Doodle Project

The doodle project started off by having the class get split up into groups of three to five and within each group was an A2 blank piece of paper, we got told that we had to doodle what ever we wanted onto this plain piece of paper but we wasn't aloud to communicate to each other at all, so we had to sit and doodle in pure silence.

Two weeks on from that we then got our A2 doodle sheet back, but we got split up into another group so there was different ideas and doodles that could be placed onto other peoples work, we had to fill every gap of the page with only a little bit of white space showing.

The weeks after that our doodle sheets had been cut up into thick strips and we had to choose which strip we would like to use as our final piece.

I chose this piece which had some of my floral waves and patterns as well as someone else's work which had owls and logos on it.

We then got told that to make it our own we had to cover up parts of the doodle strip that we didn't want, with tissue paper and PVA glue, by layering the part we didn't want with tissue paper it made that particular section gradually disappear.

I then added more doodles to the strip, covering up the blank spaces which previously had drawings already on it, I tried to make out the swirls on the picture were branches and there was already an owl on the page so I carried on with the bird theme and drew more birds like swallows and robins.

I enjoy doing textiles so I've added a bit of materials to my strip and I have began to sew different colours into it to give it a 3d effect and for me it makes it stand out even more.

As you can see, I have finally completed my doodle strip, since the last picture and update I have now added pink tissue paper to the background so the objects in the foreground stand out even more.

As well I have sewn into the majority of my work using different styles of stitching, I have sewn into the music notes, the rest of the branches, and even on a couple of the circles. I love the way it gives it a more 3D feel to it.

I have also used a variety of acrylic paints to add some solid colour to the strip and made sure to choose colours that go together rather than picking random colours that clash, but making sure that they look fairly realistic.

I think the hard work finally paid off and I am extremely happy with the way this final outcome as turned out, I even added a border that matched the colour of the tissue paper in the end so it could tie everything in and it didn't look as messy as it did without it. I have also stuck down a piece of plain card to the back of the strip, so my stitching doesnt come out and so it looks neater.

Photomontage

We are currently looking at photomontage in detail and the different artists that are well known for this style. Photomontage is a type of collage that is composed mainly from photographs or parts of a photograph to make the reader see that there is a specific connection.  

To start off with I thought photomontage was a lazy way of abstract art, where you are just placing images in a random order rather than drawing them and for me I couldn't cope because it was too messy and I didn't know where to place things. But by doing it more and more I am starting to like photomontage a lot, especially by looking at artists work such as Robert Rauschenberg and Hannah Hoch. 

Robert Rauschenberg was an American painter and Graphic artist who was well known for his "Combines" work which was done in the 1950's. The combines was a combination of both painting and sculpture, but every now and then he would also work with photography, papermaking, printmaking and performance.

I love how Robert Rauschenberg incorporates different materials such as newspaper to wood all to be put into his work. For me this makes me even more interested in Photomontage because it shows me that I am able to use different materials in my own work.

This is one of the pictures that stood out to me the most, it is known as "Choke" and to me it has an urban edge to it and seems very city like and most of all it stands out from the rest of his art work as Rauschenberg uses vibrant dashes of red and blue.

Another artist that inspires me is Hannah Hoch who was one of the originators of photomontage, as well she  was a German Dada artist, which is an art movement of the European avant garde in the twentieth century. 

Hannah Hoch's work in 1926 to 1935 often depicted same sex couples and women, which were used as the central theme in her work from 1963 to 1973. Hoch tried to target women ever since working with a magazine company which made her actually aware of the difference between women in the media and women in reality.

Hannah Hoch's montage were always fun and unique and nearly all of her montages contained some sort of human feature which was placed and mixed about between other features and objects. 

A great example of this was the work she did with the legs mixed with the two faces. To me I thought she had brought humour to the montage which made it stand out by being different. 

With both artists work in mind, I found it easier for me to plan and set out a little story, so this way I knew what I was getting, how I was going to edit it and where I was going to place things onto my page, which was much more organised and 'less' messy. 

Man Ray also inspires me, he was an American modernist artist who spent most of his life in Paris.

Man Ray uses a vary of materials such as painting, collage, sculpture, constructed objects and photography, by creating different types of beautiful art pieces with different materials throughout his life, he has received many commissions for portraits and commerical work such as working with Vogue, Vu, Bazaar and Vanity Fair.

This particular piece of art that Man Ray had produced was the first one that I thought stood out the most, although it may seem like just a picture of eyes, it makes you think about her and her emotions and how she is currently feeling in this picture to get such a beautiful portrait.

Peter Blake became one of the best known British pop artists in the late 1950's, Peter Blake was best known in his time and now for creating a vary of prints and designs for a sleeve for The The Beatles' album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'.

His art work would included imagery from advertisements, entertainment, music hall and more, all his pieces of work would often include some sort of collage element.

I like this print mainly because of the contrasting colours he has used to make the lettering stand out.

He has only stuck to three main colours which enables you to focus on the detail and parts of the two words that would easily overlay on one and another so you can notice that it says "Rock" and "Roll".

Another reason I like this piece of work is because there is so little going on and its simple compared to his other pieces of work, for me it makes it stand out even more because it is that effective.

Varvara Stepanova was a Russian painter, photographer and designer. She was a member of the group of artists that would work in the Russian avant-garde movement. Later on in her career she would refer to herself as a constructivist.

Being a designer, Varvara Stepanova created everything from posters and books to sets and costumes for local theaters.



This work that Stepanova had created stood out for me to begin with, I particular like this piece of work because of the vary of colours and shapes she has chosen and had thrown onto her page in an organised way, I especially like the way she has created objects and bodies which show movement out of bold blocked shapes.

David Hockney is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer. Throughout his career David has made many prints, portraits of friends and even stage designs for the Royal Court Theatre, Glyndebourne, La Scala and the Mertropolitan Opera in New York City.

Hockney tried to put personal subject matters into his own artwork, to start off with he tried to copy parts of poems on to his artwork, but as soon as he moved to California at the end of 1963, his style changed to the life of athletic young men, swimming pools, palm trees and perpetual sunshine.



This was David Hockney's Ipad artwork which he had created using the latest technology by apple. I like this mainly because of the subtle colours which allows you to see what it is and gives it a more calm and relaxing mood to it.

Max Ernst was a German surrealist who helped start off Abstract Expressionism in the American post World War II. His work consisted of sculpture, painting or collage and for him it was a way to unpack his feelings into his work. 

'The Elephant Celebes' is almost fantasy, with headless bodies and what looks like some sort of robot shaped elephant. 

The colours of this picture are dark and gloomy, giving it a negative atmosphere as if something bad is currently or about to happen.

Print Making Pictures

1). Lily - Black and White, First Attempt 

 2). Lily - Coloured, Second Attempt

 3). Tilleke Schwarz Cat - Coloured, Third Attempt

 4). Cartoon Cat - Coloured, Final Attempt

Print Making

I have created a series of A4 mono prints, I have done this by drawing a particular image onto newsprint then I placed the newsprint with the drawing face up onto a vary of thin coloured inks and used different materials to get different effects, for example I used a pencil to outline the actual image and I also used a graphite stick to shade in particular areas. Once I was happy with what I had done, I would then lift up the newsprint paper and either add another colour using the same process or I would let it dry out by putting it onto the wire rack.

1). The first attempt at mono printing I used a picture of a Lily and then drew it onto a piece of newsprint paper. When it came to placing the image onto the ink I stuck to just black ink around the outline of the drawing, so I could get use to using this process. I rather like this final outcome I got as although it is basic, it got every detail that I needed within my lily.

2). The second attempt at mono printing I used the same image of a lily and re-drew it out onto a piece of newsprint paper. But this time after I placed it onto the black ink from outlining it, I used other colours to make the lily stand out more. Unfortunately this process didn't work out as well as I hoped it to be, as when I placed the red on top of the yellow, I didn't think it through and it made my lily look messy with unnecessary blotches of red onto of it.

3). The next mono print I decided to draw onto newsprint paper was an image from Tilleke Schwarz work and that was a childlike drawing of a cat. I strangely like the final outcome as with the choice of colours I used and how the stripes on the cat had been done, it gave it a really good effect and make it more fun and quirky, despise how terrible the cat has been drawn.

4). The final mono print I did was an image of a cartoon cat I found off of the Internet, I used only two colours on this piece of work, which was simple but gave a good effect in the end, I used a graphite stick throughout all of this piece so it would look bold and would stand out even more compared to the thin line drawing of the lily, which was done in pencil.

Ian Bilbey

Ian Bilbey graduated from the Royal College of Art and straight after he worked with John McConnell at pentagram before he became a freelance designer and illustrator.

Bilbey was well known for working with his longest client 'Paul Smith', for whom he had created products, window displays, posters, clothing designs and his well recognised Paul Smith minis.

He is now recently known as 'William Bee' and has written and illustrated numerous amounts of children's books for walker books, which have officially been published all around the world.

To me I find his work quirky and bright, mainly concentrating on colour and line.
Especially this piece of work Ian Bilbey had created, I discovered this illustration which stood out for me the most because of the use of colours, by overlapping the dark colour by the bright shades of pinks and purples you could recognise what the outline shape was supposed to be and even with this choice of colours and the type of shapes that have been used it almost makes the image look slightly feminine and child like.

Chris Dent

Chris Dent uses a similar style throughout his work which is mainly relating all his work to modern architecture. He also tries to combines reality as well as an original point of view to represent his view on the world.

I love this piece of work as by only using two or three colours it seems so simple and fresh but gives a great effect and you can easily recognise it.
I think in the future I might look back at his work and use small elements that he uses like the limited colours for example, this way I might be able to get a bold effect which he has in his work.

Tommy Penton

Tommy Penton is mainly well known for his cover artwork that he did for the music industry.
This allowed him to work with artists such as Embrace, New Order, Babyshambles and more, where he was working to create posters, album and CD artwork and he was also able to do some advertising for big brands such as Nationwide, British Airways, Kenzo, Edinburgh Film Festival, Virgin, Fabric and CIMA.

Penton's work approaches the perspective art with a fresh and unique way, by looking at his work I would describe his work to be flowing and bold but he manages to add small hints of humour to it as well.

I have a huge interest in music, so this was obviously the first image that stood out for me to begin with.
I love how chaotic the illustration seems with its vibrant colours and the use of overlapping to make it look busy.

Olivier Kugler

Olivier Kugler was born in 1970 in Stuttgart, Germany.
His main career Kugler had was when he was working as an illustrator in London for clients that were all over the world.
His main type of illustrations he preferred to do was 'reportage' illustrations, this allowed him to do something that he loved and that was to draw the people he would meet and the places he would of visited, Olivier Kugler would do this by actually starting off by drawing on the location or by looking back at previous photo's he had taken, then following on from that he would colour his drawings on his laptop.

A particular picture I like was Olivier Kugler interpretation of the seaside, the main reason I like this image was because in a way it reminded me of home. 

It actually shows you the real side to a seaside town which is busy, congested, dull and filthy.

I like the way Kugler has stuck to a similar colour theme which are different shades of grey and hints of blue to give it the either the impression that not all seaside towns are lively and always warm or the impression that it could be just showing the nightlife of the town. 

Another picture that caught my eye was the one that shows the city life.

I like this image as it looks as if it has only been half done as only some parts of the picture has been coloured in, however by looking at the illustration the parts that have been coloured in are actually the key bits, for example the people that have been coloured in might be showing you how the city life are known to welcome different cultures into their towns, another key element is the tall tower that has been labelled as 'Trellick Tower', this in fact is an actual interpretation of a high rise blocks.

SF girl by bay

http://www.sfgirlbybay.com/

I follow this blogger because her images are mainly photography, it looks as if it is mainly based on interior design and sculpture, each photo have a special meaning and why it has been took in the first place.

I like this blog as it seems clean and fresh, quite modern compared to other blogs I have previously seen. Each image are very similar, as they all have pretty much the same colour sceme but it works with one and another.

Maricor/Maricar

http://maricormaricar.blogspot.co.uk/

The main reason I love this blogger is the fact that they have their own style of work which they call 'Tactiles', this is something I do already but I would like to try it more in detail which is what they do, they sew their own designs and writing into fabric which looks really good as it makes it stand out and makes it more realistic instantly due to the 3D effect.

This inspires me to try and experiment with different colours and to use different shapes which would allow me to create actual images, like the ones they have done involving the headless man and women and the cartoon figures.

Amy Mingkwan

http://amymingkwan.blogspot.co.uk/
Amy is a Textiles Designer who has created some beautiful pieces, she is capable of doing some freelance print designing where her prints seem elegant and girly, to doing some photography on her surrounding such as nature and landscape.

There is one particular design which I absolutely love and that is a print of a bird cage and some birds which overlays on what looks like a vintage document, it all strangely fits in perfectly and makes the birdcage stand out even more, even though there are so many colours going on.

Print & Pattern

http://printpattern.blogspot.co.uk/
This blogger specialises mainly in textiles such as designing prints onto fabric and using that to make bags, clothing and even wallpaper, which I especially like, the patterns they have created are usually based around nature such as flowers or leaves, and they just mix it all up making some of their patterns look almost abstract.

When looking through their blog, I notice that nearly all their patterns are colourful and bright, rather than it being dull and boring. I like the choice of colours that they usually use as it gives off a good and happy vibe because of the bright bold colours

Trainspotting by David Amblard

Trainspotting is a British black comedy film done in the 1996 about a group of heroin addicts in the late 1980’s, following and seeing how their journey through life goes, which is directed by Danny Boyle.

By looking at the cartoon like poster art which David Amblard designed I can already tell that these are the main characters, and in a way gives an image of their personalities.

 

The layout is simply in four squares where inside each one is a portrait of the character, two however are looking forward at you where as the other two look like they are looking to side at the other characters. To me the design of this is rather simple yet effective and quite basic in colour. The background of each square contrasts the actual portrait making it stand out even more and making it look 3D.

Shepard Fairey

“Fairey created a series of posters supporting Barack Obama's 2008 candidacy for President of the United States, including the iconic "HOPE" portrait. The New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl called the poster "the most efficacious American political illustration since 'Uncle Sam Wants You’Fairey also created an exclusive design for Rock the Vote. Because the Hope poster had been "perpetuated illegally" and independently by the street artist, the Obama campaign declined to have any direct affiliation with it. Although the campaign officially disavowed any involvement in the creation or popularisation of the poster, Fairey has commented in interviews that he was in communication with campaign officials during the period immediately following the poster's release. Fairey has stated that the original version featured the word "PROGRESS" instead of the word "HOPE," and that within weeks of its release”

 I like this design as it has a meaning that obviously won thousands of people over, and managed to sell over 300,000 stickers and 500,000 posters during this campaign. I quite like how Barack Obama’s actual face has a pop art sort of theme going on which makes it more quirky

For me this picture stood out from the rest simply by the way the lines in the background change colour from left to right, on the left its red and black whereas on the right side it is red and a crème colour. This strange effect made the rock chick woman stand out, being in front of the lines made it look 3D.

The title for this poster design is called “Eat The Rich”, this probably came from what her t-shirt actually says and that she is holding a fork maybe to resemble that she is literally going to “Eat The Rich”.

Like most of Shepard Fairey’s designs such as ‘The Barack Obama ‘Hope’ poster’ he has just stuck with three main colours that have been used in different shades so parts of the picture don’t blend in and actually look realistic with the shadings around certain areas.