Halloween Pumpkin Carving

For Halloween it's the family tradition to carve a pumpkin every year. I try to make a different design every year. This year I went for scary face with wax blood dripped on the hollowed inside and dripped on the mouth. It looked like something out of a horror film, I think I have succeeded in making my pumpkin look terrifying.

Christmas Preparation

I have started making some Christmas tags. I used a small rubber and using a scalpel I decided to cut out a few designs on the rubber stamp. The stamps I made were an angel, Christmas tree and a penguin. I think the penguin was very cute. I then tested them with some acrylic paint and applied paint to the stamp with a paint brush. I loved the texture the brush created, I will be using this on the final prints for the Christmas prints. I have recently bought air drying clay so I will be making my own decorations and jewelry, which I am very excited about.

My First Art Commission

I received a message off my friend who kindly asked me make a painting of his beloved car. I agreed to the project. He sent me an image of his remodeled vehicle and I began to sketch out the basics. Once I got the shape right I began to add the paint. The only issue I had was that the photo he had given me was poor quality. So I used my imagination and added tones and highlights where I thought was necessary.  I am quite happy with the end result because it was the first time I had painted a car.

A bit of bad news.

Due to funding my foundation degree course in applied in art and design has been cancelled. So I will re-apply next year, but don't let yourself think that I won't be continuing producing art because I will. I shall be doing personal projects and hopefully keep building up a strong portfolio for next year.

My critique on 'The Trueman Show'.

For critical studies I was asked to write a 500 word critique on one of the following movies:-

• Taxadermia
• Cinema Paradiso
• The Trueman show

I chose to critique the Trueman show because to me it was more visually interesting. Before I even watched the film I gathered that the Trueman show was a show about someone called Trueman. A "show" means being exhibited publicly, but when I began to watch the film I then realised that Trueman Burbank was unaware he was being watched on a television show worldwide. He had been placed in a constructed reality. 

The reason I felt the creator of the Trueman show made it, was because it would display the reality and the human lifestyle of Trueman Burbank. There would be no fake emotions and no false human behaviour towards certain situations that Trueman was put in. Christof (the creator and executive producer of the show) could control what happens in Trueman's reality and he could also change anything that happened. Christof could censor anything from the show, for example in the show the studio lighting falls down and lands right in front of Trueman, but a day later in the papers it was a satellite that fell from out of space. Christof can cover almost anything up with the use of censoring. He can edit the truth and broadcast the lies through into the media the next day. 

Christof had so much power. He could decide what happens to Trueman in the show. He planned his life out, he controlled the life he built for Trueman. This gave me the concept that Christof was playing God. He made the world, he built the characters around Trueman, he could control the weather, he could control the time of day and he could also control life and death. Even though Christof could control almost anything 

there were some things he couldn't control. Such as Trueman falling in love with another girl. As soon as Christof saw this he had that girl removed through a story plot. The show is based on reality and Trueman's emotions are so real that they cannot be controlled. He is not an actor, he is not fake. 

In this show they broadcast product placement through advertisement. They advertise the products in such an obvious way on the show to make sure we can recognise the placement of the product. The characters look straight towards the camera and quotes on how amazing that certain product is, this makes Trueman confused because it isn't normal. We advertise publicly in real life too by the brands we wear and the merchandise we collect, but we don't advertise it clearly like the media does. When I started looking into how the film relates to reality I saw the relation with the hidden cameras everywhere like in the Trueman show we also have cameras everywhere. We have cameras for security on houses or shops and we also have CCTV cameras around the streets to help keep us safe. So just like Trueman we are also being watched by a higher power. I could also relate to the feeling of and I quote "just going around and around on a loop", the feeling of being stuck in a loop of everyday life. 

Towards the end pf the film Trueman tries to run away to Fiji to find the girl he had previously fell in love with. He escapes from his emotion and physical prison and begins to fight the system. He takes a boat and sails to the edge of the "reality". Christof now thinks the only way is to convince Trueman to stay in this reality. Christof starts talking to him from the sky which relates back to the idea of him being the 'God' or the 'Father'. It then felt that Trueman was 'the Son' or 'Jesus' because not only does he then walk on water he is the chosen one, picked to enter this world made by God. In the last moments when he walks through the door I felt happy that he was strong enough and gained that power to leap through the void into the unknown. I felt it was the fight against made up vs reality. I personally believe that Christof as a 'father' believed he had made the perfect world for him, a safer reality possibly protecting him from the harshness of real life. I found it strange how we just accept the reality that has been given to us because we know no different. Trueman explores and finds a way out which he is not sure what is out there but he has the courage he has built up to do so and I felt so proud of him. This film made me wonder if I was in a constructed reality and in someways I think we all are. 

(Favourite quote from the film:- 

Christof- "I know you better than you know yourself"

Trueman- "You never had a camera in my head!". )

Induction Week

So last week I started University. On the Tuesday I had an induction around Cardiff Metropolitan University campuses Llandaff and Howard gardens. I had a tour around the facilities and the libraries. I can use all the facilities there if I needed.
 On Wednesday we met up in Bridgend College and we had an induction there where we met our tutors and had inductions to all the workshops. Wednesday morning I had photography where I met with Robin the tutor. I learnt about all  the health and safety about the darkroom. Me and my class then we began to make some prints in the dark room.

In the afternoon I had fine art with Ben where I had to sketch interesting shapes I could see around the room with a pencil. I then chose the best shape and cut it out as a template on a piece of card. After break I had ceramics with Corrie I had some clay and moulded some shapes from my previous sketches. I joined with my classmates and began to make a press mould, joining all my shapes with the other shapes the bowl looked lovely. Thursday morning we had woodwork with Huw where I was introduced to the workshop and the equiptment. I worked in the workshop with the equiptment and cut out, sanded and drilled a basic shape. I then worked with plastic where I cut out, sanded and sandblasted a piece of plastic.

Thursday afternoon I had graphics with Claire where I learnt about typeography we saw examples of it online then we were given four words and we had to re-create them in the form of typeography. Me and the class compared examples.

Late Night Photography

I went for a wander with my camera around the garden looking for some interesting photos I could capture and these were my best few.
I came across my mothers sweet peas and the rain drops made them glisten they were beautiful. I used my flash to capture the shine and to see the glowers in the dark. I had some lovely photos of the morning glory and the lillies they were very pretty. Throughout the journey m6 cat Buddy decided to accompany me which was rather cute. I took some lovely photos tonight I think I may have another late photography session outdoors.

Abstract painting

Whats really interested me lately is abstract art with shapes blocking out a section of the work. I have been blocking out the middle of my work with a bold circle or a diagonal white strip. I think it really makes the work interesting. For my canvas piece I created a mix of subtle blurred colours and in the centre I painted a bold acrylic black circle. The blackness draws me in and the natural colours around it seem to pull me back out I think it has the perfect balance of harmony. The other postcard paintings are testers to help me to find the perfect shapes and balance within the work.  There will be many more tests to come and more painting to be done.

Longleat

I loved all the animals around the park and personally I thought the most photogenic animals to take photographs of was the butterflies and the deer. I loved the butterflies they were beautiful, colourful and delicate. The deer were also very beautiful, their stance and antlers were what shone out to me the most.I really enjoyed feeding them but they did dribble a lot. I hope you enjoy looking at these images as much as I enjoyed taking them!

                                                                         The Deers

The Butterflies.