Drawing - Contextual Research.

These contextual references were suggested to me during a mini tutorial. They were brought up due to the fact that they look at people and silhouettes showing movement in different ways other than just drawing. They also express composition ideas and ways in which I can draw movement within my ideas. 

Michal Rovner

Michal Rovner is an artist from Israel who works with creating video, sculpture, drawing and sound based installations. She lives and works in New York as well as her home country Israel. Her early work in the 90's looked at photography of radar and surveillance images, distorting the pictures creating groups of people with blurred elements. In 1992/3 Rovner produced a series of photos that looked again at the distortion of photography this time looking at people floating. In the late 90's Rovner began to move towards film based art work,  depicting crowds of anonymous people, animals and birds often in monochrome. Her work reflected themes of politics, looking at the Israel-Lebanon border which was lined with electric fences, watch towers and ongoing conflicts. These ideas were shown in her video called 'Border' 1996/7 in which she attempted to cross and dispute the border. 


(Michal Rovner, Film stills from Border 1996/7) 


Looking at her more recent video installations she often uses silhouetted figures moving across an environment. One of her most recent pieces of film is her video instillation at Ruhrtriennale, Mischanlage, Essen, Germany. This instillation is titled 'Current' and this is due to Rovner focusing on themes of time and energy. It relates to the present time referring to a flow of substance in all contexts. She depicts this through the movement of people going with and against the flow. 

This is a link to a video interviewing Rovner on her instillation 'Current'. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc3m5sRRnq0

Looking at her work I can see how a different artist generates and reflects movement through the use of people in film based work. The people in her videos are silhouetted so have no identity and are used to  show textures and shape to reflect time and energy whether its fire or electricity.  Her work is very abstract and the compositions of the video are arranged in a way that places the viewer in that environment. In relation to my own work I can see comparisons between her depiction of energy and my arrangements of figures that are beginning to look like gestural landscapes but still generating elements of movement. 

Humphrey Spender & Mass Observation

Humphrey Spender was a British photographer, painter and also designer. It was suggested in a tutorial that I take a look at his Mass Observation work done between 1935 and 1940. Mass Observation was a research organisation based in the UK and was founded in 1937. The  aim of this organisation was to document everyday life in Britain. They did this through a range of things; diaries, photography, questionnaires, conversations and documentation of behavior in the work place, at home, on the streets and at religious gatherings. Spenders series of work looked at photographs of people in their everyday lives for example people at the pub to children playing on the streets.


( Humphrey Spender, Parliamentary by-election, 1937/38)

In relation to my own work the comparison would be that like Spender and his work for Mass Observation I too am producing my work in another form of documentation but instead I am looking at showing the movement of people and crowds in a city environment; recording their positions at that time. 

Lotti Reiniger

Lotti Reiniger was a German film director during the early to mid 1900's. Reiniger was seen as the pioneering figure within silhouette animation. Below is a link to one of her short films based on the story of Hansel and Gretel. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxkIGXVwZTM


(Film still from short film Hansel & Gretel, 1955)

Reiniger produced over 40 films throughout her career all of them looking at the use of silhouetted animation. Looking at her work I find it interesting how she creates a scene showing movement by using static figure puppets. She also had the ability to show a sense of depth to the sequences by placing denser shadows towards the front over a paler background. 

As a contextual reference to my work I don't think she is as helpful as the other two artists however it was very interesting to see how life can be brought to still silhouetted objects that in fact express no colour or emotion. 

Drawing Project - Development.

After gaining a small tutorial on my current drawing project work it was suggested that I continue to develop my ideas looking at crowds playing around with composition, density and also depth focusing in on the shadows and silhouette ideas that were starting to come through in my ideas. I also researched into the work of L.S Lowry as suggested by a peer and looking at his work, has helped me to think more about my ideas and generating motion through static figures

In response to my small tutorial and contextual research I wanted to experiment with composition and how I draw the figures but continuing to not give the people an identity making them remain anonymous like the figures in  Lowry's paintings. I began by looking at extreme silhouettes; drawing the shapes of the people and environment combined and also taking away the background to see how it changed the feel of the arrangement.


(Untitled, graphite, A5)


(Untitled, graphite, A4)

Contrasting my ideas I think that the ones consisting of just the people are a lot more interesting and visually appealing because the idea is more abstract experimenting with shape and movement that brings the figures to life. Like Lowry I also 

Continuing on from this idea of silhouetted figures I then decided to play around with creating stronger elements of movement through the use of continuous line drawings to show more gestural marks. To do this I used both simple graphite pencil but I also used ink introducing a technique that I found to be quite effective. 


(Untitled, graphite, continuous line, A3)


(Untitled, ink wet on wet, A4)

The technique that I found to be interesting for my concept was the ink wet on wet (as seen above). To do this I simply wet the page using water only and I then add ink to the wet sections moving it around until it is all covered. Doing this quite quickly to make sure the page is still wet, I then use the end of a paint brush and draw the figures into the wet ink. Once dry the lines I produced are left behind generating a sketchy appearance that shows movement without the need to use a pencil. I find the outcome of this technique very eye catching and textural even though it is a flat image. 

Requesting another small tutorial some contextual references were suggested; Michal Rovner, Humphrey Spender mass observation and Lotti Reinger's shadow puppets.

I will take a look at these and research into them in relation to my project.

Self directed - Development in response to mini crit.

In response to my mini crit and after conducting some research into the contextual references mentioned I decided to experiment with looking at the colour pallets I use/ interpret within my ideas, focusing only on lines, shape and colour as opposed to showing the detail and textures of the buildings. This then links to the idea of my work relating the work of the Post Impressionists like Van Gogh and Derain. This is due to me applying the colour that I see which may not necessarily be what someone else sees. I will heighten some of the colours making them brighter than they really are. This is because I am painting what I see within the environment.  I also wanted to take this opportunity to see what different marks can be made using different tools like pallet knifes, brushes and also larger decorating brushes. 

To begin I decided to look at the colours I see my self within the city areas as a whole without focusing in on anything specific. I applied the colours with no real attention to shape and structure to allow me to experiment with tones more easily and freely. Some of the colour pallets were taken whilst outside in the environment and others were taken from studying my photographic research looking at areas within cities. 


(Untitled, colour pallet, acrylic on paper, pallet knife)


(Untitled, colour pallet, acrylic on paper, pallet knife)


(Untitled, colour pallet, acrylic on canvas, brush and pallet knife)


(untitled, colour pallet, acrylic on canvas, paint brush)

Studying my experimental colour pallets I can see that I interpret what I see using very cool tertiary grey tones and depending on the light or time of day I will add hints of brighter colours to help make the compositions stand out and to also contrast the colours with one another. I can relate my use of tertiary grey colours to the white paintings by Maurice Utrillo. Like those paintings my use in colour has a running theme of grey which appears to feature throughout my current ideas. I find looking at different times of the day very interesting as you can capture the ideas with different lights, some dull, some bright and later at night the sky is illuminated with the city lights below. I will continue to look at my use of colour but also keep my ideas varied looking different times in the day to capture different qualities of light. 

CPS - Seminar Presentation.

Sabine Moritz.

Sabine Moritz is a German painter and graphic designer currently living and working in Cologne, Germany.

She was born into a city which was within the Soviet controlled Eastern Germany, the German Democratic Republic. In 1973 Moritz and her family moved to a town called Lodeba a suburb of the large city Jena. This town was characterised by its high concrete buildings and its modernist planning. This particular town went on to have a profound effect on Moritz as a young girl which would eventually go on to show in her art work.

At that current time in Eastern Germany during the 70’s and 80’s, this area saw many political demonstrations, some of the worst in its history as people conflicted against the GDR German Democratic Republic which was controlling eastern Germany. Art in the GDR was very strict. If an artist were not a member of the VKB an association for artists they would suffer great financial problems. This association followed strict rules on the arts purpose and also how its looks. Instead artists in the GDR often became teachers, advertisers, dealers with western Germany connections or instead would flee to western Germany which is what her now husband Gerhard Richter did. However this did become more and more difficult for people to do. So another option was to get a different job completely and be an artist for leisure purposes only.

As a child life in Eastern Germany was less rewarding than those in the west. The eastern half was a lot poorer and also stricter on the way people lived. Families were also limited on where they could go on holiday if they were not member of the political party. Schools were not only seen as places of education but also places that taught children to be a good socialist citizen.

All of these events had a large effect of Moritz’s upbringing as a young child and as previously mentioned her childhood went on the greatly influence her work. 


(Juist, oil on canvas, 2003, 50 x 60 cm)


(Binz, oil on canvas, 2003, 92 x 126 cm)

After moving to the main city of Jena which was a world centre for industry and innovation herself and her family eventually gained permission to move to western Germany where she would go on to study art in 1985, fleeing the heavily political events which were happening at the time.

It was during her studies in Western Germany that she began to produce her art work focusing on life in eastern Germany. During her classes with Gerhard Richter in the early 90’s she made a body of sketches depicting her memories from Lobeda and these went on to become books and later exhibitions. Most of Moritz’s work is produced entirely from memory in particular her drawings. However her more recent work looks at Moritz recollecting information through photographs, newspapers, family albums and other found images from the time of her childhood. Her paintings often portray her personal history and passing of time over a long period. They also show great detachment and melancholy.

This went on to generate qualities in her artwork such as lines, shape, form, perspective and space. Space is an essential aspect of her recollection of ideas. It allows the viewer to walk around the empty spaces, neighbourhoods, corridors or paths. The concrete tower blocks in Lobeda played a big part in her use of structures and shape.  Her use of media ranges from pencil, charcoal, watercolour oil and acrylic. Themes of architecture, urban planning, public and private space, childhood most importantly her time in Lobeda have continued to feature in her work throughout her career.

More recently a noticeable theme in her work also looks at issues surrounding war and historical landscapes. She looks at this to appeal to a more universal audience as opposed to just the small proportion of people who could relate to her childhood in eastern Germany. 


(Stalingrad, oil on canvas, 2013, 58 x 72cm)

Research into her exhibition in November 2012 –
 Jena, Dusseldorf, London.

Originally books full of sketches her work on Jena and Lobeda went on to become an exhibition. Her drawings of Jena to Dusseldorf were actually discovered, she had never spoken of them. Lobeda was her first book consisting of over 100 drawings and then later she produced the book Jena, Dusseldorf.
The people in her drawings were taken from old photographs and the colour was interpreted from her own memory. She decided to change from drawings purely from memory to photos because she said that getting ideas from memory was not sufficient. Photos were more realistic and objective. In this series of work some of her ideas show empty play grounds, the children have been erased.

Her work takes a journey from Lobeda to Jena and then also to her emigration to Western Germany where she is today.

Her work perhaps raises a question – is her work a protest against forgetting. Today we are in the digital age where we now have to remember and learn more and more things. This does not necessarily mean we have bigger memories. This makes the topic of memory more fascinating.


(Tanzende I, 1993, 42 x 56cm)


(Schuleinführung bunt II, 1993, 42 x 58 cm)


(Klettergerust II, 1993, 56 x 42cm)


(Lagerhalle VI, 1993, 42 x 58cm)

Moritz's work continues to focus on memories from her childhood and elements of war. Her latest work looks at her first Home in eastern Germany before moving to Lobeda and she has also started to look at the history behind the Berlin Wall.


(Home (Gatersleden), oil on canvas, 2013, 80 x 100 cm)


(Rast im Wald (Rest in the Forest) oil on canvas, 2011, 90 x 120 cm)

A strong influence within her work was her former teacher and now husband Gerhard Richter. She learnt under his tuition in 1992. She was in fact the last ever pupil to sign up to Gerhard Richter's classes. This may seem like an obvious comparison but looking at Richters work I can see relations between the two in particular with the themes running through Moritz's work. Richter's early works and portraiture looks at old photographs which can relate to Moritz's theme of childhood and memory.


(Gerhard Richter, Infant on a Table
 1965, 40 cm x 44 cm, Oil on canvas)


(Gerhard Richter, S. with Child
 1995, 36 cm x 41 cm, Oil on canvas)

Feedback sheets 

Tutor



Peers





Maurice Utrillo - Self directed project.

During my crit a few artists were mentioned. I decided to do some research into the artist Maurice Utrillo.

 He was a self taught French painter who specialised in cityscapes who lived from 1883 to 1955. Utrillo began to drink heavily when he was only a child and he was in fact encouraged to paint by his mother as a distraction. His early paintings were heavily influenced by the artists Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley. Pissarro was a French Impressionist during the late 1800's and Sisley was a British Impressionist also during that same time; both painted landscapes. Utrillo painted mainly the streets of Montmartre and also churches. This town was very picturesque and mostly attracted 'quiet artists'. He painted Montmartre as it was before the First World War. He was fascinated by the silent streets and bistros of this particular industrial suburb. In the early stages of his career he would work from what he saw whilst out on the streets on Montmarter however when he reached middle aged his health deteriorated and he could no longer work outside. So instead he worked either from his window, from postcards or from memory. He often used pale tones which can be recognised in particular with his 'white painting' period. After this faze he then started to use brighter colours along with freer brushstrokes and mark making.

When researching Utrillo I found a comment that said he is one of the very few painters whose work pleased both sophisticated minds as well as those with a more simple taste.

In relation to my own work I can find influence from his body of paintings using the white tones. Throughout my initial ideas I have experimented with using tertiary colours to help me create an urban atmosphere and to also reflect on the colours I see within the environment.


Sacre Coeur de Montmartre et Passage Cottin, 1934)

Post Impressionism - A Summary - Self directed project.

In my Self directed project crit it was commented that my work has a post impressionist theme running through it due to the uses of colour and application of marks. As a part of my contextual research for my final major project I had a quick look into the work of the Post-Impressionists to give my self a better understanding of the artwork being produced at that time.

The time of post impressionism began during the 1880's ending towards the early 1900's. The term 'post impressionism' was invented by Roger Fry, who was both an artist and an art critic, in 1910 as he was getting ready for an exhibition in London describing the development of art after Manet who was involved in the Realist and Impressionist movements. Post impressionism was not a movement but instead a group of artists who rose up against the limitations of Impressionism. Some of the artists included; Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne and Georges Seurat. Post impressionists were known for pushing the ideas of impressionism into new ideas.  

The post impressionists were a group who took aspects from impressionism and exaggerated it. For example Van Gogh intensified his already vibrant colours painting them a lot thicker onto the canvas, using a technique known as impasto. These bold brush strokes expressed more energetic ideas. His work went on to heavily influence expressionism during the 20th Century. The work of Georges Seurat changed during this period going from his broken brushwork during the impressionism to his more detailed work using dots of colour, known as 'Pointillism'. This was then seen as influence to the artists who used a calculated approach to painting in particular abstract art. Paul Cezanne's paintings were very organised consisting of carefully arranged shapes and patterns to form an environment. His paintings had a huge impact on Cubism during the 20th Century.  

The artists within this group developed a style which concentrated on the emotional, structural, symbolic and spiritual elements which they believed were missing from impressionism. The work of the post-impressionists went on to form the foundations of Modern Art. 


(Georges Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte, 
oil on canvas, 1884,  70.5 x 104.1cm)


(Paul Cezanne, The Chateau at Medan,
 oil on canvas, 1880, 
59.1 x 72.4 cm)


(Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night, 
  oil on canvas, 1889, 73.7 x 92.1 cm)


Self directed project - Crit no.1 - Term 2

This beginning crit was small group session discussing what you are intending to do and looking at your work so far.

It was commented that my theme/ idea is good but I should now go outside into the environment and collect colour pallets instead of working from photography and sketches alone. This will help me to interpret the colours I see within the structures more clearly as it will be from real time. Also it was suggested that I continue to look at different times of the day to show contrasts between light and dark tones. When collecting these colours I should paint only what I see in terms of the tones producing more abstract ideas instead of looking at detailed architecture. This is to show contrasts with my ideas and to show experimentation. 

In terms of contextual help it was suggested that I research a little into 'Post impressionism' and also take a look at the work by Maurice Utrillo, Bonnard and John Walker. 

Laurence Stephan Lowry - Drawing project

L.S Lowry was an English artist whose paintings and drawings often depicted Pendlebury where he lived and worked for 40 years. The subjects for his work were right on his doorstep. Lowry is most famous for painting scenes depicting life in the industrial areas of Northern England during the mid 1900's. He developed his own distinct style of painting most recognisable for the human figures within his work. These have been referred to as match stick men. As well as his industrial landscapes he has also produced many paintings showing un-populated landscapes, portraits and other marionette paintings which were found only after his death. Lowry did not want to tell people about his work because he didn't want them to think of him as a spare-time painter. During the 1920's and 30's when he was collecting ideas surrounding industry he saw many things throughout the city; children playing, people going to and returning from work, gossip on the door steps, incidents and market places. But what he saw was dramatically changed due to the blitz in World War II. He commented 'I saw the industrial scene and I was affected by it. I tried to paint it all the time. I tried to paint the industrial scene as best I could. It wasn't easy. Well, a camera could have done the scene straight off.'

Lowry believed that drawing was just as hard as painting; he worked the surface of his initial sketches by smudging and erasing the pencil lines to build the atmosphere. He was also always recording quick sketches on the stop using what ever he had to hand at the time. Lowry worked from his composed sketches in his painting studio at his home taking particular care when adding in the figures. Another way of working which was developed later in his career was painting straight onto the canvas or board not knowing what it was going to look like. He called these 'dreamscapes'. His use of colour was very basic in terms of tone. He would mix oil paint on his pallet and paint onto a white background. He often used ivory, black, vermilion red, prussian blue, yellow ochre and white. He did not add a medium to these colours as he liked to work with the raw oil paint. To paint his ideas he would use brushes, his fingers and also sticks or nails to create different textures. 

Due to his paintings being so stylised and often showing lack of weather/ emotion critics have characterised his work as being quite naive however this is the complete opposite opinion to those of the galleries which display his work. He was often referred to as being a 'Sunday' painter. Lowry quoted 'If people call me a Sunday painter I'm a Sunday painter who paints every day of the week!'. He was simply looking for his own style of painting and way of drawing. 

I chose to look at the paintings by L.S Lowry in particular his famous industrial scenes of people, in relation to my drawing project. He is able to show movement and life through the use of static emotionless figures. I admire his skill to do this. But also in comparison like my ideas the people within his ideas do not seem to have faces or expression often having their backs to the viewer. 


(Coming out of school, 1927, oil on wood, 34.7 x 53.9 cm)

Drawing Project - Term 2.

The drawing project for term 2 is a self directed task however I am going to be continuing on from my term 1 project 'Journey' but focusing on my refined ideas looking at people and crowds within a city environment. I found drawing this very interesting as it challenged my way of drawing helping my technique to become more lose which ended up creating motion from still images. I want to focus on looking at ideas behind movement within people and crowds of people by looking at shadows and reflection. I would like to also create busy gestural compositions within my drawings even though the people are still in the idea. I would like to look at capturing contrasting densities of people for example looking at the same spot at different times of the day. I will begin my going out and taking photos of people in the city center and other areas to show contrasts as well as drawing from life capturing their movement.  



(Untitled, graphite on paper, A5)


(Untitled, graphite on paper, A5)


(Untitled, graphite on paper, A5)



With my ideas I also want to look at the dark and light tones in particular keeping my drawing technique quick and gestural. I do not want to look at the expression or emotion of the people, purely their shape and direction of movement. As well as people I will also consider the structures behind them to give them a context and to enhance the depth of the composition. To capture these ideas I simply used a combination of ink and pencil on paper developing them from my initial sketches and photographs.


(Untitled, Ink on paper, A3)


(Untitled, Ink on paper, A3)


(Untitled, Ink on paper, A3)


(Untitled, Ink and graphite on paper, A2)

Self directed - Development.

Continuing on from my initial research sketches I have now began to work from my ideas and photographs using colour, interpreting what tones I see within the composition. I wanted to focus on ideas looking at different times in the day to allow me to capture different colours and strengths in light and dark tones. I also wanted to look at painting compositions consisting of crowds and also ideas focusing on structure. As well as this I wanted to show different angles of perspective some with more depth than others to see how the ideas differed. As experimentation I also produced my ideas onto different background like canvas and board to see how easy or difficult it was to apply the paint. Evaluating my work I found painting onto board a lot easier as the paint could be applied smoother with no unwanted marks or textures. To create these ideas I also decided to include elements of photography within my paintings to show contrasts against the areas that I painted. I think that this combination of medias works well as it forces the audience to look more closely at the paintings, looking at the detail of the photograph against the more expressionist marks and colours that complete the idea. In relation to the work my John Virtue researched at the beginning of term 2, I wanted to incorporate texture and colour in a way that generates an atmosphere that reflects city/ urban life attracting the viewer placing them in that situation. 


(Untitled, acrylic and photo collage of canvas, A6)


(Untitled, acrylic and photo on canvas, A6)


(Untitled, acrylic and photo of MDF board, A4)


(Untitled, acrylic and photo on MDF, A3)