Artists I like #8

Browsing DeviantArt and I saw this book that had been crafted into a sort of treasure chest. It just looks really pretty and almost like a collectable. It is very delicate and by the appearance has a lot of tiny hand made hard back books or scrolls. It relates to my current project because it could be an artist book. It would also be quite a unique take as its more of an object based piece. 

Images have since been deleted from Deviantart

Robin Lino - Researching Methodology

Having a lino workshop we had to produce some prints with the full body view of our animal. I created the Robin itself at first and decided I wanted the border and background to look almost "woody"; like how wood would look if it had been hacked at. I removed the background in a sort of chiseling method. I didn't do any reduction for this lino although I implemented the process on Photoshop so that I might get an idea on how the piece would look. I have a larger scale piece of lino which I will be creating a print with and hopefully doing some reduction prints.

Rockin' Robin - Methodology

Moving on, but still using my ProMarkers, I looked at the song "Rockin' Robin" mostly known to be sung by the Jackson 5 but was first sung by Bobby Day. I think there's just something about little Michael singing it that really suits the personality of a Robin. I drew the scene of the Buzzard and the Oriole being "Out-bopped" by the Robin; using type to express the motion and sound of Bop. Bopping is a dance move I can't really imagine a Robin actually doing but I'm sure if he did, it would be in the air; mainly because Robins dart so fast I can't see how a bop would be done on his feet.  

The pretty little raven at the bird man stand
Taught him how to do the bop and it was grand
He started goin' steady and "bless my soul"
He out-bopped the buzzard and the oriole.

How to Bop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bDjjTabSQU

Auto Portraiture - Identity through print

Doing another workshop today, looking at Portraiture. Not one of my favourite things to draw, my own face, but nevertheless a very valuable skill. I enjoyed the workshop more than I thought due to how the tutor told us to go about drawing. First we started with quick 1 minute sketches, continuing into continuous line drawings and lastly rough sketches in 30 seconds. The idea was to loosen us up and not pay so much attention to finer detail and worry about everything looking good. Lastly we drew a portrait of the person opposite us followed by a 8 portraits of ourselves using a distorted piece of reflective card. Some of my sketches I was quite happy with while others challenged my skill level. Although I dislike portraiture it is a big part of identity and these additions will add to my project.

Dave McKean - Identity through print

After having a one-to-one with my tutor he advised me to look into the work of Dave McKean an illustrator that uses many different types of media to create his art work. The specific book he recommended is called "The Wolves in the Walls"; I have decided to look into irrational fears and phobias so this book related well. 

I then looked into Dave's style and tried to develop an understanding of his technique. I thought of one of my own fears and followed a similar style of design. I took a stock photo of a woman lying down and painted over the top in Photoshop. I left the original hair like McKean seemed to do within the book. I added a bed hand drawn with my tablet and then because the project is print related, used the mono-printing technique and drew a creepy figure looming over the bed; almost like the boogie man. Scanning the mono-print into Photoshop I then adjusted it so that it appeared behind the bed but his hands reached over. I then added a wooden floor with a carpet "Soft light" over the top. Using a grundge paper stock I overlayed it on the wall and changed the setting to "Hard light". The picture as a whole has a sort of red devilish glow. Although I left the eyes in I think it carries the technique well.

 

Stock photo: http://shiskababe.deviantart.com/art/HIDE-133744128 

Jack Pierson - Identity through print

So after reviewing my lecture notes I took note of an artist Jack Pierson who is new to me. I like the look of his work although admittedly at first I thought it was collaged with paper. After looking into Pierson I found out that his work is in fact sculptural and he uses letters from abandoned buildings or from junkyards to create words and phrases. Although his work is sculptural I would like to create similar pieces using either Photoshop or collaging magazine letters. It will also mean I'm looking into typography as well as creating work relating to my identity. 

First monoprint - Identity through print

I had my first ever University workshop. Woohoo! Our project at the moment is looking into our own personal identity. We are using methods of print to help us discover more about ourselves. The first workshop was Monoprint, something I have previous experience with; I wasn't too delighted at the idea. I thought that after my college days that it would be a drag but I used some letter stamps along with the monoprints and actually enjoyed it a lot more than before. I liked mixing the media of stamps and illustrations together. We were only supplied with black and I felt a little restricted by the colour; although colour shouldn't make a difference I am use to doing much more colourful prints. So seeing as I love food, it was the main inspiration as well as Disney!

The 'mmmmm' was actually created with the letter N because I couldn't find an actual M. I just double up two nns to make a lovely m :)