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.