HND second year - Transformation

TRANSFORMATION

My proposal-

The title of this project is transformation, and I am not fully sure of what my definite final outcome may look like yet, but what I do know is that I would like to create a series of canvases, which I haven’t decided on the scale of yet.

I was quite intrigued when I found out the title of the project and now I cant wait to get started to see what I can come up with, I am wanting to experiment with different techniques and media, as well as having inspiration from my chosen artists, the main one being chuck close, I will visit exhibitions to explore what standard or work is in gallery’s and to also see if any can link with my own research and development, this should help me with ideas that will push me with experimentation in the process. I want to achieve a better understanding of the use of colour mixing within my work, which I will also have to experiment with. I enjoy using colour and I feel that this is a strong point for me as it has worked successfully in past projects, it has been my main focus as it can symbolise emotion and personality, it can also have an impact on the audience who is viewing the work. Colour can be quite a powerful way to change a mood and create depth in a piece of art, this is why I feel it is important for me to use it in this project. Colour also links with the artist chuck close which can also help me with my colour pallet. I do need to research my artist in depth to see how he works and what technique he uses as well as researching other artists so that I can take inspiration from more than one, doing this gives me a wider range of ideas and ways to push my work into different directions and maybe onto final outcomes. I am going to try and take my chosen artists techniques and transform them by mixing together and adding my own twist. I know that I will not be able to get the exact same techniques as the artists which I think is interesting and makes it more personal to me. I will also use imagery that I have taken myself and will be transforming those by creating drawings from them, It will then take me to adding the techniques on top of the drawings and that way the imagery will turn out to look different from the original photograph also because I want to take the drawings and mix together two or more to create one whole new piece of work.

The first week was mainly a week of thinking and putting down my initial ideas as well as doing some research , the artists that I chose to look at are Chuck Close, Gustav Klimpt, Picasso and Piet Mondrian.
I have also started to feel influenced by the golden section, I have been looking at pieces of work and separating the image into different sections and I also realised that there are other ways of looking at it to create my own pieces of work that relate to this project. I can take out certain shapes from a piece of work, look at just one section and blow it up to create a new piece using different colours as well as a different style of working. I feel that I now need to take these ideas on board when I start my practical work next week.

After that I have been experimenting my ideas which has lead me to think of other ideas that can be developed further. I have looked at the work I have created this week and thought of other things to try out such as changing the colours by choosing one colour to match my emotion in the image as a I have now realised I want to do portraiture, I then want to take it further in the second half this project by looking at cityscapes. whilst creating portraits I will use different grids, colours/tones, sizes, materials and parts of the face to experiment and develop my work.

I have started by looking at tone instead of colour, I have also had pictures taken of my face from a photographer , I then took them onto photoshop  and illustrator to play about with the different effects that link with my work such as pixilating the image and adding grids as guidelines whilst I paint.

These are the images of my progress from my first painting, I chose an image of myself from a happy moment that was captured which was the first time of seeing and then going up the Eiffel tower in Paris. I printed the picture out in black and white, and then placed a piece of thin plastic that was once used as a wallet of some kind and used this to paint on, before looking at the tone and mixing the paint to match, I sectioned off the image by taking out the shapes, I took influence from chuck close but decided to try out a similar but different technique of my own because chuck uses a measured grid of diamonds that measure 3inches by 3 inches and he also paints on canvas. This is something that I may try out but I wanted to try out an idea of my own first which seemed to work out well for me and better than expected. I am now picturing a piece like this on a big canvas or a big piece of plastic.

This is from the same image but it is on A3 piece of tracing paper, I used the tracing paper to pick out the shapes that make up the image and then use this to trace over and over again so that I can use different parts of it, use different colours as well as materials.

I started by just using my face and mixing colours without using any white paint to create the tone and this time I painted it in my workbook which has cartridge paper in it. I think that this isn't as successful as the toned piece I created. My next step is to create another piece but this time using white paint every time I mix a colour, I may use goache paint this time as well as I feel that it will look more successful on the plastic than acrylic does.

I created these images using Photoshop and illustrator, I used a few different effects to see what would happen to the image as well as trying to create a grid like shape. Somehow I came up with these circles, and by adding another layer , colour appeared which then created more of a 3D effect. I do find this interesting and may push this further at a later date.

I wanted to experiment more with portraiture, this time using different tones in colour but only choosing two as I didnt feel ready to do a multicoloured piece yet.
I created a square grid on tracing paper which had the outline of the shapes from the image to give me a guidline. I used different tones of yellow to represent my hair colour and then blue to represent my mood as I feel that blue is a neutral colour aswell as sad.

This is the end piece, I decided to leave the background blank because I liked it how it was and felt that it would have been too overpowering with the background filled in.

These are the images from the liverpool trip, I felt that the windows inspired me aswell as the work in the exhibition. I saw the window frames as a grid which then gave me an idea to maybe use cityscapes aswell as portraits.

I took drawings from the images to try a different aproach by making the effect of depth through drawing as in these pictures, there is a foreground, a middle and a background.

I then decided to try this physically by layering using drawings, imagery and card.

I feel that this was a successful way of taking my work in a different way, I now think that I can do something more in the future with with project, maybe the second part.

I wanted to carry on experimenting with layering, this time using drawing, plastic and paint, as well as different tones of green.

I did feel that I wanted to go back to portrature and tone, I thought I would use an image I took from liverpool, so that cityscape and portrature is mixed. This time experimenting more by creating a bigger piece of work, to get the drawing more accurate I had the idea of projecting the image onto the paper and drawing over the projected lines.

I took images of the work in progress to show how I got to the finishing piece, I know that I could do more to this piece by adding and overlaying more tone, but I wanted to move onto a different piece or way of working as this is only the experimentation stage.

These are just quick line drawing ideas that I felt I needed to get down as mondrian had inspired me with his shapes and lines.

I am not sure if I should take this further but it maybe something to concider later on in the project.

I feel that my most successful piece of work that I have done so far was the small tonal piece of me with the eiffel tower in the background, which is why I wanted to try this piece again but on a bigger scale as well as using a colour instead of black and white tone.

This is still unfinished as I started to get bored with doing the same thing and felt as though it wasn't going as successful as the smaller piece that I created on the plastic.

I will finish this piece in between experimenting with other ideas.

I was still inspired by the grid as well as the image I created using photo shop which is why I started to create this piece of work as part of experimentation of ideas.


My work in progress.

I was relieved to have finished this piece as it took up so much time and effort although I do feel that the end result seemed to look successful and it was what I expected it to look like at the end, the person in the painting isn't too noticeable which is what I wanted to achieve as it adds interest and makes the audience look for longer and makes them think more about it to try and work it out.

I tried to create this so that it looked similar to the photo shopped piece that I created but with this I wanted to achieve a different look by using different colours that are on the photo shopped picture, I chose the colours that I felt were most appropriate for where I was placing them, I put more thought into the colour on the person in the image rather than the background. I used reds, oranges, patches and yellows for the hair as I wanted it to be more of a representation of me, I then used black and white tones mixed with pale blues for the body part as in the original image I wore a black jacket which this is a representation of. I would like to see this bigger as a future piece but first I am aiming to keep experimenting with different ideas as well as ideas I have got from creating this piece, such as, making the circles bigger and concentrating on the patterns inside the circles.

 This is the finished piece of a painting that I previously started, by leaving it for a while then coming back to it like I did helped me as the second time I started to work on it, I felt that I was being more selective with the placement of the tones, I do feel that this isn't as successful as my smaller black and white tonal piece I painted on the plastic, maybe this is because the scale is a lot bigger, or it could be that it is in colour, This could have worked better in a different colour.

Here are images of part of my development stage. I wanted to push my work into a completely different direction but still using influence from what I have already done.  I used a stencil of circles to project onto the wall, I then put my paper in front of it so that the circles projected onto the paper. I then just used my instinct to follow the lines and what I saw using the shadows as well and these are the images of the results. I used different media such as paint, fine liner, ink, graphite and pen to fill in and create the lines. I found that the outcome was interesting but not successful enough for me to use as a final outcome, but I may come back to this idea in the future maybe to project imagery or follow the lines and see where I end up. It was a fun exercise as I was being free with it where as I have previously been being precise with the placement of the lines and brush strokes.

This is another part of my development work, It is unfinished as I felt that it was going to be unsuccessful and didn't want to waste time as I had to start thinking of final pieces. The reason for me thinking it may be unsuccessful was because the paint didn't work very well on the shiny material that I was using and also because I felt that I was repeating what id already done and wanted to try and push my work into a different direction for my final outcomes. I may go back to this in the future and finish it to see if it does become unsuccessful as a piece of art and maybe think of trying out this idea again on canvas or another material.

As a group we went to the Royal Albert Hospital to chat to Nick about the spaces we have got for the exhibition, I took a few images to look back on and give me guidance on what size work I can have. I am now excited to get started on some possible final pieces that can be put up in the hospital.

An email that was sent to us , it has the measurements of the walls on them which has also helped me visualise what an ideal scale my work can be at.

First canvas in progress

 Here is my progress so far on a possible final outcome for the hospital, I wanted to create the landscapes and paint the images that I took myself whilst looking out of the window which I saw as a grid in itself. This can represent and relate to different things to do with the hospital, eventually I would like to paint images which I will photograph looking out of a window of the hospital or an image of the building itself, including the car park to show how many people come and go either visiting or patients that are treated. I think that the patients in the hospital could relate to a piece like this because maybe looking through the window is as far as they get to being outside for a long time, It would be nice for them to walk around the hospital and look at some colourful or inspiring artwork instead of blank walls, looking at art may help them feel better for a while or just cheer them up a little bit. Taking these ideas into consideration and creating them will determine weather this piece is successful once it is finished, I am trying to use calming colours at the moment, but also trying to match the colours with the original photographs that I have taken. I would like this piece to look unique and colourful as I am still breaking down the images into shapes.

 

 As I don't feel too comfortable having an image of me in a hospital, mainly because I feel that it isn't appropriate. This gave me the idea of using my eye as a starting image, eyes see everything and they are quite important, in hospitals your eyes see all sorts of different sights, weather they are happy things, sad things or traumatic/ life changing things, I feel that having an eye can represent things that people see whilst they feel trapped in a hospital, this is also why the eye looks quite sad. A lot can be said just by looking at somebodies  eyes which that person may be hiding. In my personal opinion I see hospitals as a sad and not a nice place to be and is place where people have different life threatening illnesses are being treated each day, and is a place where people discover death. Which is why I have had this idea, whereas other people may think that hospitals can be a nice place to be as its where people are recovering and getting better after being unwell.

 This was created through photo shop and illustrator by adding layers and effects, I added colour to this which I feel is successful. If I was to take this idea further I would definitely experiment with colours, I also want to try this effect through screen print as I haven't experimented with doing that in a while.

I have now got to a point where this canvas is almost finished but just needs neatening up with more work adding to it such as over painting. I am thinking of changing the darker blue areas which are representing the water in the image by blocking it in and separating it into shapes so that I can fill them in with different tones of blue, I think it will look more successful by doing this and it may bring the piece together because now it stands out more than any other areas of the painting. I feel that the colour range that has been used on this works well together and looks more successful than expected. I also need to straighten up the lines which are representing the window frames so that it looks more professional. 

I will soon have this finished so that I can start on two new pieces, one being the screen prints of the eye and the other one may be another painting of the small circles which made up the figure, this time I will maybe use bigger circles so that it doesn't take up as much time, it may also have a slightly different effect. 

I started to fill in the white space that I had at the top of the painting but I then realised that it wasn't working and looked odd against the rest of the painting, so I have now sanded it back to get most of the colour off and I will prime that part again so that it is ready for me to try something different on it which will look successful.

This is the finished piece, I do feel that the brickwork pattern looks a lot more successful than the striped pattern, I am happy that I over painted it although it was more time consuming because I wanted my work to show that I work to the best of my ability. 

 

Overall I am happy with this first canvas because it was a new idea that I wanted to try out and luckily it turned out to be a successful one although once I had started it I made a few changes during the process as different ideas came into my head. I independently made decisions to make changes to my work which helps with confidence. I wanted this piece to have depth which is why I chose different hues of colours such as a mixture of bold, bright and pastel effect colours which I feel works well. I decided to leave the lines white, whilst I was painting this I had the idea that I would fill the lines in with black or a very dark blue, once I had filled in all the shapes with colour I changed my mind because I felt that it looked successful the way it was and I had previously painted a similar piece as part of my development and in that painting I filled in the lined with a dark grey which I feel ruined the painting as the dark lines took over the whole piece. Also a painting for a hospital needs to be as bright as possible which is also why I was happy with the decision to leave the lines white.

I have now started to experiment using screen print, I found that the eye only shows up the best if I use darker colours, I think that this is because its on a white background, the positive and negative spaces work well together for this certain image. I also like how the paper had bumps in it after screen printing onto it, this adds movement to the eye.

This is an example of using a bright colour, I used just orange to start off with and when I saw that it didn't look successful I then screen printed over it again using black ink so see if the eye would show up, which didn't happen, I don't particularly like this as it doesn't have the effect I expected it to have which is the eye being visable in the image, but looking at it in a positive way, I can always use this to push my work and experimentation further by painting over this and adding layers.   

Here is my second finished canvas for the exhibition. The shapes that I have used in this piece I have taken from my previous painting, I have used an imaginary viewfinder to pick out a small part of the canvas and then transferred the same shapes onto this piece whilst making them bigger, I have stuck with the grid but changed it to see what else can be done with it. Instead of Just using a grid to guide me I have used it so that it is visible in  the painting. I found that the results were interesting and successful as I didn't expect it to work. I am glad that I experimented with different techniques and ideas because it has helped me create work that I didn't expect. I screen printed  the image of my eye onto the canvas using the colour that I found was most successful whist I was experimenting. I like how the eye is slightly covered with the colour as it shows the emotion of being trapped and hidden away in a hospital, and in some cases the window effect represents the window in a hospital with a person staring through it.

 I have put lots of thought into my work so that it fits into the hospital and so that the patients or anyone can relate to them. I have made them as colourful as possible to add colour and a bit of happiness to the hospital.  

 

My final canvas in progress 

 

This time with my final canvas  I have been more free with the placement of the screen printed eyes, I have used two this time to represent not being alone. I wanted too be more free whilst applying the ink to see if I could change the effect, as well as adding a brighter colour into it so that it completes the painting better and looks complete. The bright colour which in this case is orange is effective against the rest of the bold colours that I have used for the geometric shapes.

Again I have taken these shapes from my first painting, this time taking it from any aspect of the piece and I was also more free with where I placed these shapes, I didn't want to be too precise about where I painted each shape I just put them where I thought they would look successful. I always think, why does there always have to be a reason behind the composition? so that is why I just did what I thought looked right, which I think worked well. There is more depth in this last canvas because there are different sized shapes which creates a foreground, a middle and a background, I feel that this is more visible in this piece than in my other two canvases.

 

 

The Royal Albert Hospital exhibition

 

 

 I was proud to have my work displayed on the walls in the hospital because I know that people will be walking past them daily and looking at them, whatever their reactions may be to them I am still happy because of how hard I worked on these and its also an amazing opportunity for more possible work to be displayed either in this hospital or a different one from another area. It is also good experience for the future with projects I may do for the public as I know what kind of contacts I need to have and what standard people are looking for. I am also thankful that the hospital is being part of the sales of my work as well as the other artists, I would feel surprised but happy if someone requested to buy a piece as some of the profits go to the hospital itself and that would be a good feeling to know that my work has helped raise money for the hospital and not just myself.

 

 

To sum up this first half of the project, 

I feel that I have got enough successful and interesting ideas to push and take further and I think that I have been more of an independent artist this time round which is a big difference for me as I usually get stuck with ideas quite easily, 

I am now excited to see what else I can come up with in the next part of this journey. 

 

 

 

To sum up the second half project I am happy with my outcomes as well as my development work as I have learned new techniques from artists and myself through experimentation. I now have a better idea of what type of artist I am and which techniques work well for me and most importantly which I enjoy doing the most. Which is colour, shape and drawing as well as photo shop. Paint is definitely the most favoured media for me along side of ink because I feel that they can work well together as well as separately. I have realised that my emotions and feelings towards life and myself can have an influence on my artwork and in future projects I will use this to my advantage and push myself to create meaningful pieces of work.

Although I have already tried out different ideas and techniques to create different types of portraiture I  would like to carry on with exploring it in as many ways as I can , I will do more research into it along side of more experimentation because it interests me which I feel is important whilst studying.  And portraiture can be linked to me as a person and the people I have around me.