Creating a mind map and mood board

Creating my mind map, I spoke about what kind of things I wanted research such as the relationships me and my family have with our mothers. I also talked about what kind of medias I needed to use such as, pencil, oil paints , pastels and even the constraints we were given, which was we weren't allowed to use the colour blue. After creating this mindmap, I created another stating what I needed to do to be able to pass each criteria of the project. 

Creating my mood board, I researched images on Pinterest that I thought would link to my research and project. I wanted to use images that showed how a mother cares for and comforts her child. I have also recreated some of these images within my sketchbook as part of my secondary research.

FINAL EVALUATION

Olivia Grain

19.10.2016

The Natural World Evaluation.

For our first project of the year, my class and I were given the topic ‘The natural world’ and were set the task to create a full sketchbook based around primary research throughout the summer. Before I started creating my sketchbook, I first came up with a mind map of ideas of what I wanted to include within my sketchbook.

 

This included Wildlife, Earth, Culture and different artists that I wanted to research such as Julie Rhodes who researches wild animals. I then went to visit a variety of places to collect my primary research such as The Liverpool world museum, which I visited with college, The Deep and The Yorkshire Wildlife Park. All the images that I have taken from these trips, I have recreated using many different Medias including, pencil, graphite, oil pastes, acrylic paints, inks and pen. Most of my sketch book focuses more towards Wildlife and nature but also includes things on evolution and other topics.

 

                                                                                                                               

 

 

 

After completing my primary research, I then went onto looking at different artists, who I found really interesting and linked to my sketchbook by researching artists who looked at animals and wildlife. I First created a design sheet on Julie Rhodes, whose inspiration comes from hours spent watching Wildlife. I recreated one of her pieces of work, which was a pencil drawing of a leopard. I used the same media as the artist, so that it would create the same effect. Using a 6B pencil, I was able to create different shades, without using more than one pencil, which worked really well as I have applied more pressure to create more definition around some of the shapes.

 

The second person that I researched was Spanish artist Oriol Angrill Jorda, who merges different things together, such as people and animals to look like a double exposure drawing. I also recreated this in the same media as the artist to create the same effect. Using a 4B pencil, I recreated the wolf and woman, once again, using more pressure to create dark tones. I then used water coloured paints to create the landscape and flowers, which turned out really well, however I wasn’t very confident in the beginning using this media as I haven’t used it very often in previous projects.

 

I also created a mood board based around space, from a book that I research called the universe and beyond by Terence Dickinson, however it doesn’t really fit with my final design or anything, as I decided that I didn’t want to include it in my samples. Once I had taken my primary research ideas to create my artist research sheets, I went onto creating my design sheets.

 

 For my first sheet, I took certain parts of my primary research that I wanted to include in my final design and recreated them on a bigger scale. I decided that I wanted to include some sort of landscape in my design like Oriol Angrill Jorda, so I recreated a waterfall that I had photographed when I went to visit The Yorkshire Wildlife Park, however I decided to make the colour a brighter blue, so that it looked more eye catching and added white ink over the top of it to show how the water separated and fell. After this I recreated a rose that I had drawn from observation over the summer, however I also changed the colour of this so that it looked more defined using coloured pencils. I used lighter and darker shades of the same colour to help it look more 3D, by making outlines darker and petals lighter. I also decided that I wanted my main feature to be an animal, therefore I recreated a lion that I have photographed within my sketchbook, using acrylic paints, which I don’t like as I feel it didn’t turn out neat enough, this is something that I wanted to change on my next design sheet.

 

When it came to my second design sheet I wanted it to link to both of the artists that I researched, that’s why I used a Wild animal as my main feature to link to Julie Rhodes. I then decided to use the same type of layout as Oriol Angrill Jorda and merged my two other drawings into the lion. I used darker tones within my rose so that it looked more detailed and merged the water into the mane of the lion, which I think looks really effective. To create this I used water coloured paints and white ink; using the water colour paint as a base colour, I used a darker shade of blue to add the smaller details into the waterfall and then used the white ink to create the splash effect at the bottom where it would hit the surface of the water.

 

After creating my final design I began experimenting using different printing techniques within my specialist workshop, where I have monoprinted, lino printed, created observational drawings and a collograph. This is an example of a monoprint that I have created, which is a method of rolling out ink, placing a piece of paper over it and then etching a design/ drawing into it with a pencil.  I decided to draw a rose, which I really liked however, I tried printing onto the same piece twice, which I feel ruined it as it isn’t as clear of a print now.

 

 

This is an example of one of my collograph prints that I have created, which involves having to cut out multiple layers of an image and then gluing them onto a piece of card. Once it was all glued down, I then covered it in white emulsion, to help preserve the design so that it can be used multiple times. I don’t really like this design as it was meant to be a flower that I have drawn within my sketchbook, however you can’t really tell.

 

I also created some observational drawings within my specialist subject, which I really like. I created these 2 drawings using different coloured inks and biro pens; my favourite drawing out of these is the feather drawing as I really like the colours including in it and how it looks quite free flowing after drawing it out I then used a black biro just to help add some more definition to some sections of the drawing. The shell that I have created is an enlarged drawing, which I also really like. I first drew out the outlines of the drawing in black biro, and then added coloured inks to some of the corners; which I then dragged inwards using a brush and water so that some of the ink would run.

  

When I began using my final design to create samples, I first created an etching print, which I really like. However, before I could start printing I first had to resize my design down to A4 as there wasn’t any acetate available for the original design. I had to etch onto acetate using an etching tool, and then use a piece of cloth to apply oil paint to the print. The print didn’t work properly the first couple of tries, as I couldn’t find the correct pressure on the printing press, however I eventually found the right pressure and the print came out perfectly.

 

I then decided to create a lino print, which also worked really well. I first traced my design onto the lino and had to carve away any parts that I wanted to print white. Once I had done this, I had to cut the background and rose away, so that it would print the different colours a lot neater. Unfortunately, some of the prints haven’t worked as well as others, as I haven’t applied the ink thick enough to the lino, therefore it looks patchy. Because of this, I reprinted the design and applied the ink thicker and the prints worked a lot better. I preferred etching, however my prints came out a lot better when using the lino print. 

 

 

Overall, I am very pleased with how my project has turned out, as not only have a created over 40 pages of primary research, but I have researched different artists, recreated their work and I have also created blogs and a self-assessment stating how and why I have created my pieces of work. I feel I could have used my time management a little better as I found myself rushing a little towards the end of the project, which may have affected the quality of my work in some places. My research turned out really well over the summer, however I didn’t finish everything therefore I have a couple of

 

 

samples- Lino and etching

Once I had created my final design, I began using different printing techniques to create my samples.

 

The first printing technique I decided to use was etching. I resized my final design down to A4, as there wasn't any acetate available that was big enough to fit the original design. I then had to use an etching tool to carve the design into the acetate, using blue oil paint for the lion and a red oil paint for the rose.

 

When I began printing, it took quite a few tries before it actually worked correctly, as I couldn't get the pressure right on the printing press, therefore I had to keep changing it so that the ink would be seen more clearly.

 

After I had created my etching prints, I then went onto creating my lino prints. I first had to draw over my design on tracing paper, and transfer it onto the Lino. I had to carve out where ever I wanted the print to stay white and then use a craft knife to neatly cut away the background. I also decided to cut the rose so that it would print the different colours neater.

 

 

Some of these prints worked really well and came out very neat, however some didn't work as well as others because I didn't apply the ink thick enough so it printed a little patchy, therefore I did more prints to see  if I could get them to work any better.

Harvard referencing list

 HARVARD REFERENCING:

Books:

Dickinson, T. (1999) The Universe And Beyond. Third edition. New York: Firefly books.

Internet:

  Angrill Jorda, O. 2014 Blendscapes [online].Available from http://oriolangrill.com/works/blendscapes/ (27.09.16)

 Bertoia, H. Harry Bertoia 2016 [online].Available from: http://harrybertoia.org/

 Bertoia, H. Monoprints 2016 [online].Available from: http://harrybertoia.org/monoprints.html

 Newliing, R. 2016 Lino cuts [online].Available from: http://www.rachelnewling.com/australian-flowers-linocuts-rachel-newling/

 Newling, R. 2016 Rachel Newling Artist and Printmaker [online].Available from http://www.rachelnewling.com/about-rachel-newling-artist-linocuts-engravings-drawings-curriculum-vitae/


 Rhodes, J. 2016 Julie Rhodes wildlife artist [online]. Available from http://julierhodes.com/ (20.09.16)

Collograph

For my second class in my specialist subject, we had to create a collograph print. We first had to come up with a design that we wanted to create, so I decided to try and create a flower that I had drawn from observation within my sketchbook. I then had to cut out 2 to 3 different sizes of the shapes and glue them onto a square piece of card, so that when it was printed you could see the different layers. After the design was complete, I then had to coat it in white emulsion to preserve the design so that it could be used more than once.

 

These are how some of my prints turned out:

This is one of the best outcomes of the print, however I  don't really like how any of them turned out as you can't tell what it is meant to be and looks really abstract.

 

To create these I had to use a piece of cloth to rub oil paints onto the design, but then had to run most of it off again so that it printed properly.

 

Design sheets

After doing my artist research I began creating my design sheets. For my first design sheet I took different parts of my research from my sketch book which I wanted to include in my design, and recreated them on a bigger scale. First of all, I wanted to interpret a rose into my design, therefore I created this rose from observation using coloured pencils, however I changed the colour of it so that it stood out more. I used two shades of each colour to create this, for example I used a darker red on the outline of the rose, and darker green on the outlines of the leaves and then lighter shades to add more depth to it. I also wanted to include  a waterfall that I had previously created within my sketchbook, however I also changed the colours of this so that it looked more eye catching. I first used a blue water colour paint as the base colour of the waterfall and then used a white ink to add more detail so that you could see different speckles of water within it. I then decided that I wanted to include a lion, however I wasn't really pleased with how it turned out as I decided to use a material I hadn't used before, which was acrylic paint. I feel that it didn't turn out near enough or create the effect that I was really hoping for, I then used coloured pencils on the face of the lion which also didn't work very well as it looked very streaky, so this is something that I wanted to change on my second design sheet. Everything that I have included in this design sheet was inspired by both of the artists that I had researched, Julie Rhodes and Oriol Angrill Jordà.

 

My second design sheet is one of my favourite pieces. I decided that I wanted the lion as the main feature of my design, which linked to my first artist Julie Rhodes, however I wanted to use the layout of my second artist Oriol Angrill Jordà, by merging everything together using the landscape and rose. I created the rose in the same media as my first design sheet but included more darker tones so that some of the shapes were more defined. I then decided to merge the waterfall into the main of the lion, also using the same media as my first design sheet, but I made the base colour more ombré so that it wasn't just a block colour. Also, instead of using the white ink to add more detail, I used a darker blue paint to make it look more like a waterfall, but I did use the white ink at the bottom to show the water splashing onto the surface of the lake. Now, as I didn't like the effect on the lions face on the first design sheet, I used a different type of coloured pencils, which worked a lot better than the first material. 

 

SUMMER PROJECT RESEARCH

For our first project of the year, my class and I were given the topic ' the natural world ' and were given a brief to complete a sketchbook full of primary research and drawings. Before starting my research I created a mind map of what I could include within my research, such as different places that I would be able to visit, for example, Yorkshire wildlife; so that I could research wildlife animals and the deep; to research sea life. I also wrote about all the research that I had collected from the Liverpool trip that I went on before the summer with college such as evolution, Earth, landscapes and skeletons that I would be able to include. I was really happy with the brief that we were given, as it gave us a really wide topic of things to research so that we weren't struggling on things to draw or write about.  

So far I have created 40 pages of research within my sketchbook, however I intend to to create at least 10 more so that my sketchbook is almost full. These are some examples of the work I have created using a variety of different medias. To start off my research i used some of the images that I had taken at the Liverpool world museum beginning with "mammals of the iceage"  and drew a skull of one of the mammals on display. I feel that I captured this image really well with the material that I used ( coloured pencils) as I was able to include a lot of detail and add definition to the piece.

 

 I have also created a drawing of a human skull from the present day from the Liverpool world museum, which showed a variety of skulls to show how they have developed over time, using coloured pencils and drawing inks. I used coloured pencils to create lighter and darker tones where there would be shadow to help add more depth to the drawing. I then added black and white inks on the drawings to help outline some of the features. I feel that this worked really well, even though it was a little difficult to create due to the perspective of the image.

 

I also researched some of the animals that were in the museum and decided to draw the ocelot on display. To create this I used coloured pencils as a base colour, drawing inks to create the pattern and a white pen to create the whiskers. Once I had added all the lighter shades, I went over certain parts in a darker colour to add more definition to the drawing and used a white pencil to create strokes of fur.

 

I then went onto researching the earth and space and recreated a satellite image of Europe. I feel that this worked really well using drawing inks however i didn't draw it to the right scale so it's now slightly out of proportion. 

 

This is a volcano known as "Olympus Mars" the tallest  volcano in the solar system with a height of 27km and a base of 600km. To create this I fist wanted to use paints, however I ended up using oil pastels, which took me out of my comfort zone a little. I started using oil pastels for this drawing as I was going to use paints, however when I tried to apply a base colour to the page it wasn't thick enough and didn't cover the page so it went a little messy, therefore I had to go over it in oil pastels so you couldn't see the mistake. Fortunately it ended up working really well even though it wasn't my plan, so in a way I'm happy that the first material didn't work out. 

 

 After these I then began research on different cultures that was exhibited. I recreated a print from Ghana, which, when i first created it I found quite interesting, however the more I look at it the more I feel that it's too plain and block coloured which I don't like. I like the colours used in it as they are quite bright, but I feel that it needs more detail.

 

Once I had been to the Liverpool museum, I visited the deep to begin my research on sea life. These are known as blue tang fish which can be identified by their bright blue colouring and yellow tail. I find this piece really eye catching as parts of the drawing are really bright and defined by white ink.

 

I also used drawing inks to create this piece as I liked the effect that it had on previous drawings within my sketchbook. The only problem I had with this drawing was that whenever I had to use a light colour, I first had to apply white ink so that the colour would show on the paper which took quite a while to create.

  

Fossils are the remains of a prehistoric plant or animal which is embedded into a rock. I recreated this by using a 4B pencil adding more weight to create darker and lighter tones. Even though this is one of the simpler drawings that I have done I really like the effect it creates, where I have began to fade the pencil out.

 

The 3rd place I visited was the Yorkshire wildlife centre where I researched some of the wild animals. This is the piece I recreated of a leopard using coloured inks, coloured pencils, a white pen and green oil pastels. I first used coloured pencils as a base colour for the fur and used black ink to create the pattern on the fur. Once I had applied the ink I used a white pencil to create strokes within the fur to add more definition to the drawing and a white ink pen to create the whiskers and to help highlight the features of the eye. I really like how this piece turned out as I feel that the colours and details make it more eye catching and standout. 

 

This is one of my favourite pieces as it includes a lot more detail.  Like the drawing before, I also used coloured inks to create it, however instead of using a white pencil to create strokes of fur, I used white ink so that you are able to see it more clearly what direction the fur is going in. 

 

I also began researching parts of the earth such as waterfall and landscapes. To recreate this image I used oil pastels, as I like the effect it had on the previous drawings throughout my research. I also tried to create a water effect on the drawing using oil pastels, however  it didn't work very well so I had to go over it in white ink, which I really like as it created a slight texture on the page.

 

I then went onto research flowers and trees. This was an observational drawing that I created of some flowers when I attended summer school. I used coloured pencils to recreate this which I think works really well. I decided to draw it onto a black background so that it didn't look as plain. I used a white to highlight the inside of the flowers and a darker colour on the edge of the flowers to create shadow.

 

Artist research sheets and mood board

When designing my mood board, I researched a book called ' the universe and beyond, third edition' by Terence Dickinson, which I photocopied to create a space themed design sheet. I also used an image that I had drawn of the earth within my sketchbook, so that it included primary and secondary research. I used black and white ink to try and re create some of the stars on one of the images which I do like, however I feel that I could have made it look a lot more interesting if I had drawn more images.

 

For my first design sheet I decided to research Julie Rhodes, as I found some of her work on Pinterest and found it really interesting. Her inspiration comes from hours spent watching wildlife, making sketches and taking photographs. I took five pieces of her work and decided to recreate a leopard that she had drawn as I found it the most eye catching. I used the same media that she used to create this drawing ( HB pencils) so that it had the same effect and I am really pleased with how it turned out. I only used one HB pencil, however by using an 8B pencil And applying different weights, I was able to create many different shades from the same one so you are able to see more value in the drawing. I also used a white pen to create the whiskers so that you were able to see it over the black background.

 

I also found my second artist looking through different images on Pinterest. My second design sheet was based on the Spanish artist Oriol Angrill jordá, who based his work on the double exposure technique from photography and merged different things together such as people and landscapes. I also created his work in the same media that he has used to create these pieces of work so that it created the same effect. I used HB pencils to create the woman and wolf so that I was able to add more definition to the drawing, and used a rubber to help highlight some of the main features. I then used water colour paints to create the landscapes and flowers which I was a bit weary of as I wasn't very confident using this media, however it worked out quite well and I am really pleased with the outcome.

 

 

Unit 9- Mind map / List of jobs i could get from this course.

Art Teacher
Interior Designer
Illustrator
Tattooist
Graphic Designer
Advertisement
Art therapist.
Free Lance
Set Designer
Props Designer
Visual Effects
Practical effects
Special Effects
Costume Design
Textile Designer
Printmaker
Draftsman
Lighting Designer
Media advertisement
Make up artist
Sculptor

unit 9, 6 images of my art work and creative artist statement.

 

 

As a designer, I personally base my work more towards the side of fine art. I love to focus on the smaller, more finer details in things such as the things you see in real life for example, architecture and nature. I used many different medias such as, Acrylic paint, Graphite, HB pencils, Pen, Coloured pencils and charcoal.  This is also what I decided to focus on for my final Project throughout my first year of college.

I love exploring architectural detail in drawing as it allows me to visualise different elements of design such as line, shape, emphasis, etc.

 

Throughout my work I produce a lot of sheet work to help show off my development when I create my work. These sheets can focus on different artists, architects and even different art movements.

I also love focusing my work on the natural world such as birds and flowers, as they also allow me to include a large amount of detail in the work that I recreate using different medias. These are all images of my work that I have created throughout this year's projects. The medias that I choose to use depend on the effects of the image/ piece of work that I am creating.