Art & Design Foundation ~ Evaluation

  During this course, I have development an array of skills to use in my future work. I have pushed myself to be a more independent worker and you can see it through the period of the last 6 weeks. I have been trying to come up with many ideas of how to use materials in different ways and use as many types of media possible. I found the first 2 weeks of my Final Major Project very motivating mainly because I thought I had a lot of time to create experimental works and sketches to show ideas of progression. Although, as the weeks went on, I struggled to find a final idea to use and work with, and I found this to be quite demotivating towards the end. I did try to stay on track with my week planner, but personally I didn't find it as useful or helpful comparing to others.

  Research came to me quite easily as I chose a broad subject to base my Final Major Project on. I found a lot of famous artists like Francis Bacon, Jennifer Mazza and Voka inspirational to my work. I also found a lot of inspiration around me, especially on Pinterest and Instagram, and these social media websites I found were most helpful developing my own way to creating portraits then the more well-known artist's styles and techniques.

  My style of working somehow changed through these 6 weeks. I can see a change in how I sketch and observe people when I draw from still life which I found quite interesting. I used to be very detailed and neat with the way I sketch out someone or something, but now its much looser and more expressive which to me looks more visually interesting to view.

  My initial idea of what I was thinking to do for my final pieces has changed massively as I tried to teach myself to go more in depth with concepts of art and how I can express a concept through artwork, not just a pretty picture with no meaning behind it, as I was doing beforehand. I chose an issue in today's society so most people could relate with what I was trying to get across in my artwork. Researching and thinking outside the box for a concept was really interesting and got me thinking about composition a bit more and how I can show it in a visual form.

  Although, I feel like my final pieces didn't show my artistic skill to the max, but I feel it has shown a different style of my work; more of an expressionist style of working with colour and proportion, which I found a personal challenge. After saying this, I do think my experimentation drawings and paintings reflect to what I like the most and what I do best at.

  I feel that I could have made this project easier, if I wanted to, but I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and try to get to grips with concepts and ideas behind the piece of work, rather than concentrating on the visual details or what it looks like. I feel like this project has been a success although I could have spent a little bit longer on developing my concept for my final pieces.

FMP - Experimentation Development

  Here, I'll combined my favourite styles of working into the concepts I've researched and discussed to my peer group/s and my teachers.

Sketches of someone interacting with technology. 

Sketches from still life on the bus of people interacting with technology.

 (Underneath shows in order of the pictures I am writing about).

Here is my write up of my experimentation development, from painting and experimenting with animal (more of monkeys) forms to how environmental changes can change how humans interact with one another. So I chose to use the concept of technology changing how humans act around others.

(All other pieces of work are in my FMP folder or shown in my previous post).

Here are my final pieces. I chose to recreate my first practice painting (the first colourful painting above) because the colours only show in the face, body and the piece of technology they're using, and it looks as if they connect together; a relationship is shown between a person and their phone - shown as inseparable. I chose to lay out my images like this because they all face inwards to show enclosed, and to show the people in the photo are closed off and almost give the impression of locked out of the rest of the world because they are on their phone. I got frames with a clean black border because I didn't want a complex and detailed looking edge to an already 'busy' looking painting/s, also because most of the background and body is black and white I thought the black frame went very well with these paintings.

FMP - Research (Historical, Cultural, Contemporary)

Historical

How people took portrait photographs and painted people in the renaissance;

1.       It would take 2-3 minute exposure to take a photograph so people had to be very still.

2.       Usually they are emotionless (not smiling) because it was easiest to stay still.

3.       The first or the earliest photograph that was recorded was by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826-7.

4.       The first photograph to have a human being in the shot was made in Paris 1838 by Louis Daguerre called “Boulevard du Temple”.

5.       The first ever self-portrait photograph was by Robert Cornelius in 1839.

Camera Obscura (or a latin name for “dark chamber”);

1.       Using a portable box with mirrors inside, it is possible to project a right-side-up image, which would project onto the paper you’re creating the image on. Almost like tracing round an image.

     Daguerreotype (or Daguerreotypy);

2.       It was the first publically photographic process

3.       It was a polished sheet of silver-plated copper to a mirror finish, it was treated with fumes that made it light-sensitive, exposed the copper in a camera, crated the image by fuming it with mercury vapour, removed the sensitivity by liquid chemical treatments, rinsed it , dried it and it created the image behind the glass in a protective space.

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Contemporary

·  News – We’re losing the ability to read facial expressions

·  Society’s technology advances are destroying childrens and other people use to communicate with others around the them

·  We are turning into machines

·  We are becoming emotionless and empty shells of ourselves

·  We are damaging our hunger and need to physical attachment to our human beings

·  The need for other human communication is diminishing rapidly.

·  We’ll end up not wanting others around each other

News articles;

1.       http://national.deseretnews.com/article/2235/face-time-vs-screen-time-the-technological-impact-on-communication.html - shows how the statistics of people owning a mobile phone and how the world is being taken over by technology as that we have no need to meet up as much with others or needed to talk to them face to face anymore. Lessening the importance of physical communication with others people.

2.       http://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2014/08/26/is-technology-ruining-our-ability-to-read-emotions-study-says-yes/ - children are losing the ability to read facial expressions and emotion with others, as technology like iPads, computers and phones are taking over childhoods all around the world. Social skills are life skills that we learn over time and we are making that difficult to gain for the next generation. The declining use of social skills could be disastrous for the future of the next generations e.g.; jobs that require you to talk to others easily, bonding with older people (or adults) or other people their own age. We are creating almost like autistic children because of these devices.

3.       http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/smartphones-are-making-children-borderline-autistic-says-psychiatrist-10203570.html - (relates to the previous article). We are creating kids that show no emotion when talking to psychiatrists.

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Cultural

Monkeys and Apes are like human beings and they can only relate and communicate with us & their emotions through their body language and facial expressions.

• Shows the importance of expression of living creatures and the ability to communicate with others and a social need in order to live a healthy happy life.
• Robert Cornelius' first self photograph could be classed as the first "selfie" ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/05/worlds-first-selfie-1839-robert-cornelius_n_4392804.html ) 

FMP - Experimentation

  First off, I started to draw from in front of me, and as they were working I tried to capture concentration, even though they look like they're just staring into space. I like the art style I've chose to merge with my own style of sketching. I used Otto Dix's idea of very loose scribbles on the outside of certain things and objects. I chose to use pencil not charcoal just to get started to draw the simple facial structure. If I were to do this again I'd zoom out the image a bit to not make the drawings look as squashed in the frame and use the negative space appropriately.

  I started drawing in the style of Ileana Hunter with her minimalist portrait art. I've always found her work really impressive and left me mind blown with the way she makes it so detailed as well as so effortless. Here, I've started with just the eyes and I've managed to make this drawing quite ambiguous e.g.; it could be seen as this girl is smiling (happy), or worried (anxious) etc. I do like how I've drawn the eyes as they are very expressive and, to me, they're seen to be perfect looking eyes.

  I wanted to experiment with how dark I can get with the shadows, because the previous drawing worked so well. I used a reference image from the internet as a guide and then made it my own. I really liked how this experiment turned out, still using Ileana Hunter's technique by leaving out the shape of the face (as the brain will figure that out once seeing the piece) and keeping it detailed as I can at the same time. It was quite a challenge for me not to over complicate this.

  For this piece I tried to replicate what Ileana Hunter has done completely. I found one of her images on the internet and I used that as a guide for the shading but made it my own as well so it wasn't the same exact face. I think it's worked really well, but at this moment I'm not sure how I can develop Hunter's technique of the minimalist portrait art to be developed into an interesting emotion portrait down the line, even though I love doing this kind of drawing! I'll see where I am when I get there.

  This was inspired by Oskar Kokoschka's sketching style, from the harsh dark lines around certain places, but I've stylized this to be quite cartoon-ish by making her cheek bones and jaw bones very chiseled and more prominent. It was just an experimental piece which I quite liked in the end.

  This little sketch was a reference from the internet and I just wanted to try out drawing it, as I wanted to try a drawing out with coloured pencils. It turned out well, for it being not my strength I'm quite proud of it. If I were to do this again I'd make the colours more vibrant and mix colours together and blend a lot more because it looks, to me, quite easy block colours with no merging of any other colour in some parts.

  I took inspiration from Vince Low's scribble biro portraits. I asked my friends send or link me a "selfie" of themselves, with not a normal expression, that I can draw from. I found this quite an interesting way of capturing emotion in a quick photo of yourself that you can take, so I could take this forward in my development. I liked how these turned out even though some of the proportions are a little out in some areas but they're ok at the moment. If I had to re-do these I'd make sure the porportions are a lot better and draw it much bigger because the scribbles round the side look squashed in.

  I used Voka's and Oskar Kokoschka's use of vibrant colours in their portraits and merged them into one. I thought this selfie of this person was perfect with all the bright and wild colours because that reflects who he is; a wild free spirit that's really out there. I do like this piece how it brings out the person's face very well even though both the background and the face stand out a lot.

  I also took this style on and created some more paintings and I feel these have been a success. I have painted a contrasts of emotions. On the left I have tried to give the impression of frustration or anger. I thought my figure, being my father, would be being perfect as he has good facial features to draw/paint from. On the right, I've painted a smiling emotion to symbolize happiness, obviously. I think the left one was more successful because I feel there was more to paint and focus on in the painting. Also I find the left painting more interesting to look at.

  I took the previous piece's inspiration and merged it with Ileana Hunter's minimalist style, so I only painted the face but left it with horizontal and diagonal lines round the sides of the face. This was just an experiment and I'm not sure on this one, because I think the black and white ones are much better, even though they are different styles I'm going to say this didn't work with me well. I should have just left it black and white and drew this in pencil, pastel or charcoal.

  This was an experiment using Jennifer Mazza's style of painting. Personally I didn't enjoy the way of painting because I felt like it wasn't working with me. The rough style of painting was okay but I couldn't be more expressive with the facial expression as I wanted to. As well as the proportions were all wrong and it doesn't look as Jennifer Mazza had done so to me it just didn't work for me. I thought I would because I like the realistic but I just didn't enjoy painting this piece. I much prefer the works of Voka because its eye-catching and it keeps the eyes on and around the painting, exploring how the simple brush strokes make the figure in the painting so alive  and detailed.

  I took inspiration from Marion Bolognesi with her watercolour portraits. This was just a experiment first before I did the painting of the face. It came out pretty well for a first time doing this sort of painting. If I were to paint it again, I'd give myself more time for the first layer of paint to dry before I start the next layer.

  Here is the full painting I've done using Marion Bolognesi's way of using watercolour to emphasize features and emotions in their faces. I like how this turned out because its so simple but it's quite striking at the same time. If I were to recreate this I'd do a different expression which is more outrageous or more interesting to look at.

  Here I've used Marion Bolognesi's style of watercolour as well as keeping the colour scheme to natural colours like Jennifer Mazza's paintings. I think this worked well although I didn't enjoy it as much as other paintings and drawings I've done before. Drawing from still life then painting afterwards was a challenge because its a moving figure in front of you but I enjoyed this challenge. I don't think I'll use this style further but it doesn't show emotion fully, it just looks like a picture to me.

  Here I've expanded from just emotions through human portraiture to animals as well. Here I have drawn a picture of my pet cat, to show emotions are obviously in every living thing so I tried to capture some shots of his face. I have used inspiration from Vince Low's squiggly pen drawings to emphasize their facial expressions. As well I have drawn a monkey's facial expression because they're close to the human species so i thought this photo reference was quite fitting. I also used Vince Low's style of drawing  because I thought this would work quite well, and I think it did. I think the monkey worked best because it shows more emotion than the cat piece. This is because the monkeys face has lines to represent how its feeling, and as he looks quite mischievous the lines emphasized this aspect. 

FMP - Instagram Art Ideas

  Here are some Instagram screenshots, from my phone, from artworks I've found interesting by their style or from their theme.

•   @samuel_saito

1. I've always liked his style of drawing and painting and it really amazes me how he can draw so realistic it looks like a photograph.
2. He uses either Copic markers, Prismacolor markers or other pencils from their range of art tools, and I love how they look so professional!
3. I love how the artwork shows emotion very easily, because you can tell instantly.
4. Although I probably wouldn't be using his style as I don't have the markers to create the same effect, it's only the eye and I'm looking to do the whole face and I want to experiment with crazy proportions and more distorted images not hyper-realistic pieces all the time.

• @artistyeb

1. This is one I like because its merging two images of the same person into one.
2. I quite like the cartoon-ish style to the drawing because it just works, I don't know whether it would have worked well if it was realistic.
3. The composition has worked well as it has made use of the negative space in the top left corner.
4. I might give this style a go from my own photographs in my development stage of the project.

• @danik95

1. I find this style quite quirky but it brings forth the purpose of this artwork for emotions, as all these emotions are at once in someones head or mind.
2. I will definitely have a go at recreating this idea of emotion even though it's not a portrait as such, but these emotions are coming across in these little faces inside.

• @loganfickart

1. This gave another way of showing the more negative emotions, personally.
2. I like how its quite dark; to almost feels like its an own personal painting of their to show how they feel.
3. The artwork being just black and white emphasizes the dark emotion the image is trying to get across to the viewer.
4. This is quite simple for my personal style but I'd explore the style more as I get into my development.

• @sparksflyidraw

1. I looked through this gallery of work and I like the style of drawing the minimalist facial features with certain objects, elements and textures merged with the face to emphasize the emotion attributes in the face e.g.; fire to show anger.
2. I like this and I think I'd have a go but I have drawn very similar in this project (Ileana Hunter's realistic minimalism portraits).

FMP - Artist Research

Books

Drawings of the Masters 20th Century drawings (1900 - 1940)

• Otto Dix - Sketch for a War painting, 1917.

1. I like the loose and expressive style of the drawing
2. The people shown in this sketch are very basic with blurred features; possibly to represent it being a normal surrounding to see so the artist doesn't look in detail of the people around, dead. I notice they have hollow eyes as well to emphasize the fact that they are dead, and that there is no emotion behind them anymore.
3. This makes me feel sadness mainly because there is no one living people anymore in this scene.
4. I could use this style in my drawings, especially in my still life drawing that I would like to do as I have no had much practice from drawing from in front of me. Also, my sketching and his sketching are fairly similar when I am sketching quickly.

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• Oskar Kokoschka - The artist's mother relaxing in an armchair, 1912

1. I think this sketch was created to capture a simple moment, and this is shown in her natural and relaxed facial expression.
2. Basic sketching could be a good starting point with my drawings.
3. I also researched his other portrait paintings, and I really like his painting style, being still quite tight in his technique and how he paints but its still seen as quite rough and loose in his brush strokes. I will definitely take on his heavy lined sketching technique and his painting style in my development and experimentation.

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Internet

• Gerald Scarfe - (General Caricatures) 

1. I came across these on Pinterest and I've found them quite interesting; to look at a face and find their most prominent facial features and explode them so out of proportion it's amusing to look at. That I could use if I create portrait to make the viewer have a certain emotion by seeing the artwork.
2. Although it's not my style of drawing I like how it can make the viewer interested in the portrait and possibly make them smile or laugh.

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• Edouard Fraipont - Blurred Movement Art

1. I find him similar to Francis Bacon to his disfigured and somehow slightly disturbing human figures and faces.
2. I like how he creates emotions through kinetic movement and this shows a very creepy image when one movement overlaps another movement.
3. If I recreate these kind of images it would really be interesting to replicate the emotion of distress or anger.
4. I can either use photography to make these sorts of images or paint them very loosely to emphasize the movement and emotion through the painting, not so focused on the facial features.

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• Jennifer Mazza

1. I love her realistic also very basic close up pieces of the bottom half of a face and a hand. This really emphasizes the fact the images are full of emotion and you can get an aura from these straight away e.g.; (top) sadness or anxious and (bottom) worry.
2. I could use this technique of painting in my acrylic experimentation, but recreate these with the whole face.

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• Guy Denning

1. I love how the face is the focal point in the drawing because of all the highlight is in the middle of the face, where the emotional features are more important and more interesting to look at than the rest of the picture and negative space around it.
2. The use of black and white pastel/chalk/acrylic on medium to dark paper makes the black shadows and white highlight really stand out.
3. I can use this in drawing still life or drawing from references.

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• Cheyenne Randall

1. Although I'm not doing celebrity drawings, I find this an interesting way to show emotion or just to simply see a different outlook on that celebrity if the photo manipulations of celebrities were true to life. For example they look much more aggressive than before, for men and women.
2. I might not use this artist in further development of mine because I don't see it as being as relevant with emotion as much as some other artists I've found and will use.

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• Francis Bacon

1. Showing emotion through these could work but only really well with the negative emotions (if I choose to only paint and draw negative emotions, it could be useful)
2. The creepy aura I get from it could be quite interesting to do some inspired photographs from him, with all its blurred disfigured facial features in one.
3. I think drawing from photos like this could make the picture have more movement from all the drawn lines.

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• Edouard Manet

1. This first started my ideas of who I wanted to paint like, just because of its loose faded look of the painting but, when up further away, it looks almost like a photographic image.
2. I think this is a good starting block for painting but I'd put a twist on it and make it more unblended block-like colours in the painting, but it'll depend on what emotion I'm trying to get across.
3. I like how in his portrait paintings they're like they have their own story behind each e.g.; the left one looks as if the picture was created after an event, personally.