My evaluation of micro-exam practice




My initial plan for my exam was to use PVA glue with ready mixed paint and acrylic paint, then left to dry on a plastic wallet in order to be able to peel it off when it's dry.
Once this was complete I planned to cut it out so that it fit perfectly on the photograph of the my model that I had taken myself. I think that for the short period of time that I had, I did very well and the work I completed was very successful although I need think more about preparing myself for the exam, for example, doing pieces of work that involve wet mediums before hand because when I used the paint and PVA glue it wasn't dry before the end of the exam so I wasn't able to complete my piece of work that involve wet mediums beforehand because when I used the paint and PVA glue it wasn't dry before the end of the exam so I wasn't able to complete my piece of work which if it happened in the real exam I would have be marked down massively.


Another thing I need to do much better I gather a lot more pictures of my model rather than just having one because during this practice I only had one and it went wrong due to me being too eager and trying to stick it on to a paint wash background that was still wet. As well as this I have also decided that when I print the pictures off of my model again that they are going to be black and white rather than colour because I think it will make the sheet of colour that I’m putting over the top stand out a lot more. To add this as well I’m also going to do a really light grey wash on the background. It’s really important that the colour sheet I am placing over the top of the image stands out because it is the part of my work that is most relevant to my artist as I have used his techniques to create it, like I have used a knife and sponge instead of just a paint brush. Another way that I used reference of my artists work was also by using a photograph similar to how he does in his photo-paintings which are some of his most famous pieces. The only way I could do my work anymore like my own artist is by using oil paint rather than ready-mixed and acrylic with water, although I don’t feel the need to because I think these materials work well enough for what I am trying to create.


Although I liked the grey wash on the back ground, I think I should try and use a different tool to apply it rather than a sponge because the texture wasn’t right and I need a smoother background so that it doesn’t look too crowded.

I found that my practice piece worked extremely well and I was very impressed with the way it turned out because it was very similar to one of my artist pieces that I was attempting to replicate, like shown in the research in my sketch book.

The colours in the piece were perfect and the contrast was exactly what I had in mind, although a large amount of it was only PVA glue, therefore it dried transparent when it should've either been colour or white. To improve this I'm going to ensure all areas of PVA and covered in a later of white paint. Also I realised my cutting skills weren't very delicate so I am going to ensure I use a cutting knife in my real micro exam so that I can cut out each individual hair in attempt to make it look realistic as well as using a lighter coloured back ground towards the top of the black hair to make it stand out more.

Artist Analysis – Molly Zuckerman Hartung

Molly Zuckerman Hartung was born in 1975 in Los Gatos but now lives and creates her art work in Chicago.

For many of Molly Zuckerman Hartung’s work, she used a variety of mediums such as latex, house paint (emulsion), enamel and stray paint and most of the time she used a drop-cloth to apply these materials. On other pieces she also used more three dimensional materials in order to create a more textured look whilst still using her normal mediums in the background. As her work breaks away from 2D it is almost classed as sculptural.

Techniques-

Zuckerman Hartung doesn’t just apply her mediums she first does mark making with her materials such as cutting, pulling, twisting and dying them. Her paintings are sewn together from pieces of drop cloth which is a material that is commonly used to protect floors in houses from dripping paint when decorating.

Reflection to my work-

From Zuckerman Hartung’s work I gathered her use of mark making was very interesting and included it in my own work by using lots of different materials such as newspaper, coffee and graphite to simply create an imagine of how I feel or interpret an object.

Gerhard Richter

Exhibitions, personal life, influences & inspirations-

Gerhard Richter started his exhibitions right back from 1960 up until 2016. He started painting a lot more in 1961 and varied his work massively using several different artists as inspiration like Dubuffet, Giacometti and Tàpies who themselves are very different from each other. This implies he was trying to add variation in to his own work, whilst doing this he told interviewers “I tried out everything I could”. Richter hated the majority of the paintings he created during this process but it all worked towards some of his most famous pieces of today. This point proves that experimenting is important which is why I have done it a lot in my own work like I have tested in my early sketches for example I studied an object and drew it in different ways like without looking, using different mediums such as graphite, biro and emulsion as well as drawing them at different angles and scales sizes.

Materials and techniques-

Lots of his art work is photo-paintings which are completed by a series of steps, each one being very important. He begins with a simple photograph, which he has either found or taken himself, he then projects the photograph on to his canvas, where he then traces it. Taking his colour palette from the photograph, he paints to replicate the look of the original picture. His hallmark "blur" is created sometimes by using a light touch of a soft brush but sometimes with a hard smear by using a squeegee. He would also usually use oil paints, especially on his photograph paintings.

My personal references to his work-

I mainly focused on his photo-painting because I feel like it was the best way for me to add in my own personal touch which I did by first studying two main pieces of his and trying to recreate it using a fashion collage as the background which is not only added personal input but also experimented on colours. After this I did excessive amounts of research and found that I best liked the work that he created between 2003 and 2007 due to the colour schemes he used as well as the fact that he used more photograph based backgrounds.

After finding these images I drew one similar as a tester and once I was happy with it I went out and took my own photographs just like Gerhard took his own, I then did the same sort of thing as on my tester piece but this time I used lots of different materials and started experimenting on my mediums just like Gerhard in the 1960’s. from this I realised that the colours where much too busy so I focused on creating a limited pallet and started only using one simple material to cover the entire dress and now I’m going to start adding highlights in to the important areas with a bright contrasting yellow.

Paper cutting

This lesson we used knives to cut around photographs that we have taken ourselves. We taped the photographs to the paper to secure them, then followed the outline with the knife which then cut the paper underneath as well leaving a photograph cut out, a photograph stencil as well as a paper cut out and stencil. As well as using this technique we also did it where you could create a stencil without the middle section falling out, we did this by creating tabs now and again through out and then going round with a second line which leaves a thin open section in order to create a the stencil.

For my stencils I used photographs that I had taken of my friend and of some plants in my garden.
The reason I chose these specific pictures is because I feel they created an effective stencil and mainly the garden pictures created a stencil that looked good over different back grounds. Although the pictures of my friend were more figurative which therefore made it easier to see what it actually was so I this that one was more successful.

Mono-printing and poly-printing

During these two lessons we first of all starting on doing mono-printing which consisted of using 2 separate rollers, one clean, one dirty and a laminated piece of paper (acting as a glass screen). We rolled the printing ink on to the laminated paper or painted on to create a picture, we then pressed paper on and rolled the clean roller on so that it printed the picture - this was additive.

As well as this we also did subtractive printing which meant you completely roll the laminated paper then using some sort of object whether it be a cotton bud, a stick, a wet paper towel or another tool of some kind, to take away some areas of in in order to create a picture or just to practice mark making - I found this much more successful than additive printing.

In the second lesson of printing we did poly-printing which consisted of using a small cut out of polystyrene and like before 2 rollers, one clean, one dirty. what was different with this was we actually engraved the polystyrene then rolled it with ink and printed it on to paper and it left white areas where the marks had been made in the template. I much preferred this activity because I feel like it was much more successful as well as the fact that it was much easier to create figurative art.

 

My Gerhard Richter work - lesson 2



During this lesson I moved on to incorporate my artists work into what I like which is fashion so I found several pictures of the sort of photographs I'd be using as a template and taking myself.

 After this I then stuck to using collage and emulsion to create an effect like my artist and made this piece which I thought was quite successful. The one thing I would change about this piece is the fact that I used pencil to draw the figure outline which is why I upgraded to using an actual photograph that I had taken along with the fact that it had better reference to my artists work.

 After this I began to make my own photographs and use them in the same way, which I also found successful. After this I chose to stick to a limited palette by covering the entire dress in a simple floral white and black pattern and then afterwards using a very vibrant yellow material to highlight small areas in order to add more depth and detail.

My Gerhard Richter work - lesson 1

I first started adding his work in to mine by taking some of his most famous pieces. In replace of his photograph background I used college of  series of magazine and newspapers, this experiment not only contrasted with my artists work but also tested out the use of colour because before this I had stuck to mainly pencil and graphite drawings. In order to create the look of oil paint that Gerhard used, I used emulsion paint instead and applies it in different ways with different materials like old sponges, knifes, paintbrushes and my fingertips, I also didn't just apply it, I stripped some away after using wet paper towels and rags. Here is my piece of work on the left and Gerhard's on the right.

Also during this lesson I displayed a massive amount of the research I had collected on my artist as well doing some more tests on different mediums, patterns and mark making. For example I copied some shapes from one of Gerhard's most famous pieces and used coloured chalk to test if it worked well. Even though I don't feel like it was successful I am still glad I did it because doing experiments is very important to find out what works best. This is an example of it.

Here is also the research that I conducted from my artist along with several photographs of my favourite pieces of Gerhard's work.

I took these pictures because I liked the contrast in the pictures and how they represented the season of autumn due to the bright orange and light brown tones. I also like how in the first picture the statue stands out with the stones on the back of the waterfall.

My artist

The artist I have chosen is called Kelly Reemtsen and the reason that I picked her is because she specifically focuses on strong shadows in her work, similar to Wayne Thiebaud which was an artist I used in GCSE and really enjoyed his work. I will take some of my own photos based on her work using either my peers or me as the mode. As well as figurative work she also does still life which I will be working on as well as I want a combination of the two. To add my own twist I like the idea of only using black and white because my artist uses a lot of colour.

Lesson Reflection – using coffee

During this lesson, we used the same objects that we originally brought in and drew them once more, this time using a choice of our dry medium, for instance I chose pencil simply because that’s what I feel most comfortable drawing with, although other people used different things such as biro pen.

We also looked at pieces of work that had been put up on the wall for us done my other students. The work was mainly done using coffee so we took this idea and adapted it to our own work.

I did this by starting with using weak coffee on the background which a dripping effect to it by using a paint brush. After this I drew my object over whilst the coffee was still slightly wet to add some texture.

Then to add more detail to my drawing I did some light shading in pencil but mainly I used more coffee but this time I ensured that it was more concentrated so that I could use it to create shadow.

Lesson evaluation – drawing our objects

Today we used the objects that we had previously brought in and drew them in different ways buy looking at them at several different angles. Not only did we do this, we also used newspaper, we ripped the newspaper into different shapes and used it as a back ground or to emphasise a specific part of the object we were drawing. As well as newspaper, we used different mediums to add effect and texture, both wet and dry materials were used such as biro pen, emulsion paint and graphite sticks. To add extra tone I smudged the graphite on my paper to create a small shaded look.

As each drawing went on we built up more of each medium and by the final drawing I had used all three on just one study. Here are my 5 drawings below, beginning with just a simple biro drawing on a strip of newspaper.

One artist that I find inspiring on terms of this type of drawing is Carme Magem. I find her work interesting because I love the masses of texture and layers she uses. Her studies usually consist of human faces or parts of the human body and a lot of her work focuses of very famous people like ones from the 1950’s such as Marilyn Monroe. Obviously the biggest and most significant link to the work we did yesterday and this artist work is the use of newspaper which is my favourite part.

Art trip

On our trip we visited two different places in order to inspire our future projects and our current one of ‘who am I’. The places we visited were Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Ashmolean Museum. When we visited these, we took pictures of objects and paintings that we found interesting we also did small sketches. I enjoyed the Oxford University Museum of Natural History more because I found it much more interesting as I felt like there was a wider range to observe and it opened my mind more to different things.

I mostly took pictures because it was a more practical and efficient technique of capturing as much as I could in the short time we had. Here are just a few of my personal favourites.

this bat picture inspired me because it contained so many different textures and it was also slightly rustic due to the very minor holes in the wings.

 I also liked this insect because the colours on it are so bright, it caught my attention straight away which I want to happen with my art.

I thought this beehive piece was so interesting because it was like a small snapshot of their way of living and the bright silver bees stood out so much against their dull habitat.

Lesson reflection

Last lesson we looked round the streets of Nuneaton in order to find things that had been created or destroyed by human activity or just naturally been rotted away due to lack of care and consideration, for example graffiti, litter, damaged or rotting objects like wood.

One of the main places we visited was the grave yard because in consisted of a lot of destruction from both natural and human causes such as broken headstones as well as a very earie atmosphere which I found quite interesting.

Once we had gathered these pictures we chose one and did some simple mark making from it and them with the inspiration of Naomi Lister we added some emulsion. As well as this artist, I was also inspired by Cy Twombly as my work has similar circular motions like in his painting be low.

I found Naomi Lister’s work inspiring because it included only a small range of colours but just lots of different tones and she also layers up her work which adds a lot more depth and shape which I also attempted to add in to my work. She also includes marks which look similar to writing that has been crossed out which I want to add in to my next piece.

The materials I used for my last piece are my favourite for mark making because it is graphite sticks so they are easy to create tone and depth by using them on their side on pressing down harder to add contrast. You can also smudge them and create a different texture when adding wet media.

I took many pictures when I was looking round Nuneaton but here are just five of my favourites.

Reflection of the lesson

We used several words that we had chosen from a paragraph written in our books. We then wrote these words in ways we felt described them, yet without illustrating them. To create these words we used different media and applied them to the paper with different techniques. For example I used three different coloured pencil crayons for one word, although, to add effect I used all three pencils at once instead of separately.

Not only did I use lots of different techniques, I also used different media such as chalk, pen, pencil crayon, highlighter and pencil. After we had completed this, we went into a different room and used a whole different range of media. We used paint, but only very thin paint because we wanted to create a translucent effect over the words we had written.

To add texture I drizzled the paint over my words instead of just applying it with a paintbrush. As well as this I also used my finger to smudge the paint which gave it the translucent effect we were hoping for. After this we went back to dry materials and used them on our projects whilst the paint was still wet.

My Reflective Diary

My induction task (who am I)

My first drawing was of the human eye, I find this specific feature interesting because you can add as much detail as you want to it and make it your own, which is what I did. For all my drawings, as well as this one, I used Andy Warhol’s work as inspiration. I picked out my favourite parts of his work, for example his use of several different bright colours all combined in to one painting and the defined black outlines.

The second drawing I have competed is the four different hair styles, the reason I chose this is because I like beauty and hair and I find different styles interesting. I split my A5 piece of paper into 4 different sections for the pop art effect of Andy Warhol’s work. As well as this, I also used bright yellow for the hair colour which is similar to what this artist uses for one of his most famous pieces of Marilyn Monroe.

Another drawing I did was of one simply flower with a bright background. I liked this look because I also added light shading with a black crayon which was easy but added so much depth and detail to the petals. I also used two different shades of pick; the darker one to show the more pigmented areas of the flower.

The next drawing I created was the most inspired by my artist due to the bright colours used and bold outlines. Instead of just doing a simple standard drawing of some lips, I added some movement as it shows the bottom lip being bitten. The reason I did the gums such a dark blue was to add emphasis to the white teeth and make them stand out. I used red on the lips because I think it’s a classy colour and it made a statement.

The last drawing I did is in some ways similar to my second drawing of the different hair styles as it has the same sort of lay out which is the four separate boxes. But differently to my other drawing, this one contains shoes and all of them are exactly the same and all are completely different colours to add effect and stick to the pop art theme.

My opinion on this course

This course is extremely different to what I am used to in terms of doing GCSE art at school because at school you’re a lot more ordered and told what to do in terms of what you draw and how you draw it. Yet at college you are a lot more free to draw whatever you feel in which way you want giving it a much more personal effect.

My blog

I think I might use my blog mainly to look for inspiration off other bloggers and use it within my own work. Also I could use my own art which could inspire others.

My plants for future study

My induction task included a series of drawings and photographs I had created myself in order to reflect myself and my interests. Even though my work in this task was mainly inspired by one specific artist I feel like I am already beginning gather my thoughts and ideas about what I want to produce next which is slightly different. Due to my induction task being mainly based on brightly coloured cartoons, I feel like my next step is to create something more realistic and detailed.

Who am I?