers assume the lead is a male because of these symbols and it turns out at the end they are female.

Ambitious Time Plan (October Week)

Week 7

So I had a week break from college :)  and so seeing as the hand in date for creative concepts is due in a couple of weeks I decided to mainly focus on this in the time I had spare.

At the beginning of the week I made a plan on what I was going to do with my time, and found that two days in I had already stopped following it, which means that I am either too ambitious in what I think I can do or I really need to stick to my guns and be more strict with myself. In all honesty it's probably a mixture of both.

Since there is a sort of mid module assessment for PDP to see if we are organising our things correctly, I made sure I had all the briefs that were handed out in class complete and in order in my folder.

For creative concepts I did some research into world records involving fruit (including the largest gathering of people dressed as strawberries), uses of fruit and other research. I also did some analytical studies of fruit in acrylic in my sketchbook.
Also, using a marble and different layers of black and blue spray paint, I tried to recreate a seed for my Mars fruit.
Using air drying clay, I made a prototype of my dead sea fruit and I am hoping to create moulds from it so I can make one out of plaster.

We also have an assessment for space drawing next week, so I sorted out all my big drawings and gave them one last spray so they were ready to go. I then filled in some more pages of my sketchbook.

See you next Sunday

Roisin -x

Some Negative Space Drawings

Week 6

PDP

At the start of the lesson we looked at the assessment criteria that our work will be graded by. I found this helpful as it gave me more of an idea of what those that will be assessing my work will be looking for. We then looked at the "C.R.E.A.M." strategy for leaning. This stands for: Creative; Reflective; Effective; Active ; Motivated. After this we were then to write down our short, medium and long term goals and how to achieve them, to help with the last strategy - motivation. I found it easy to write down my long term goals, as I have always been able to look ahead and plan where I am going, but the more short term the goals, the harder I found it to write about my goals.

This is the corridor to the learning hub. I began with trying
 the get the dimensions right and then started to experiment
with the light and shadows in the corridor.

Drawing

This was the last week of drawing focused around negative space and I completed two, one of the staircase leading up to the library and the other of a corridor leading to one of the hubs.


I experimented with the use of block colour and really liked the effect it gave. I wasn't used to this style of drawing and was a little out of my comfort zone, as I am used to drawing more literally, but I had fun with it and was able to express myself more.

This is the staircase to the library, I began with drawing the outline
of all the elements of the picture and then I filled in the outline of the
left side of the stairs, and then began to fill in the rest.

Specialist Skills

This was the first one I did, using two circular pieces of wood and
different layers of mesh. This was based on the eyes of a fly.

Our third workshop in 3d was Vacuum Forming, which is when you create an 3d image using different objects (e.g. wood, leaves and mesh) and then soften  a sheet of plastic using a vac. former and stretch this over your objects. Once the objects are removed, the impression is left and you can then make plaster moulds. I made two:

The second one was based loosely on the
grim reaper's scythe. I used natural materials
that I found outside.

I don't think the first one worked very well, but I like the second one I did, as I think there is a lot more elements in the piece to make it more interesting.

Creative Concepts

I filled in more pages of my sketchbook with sketches of possibilities of what my fruit and plant will look like. I then started to think about what my seed would look like. I looked at existing seeds from fruits for inspiration and ideas. For the Mars fruit i thought that it could look like a precious stone, which is when I decided that the Mars fruit would be used for  research and also the seed is a decorative (albeit very expensive) gem like object. The fruit itself can also be used for pigment, but considering its shipping method, and cost probably not the most economic product. I decided that there would be no use for my fruit that grows in the dead sea, due to the fact that it is almost impossible to harvest as it immediately starts to disintegrate as soon as it's ripe.

My fruit all have names now, after a lot of research, I finally came up with some I like:
Mars Fruit - Eros. Son of the god Mars, he is the God of love. (Was originally going to go for the god of victory until I found out the name was Nike, which is apparently already a well known brand.)
Cordycep Fruit - Spera Mortis. Sphere of death in Latin.
Dead Sea Fruit - Zoara. (Botanical name, Poma Zoara - fruit of Zoara) It comes from an ancient city in the Bible which is thought to be situated near the Dead Sea.

Contextual Studies

Our lecture was on taste and we each had to think of our own personal example of bad taste (mine being the movie and book franchise Twilight, seeing as nothing much happens and everyone still goes crazy over it).
The lecture was on interpretation and recuperation, and how certain images and art find their way into mainstream.


See you again on Sunday (if I'm not late again)

Roisin -x

Fabulous Felt

Week 5

PDP

We learnt about study skills and good study habits we have and bad study habits and how to improve them.

Drawing

We took drawings from our sketchbook and experimented with negative space. I worked on a drawing of lights taken from above, I made the background dark to make the lights stand out more and extended lines from the silhouette of table to make it more interesting.

Specialist Skills

I have left some nectarines to rot in the kitchen. Different fungi have been growing on them, and also there have been a few, small fruit flies on them. I have been taking photographs to document this deterioration   They then had to be moved outside, because the fruit fly numbers were growing and were starting to annoy the family. After a couple of days I went to check on them again, the nectarines clearly have no food left in them as the flies have started to die, and there is dead larvae underneath them. The fungi are still growing and another species has begun to grow. 

I have also been researching some artists who have been using the same techniques that we have been using in the workshops.

Felt after plastic disk has been removed,
and the felt shaped more

2d felt

The 2d workshop was felt making. In this we placed different wool and weaved different layers on a voile and then covered this with another voile, we poured with warm soapy water and then rolled it up with a sushi mat 100 times and flipped it and rolled it 100 times in the opposite direction. This process was repeated until the wool came together to make felt. For my colours I stuck to greens, yellows and browns to create a moss like effect and before it dried I threw it against the sink to make it knobbly. Also by using a plastic disk we were able to make 3d felts by placing the disk in between layers of felt and followed the same process. I enjoyed this process more than the silk paper making, however it is much more hard work. I'm not sure if I will use this process later in my work, as, even though it was fun, I prefer other methods to craft work.

Creative Concepts

I am developing my ideas of my fruit design and have chosen three to develop further. My first idea was to have the fruit to be the first life on Mars, and had to come up with ideas on how this fruit was able to survive without the need for water. I have yet to come up with use for this fruit. My second idea was for the fruit to have developed from a cordycep that infects humans and monkeys, this fruit can be use as an antibiotic. My last idea was to have the fruit grow in the dead sea that rots almost as soon as it is ripe and falls off the plant. I have been experimenting with different colours and for the cordycep fruit I researched colours that poisonous/ dangerous animals and plants posses, warning colours for any threats or predators not to go near. These colours are normally red, yellow, black and white and so I have been looking for different ways to combine them, but so far I haven't come up with any that I like.

Contextual Studies

We had a guest lecturer from the Glasgow school of art who talked about branding and design. He talked about the concept of not just buying a product or brand, but you buy into a lifestyle, and also mentioned how brands are as much about exclusion as they are about inclusion. For example companies normally advertise their brand and welcome everyone into that brand, therefore it being inclusive, however if you do not buy into this brand you are excluded from this social group. He also talked about the identity the brand or products have and mentioned a 90's furniture chain, Muji. Their identity was based on a 'Zen like' Japan, a Japan that does not exist. The stores were very minimalist and anonymous and the company did very little advertising.

I feel I'm starting to get into the swing of things now and am starting to think of more ideas. I found the felt making interesting and fun and thought that my 3d felt turned out really well.

See you again on Sunday 

Roisin -x

Previous Weeks Summary

In creative concepts we were given a brief on fruit. In this we did analytical studies on fruit and their seeds. We also did mono-printing for this study. Part of the brief was to find our own research. I researched different mythology surrounding fruit, fruit's plant names and region of origin, sayings which included fruit, seed dispersal and anatomy.
The second part of the brief was to design our own fruit. I brainstormed ideas for habitat and came up with three.

In specialist skills we were given a brief which was transformation. After I brainstormed different examples of transformation, I decided to choose decay as my concept. I then looked at the definition of decay. So far I have researched different examples of urban decay and also the decay of vertebrate animals. Also I watched a BBC documentary - The Strange Science of Decay.
The first workshop in 3d we had was paper folding and etching. The second was slotting where we learnt how to use the band saw. For slotting I made a maggot out of hard cardboard.
The first workshop in 2d was silk paper making, the first piece I made was with different shades of green to create a moss effect. The second piece I used bright colours and then left to set on a plastic bottle so it dried 3d. The second workshop was on composition and we learnt about symmetrical, asymmetrical and radial composition. We then took our own photographs and then inverted the colours using photo shop to make them like photograms.

In PDP we have learnt about self esteem, confidence and study skills.

In Contextual Studies we are learning about art in the 1990's. We also had a guest lecturer who talked about branding.

In drawing we learnt about negative space and then drew from different areas around the college in our sketchbooks. We then drew from these sketches on A1 sheets.