UNIT 6 Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the Hepworth Gallery

To start our new project "Transcribing Caro" we visited two galleries - Yorkshire sculpture Park Longside gallery and the Hepworth gallery in Wakefield - to view Anthony Caro's sculptures. The experience provided us the chance to take photographs of his work for our primary research which would prove vital to our projects as we could learn more about his style which would later influence our own work throughout the project. Looking at Caro's work I will admit left me baffled as abstract forms are such a foreign concept to me however I thought his use of colour and materials depicts how creative Caro's thought process was; I particularly liked the sculptures at the Longside gallery in which he used brightly coloured perspex as it added an opaque element which allows you to interpret different shapes and forms from each angle you look at the sculpture. The sculptures at the Hepworth gallery were mostly made of bronze, iron and other metallic materials however there was one wooden sculpture that I loved: The "Child's Tower Room". A Huge Wooden sculpture in which children were allowed to climb on, this was the first time I'd seen a sculpture that allowed children to enjoy the artwork through play and exploration and I found it fascinating. Overall I really enjoyed the day viewing the exhibitions, the experience will surely benefit me when I come to creating and designing my own sculpture for the projects final piece.

UNIT 1, 2 & 4 Evaluation of 'Hands On' project

Whilst creating my glossary pages and workshop outcomes I ensured to use medias in way that explores the characteristics of a wide range of visual language. I tried to be creative with my choice of media and how I would use them to further illustrate the visual language on each glossary page and when creating my workshop outcomes I tried to use the available materials to the best of my ability. I wanted each glossary page to explain the definition of the element or principle of design so well that writing the definition wasn’t necessary, for example on the texture page I applied the paint thickly and made patterns within it so you could feel and see texture on the page. Within My workshop outcomes I tried my best to apply the elements of design to my work in order to create outcomes that had a clear resemblance to a hand, when creating my ceramics hand I focused on the lines and shape.

                The experience of making my glossary was challenging due to the fact that I was insistent on the illustrations being a good enough substitute for the written definition of each word however I did write the definitions down for clarity. That meant I had to be quick when working to make up for the longer thought process; in the end I didn’t manage to create the minimum amount of pages although I tried to make up for this through the care and effort I put into the pages I finished. Learning about the terminology and producing the glossary pages hasn’t made that big of an impact on my English skills, if anything I have only widened my vocabulary and learnt the correct terminology which should prove useful for future evaluations and blog work.

                In my sketchbook I have produced pages using primary, secondary and artist research to show a wide range of research skills within my work. I photographed family member’s hands for my primary research collecting photographs of different aged hands including some close up photographs to capture the unique texture of the skin in which I would try and replicate in my sketchbook work. My secondary research consisted of many photographs from Pinterest, therefore I made a Pinterest inspired page to show my secondary research, which I then used to create further sketchbook pages. My main goal for my secondary research was to look at the different fields of art (Drawings/Paintings, Photography and 3D) to create a wider range of research and also give me inspiration for my workshop outcomes. My final source of research was my artist research on Henry Moore, these sketchbook pages are more specific to the style of art as I copied his work and also recreated his work by drawing my friends hands in the same style. Overall, my research has proven effective in improving my skills of paying attention to details such as recreating texture and tone, also my research has aided my workshop outcomes heavily as it provided me with inspiration and guidance. If I were to improve my research, it would be to experiment more with the research in my sketchbook work and further develop my work.

                Through the workshops I have learnt a lot since being introduced to each of the workshops: Photography, 3D, Ceramics, Print making and textiles. In photography I learnt the about the settings on the camera (aperture, shutter speed ISO) and how they affect the photo, we then proceeded to apply our knowledge and took photos of each other’s hands; At first I was confused with the settings but slowly got the hang of it as the session went on. Out of the photographs I had taken I believe only a small majority were successful due to the fact I was experimenting and still figuring out how to use the settings effectively. In the 3D workshop we familiarised ourselves with the concept of shape scapes: the first sculpture we made was simply a practise to understand the process of slotting together pieces of card to create a desired form which resulted in creating abstract sculptures however the second sculpture we made was more relevant to the project therefore we created a hand shaped sculpture. I believe my hand sculpture was successful in representing a hand however the slots were very loose so my sculpture didn’t stay in place for long.  In ceramics we were taught how to handle and prepare the clay correctly and then proceed to creating our designs; I decided roll out my clay to a reasonable thickness then cut and mould the clay free hand to form the shape of the design, to add a skin like texture to my ceramics I used a variety of tools that were available to create the creases on the hand. Personally, I thought my ceramics work was my most successful workshop outcome due to the amount of detail I applied through the use of different tools creating a more realistic appearance. Textiles is the workshop that I learnt the most in as we were taught several new techniques and processes throughout the day, my favourite technique was batik as it was quite unusual and the idea of sketching out the barrier that formed the blank spaces was really clever. My textiles work was varied in successfulness as I tended to put more effort into the techniques I enjoyed the most therefore lacking in other areas. I found that overall I had managed to create by the end of each session at least one successful outcome from each of the workshops and I am confident in knowing how to perform many techniques and processes throughout the workshops.

Overall I think my portfolio varies in effectiveness: I believe the quality of some of my work is to a high standard then some of it is rushed and lacks in quality. Also, my portfolio is much smaller than it should be as I handed in less work than other however I tried to make up for my lack of work the quality in which I put all of effort in to achieve. If I was to improve my portfolio I would definitely have managed my time better so that I could have produced more work in order to create a more stronger portfolio and I would have dedicated more time than I did to my sketchbook as I neglected it more than I should have to work on glossary pages.

My definition of creativity is the use of imaginative and original thinking; creativity has no limitations as anybody can be creative in many different situations as long as you open up your mind. During this project I have learnt that creativity can applied to a wide range of contexts and also that our creativity was the most active as children due to our open mind set; therefore ‘play’ can be very useful in inspiring your creativity as it allows you to open up your mind letting your imagination go wild. In retrospect I believe that my creative skills have improved over the project immensely by allowing myself to be less serious in my sources of inspiration and becoming more open minded.

I found working independently quite easy as I know what I wanted to achieve personally and I knew how I would achieve the results therefore I could just work without planning as I already had it planned out within my head however group tasks I found more challenging. When working with other people it meant creating a collaboration of different ideas and styles therefore negotiations were needed which I found difficult due to the fact that we needed to come towards an agreement which took a lot longer to plan out unlike when I work independently.

Time management has always been a big struggle throughout my education as I tend to dedicate a lot of time working on perfecting small details which results in having less work in comparison to others and often as a consequence I have failed to meet the minimum requirements. However due to my flaw I believe I have managed to create the best outcomes I could have possible made in terms of quality however given the time limit I really should have produced more work and I will try very hard to be more in control of my time management on the next project.

UNIT 1, 2 & 4 "Hands On" Secondary Research

For my secondary research I constructed a Pinterest board which combines all areas of art and design: Photography, fine art and 3D work. The images I added were what I found the most interesting and by looking at all different types of art and design work it has inspired me to produce work with a wide range of medias and styles within my sketchbook, glossary pages and in the workshops. When it came to recording my secondary research in my sketchbook I decided on creating a Pinterest inspired page where I painted out boards for the three areas of art and design I researched. I believe my idea was successful in showcasing my secondary research and is labelled very clearly. I didn't manage to add a lot of the images from my Pinterest board as I didn't want the images to be too small therefore here is a link to my "hands" Pinterest board so you can see all the secondary research I used clearly: https://www.pinterest.com/leah70107/hands/

UNIT 1, 2 & 4 Mono-printing

After the completion of my second glossary page and towards the end of the day we tidied up to begin a new activity: Mono-printing. We watched Claire's demonstration in which she used a brayer to roll ink onto a plastic wallet that was taped securely to the table, she then placed a paper on top of the ink and without resting her hand on the paper she drew a hand on the back of the paper. After she drew the hand she lifted off the paper to reveal the ink print on the paper of the hand. This is known as indirect printing, you could also you the imprint in the ink on table to produce a direct print by placing a piece of paper on the ink and use a clean brayer on the back of the paper.

In preparation for making my own mono prints I used the China Collé technique I had learnt from print making, I used purple tissue paper to reconstruct a hand on the page. I then proceeded to use this to produce an indirect print with black ink. The China Collé technique was more effective when mono printing rather than Lino printing. The result was quite smudged however I still though it turned out rather successful.

I then decided on producing a direct mono print to show evidence that I understood how to produce both types of mono prints, personally I preferred the indirect method as I thought you could produce some interesting peices when using a combination of techniques. 

UNIT 1, 2 & 4 Water Vs. Fire

After some inspiration from pinterest I came up with an idea for my second glossary page to illustrate colour. I decided to focus on the temperature of colours and started to think about ways to incorporate ice vs fire scenario onto the page. I found this image on the Internet and used it as a starting point.

I decided to change the hand position ever so slightly and drew a basic outline of my own hand onto the page. In the image the hands and are punching each other therefore I drew the hands in a comic book/anime style to represent the action within the drawing. Now to add the water and fire, I looked at some photoshopped images to help me capture the movement, shape and colour of the elements. As this was a colour page I used inks for the water and fire to keep the vibrancy of the colours intact.

I continued to illustrate each of the hands until both were complete, I chose to use darker skin colours on the fire hand as I thought they were warmer tones and more pale skin colours on the water hand in keeping with the cold colours of the water. 

To finish off the page I used black ink on the back ground the colours would stand out further and left spaces which left behind the title and brief descriptions on the page. 

UNIT 1, 2 & 4 Print-making Workshop

Last Thursday I experienced my first workshop, Print-making, in which we looked at zentangles and henna designs to inspire us create our own designs. After drawing up several miniature designs we choose our favourite and discussed why. My favourite design was of repetitive feathers that are illustrated with patterns because I wanted to create a tribal design and personally I believe feathers represent that culture and feathers also work well with modern adaptations.

Jess then began to explain the process of Lino printing to the group as we would produce prints of our designs using this process. Lino printing is a type of relief printing in which you carve your design into a block of Lino then apply ink using a brayer (rubber paint roller) and put it through a printing press with a sheet of paper. After processing the explanation we began sketching our designs onto blocks of Lino. As our current project is revolved around hands I adapted my design so that it appeared to be a henna design on the back of a hand. Unfortunately you can only just see the sketch of my design on the Lino but here is a picture:

Now we began to carve away using the Lino cutters. At first I kept being too heavy handed resulting in me cutting out large pieces of Lino however eventually I began to get the hang of it using different sized Lino cutters to carve out the intricate details of the feathers. 

We then proceeded to rolling on the ink and printing our designs onto paper. It took a while to apply the right amount of paint that was needed, as you can see the first try was quite pale.

I then began experimenting with colour and paper to achieve different affects. I preferred using warm colours on the brown paper as I believe it helped me achieve the tribal affect I had originally wanted.

Jess then explained how to 'La poupée' which is a French term for using different coloured inks when print-making. To continue with my tribal theme I used red and black for this technique and I thought the results were really successful! 

The finish the day we wer taught another technique, China Collé, which is another French term meaning we would glue coloured tissue to the paper before printing onto it. I used some purple tissue paper in the shape of a hand and then used red and yellow to print onto the paper. It didn't work as well as I had hoped because I put Abit too much ink on to the Lino so the design is smudged and the tissue paper is hidden. I hope I will find the time to practise China Collé as I'd love to produce some work using this technique.

UNIT 3 The Role of an Art Critic

Art criticism can take many forms and writing styles: Scholars interpreting artworks for journals, Journalists reviewing an art gallery exhibition for the weekly addition of the newspaper or simply artists responding to each others artworks. However the role itself isn't as simple as it seems, after all anyone can voice their ideas on the latest art movement but it takes an art critic to write up their interpretations confidently and honestly in order to record the ever changing art world for others to read. Art critics have a reputation of being overly harsh due the negative connotations of "criticism" however in my opinion their clever and skilful input allows us, as readers, to look at a piece of artwork and discover the underlying intentions of the artist and consider different perspectives.

UNIT 1, 2 & 4 Wire Sculptures

To finish the day one of the 3D design tutors came by to help us construct our own wire sculptures of hands. He showed us many of his own examples that were beautiful abstract styled sculptures which many people decided to attempt however I chose a different approach as I know that abstract work is one of my weaknesses. I began by moulding the wire around the outline of my hand to make sure it would be in proportion then adding coiled wire to the fingers to show both the creases in the fingers and the 3D shape. After completeing the coils of the thumb and fingers I was unsure of how to continue as I was happy with how it was however we only had a small amount of time left so I decided to leave it how it was. Overall I really enjoyed the experience and found shaping the wire quite easy, I would definatly complete more wire sculptures in the future 

UNIT 1, 2 & 4 The Illustrated Glossary

As part our projects we will be creating illustrated glossaries which will provide evidence of our understanding of the terminology used in art and design. Whilst being taught how to stretch paper our tutor, Claire, explained to us the elements of design: Line, Shape, Form, Colour, Texture, Space and Value. The elements of design would provide us with the first seven pages of our glossaries. Personally, I found it difficult to think of a creative way to show the definition of any of the elements of design. Eventually, I decided on drawing a line drawing of my thumbs fingerprint using different types of lines to visually explain the definition of 'Line'.

Unfortunately, due to my lack of ideas, my late start prevented me from completing a second page therefore I am giving myself a target to improve my time management in order to complete tasks on time and to benefit my future career within art and design.

UNIT 1, 2 & 4 'Hands On' project

Last Thursday, we were informed of our first project: "Hands On". During this project we will be introduced to visual language, Research skills, Materials, Processes and technical skills in art and design in order to have a better understanding. Throughout the day we completed a few basic drawings of our own hands in different styles to evaluate our individual drawing style and the others we were shown. At first I struggled with this excersize as I failed to draw my hand in proportion but after a bit of trial and error I began to get the hang of it, now the concept of drawing a hand isn't as daunting as I know I can do it eventually. As for the styles of drawing I really enjoyed the cross hatching, contour line and my own drawings; I believe this is due to the fact it is more controlled and takes more time. However, when asked to complete a continuous line drawing within two minutes was very difficult as I couldn't go back and correct it I just had to continue which I found quite annoying.

The next task was more time consuming as we were asked to draw our own hand on some black paper using coloured pencils, I decided on a more realistic style of drawing and began the outline. Due to the first task I found the outline more easier even though I had to redo some parts. I was really worried to start colouring as I wasn't sure how good the quality of my work would be but I was really proud of my efforts by the end of the day.

The importance of "play" and creativity

Throughout the induction with dominoes I was continuously recording the day through photographs whilst also taking more creative photographs of our work. whilst reviewing my photography I began reflecting on what the induction had taught me. Introducing "play" into our work, I realised, is quite important as our imaginations and creativity blossomed as a child playing games and running wild therefore by playing around with the dominoes we unleashed our inner child replenishing our slightly dusty imaginations allowing our creativity to develop and evolve. Creativity is the key to any artists work, a collaboration of original ideas and inventiveness, without it artwork would be a repetitive and meaningless. I used my creativity to find other purposes for objects around the room and incorporate them to create unusual and original domino runs, I was very happy with the results and that inspired my photography, by trying different angles I produced some images that I was really proud of. 

Induction with dominoes

Today as part of our induction to art and design an artist, James, came in to help us understand how "play" is an important aspect when creating art work. He brought masses of wooden dominoes for us to work with whilst completing tasks throughout the day. We split into smaller groups to work as a team to build a huge circular structure within the beginning of the day, without much discussion we each began working on individual segments therefore efficiently producing a tall sculpture within a small amount of time.

In the afternoon we worked on creating a huge functional domino project which would cover the entire room, after discussing the path the dominoes would take around the room we split up completing  sections individually so that the final project would include all of our ideas.

As a group we suffered many knockbacks after accidentally knocking down parts of the track and struggling to get some of our ideas to work however we kept trying and working together in order to find a solution. Unfortunately, in the end our project didn't work as well as we'd like to although we were all happy with the result of our teamwork and creativity. If we were ever to have another attempt at being 100% successful with our domino project we would test each section and double check each other's work perhaps we would have achieved a more successful outcome.