Urban Influences, Part 2.

Figure 1: Painting onto bricks.

After realising that my drawing skills would not improve by just drawing from photographs. I am not just copying but trying to learn how to use more media. I have started drawing on the spot, but I did not start with paper  I have started with a brick  during the process, I have ran out of white paint, so I used yellow to replaced it. I like the texture of the brick it gives to my painting, but maybe, I need to go over that paint again, so that my painting stands out more from the background. This is also quicker than paper as the brick soaks up colour. I would need to mix the colour tone if using paper.

I want to be able to move with my work. 

Figure 2: Sketchbook

  Drawing on the spot, I tend to use blind drawing, because it records what is happening around faster on the page. Afterwards, I would go over it with more planed lines and adding colours.

What I think worked the best for me is that I think using a sketchbook to capture the moment then work on that on another piece of paper. The sketchbook is more of a blue print where I play with scales.

Figure 3: Sketchbook

 

Sometimes, I don’t even stop walking, I carry on walking and draw at the same time. Making myself uncomfortable can surprise myself.

Figure 4: Sketchbook

As I found my subject matter, I concentrated on it, cars.

Figure 5: Ink drawing of a car

 

I enjoy working with colours as well as black and white, I need to divide my colour palette such as try and use white ink only to draw to create a more interesting background to draw on.

I don’t like working with sketchbook because I feel like I am being limited in scale and pushed into filling the pages.  I have just been working on loose papers, to improve I will cut up more papers in hand and carry my pocket sketchbook and record, but look for subject matters, cars.

Urban Influences.

Figure 1: The Printworks, Manchester, 2014.

Instead of selecting drawing buildings at random I have decided to create a storyboard.

I drew all the restaurants and memorable places that my boyfriend and I have visited in Manchester.

At the beginning I worked from photographs and not on the spot, which because camera lenses show everything and I got nothing from my drawings but disappointment. The way I see things is not everything but the way I see things. That is the difference.

I did not try to draw everything I see within the photograph, I have selected the building outline and filled in the details. However, I have blinked out everything else. I do not see why I should draw thing that does not interest me. In a way, I see it as torturing myself. 

Figure 2: Piccadilly train station, 2014.

  In most of the drawings, I used either ink or pencil, I want to keep it black and white, therefore, there is no way of telling what time of the day is it, or the weather. Simply, I just want to draw the building structure design.

Figure 3: Painting onto a street mirror: Step by step.

  After this, I moved on from paper and worked with an urban found object, because I was getting tired of drawing buildings. Subject matter is very important to me, for I have to be interested in the subject matter, to make it interesting for myself. I started with my surroundings, dogs. I painted over the mirror and scratched the paint off in order to draw.

Figure 4: Drawing of Ruby.

 

From working with buildings and mirrors I wanted to draw from a different aspect.

Overall, the drawings that I did, I realised that working from photographs are more detailed. I don’t think I used enough media to experiment, but I have narrowed down my subject matter and decided that I need to experiment more with scales.

Motifs Designs - Drawings (Part 2)

Sketchbook Drawing - Pigeon



I thought of using blocks of colour as a background, because I tend to work on white sheets of paper, with black fine liners, therefore, it always ended up black and white. I thought of adopting Egon Schiele’s drawing style, having unfinished pieces. In this drawing I thought of using different colours that I have developed in my colour palette and painting them into blocks, however, while I was trying to create the white wash effect, the paint bled and overlapped with the other colour, it was rather accidental in the process. I have a collection of found objects and I used the cork to create mark making.

 

Sketchbook Drawing - Tiger

 

I adopted a tiger through WWF, it is named Kamrita. Therefore, I been receiving letters about tigers, inside those letters are photographs of tigers, bookmarks and information about tigers.

I thought of how I can relate these letters to my project, so I started drawing them by using the photographs I received as a research base and I am planning to draw a series of tigers, by studying their movements.

 

I thought of using paper cut outs for my motif designs. However, after a conversation with teaching staff, some suggestions were made. When I use paper cut outs, I lose the quality of my drawings, because most of my drawings contain movement. Therefore, I will be more experimental with my use of media. Another suggestion was that I have a habit of working from the corner and this means that my drawings/ designs have been cut off. In motif designs, it is best to have a drawing or design with a shape of its own. For example, the bird skeleton has a shape of its own and is not limited by the paper. I will be more considered with my future work and think about the scale that I will be working on.

Over the holiday, I have been collecting found natural objects, and I developed an interest in their shapes. I started to use line drawings to create a design.

I plan to work on black material, such as black paper, use white paint and a paint brush to work with in my next drawing, because this way I can work out the negative and positive, and it would be clearer while working on screen-printing. In screen printing, if I were to design a drawing on to white paper with black pen, the black area is where the colour would be transferred to while printing.

Motifs Designs - Drawings

I have always been interested in animals, but I have started to look at them from another perspective. For example, I started looking at the dead pigeons, because this subject was overlooked and I thought of how I can transfer the image into print design.

Sketchbook Drawing - Dead Pigeon

I like to work with fine-liner pens; because it creates a sketching effect, I do not enjoy drawing with pencils, because I hate the idea that it can be corrected by rubbing it off the paper. With a pen, once the mark is made, it cannot be undone. I start off by using continuous line drawing to roughly mark down the proportion with a pencil or a graphite stick, but I never use a rubber.

One issue that I have found with the 0.5mm fine-liner pen is that the line it creates is too fine, which makes it hard or even impossible for the print to be produced. I discovered that the safest way is to use 2.0mm or a bigger number.

I then started to look into pigeons’ skeletons and be experimental with my drawings.

 

Sketchbook Drawing - Pigeon Skeletons

Also, being experimental I have used straight lines only to draw a skeleton of a pigeon.

 

I have used the feathers that I have collected to create mark making on the paper and tea stains and Indian ink to draw them. I thought of developing this kind of work by looking into mark making and combining it with found objects.

Things I might explore: I have liked Jackson Pollock’s work, because it is full of energy.  I have also started to develop an interest in working with hair. Therefore, I plan to experiment with this direction. 

100 meter line

I admire Candy Jernigan's work, she is known as a found object artist.
 

My first idea to represent 100 meter line was to go to Whitworth park and use a 100 meter long string to tie two trees together and fill the space in between with the lines.

However, I know there is no such thing as original, because there's always some artist somewhere who has done similar things, but still, I would like something that came from my own idea and to know that I wasn't just adopting another artist's approach without being interested in their work.  

 

I used found objects, I collected twigs, and later I selected 3 out of a bunch, and I hammered one on the wall, and used a roll of thread to tie the 2 together, to create a sense of flowing, the shadows reflected the threads and the twigs, I know the thread did not create 100 meter length, but I was looking at how the light and shadow, positive and negative space multiplied the line. 

           


 

 

 

 

Later on, I was looking at Candy Jernigan's work and I like how she uses different ways to represent her found objects, through collage and drawings.

I have taken this idea from her on board, it happened accidentally. My dog chewed up the twigs I found at the park, and she also chewed up my Embroidery wooden hoop in to many pieces. I used those wooden pieces and placed them in five orderly lines, and another piece at the other side of the paper. I then started to draw them, drawing the found objects, within the found objects themselves.

 

Sampling - Print

The task was to peel off the vinyl and use it to draw a continuous line drawing, in the process the vinyl might snap, it might stick togther taking two lines or more.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=726415747368699&l=4095143104314127170

(See the link for video of the process)

Working in a team of six, we decided to give one another a role to do. So, someone filmed the process and someone did the peeling and we all did something. Working in a team, showed that we all have different ways of thinking. I jumped in and went ahead and started peeling. Thinking about it afterward, I realised I acted without discussion with my team members, which might have made them feel left out. Having roles worked well, once we decided what we were doing. I felt like I learnt how to communicate a bit more clearly with others and to compromise.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=726418410701766&l=489980301429716867

(See the link for video of the process)

For example, I suggested to use the positive space and negative space of the vinyl and wall, then another member of the team was more interested in 3D, and at the end, our ideas combined togther.

 

 

Combining drawings and hand stitch

I was inspired by Alice Kettle. Her work involves combining drawings, prints, hand stitch into contemporary textiles.

In the Guise of an Angel

I have found this piece very inspiring, the use of colours, the textures and the energy within have bought movements in to this piece. I was trying to create the sketchy feel in my work by using mainly drawing and use little hand stitch just to bring out the details.  

The making of my works.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=704698019540472&l=3135599664767579340

Series of work, transferring chance card drawing into textiles

I have decided to work with the environment around me, in this case, my plants. I have observed different parts of the plant and used hand stitch to creates line drawings on the found object, receipt. 

I have first wet the recipes then used indian ink and dripping it on top, let the ink soak in, put it under the water and soften the colours and let it dry. 

  

I like the feel of papers and the marks it left of where the needles has been, I think papers requires looking after while working with it. However, tears marks can be interesting too. Working with receipts, it gives an idea of mapping the city, creating a connection outside the studio and ''leaving a foot print of where I have been.''

Using Indian Ink with different sized brushes

This is one of the drawing task from the chance cards - use Indian ink with different sized brushes.
I have taken a picture of the Manchester art gallery from the inside, because I thought the building was built with glass roofs and the natural sun light can shine through. I thought that was rather interesting to draw that. I mainly used line drawing to draw the stairwell. Also, watered down the ink to show the see thoroughness of the glass.

This is the actual photograph that I have worked from, it was taken in Manchester Art Gallery.