Making books with Penny

We were lucky enough to have a visit from Penny a previous student of the art and design department. She come to show us how to make little books as an alternative to presenting final work. It was a simple origami technique, folding and glueing the paper to create a pop out book with a hard cover.

My abstraction ceramic press mould bowl!

 

My ceramic bowl was based on a few design sheets. My idea started from a painting in my sketchbook, the shape of the rock inspired me to create a rugged shape bowl. I wanted to use the press mould process because I think it was perfect for the abstract theme. The use of combined shapes and textures creates one overall abstract work.

 

For the inside of my bowl I wanted to echo the rugged, harsh textures of the rocks so I created a cracked effect on the inside.

 

Using my test sample I decided on which glazes I wanted to use. I really liked the cobalt blue oxide with the perfect red glaze on top.

 

So after painting the glaze on my bowl is in the kiln and ready to be fired! Awating results!

Life drawing

These are my life drawing sketches, I used a range of materials such as charcoal, graphite and ink. They will be later worked on, layering another drawing over the top.

Graphic series edited images

For our graphics project I have created a series of abstract samples using Photoshop, Illustrator and hand drawn/painting art.

Yorkshire Gallery Sketchbook work

 On my recent visit to the Yorkshire sculpture Gallery and the Hepworth Gallery, I produced a few sketches based on artist inspiration.

 I produced a few sketches of the sculptures I saw using mixed media, such as watercolour, biro and tippex.

Ceramic Process- Press moulds in plaster cast.

For this process we had to cut out shapes in the buff clay, decorate each piece and place flat down in a plaster mould. Make sure to knit together the clay on the back well otherwise the clay with crack and break apart...As I later found out.

This was our finished bowl we propped up the corners, so they wouldn't bend or crack.

Unfortunately our poor bowl cracked and fell on the floor. :( But there was some bits that could be fired and used as glaze samples. 

Critique on Richard Long's 'Cornish Slate Ellipse'

 Critique on Richard Long's 'Cornish Slate Ellipse'. 

                   Cornish Slate Ellipse, 2009, Slate, Dimensions-7200 x 3400mm, Yorkshire Gallery.

On a recent visit to The Barbara Hepworth Gallery in Yorkshire I came across an artist who I was drawn to immediately. As I stepped in to Richard Long’s room I was instantly drawn and intrigued with his sculptural art that was laid out on the floor.  I firstly became very interested with the ‘Cornish Slate Ellipse’ this contained many rectangular shaped slate bricks arranged to form an oval. Richard Long started by placing each slate block from one side of the oval to the other side until he felt that the work achieved what it was set out to. It has been know that Richard long creates his work related to the landscape either made on his walks or in a gallery made as a response to a particular place. When I first saw the piece I didn’t think that it belonged in a Gallery. I believe that it needed to be out in the open because not only were the materials natural but I felt that the piece was forced into the certain shape and that it had no sense of freedom, yes there was space between the blocks but they could not move. I thought that if the piece was outside there would be more sense of freedom around the sculpture and not caged up into a boxed room. As I looked closer into it and found out that Richard Long creates his work which was suited to the particular place it laid, I began to think maybe it does suit here with the geometric shapes which had four straight sides which echoed the walls in the gallery room and also of the gallery building itself, the sculpture is also level. There is not one slate out of place and raised just like the building level floors with level walls all flat precise and smooth. The only thing I felt was forced was the circle, but then again a circle is a natural shape just look at the sun or the shape of a tree trunk. A thing that struck me was how organised the sculpture looked; Richard Long must have an eye for precision he randomly placed these slate blocks but managed to create an orderly pattern. Normally the first thing to attract me to an art work would be the colour but this wasn’t the case with this one. The colours came naturally from the slate and nothing was altered. The colours again I feel relate to the surroundings. The White would be where the light reflects through the window, off the walls and on the top of the slate bricks. The black shows shadows where there are gaps between the blocks the same as if we have a shadow in the gallery and lastly the mixture of the white and black to form grey which relates to the colour of concrete which the building is made out of. Now if I may return to the layout of the bricks. I felt the slate bricks combined created an organised pattern which reminded of a jigsaw, each individual piece is positioned in a certain way to achieve the best fit and shows the best outcome. I thought it also resembled a broken mirror. Maybe the mirror could have been circular to start off with but then it could have been forcefully smashed on the floor or by accident, to split into many sharp edgy pieces that represent the slate. Then Richard Long comes along and picks up these pieces and puts them together to form the same shape that was the mirror to start off with, but there is a problem the broken shards of glass do not join completely because some of the pieces are too small to place back together so there are gaps just like in the ‘Cornish Slate Ellipse’ which Richard Long created.

Abstraction samples for graphics.

For my graphics project I started by making a few samples using 'Photoshop' and 'Illustrator'. I photographed and scanned in images from my sketchbook and I began to edit and over lay the different images and designs.

 Using 'Photoshop' I drew out some plain black lines in a random style, then using the paint tool I filled in some areas creating a a curved checker board pattern, which cut across the screen to form two diagonal sections. I then erased certain lines which stood out too me, I think this makes the harsh lines look faded. I then wanted to add a certain aspect of colour, something that was to draw your attention so I chose the colour red. To me the colour red is the strongest colour in the pallet. I chose a simple shape to gently guide your eyes away from the contrasting black and white.

  For this sample I simply scanned in a painting from my sketchbook and using Photoshop I selected a new layer and worked over the top.

Summer Project Artist research and our personal response (2012 Abstraction)

For my summer project this year I was given the title 'Abstraction'. I researched different abstract artists and used them as inspiration to create my own abstract work.

 

These are my personal responses to the artist Jackson Pollock. I loved how colourful and free the colours and lines appear in Pollock's work. I did some sample tests to experiment with paint to see which paint would work best. I chose to work with acrylic paint and then using random movements, I overlapped the paint forming swirls. Sometimes I blended the paint other times I moved it around the page using tools such as straws, paper and my hands.

The next artist I looked at was Carolyn Genders. I chose her as inspiration because she took a landscape and abstracted it, by looking at the lines and depth then she created a pot or vessel based on that landscape. I felt this was a very clever way to create an abstraction art work.

 

 The third artist I researched was Bridget Riley. Her abstract pieces was also optical illusion.I really like how a repeat of one simple shape with a simple colour can tease your mind and make the 2D work look 3D and show movement.

 The last and best artist I chose was Wassily Kandinsky. Kandinsky is one of my favourite artists. I love the use of watercolour. Kandinsky makes them appear subtle but striking.