Self directed project - Term 2 - Initial Research.

My self directed project for year 1, I am going to be continuing/ developing on my paint project done in term 1. For that particular project I chose the initial theme of 'Urban Environments' and I focused on city structures expressing them through use of colour and mark making. I thoroughly enjoyed this task so wish to continue with that theme for my FMP. I will begin by focusing on structures and the use of light and colour seen through different times of the day and how I interpret them through my eyes. As contrasts I will attempt to represent the city during the day and also night to allow me to express different colour pallets to help reflect the atmosphere of that particular scene. It is the atmosphere of a city which attracts me; capturing my attention to colour and temperature as well as textures. An artist which will be the starting point for my ideas is John Virtue. I came across Virtue whilst visiting galleries in Birmingham and I love the way his work attracts the viewer making them look at the arrangement with great attention to detail. Even though his paintings are blurred the spectator can still see the structures being depicted within the black and white creating a bustling atmosphere that would be felt in a large city.   

I began by taking photographs of city structures and locations that particularly attracted my attention whether it be for the light or the contrasting buildings in that area. For these I found inspiration from my home town of Leicester and also whilst on a visit to London. From these places I also produced simple graphite sketches showing shapes and texture and also the people within the composition. These initial ideas will form as the foundations for my project.

(Untitled, A3, graphite)

(Untitled, A3, graphite)

(Untitled, A3, graphite)

John Virtue - Self directed project.

John virtue is a British born artist whose work focuses around painting monochrome landscapes running a fine line between abstraction and figuration. His paintings show a relation towards oriental brush-painting and American abstract expressionism but mostly they strongly relate to traditional English landscape painters such as Turner and Constable who Virtue strongly admires and finds inspiration from for his artwork. As well as these famous British artists Virtue also finds influence from the traditional Dutch and Flemish landscape paintings by, Jacob Issacksz van Ruisdael, Philip de Koninck and Peter Paul Rubens. Virtue works from the landscape he is living which today is London but when he first began his landscapes he lived in South Devon using Exe estuary as his subject matter. His most famous paintings are his ones depicting London skylines looking at iconic buildings that people would be familiar with such as St Paul's Cathedral and the NatWest Tower. He uses this particular subject matter so that his viewers can recognize and relate to the landscape even though the paintings are hazed and blurred as though looking at the city through thick smog. 

All of Virtues paintings are produced onto canvas using white acrylic with black ink and shellac. Researching Virtue's technique and processes or working I found out that he begins his day by drawing from South Bank, the roof of Somerset House and finally from the roof of the National Gallery. His way of working also consists of walking and drawing. He would walk so that it would make a square in order to engulf the South Bank of the River Thames as well as the North Bank. He then goes on to work from these sketches in his studio using drawings that he is making every day. He comments of the fact that he has no intention to reflect on the history of London, he is mostly interested in showing abstractions from what he sees. Virtue does not see himself as a 'Londoner' but as an 'accidental' tourist. 

Since 1978 Virtue has been using the same materials; black ink, shellac, gouache, earth and emulsion. However I have read that for the past 15 years he uses titanium white acrylic and black ink working onto a raw canvas. Virtue uses black and white because he sees colour as an 'unnecessary distraction'. It is how he sees it, deepening his sense of  what colour is. He believes that using colour would immediately refer back to the work of Turner and Constable sucking you into a way of painting that is not personal and he wants to express how he sees the lanscape through his own eyes and not the eyes of tradition. His painting technique begins with him drawing loosely across the canvas with brushes which often ends up being wrong so he will then stop and build in the sky using the acrylic. I also found out that he likes to use J cloths to apply the paint or even his hands to mold it into the canvas. You then begin to see abstract forms between the black and white but when modelling these forms it is often incorrect so Virtue has to re-position on many occasions until eventually some of it will look like its starting to work. 

What I find most interesting about Virtue's paintings are the forms and shapes created using simple monochrome tones and the textures created over many layers of paint and ink as he works over mistakes or starts again when it is not working.

(Landscape no.739, acrylic and shellac on canvas, 149 x 149 cm, 2004)

Term 1 formative assessments.

Formative Assessments- 

Print

The brief for this project was to explore the theme behind 'Accumulate and Disperse'. My project focused on chance and manipulation of the printing ink; how the colours could be distorted on a flat surface to create movement and texture and then printing what was produced. A strong contextual influence for this project was the work of Keith Tyson. As strengths I personally think that throughout my work you can see the thoughts and decisions made and also the direction in which I chose to refine. Also my use of colour texture and mark making proved effect. As a weakness I believe I could have gone into a lot more depth with my ideas, exploring the idea with different medias for example; more experimentation.

During my assessment comments were made stating I had explored and produced competent prints using a broad range of techniques but they all have potential for further development. Also it as suggested that I sit back more and reflect on what it is that fires me up in the work then go on to developing it. By doing this I will have a better contextual understanding about why the artists do what they do. 

Grade given: C

Paint

For my paint project I decided to focus on the theme of urban environment looking at structures and movement within cities.  As strengths for this I believe I have demonstrated clear use of subject matter and focus to the project. I think I have explored good combinations of colour and mark making as well as effective composition choices. As a weakness, looking over my work I think that it is of a small scale. In future projects I should try and work to a larger scale showing a range in idea sizes. 

In my assessment it was recognised that I had worked hard for this beginning project experimenting with a range of approaches to the project. Strengths; application/ mixing/ composition of colour and ideas. Now I could try and use different scales - keep challenging application, colour and time of day. 

Grade given: B

Drawing

The set brief for this project was to research around the idea of 'Journey'. For my approach I decided to look at my journey taken through the city as I go to and from home and University. I ended up developing on the idea of movement in particular with people. Personally I think my strengths for this project were; good use of composition and depth to my ideas. Also there is clear development between my initial research and my more refined ideas. In terms of weakness I could have used more media combinations and I could have done a lot more work in terms of research to inspired more in depth ideas. Also during my project I found that scaling up actually ended up detracting from the delicate sketchy technique I was using. 

During my assessment feedback it was said that I have produced an interesting journey project and I evaluated my work well with interesting comments made on scale. For future projects I could look at developing a method to allow me to scale up more effectively and I could also use a variety of media to express my work.

Grade given: C

Drawing - Refinement of ideas.

To develop and refine my work for the Journey project, applying the processes that have been most successful; photo collage and elements of perspective, I attempted to scale up some of my ideas.

(Untitled, photo collage and graphite, A1)

(Untitled, photo collage and graphite, A1)

Studying my larger scale ideas I think that the first image is more successful in terms of arrangement because the contrast between the photograph and drawing feels more balanced and creates better depth compared to the piece below. However, comparing these against my previous ideas I think that by scaling up they lose some of the fine soft detail expressed in the smaller sketches. However I think it is clear that combining photos and sketches is quite interesting and eye catching as it contrasts what is real and what may or may not be real, almost like a dream like idea. If I were to continue developing the Journey project I would continue with the over all theme of people but I would look at going back to producing a range of smaller scale drawings as opposed to larger pieces to allow me to express more controlled finer detail. 

Paint - Canvas and how I may continue my project.

As a part of the term 1 paint project you are required to make a canvas and paint onto it. For my canvas I wanted to apply the processes I have explored throughout this project looking at the use of photography combined with paint. 

(Leicester Square, acrylic paint and photo collage)

To create this painting I wanted to show what I've been exploring throughout this project; texture, city structures, people and use of colour. Firstly I used elements of my photography taken of Leicester square and then using layers of paint on top to complete the arrangement. To apply the paint I used pallet knives ranging in size to allow to create big strokes of paint as well as smaller detailed marks. For my colour pallet I wanted to keep the colours fairly complementary to one another to reflect the stone colours of the buildings with hints of brighter tones to highlight certain parts to attract the viewers eye to the center of the composition. I think that the use of texture and colours creates an atmosphere, a sense of business as people go about their day to day life in the city. Also I find that the subtle detail to the people in the middle of the painting forces the spectator to look the piece with great detail and then in turn focusing on the textures and marks within the structures. 

Relating my project work to my artist influences I think that is is clear as to how they inspired my ideas and also use of colour and mark making. For example Sabine Moritz work is very textural expressing atmosphere and movement.

If I were to further continue this project I would consider looking at urban structures in more detail and also crowds of people and how I represent an urban atmosphere and a city way of living. 

Print - Refinement of ideas.

To refine my ideas for my term 1 print project I wanted to focus in on my use of colours; applying contrasting tones together and looking at layers. Also looking at Jason Martin and Keith Tyson's work combined, they have both helped influence and inspire my ideas, looking at manipulation and the textures within materials and colours. 

(Untitled, layered printing ink, on paper, A3)

(Untitled, layered printing ink and zest-it, on paper, A1)

(Untitled, layered printing ink dragged and printed multiple times, on paper, A1)

To create these refined prints shown above, I applied things that I have developed throughout the process of this project looking at chance and manipulation of the ink and also the use of layers and textures to show movement within the materials. To create these I applied the dark and light colours in separate layers done over time as I found that this helps to create contrasting surfaces between the dry sections of colour and the colour that contains zest-it. I found that this produces matte and shiny colours which is in turn visually appealing as each section is a slightly different texture giving the viewer a lot to look at. What I also find interesting about these prints is that it looks as though I printed the lighter colours first when in fact I started with the dark blue and purple tones. By layering the colours together I think that this creates depth within the work and also by using dry and wet ink, contrasting textures have been produced which makes the pieces more interesting to the viewer. Also with some of my work I found that when they dried the ink moved or changed in texture slightly; controlled accidents, manipulation caused by the process of drying. 

If I was to continue this project looking at textures and movement within the ink I would consider using different materials on different surfaces to see how they printed and expressed the differences between the matte and shiny textures. I would also explore the use of layers in more detail especially with contrasting dark and light tones. 

Jason Martin.

Jason Martin is an artist who combines sculpture and painting together, demonstrating action painting but still applying care to his art with a controlled hand. He is originally from Jersey but works between London and Portugal. I came across his work at the Frieze Art Fair in London 2013. The painting which was on display at the fair was a mixed media piece on stainless steel called Millais.

(Millais, Mixed media on stainless steel, 250 x 125cm, 2013)

What I like about this particular piece work is the use of marks and strokes to create movement and energy. Also the shiny varnish finish to the work is very eye catching as it highlights the textures within the piece. When researching his other pieces of work this themes continues expressing gestural marks and patterns. Martin is best known for his monotone paintings where layers of acrylic gel or oil are dragged across hard surfaces such as aluminium, stainless steel or Plexiglas using comb like pieces of metal or board in one single movement. I think that the marks made in his paintings are very soft and almost rhythmic with the likeness to hair or other soft materials and water. 

Looking at his work he explores the themes that I am looking at within my print work; movement and textures within materials. He has influenced me to express elements of control yet still creating ideas that show movement and contrasts between texture and to also explore layering the colours I use.