cardboard city - construction

Here are my photos of the cardboard city activity the class did and how me and my group achieved what we did. Using only unfolded boxes, i created cubes and stacked them in the form of a fort in the corner of the room. we also made cardboard armour and fake turrets out of the same materials.

Evaluation - Arts and Crafts

Evaluation - Arts and Crafts

In this project, I was tasked with studying and researching the works of both an arts and crafts “pioneer” (either William Morris or Charles Mackintosh) and a contemporary artist of my choice (Henry Moore)

The primary research I did for this project included seeing some of Henry Moore’s sculptures first hand at the Yorkshire sculpture park. Secondary research mainly included pictures found on the internet and other information on Henry Moore and William Morris.

The reason I chose Morris over Mackintosh was because I find his patterns more inspiring and, frankly, better drawn. When considering I had to apply his or mackintosh’s style to my chosen contemporary artist (Henry Moore) in mood boards later in the project, morris seemed like a better choice due to the amount of detail in his paintings being easier to mix with other artists’ styles.

To put my mood boards together I stretched a sheet of A2 paper over a board each time (if using wet media), and, dependent on the piece I was producing, applied a background before drawing and colouring.

I decided to choose Henry Moore for my contemporary artist because he would support my theme. He would do this by creating an interesting yet effective mix with morris, of which turned out well as Moore’s sketchy technique collided with the detailed floral patterns of Morris.

Throughout the project I have experimented with:  mark making; when copying some of Moore’s sketches of skulls and also applied it in a study of Morris to integrate the two styles, ink scratching; in moore’s sketches of sheep, oil pastels and watercolours.

Health and safety procedures were obviously covered when producing my mood boards; such as obvious precautions to avoid cutting yourself when using scalpels and sharp objects. Risk of burning was apparent in the textiles department with the wax used for batique and heat guns.

The feedback I mostly consisted of comments about speed and annotation. Throughout the rest of the project I tried to complete my work faster and achieved this goal. However, I didn’t include much annotation on other sheets, as it wasn’t needed.

I feel the main strength in my designs is how the two styles of my chosen artist have integrated so well, both the simplistic yet chaotic like sketches of moore and twisting, convoluted leaves of morris create something unique. Another strength I found after completion was how the colours didn’t undermine the pencilled sections’ dark aura and tone.

If I were to do the project again I would spend more time on the floral patterns to make them more eye catching or even include more complicated studies of moore’s work as I found the ones I chose were quite easy and not challenging.

The processes I used in the project include weaving, batique, puff binding and sewing.I feel I managed my time as well as I could in the short amount of time I was given, although it was hard keeping ahead of work because I was unsure of what to do. Thorough

 

Evaluation

In the project, “Am I an animal or a building”, the research I did was all secondary as it was found on the internet. I researched the artwork and inspirations of Peter Clark to use for inspiration in my own work via the internet and various videos in class. I also researched the characteristics and selected/printed pictures of my animal, a two toed sloth.

Peter Clark influenced my final 3D piece with the idea to collage it using random clippings of magazines, newspapers etc. I produced a research sheet, consisting of pictures printed from the internet and my own drawings, to familiarise myself with his style.

For the first mood board I put together various drawings that I felt were part of my life/me, eg. Lyrics, music artists I find inspiration from, characters from films/TV, comics, etc. For the second I drew pictures of the animal I chose. The third consisted of printed pictures of Peter Clarks drawings and the last a large collage of my animal.

In this project I experimented with different inks for background and used different media such as watercolour paints, pencil, oil pastel and coloured pencil.

The main material used was A2 paper of which was used for the boards and other materials such as paper from magazines, printed pictures and cardboard for the final piece. The main technique I used was stretching the boards with paper and gumstrip (before wetting) and the processes involved were tonal shading on the myself board,  blending in the collage and others, painting and crosshatching on the myself.

I had to be careful when cutting the pictures and gumstrip as the best way to do it was with a knife; of which can obviously dangerous. A cutting board was used to prevent damage to the table.

My strengths were found when attempting my own style for example in the myself mood board where I could attempt comic style when drawing the joker and batman, aswell as highly detailed studies including Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange and Frank the rabbit from Donnie Darko. This was also shown in the animal board where I copied, in great detail, pictures of two toed sloths of which portrayed realistic and detailed fur/skin of the animal.

If I were to do the project again I would chose a different artist. Although I like some of peter Clark’s work I found it hard to replicate his complicated style and have little interest in collage work. I would choose an artist who is relevant to me and how I want to develop my own style and maybe someone who has already influenced me in the past/interests me.

 I found that the collage went well, the colours I chose were effective and interesting and the picture actually resembled my chosen animal.

I could have improved on my first board by allowing more space for more drawings and the Peter Clark mood board could have included more drawings by me.

I  feel I managed my time quite well

Observational Drawing & Mark-Making Project Evaluation

In this project I have learned a few mark-making techniques; most of which are new to me like sgraffito, continuous line and single lines. The drawing techniques I have learned were all familiar to me before college such as using coloured pencil on a black background, line drawing, colourless, detailed, sketching and painting with acrylics and using oil/soft pastels.

Media was used greatly in the mood boards project, cameras were used to take pictures of objects in the workshops and uploaded to laptops from which we would copy them onto paper. I have often used Pinterest and other websites to explore different drawing and mark making techniques also.

The four studies on different backgrounds, I think, are quite effective; the colour pencil on black card and newspaper is the most detailed and interesting due to the switch between black and white, the coloured pencil on inks is effective how it contrasts the colours with detail in the objects and background.The coloured pencil on white emulsion is effective because of the different directions and shapes of the strokes used of which also creates a good texture for the drawings. The bleach on brusho inks

When the sgraffito drawing was finished, I found that the different colours merged and flowed very well when scratched away of which was very effective, this I was skeptical of before I started scratching. Another way the drawing is effective is how the details are very intricate and the block colours are bold, there is a good contrast that works between them.

The homework studies I think were successful, I spent at least 3 hours on each and all turned out as good as I expected. In some ways they could be improved, for example the clothes pile could have included more detail and could have been bigger, and maybe they would be better if I challenged myself more.

I don't think I have improved my observational drawing skills because in some cases I felt the need to rush and most objects I have copied and drawn so far have been uninteresting ( in my opinion ). However, I feel that my observational drawing skills are already quite experienced and I don't think there is much in which I can improve.

Time management in the project wasn't amazing, but that particular factor of working is what I often need to concentrate on. I think that although I tried to speed up in some cases it had a negative effect in my drawing and when I work at my own pace I can always expect better results. Overall the time management was good considering I didn't have a massive amount to complete at home but I could have been quicker to help make time for improvements in some pieces and complete other with better quality.

Within the time frame I feel I have produced good drawing and mark making outcomes but there wasn't enough time on some pieces to allow me to finish them to the best outcome.

Other drawing techniques I would like to explore include sketching and surrealism to better my understanding of perspectives. I would also like to try comic style/cartoon techniques.

Overall, this project has challenged me, mostly because my interests were not in the drawings I was doing and I have often been uninterested by the things we have drawn/copied throughout. Some parts
 of the project, such as the sgraffito, I enjoyed, and have learned some new skills in the process. I
know that if something is boring it shouldn't be an excuse for me to not try, so I have the best I can.

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Ceramics