Unit X | Investigation

Since deciding what my direction is going to be I have been experimenting with colours and patterns.

I started to look at the designs used within typical fairgrounds and circuses. I then wanted to somehow portray this imagery onto animals to put across the idea that they are seen as part of the fairground rather than actual living things. I started with silhouettes because a basic shape is a lot easier to put a pattern onto. I quite like how these turned out, and I really liked the hand painted element.
Although I do really like the silhouettes filled with bright patterns, I also wanted to experiment with more real looking paintings. Bryan Holland paints the animal as it actually looks and turns its surroundings into pattern and imagery. I wanted to try this out for myself.

 

While I was doing some research on Pinterest I found lots of artwork that showed elephants on newspaper and book pages. I really liked how it looked but it also relates to my work, as newspapers were what told people all over the UK that the animals were in Belle Vue to be seen. That's where they were advertised.
I have painted a circus elephant onto newspaper, this time as the elephant actually looks rather than the silhouette filled with a pattern. I found that I really like the texture of the paint on the newspaper, and the finish was lovely. I plan on taking the newspaper idea further in my work.

Unit X | Bryan Holland

I found Bryan Holland while looking on Pinterest and his work really inspires me.

He takes his inspiration from zoos which fits perfectly with my work. Holland uses collage and painting in order to create a feeling of old circus advertisements. 

I find his work beautiful and really enjoyable to look at. I love the way he layers different materials and the animals are beautifully hand painted on top of more basic patterns and designs.

Unit X | Belle Vue Archives

This week I learned a lot about Belle Vue considering I'd never heard about it before.

We had a talk and there was some information that particularly stood out to me. The animals weren't treated very well and often died within a few weeks or months. I've always been a big animal lover so this really got to me.

One of my ideas to work with is that the animals were used for entertainment purposes and weren't left to live their lives. They were seen as a form of entertainment rather than seen as unhappy and dying. 

I collected lots of visual information of animals and the zoological gardens posters from the visit to Chatem Library, to help me get started.

I also made a board on my Pinterest especially for circus and zoo animals.

http://gb.pinterest.com/caramillet/animals/

 

Unit X | Blackpool

 I really enjoyed this weeks trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. I took plenty of photos for visual research because I want to hit the ground running in this Unit. From the past I've found I draw to a much better quality when I have collected vast amounts of research.

Actually being at the theme park and experiencing it in a way you can't by just buying a ticket definitely brought some inspiration itself. I collected many photos of the roller coasters and their structures as they looked amazing from the angles we saw them from.

I have started doing some drawings from these photos however I'm not sure roller coasters is the direction I want to go in. The architectural side of things has never really been a key interest or strong point. We have more visits and lectures this week so I'm hoping other aspects stick out for me.