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?