Summer Inspirations | Part 1

Agnes Cecile & Cate Parr

Over the summer I really got into watercolour painting. I built up a collection of images I liked over summer and many seemed to include a water colour element. I really like the way colours can be blended together using watercolours, and that they can give the effect of water movement on the page. My two favourite artists that I came across are Agnes Cecile and Cate Parr.

Cate Parr is an amazing artist, she creates portraits of people using watercolours but completely changes the colour palette. Instead of the conventional colours in reality she uses colourful pastels that compliment eachother perfectly. She uses a lot of pinks and purples which I am surprised I love so much as I usually am put off by overuse of these colours, however the shades she uses are really appealing. The way she puts the colour on the page is really natural and hand drawn, there is a lack of detail in some of her work but that is what makes the piece so effective, like her painting of Kate Moss. Her messy technique is what appeals to me as sometimes I feel too neat and want to branch out a little more.

Agnes Cecile also uses watercolour in an inspiring way. She is similar to Cate Parr in the sense that she doesn’t use conventional colours, however she is more detailed particularly when she paints facial features. I love her use of dripping paint in conjunction with her images and I think her style of painting is fascinating. During my summer work I tried to take inspiration from both of these watercolour artists in my painting of Beyonce. I chose Beyonce because at the time she was in the news over her marriage with Jay-Z and also because of her involvement in the VMAs. She also has amazing facial structure which I thought would be interesting to paint.

My watercolour painting inspired by Agnes Cecile and Cate Parr

Burberry AW14 collection

Continuing on the topic of watercolours, I researched into designers that use watercolour prints in their collection as fashion is the direction I think I want to go in, so I am trying to build up knowledge of different fashion designers. This is when I came across Burberry’s AW14 collection. I absolutely love the watercolour effect of the print used on their scarves and coats. There is a clear hand-painted feel that is very rough but planned and the colour use is remarkable because it contains so many colours yet looks so chosen and put together. I really love the layered structure of the collection, which lead me to look into collaging and composition in my project. 

Unit X | Final images

After playing with my images on photoshop over and over again, I have finally produced 2 images which I am happy to print for the exhibition.

During my experimentation, I decided that having 4 animals in one print was perhaps too much and looked too busy. Because of this, I changed my number to three and in order to create another poster I needed two more paintings to work with, so I painted the zebra and the macaw.

Working on both posters was quite difficult, as I needed to create the right combination of animals and in the right places. Eventually I did manage to come up with two designs I am happy with. I wanted my designs to be large scale, so I started with the biggest size available to me which is A0. I was prepared to go smaller if necessary however the A0 prints came out okay, there was no blurring. I am happy with my prints, but if I could have been specific with my paper I wouldn't have chosen matte as the colours did dull down a little. 

Yet I am very pleased with how my work looks and I am excited to put it up in the exhibition.

I wanted to see how my prints looked together get a general feel of how they are going to look in the exhibition, so I tried hanging them up in the studio. I was thinking about mounting them on boards as they might look better, but in the end I decided I prefer them hanging as paper. Also A0 boards would be extremely hard to carry to and from the exhibition, whereas with paper I have bought a tube to carry them in safely so that they don't get damaged. Overall I really like how my designs have turned out and I am very pleased with my work.

Unit X | Working in the Studio

During Unit X we have been able to work in the studio in a way which we never have before. We have always been entitled to putting our work up on the walls but it wasn't exactly instructed. However in drawing and film this is exactly what we have been told to do, and I have very much enjoyed having the experience. 

It is really nice to be able to see other people's work and how they are developing their ideas. I never realized how seeing how my peers are working could inspire me to work harder and show off my work. Normally our work is enclosed in a sketchbook which can be seen by our friends and who we choose to show it to. Having work up on the studio walls enables anyone and everyone to see our work develop. 

I like this way of working as when people walk by you can see their reactions to your wall, and a lot can be shown through facial expressions. When people have a positive response to my work it gives me more confidence. I have also had people come up to me and tell me they like my work, in fact I've received lots of really lovely comments. 

I also find it interesting to be able to see the difference between my wall at the start and at the end of the unit, and the journey it has gone through.

Unit X | Photoshop development

I have kept experimenting on photoshop this week, and I have now produced 4 final outcomes.

I really like the four images as individuals. I have completed what I intended to create, however as I am left with a lot more time before the exhibition I would also like to try including more than one animal in each collage. I plan to try layering the animals together, possibly with 3 or 4 in one image. If this ends up working and is successful, I might consider having one larger final piece rather than a collection of four.
Creating my images on photoshop has enabled me to have the distressed effect I have been experimenting with. Like Rauschenberg, I have made layers of different images and blended them together through editing opacities.



Unit X | Digital Experimentation

This week I have finally taken my work onto Photoshop.

As the acryllic image transfer technique can be unpredictable and might not always have the desired effect, I scanned separate image transfers into photoshop so I can edit them together. So far I have only been trying things out but I am happy with how it is going. Turning my images into brushes has made them incredibly easy to use. It is very useful to be able to delete anything that doesn't look right, move things around and start again. I am going to continue to use photoshop to hopefully come up with some final images. I plan to create 3-4 separate images each including one animal like Bryan Holland, but for the exhibition they will be shown as a collection.



Unit X | Layering

I've been experimenting with layering different images together to create the feel Bryan Holland's work does. Using newspaper and found images, I have made collages using an image transfer technique that I learned at A level. Painting over an image with white acrylic paint and then placing it face down and applying pressure puts the image onto the other page. However some parts may not be transferred at all, others will be done lightly and some parts appear more bold. I really like the effect this creates as it gives a worn feel, as if the image is a lot older than it is. I want there to be an older feel to my work as it can then give the impression of old circus posters in a similar way to Bryan Holland. I was going to use image maker however that would copy the image perfectly, and I want a more distressed feel. 

Another artist that inspires me is Robert Rauschenberg. He creates work with a damaged and distressed look similar to what I am trying to create. His work is generally worn everywhere however I am trying to also include some less distressed elements in my work, particularly the animals. I specifically like his use of running paint, I really like how this looks.

Unit X | Development

Yesterday in our workshop we had the chance to experiment with Projectors and acetate. 

I really liked playing around with different drawings together. Me, Abi and Zoe all had drawings prepared on acetate and it was really interesting layering them up on the projector. I really like the look of the different styles which brought me back to thinking of Bryan Holland and his work. 

After the workshop I experimented by layering my acetates with other papers. I really like how these look and the collaged element really adds something to my work. I also want experiment with taking my work onto photoshop and editing in different ways. I am thinking of possibly doing parts separately then collaging them digitally so that they can be used over again in different combinations and compositions. I feel like this will give me more contol over my work, as I can delete, erase or undo any aspects I am unhappy with, which is something that can't really be done on paper.