Wrapping Project

The initial inspiration for this project came from a piece we saw at The Whitworth Gallery in Manchester. A huge revolving table with several clear figures was placed in the centre of the room. Behind it, a light cast the shadows from the figures onto the wall, creating a magical 'dancing' shape on the wall. This project was all about exploring light. I took a wooden star, and wrapped it up in cling film and cellotape. I wrapped it as tightly as I could so as to keep its intresting shape. I then cut down the centre so I could remove the transparent shell without ruining the shape. I then used the overhead project to cast shadows and shapes onto the wall. I then produced an ink and fineliner drawing. I feel my work is effective and informed.

Paint Workshop

So today we were working with painting techniques. The idea was to block off sections of canvas using masking tape, and then painting over the top, meaning that parts of the image stayed the colour underneath. I built up about 8 layers of paint meaning that the image underneath was very textured and intresting. It was nice that while creating the image, I had no idea what the overall result would look like. This meant that it was really important to make sure that the colours worked together, something we learnt earlier in the course during the colour workshop. This technique reminded me of the work of Julie Meese, who uses newspaper layers underneath but still incorporates the masking tape blocks. I really like her work and liked the colours.

In the image above I really like how you can see where the paint has run underneath the tape, I like the colours in this image and think the different lines are arranged nicely. The image below is of the same painting however I have taken a different section. I experimented with using masking tape to create much more flowing and random lines. I like these lines, and like how the two techniques are juxtaposed in the same image.

So the image below is my second attempt, however in this image I have used all the pieces of masking tape I removed, and layered them up over the existing image. I think this looks really effective, especially with the diagonal lines.

I really like these sections of the image. I really like the colours and think they look really effective where the paint has chipped off. I really like this technique and think I produced some well informed work.

Heat Press

So today we learnt how to use the heat press. I had no idea before I started about the extent of work that can be created by using a heat press. It was such a simple technique however looks very effective. It allowed us to use transfers and experiment with plastics and patterns. I also tried using ink trapped in plastic wallets which melted together when heating. This looked particularly good especially with other things trapped between. I really like this workshop and was surprised how good the images looked. I also tried using bubble-wrap which gave the pieces an intresting texture. I really liked using the gold foil which when peeled off, broke away from the surface leaving small sections. First I just tried out the effect the ink had.

The image below was created by using a heat-transfer. I like the effect, especially with the green ink behind.

In this image I combined the heat transfer with the ink and also put a layer of gold foil over the top, which when peeled off, left the small gold pieces on the surface. I think this piece looks really effective, I especially like the metallic quality the foil has given it.

I tried the same technique but with different amounts of ink in each one. The one below has too much foil and ink which has given it quite a nice shiny surface however there is nothing intresting about the piece as a whole apart from this.

I really like the effect of the gold foil.

Colour Project

In this workshop, we were learning how to create colour charts and how to chose colours that complimented each other. We did a variety of different sheets, including one made from grey tones, one from green tones, one made from orange tones and another made from purple. It was interesting to see the colours which complimented one another and made it much more easier to mix colours to match. I think the sheets looked great. We then had to cut up the sheets into 8x8 squares of block colour. We were then asked to re-create the squares but by using all the different colour charts we had made. I think the squares look very nice. Sme colours I found I didn't like so much, so some squares I am not as pleased with. However I like the composition of each square and the way they look altogether.

Cardboard Box Project

So today we were asked to create an intresting composition using a pile of cardboard boxes. I first looked at the work of several different cardboard artists including the artist Alex Uribe. His work is more sculpture based however I like that his pieces are structures rather than random. The boxes we were using were all shapes and sizes and some included intresting stickers and postage marks etc. The first thing was to see how the cardboard could be manipulated into new shapes. It was intresting to play around with the different types of cardboard and see what happened when it was placed under water, or screwed up. Some had a very intresting centre and so it was nice to scratch away the surface to see the underneath. I made 3 compositions altogether, all wall pieces. I used different cardboards for each piece and tried to manipulate them in different ways. I liked the range of different colours that I found amongst the pile of old boxes. Some of the stickers were really intresting and the colours looked effective, like the image below.

I like the range of different textures in the image below. I attached many different strips of cardboard together to make the composition more intresting. I also like the silver tape and think it adds a lot to the piece by introducing a strange colour. It stands out particularly against the brown of the cardboard.

The image below is of my 3rd composition which is cardboard insulation taken from inside another box. I really liked the texture and the lacy effect. I put the cardboard under a running tap and mixed a bit of black ink to give the cardboard a black wash effect. I then attached the cardboard to the wall using copper wire so the cardboard could be manipulated into an intresting shape. I found a FRAGILE sticker which I thought would look nice next to this piece, so I covered the letters with cellotape, meaning when I peeled the tape off and removed the back , the ink would be left stuck to the tape. I really think that this compliments the piece well, especially with the hint of red in the letters. This is my favourite composition.

3D design - Drawing and Measurement

Today we were looking more into perspective and the advantages of using 3-point perspective within our drawing.This is a technique that allows you to create intresting 3-D drawings using a simple technique. A piece of paper is placed in between 2 strings nailed to the wall, another string is also nailed at the bottom underneath the sheet of paper. We then pulled graphite along the strings so they could be used to create marks, the strings are then pulled across the paper to create a series of black lines. I was really intrested in thsi technique and enjoyed the process. I was pleased with the result.

After using this technique we began to look at 2 point perspective using A4 paper. This is a technique where a 3D image can be created using 2 points at the edge of the paper. It worked particularly well when drawing stairs. It allows you to create an effective drawing using a simple measuring technique. The final image looked really nice when photocopied and inverted so the colours stood out more. I am very happy with these images.

3D design

3D design - Drawing with measurement


So today we started our week in 3D. I've never studied 3D before and didn't know what to expect. First we were asked to arrange 4 or 5 white plinths in an intresting composition. We then attached strings from the corners of one plinth to another to create an intresting linear structure. We then drew the plinths with the strings and began to experiment with colour and also taking sections of the composition and making it more intresting by overlapping for example. I really enjoyed this workshop, and although it was very difficult to draw the plinths exactly in proportion, I was really happy with the overall result and thought it looked very effective. Below are some photo's of the plinths.

I really like the drawings of the plinths I did especially with the fine-liners.

On the image below I overlapped three different pieces of tracing paper all with different patterns of lines on. I drew the image above in different fine-liner pens and overlapped them to create an intresting composition.

I really like how the images worked out.