Hauntology Project- Doll

Right after hours and hours of thinking what I want to actually do about this project I slept on the idea that I will create a portrait of myself in pencil/charcoal (the same one I tried painting but failed) I would smudge it to one direction so it would create a movement or ghostly effect,  however little did I know my plan would change again.

Today after thinking a little harder I suddenly remembered toys from my childhood and that one doll I used to be terrified of. once I found the doll I knew I wanted to paint it and that it would turn out great.

I started to draw it up and paint it, I used just black paint and made great use of negative space therefore no white paint was required. I used acrylic on canvas and took approx 6-7 hours on the entire painting. I have to say im chuffed with the outcome .

overall the project has been a great little practice on building my ideas and not giving up!!

(images of progress and the final painting)

Hauntology Painting

today I made a start on the self portrait I wanted to do for the hauntology project. as I have decided to make this painting in grayscale I started adding layers onto the canvas however because the image is ultra blurred I wasnt able to get the shading/tones right and the portrait didnt come out great, i didnt give up and started again but it still didnt turn out the way I had imagined. I have now decided to created the same portrait onto paper using pencil (as this is my strongest point) or to paint and eye showing the cut I got above my eyebrow, this will show the story/reason behind the painting as well as showing my skill in painting eyes. I might use my eye picture from today as I dont have a high quality one of when I was the age I got hurt. I am still planning and deciding but overall im not happy with the painting so I want to adjust my plans and ideas.

Hauntology

From my previous tutorial with Mark, I was given a hauntology project for an exhibition at Pigeon studio.

a little mind map to break down the subject Hauntology:
-memories
-surrealism
-retro
-past
-reduced memory
-fragments
-blurred
-childhood

my plan is to produce a painting based on a childhood memory of hurting myself on the head. this memory is a very blurred vision in my mind but having some old pictures of myself when I was about that age I can re-paint myself with blood oozing from my forehead.  the project has a short deadline therefore only a small amount of research is needed, I have looked at the hauntology definition and examples/photos on the search engine, this has given me a better perspective of the type of things associated with the subject.

Furthermore I researched artist Cindy Sherman who I believe to have exhibited in a Hauntology exhibition herself in 2010 at Berkeley Museum of Art, University of California, Berkeley.

I have decided to paint the portrait onto canvas using acrylic paints, I will be paitning in monochrome however I have not decided yet if I want to make the blood red or if to keep that in b+w like the rest of the painting.

(images- my childhood photos which I want to re-paint, research on hauntology and Cindy Sherman's work)

Gender

today started with a tutorial with my pathway leader Mark, we spoke about FMP and the self assigned project we have to complete before chirstmas. because I want to explore the 'Hidden Identity' project in alot of detail and as it has so much sub genres to explore I have decided to study that for my FMP. for now I have been thinking about basing my work on 'Gender', although there is alot to explore within this subject I feel that I have enough time to get a decent amount of research as well as a good outcome.

my ideas about 'Gender' to get me thinking/started!
- human rights?
-gay rights?
-development of gay rights?
-gays in different religions?
-artists who have made controversial artwork about gays
-codes of gender (documentary)
-queer theory
-transgender
-blasphemy- art that offends (book)
-legal gay marriages
-primary research
-Nadim Chaudary (gay artist)
-Peter Tatchell (gay activist)

after I did this brainstorm Mark put on the 'Codes of Gender' documentary which really enforced my ideas about this project. Erving Goffman explains the codes within society, we like seeing these codes because its so common but when they are broken its seems shocking to us. e.g. females are purposely made to pose on covers with their heads tilted and fingers in their mouth, but if males were to do the same it would be wrong - only because it is very rarely seen (even though none of this is determined). from this lecture I had my mind flushing with ideas about purposely looking at gay male poses, and making artwork that would question people.

I also started my proposal and looked at some artworks based on gays, such as Nadim Chaudhry's sculptures; an artist that gave a lecture last year at college, and since I have been very much interesting in his work because not just his artwork is challenging but also the fact that he is gay himself and a muslim.

with this project I feel very excited because I am looking into a personal matter of religion+gays therefore I will have strong opinions throughout the project.

(images- Nadim Chaudhry's work, Blasphemy: Art that Offends book and my initial notes/ideas)

Hidden Identity

For the past 2-3 days I have been thinking about my project, but today I have finally got my ideas onto paper. I have made some quick notes of my thoughts, to start with I want to base my project on portraiture, seeing as it is my strongest point and because I want to explore into different types of portrait inspired projects. Here are some ideas I have got so far:

HIDDEN IDENTITY
-Faceless art: body without face, face covered with materials/clothes, face without facial features, scribbled faces 

-Deformities: face wrapped with tape/rope, abstract faces, blurred faces, face pushed against windows, scribbled faces

-Masks: covered faces, masks that represent people

-Food: food that shows peoples identity, head replaced with food, you are what you eat.   

-Clothing: just clothes and no human figure, clothes define you,

-Gender: blurred faces kissing,

I want to experiment and explore all these ideas I have mentioned above, im really excited about this project!

(added some images that I took from the internet to boost my ideas and my original notes!!)

One Day Project

Today we were given a 'One Day Project', the task was to create something that shows off personal skills as well as considering the presentation.

I started off with a mind map to build some ideas, I wanted to produce a piece that would show my skill in pencil, and having so much love for my eye drawings on instagram I thought of continuing this trend. I planned to add a mid tone in the background (this meant I could use a kneaded rubber a.k.a putty rubber to add highlights and use darker pencils for dark tones) and add a border by using just masking tape - this works great with a mid tone background!! 

Method of drawing:
- cut down paper size to A5 (or desired size)
- mask off the edges with masking tape this will create a border (2mm approx.)

- use charcoal to create the background (smudge it to make it smooth)
- sketch the eye using a light pencil ( i used HB)
- begin drawing the eye, dont take the masking tape off till the end for a crisp border. (I alwats start with the iris of the eye)
- add highlight using a kneaded rubber ( ora normal eraser, but will be more tricky)
- add the darker tones
- I used my fingers to blend the tones.
- remove masking tape

after I had completed the drawings, I had to present them to the class, the presentation was meant to last 5minutes roughly but I dont think anyone managed to speak that long about their work. I explained why I made thw drawings - because I wanted to show that for some people art is about beautiful drawings/paintings and not so much about the meanings, hence I created the 'perfect' pencil sketches, however I displayed my work using maskig tape and purposely made it rough, messy and in other words 'unperfect' contradicting with the work I actually created. for me as an artist, artwork doesnt have to be beautiful, I think the meaning holds alot of importance, nevertheless I went against my opinions whilst creating these series of eyes to please the audience. the reason why I created three eyes was to show time, as it slowly closes, it just made it more interesting and it looked vetter visually to display a series rather than one eye.

I think today's breif was great, I always enjoying short tasks because it tests skill and speed. it really pushed everyone to work faster, personally I think I am fast paced at artwork but 'one day projects' are always fun and its great to see the outcomes that can be achieved in just 5hours, as normally we would take alot of time just planning and creating. I also find the critique very useful I got some ideas for more development work.

Feedback:
- could be made into a flipbook
- abit safe
- would have been better to display on a full wall rather than a pillar
- maybe create a room full off eyes.

(photos show some progress, making of the three drawings, and my final display, and my mind map)

First day back at Uni

Hey everyone!! This is my first post on my blog!! i will be talking about my first day back at Uni.

First of all i was very nervous like everyone else in the group, but being in the 2nd year made me more confident. the day started with a 'introduction task', everyone introduced themselves and we went onto a art quiz, I scored 39/45 yaaay!! this was great as it refreshed my memory which is always a good thing after such a long holiday :)

after Lance (tutor) spoke about the rules and regulations of staffordshire university, we were given a choice of briefs to select and complete before 4pm. I worked with my classmate Tom, we chose to work on the 'people drawing' brief; in this we had to record/evaluate our environment and create a illustration or drawing. we noted all the key elements of burton such as beer, jobscentre, primark, costa, river etc. and everything else we thought represented the town. finally we presented the drawing to the group, this had to be done in one minute however ours didnt even last that long, haha!.

I really enjoyed the activities today because it refreshed my mind but I dont think anyone liked presenting. having said that I want to continue to present and do group critiques so i can build my confidence. 

more interesting posts soon to come, stay tuned!