Evidence

so I have been looking into body image and how the media manipulate people, mainly little girls and the negative affect it has on them. my 7 year old niece thinks she has fat cheeks, fat belly, unperfect teeth and hair isnt long enough.  although all girls wants to be 'princess-like', I am a little concerned about her idea of fat, because she is an average size/weight child, putting that aside she also considers everything she eats and wants to look like a doll (with alot of makeup- perfect)

on this basis I have started making some development work on girls and beauty pageants, I looked into colours I associate with young girls and finger printing (activities that I think young girls should be involved in rather than beauty pageants). I also looked at labelling images of young girls and what they think is 'wrong' with them and how they think they should look like.

I like the outcome of the experiments,  I want to develop my ideas and I will be taking photographs of my niece maybe writing on her cheeks with paint. alongside this I contacted Vanessa via email, who is a volunteer running the International Women's Day Derby, she has facts about young girls diet surveys etc. I have received the email and will be writing about the information in my sketchbook plus making work in response.

(images- experiments)

Evidence- body image

for the past couple of days I have been trying to find primary source for the verbal abuse subject I started for Evidence brief,  however I have not managed to find any people who are willing to come out about their stories. I have now decided to focus on how the media manipulates people and the bad influence it has on young girls, I have recently experienced this with my niece who is 7 years, she thinks she is fat and therefore should not eat chocolates ot fatty foods,  I was shocked at this response from her but this is a great subject I could look into for the Evidence brief (evidence of how the media affects girls in a negative way).

I have started some experimental work for this subject on body image and media manipulation.

Evidence

today I did two major experiments, of course more with paint as that is my main focus. I looked at artist Kwangho Shin and his abstract style, I used my cousins portrait and used the impasto style on a large scale board. I used warm colours influenced by the artist himself; I really liked the outcome of this but due to the nature of the paint I couldn't get much detail therefore the portrait didnt resemble my cousin,  which I was abit gutted about. the next experiment I did was to strengthen my skill of drawing, to focus on little detail and be able to copy directly onto the page, I drew (freehand) a portrait of an old man showing wrinkles and definition in the eyes,  I used fine liner to finish the clothes and added some watercolours to make it more interesting,  I enjoyed this experiment because it was mix media and the portrait was more accurate because I referred to the image alot more than the first one. finally I did some research on artists after my one-to-one tutorial (Jessica Walsh -typography)

(images- experiments)

Evidence- text portraits

today I did some experiments using text, I used words relevant to my cousins story, she was verbally abused by her ex boyfriend when they were in a relationship.  I used words such as 'bitch, dumb, slag etc' these are actual words he said to her. I really liked the idea of using text but after the experiments I have conducted I feel like the pencil sketches may be abit dull therefore for further development I want to use paint and then incorporate text into the work.

the first experiment was the portrait made from the words, this took loads of time and im not too keen on the outcome, because it isnt very accurate. the second one is when I have written words over the pencil sketch which I think looks good but not as good as the last experiment which is portrait in pencil with text in the background, I very much like this because I think it works well and I will be able to show my painting skill aswell (when I develop onto painting). 

(images- experiments)

Evidence- Verbal Abuse

Today as I was conducting more research I found another great advertisement based on verbal abuse. the ad was created by Y&R in Dubai for KAFA, an organisation that protests against verbal abuse in the middle east. there is a series of three ads each showing a women with a scar/wound, a close attention to detail makes the viewer realise that the scars are actually sound waves of verbal abuse, words such as 'whore' or 'bitch'. the advertisements are very simple yet so powerful and striking, when I came across these images I was again speechless due to the simplicity of the image but it makes the viewer think and understand the meaning in a subtle way.

this has inspired me to not only experiment with text/words but now sound as well or atleast the visual sign of sound (sound waves)

(images- Y&R advertisements)

Evidence- Verbal Abuse

Whilst I was doing more research on self-harm today and I came across a photographer,  Richard Johnson,  he took a series of photographs to show the emotional damage verbal abuse can do. he showed this by editing words onto peoples bodies and faces similar to scars- in other words as if the words had made a permanent scar on the person.  he named his work 'weapons of choice'.

as I saw his work I really loved the simplicity and the impact it had on me, I was stunned by how simple the work was but yet so powerful and truthful. another work I found (Richard was inspired by this also) was Words can be Weapons, this is an artwork by O&M based on verbal abuse, taking young offenders and why they committed the crimes, then using the words they were called as kids (moron, good for nothing etc.) to create Chinese words that reassemble to make the weapons they used to commit the crimes.
from here I diverted my plans and I now want to focus on verbal abuse because there is no evidence of it when people say it (even when it is unknowingly) however the emotional damage it does is hurtful.  another reason being is that it is very difficult to find true stories of self harm as not much people want to share it. verbal abuse is something that happens on a daily basis even from the closest of people to us, but they are not aware of it and sometimes we aint ourselves but in our subconious mind we start to believe some of these words that are said to us regularly.

although I have changed my project slightly I will still be looking into self harm as it is relevant to verbal abuse because it can lead to that extent.

I will be taking my influence from Richard Johnson's work and Words can be Weapons.

(images- Richard Johnson 'weapon of choice' , O&M 'words can be weapons')

Evidence- Kwangho Shin

today I spent a couple of hours on the Evidence brief, I looked at the artist that Lance mentioned in my previous lesson because he is also a portrait artist and I thought I could take influence from him.

Kwangho Shin is a South Korean painter, and he has recently gained recognition worldwide for his abstract portraits, he has also been featured in the 'one to watch' by Saatchi Arts. he mainly uses oils, acrylic and charcoal for his work, after seeing his artwork I really liked the way he uses colour to suggest the facial features yet it is still so attracting and in-depth.

I did a really quick experiment in the style of Kwangho's work, using the picture of a self-harm victim from my previous studio session I painted the face with patches of thick acrylic paint and suggested the hair with block of black paint. I did this really quickly on cardboard, and I really do like the outcome because the style actually fits well with the subject I am focusing on.
(images- my work, Kwangho's work x3)

Evidence - more experiments

in the afternoon session today I worked on the Evidence live brief. I used the internet for images, at first I couldnt find any then I searched for self-harm victim portraits and found some photos that I could use to do some practical work. I selected a image and drew a sketch to begin with and then started experimenting with tracing paper and colour, I wanted to show layers of texture similar to how some people may have two layers of personality or even sometimes when they like to hide their self harm issues. I used tones of red paint to create patches of splattered colour, the reason I used this colour is because people stereotypically associate red to self harm, I used these patches of colour behind the the tracing paper and some on paper interacting with the face. I worked over some of my work just for more detail. I enjoyed doing practical work beacuse I was itching to produce some portraits, experimenting with paints and tracing paper is one of my favourite methods because everytime there is a different outcome.
(images of experimental work)

Evidence (experimental painting)

last week I started a quick portrait for the Evidence project. I began the portrait on a cardboard, using paint (I selected afew colours- yellow, red, blue and black) I directly painted on the surface without sketching the picture. this was abit of a challenge for me because I always like sketching and planning before I paint however I want to practise more quick/abstract style paintings.

today I continued adding more layers, one colour at a time. after I added all the layers of colour I went back into the painting and started to add more detail just so I can define the facial features. the end result is much more better than I initially expected,  and I am really pleased with this painting because like I mentioned it was hard to directly paint without sketching but the outcome looks good.

(images- progress shots)

Louise West Lecture

In the afternoon session today, we had a guest lecture by Louise West, who is a lace designer. Louise is a Derby based artist, she makes and teaches traditional/contemporary techniques with lace work. throughout the lecture she spoke about her career history and how her work prgoressed, she also talked about the different projects she was involved in through her BA and MA. she is currently holding workshops in her studios and touring around UK for talks to students.

although the lecture wasnt fine art based, I beleieve textiles is very closely linked to fine art and also the way she explained her history made me think about my progression and the possible opportunities I have, of opening studio or workshops, even going back into studies and continuing with future education if I get bored of working in studio. I always find guest lectures inspirational because these artists are mainly local or close to burton so I feel they started in the place where I am at therefore nothing is stopping me to bring myself out.

website- www.louisewestlacedesign.co.uk
email- louise@louisewestlacedesign.co.uk

(images of leaflets and Louise's work)

Zine - Live Project

today we also had our first meeting for the zine live brief, for this project we have to create a magazine/zine featuring our artwork. in the first meeting we discussed some of the main things such as:

-pages, x2 each
-pigeon studio feature
-featuring our own artwork
-about the artists
-about the artwork
-articles (exhibitions,  tv/film reviews)
-audience (youngsters)
-A4 size
-paper stock/how many
-primary research
-name (articul)

we also assigned some tasks for the group members:
Alex: layout/putting it together
Tom: communications/contacting companies
Sidra: organising/leader
Gracie: editing the articles
Rachel: costs/funds/printing

we took the magazine Juxtapoz as a influence to base our work on.

Format Festival - Evidence

the day started with more alterations with project proposals and deadlines being reduced due to a mix up by the tutors. however once that was sorted I was given another brief, this one is for Format Festival - a pretty big photography festival but the great thing is that I can produce work in my own style. the theme for the project is 'evidence' this is a broad subject and can be taken in any direction.

I made a few initial ideas related to the word evidence itself and then carried on thinking outside the box, for e.g.:
-scientific
-time
-documentation
-footprints/marks
-places/souvenirs
-existence
-scars/self harm, no physical evidence of scars but mentally being depressed/hurt/upset

from my thoughts I really liked the idea of scars and self harm but not physical marks on the body, in other words no evidence is present so looking at brief I am expanding the boundaries of the actual word.

I have also thought about making/producing portraits that dont show anything related to self-harm, scars etc physically on the body but within they have a different story, I want to create a series of these portraits.

today I made a start on the portraits idea, it was a quick little experiment on cardboard using 4 colours of acrylic, I have started the first 2 layers and I will add 2 more layers. I made the painting without any sketches or drawing,  this was a great practice for just painting without planning and seeing how well it comes out, after I have worked more layers on this painting I think it will start to come together.

for this project I want to create paintings because it will help me build my portfolio which will then present my strongest point in fine art.

(images- painting)

Artist Impact (2000 word)

today I spent my studio time doing research on different briefs, firstly I typed up a rough draft of my proposal for my self assigned project based on Gender, I also made a start on the Visual Communication brief and wrote about 200 words, generally speaking about visual communication, I will be looking into the examples like propaganda next lesson.

but for the majority of the day I spent my time working on my Creative Influence essay (2000 word) this is a brief about an art movement or artist that had a significant impact on Fine Art (my specialism). I chose to research Surrealism movement I believe this had a huge impact on the art industry not just when it first came about but even today. I started looking into popular surrealism artists such as: Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Max Ernst etc. after writing chunks of information about these artists and their popular pieces I have deciced to carry on talking about how the surrealism movement in still about, in media, mainly advertising. although I haven't written about the media side of things in my essay I have made a start on the research (images from the internet).

(images- Salvador Dali work, Rene Magritte work and adverts using their style- surrealism)