Self directed - Looking at my paintings in detail.

After painting my large pieces I wanted to look in detail at what I enjoy most about the ideas, picking out sections that would work well as a composition in its self. 

(Above and 1 below - sections taken from 'Oxford Circus 2')

Looking at these sections taken from 'Oxford Circus 2', I chose these due to the intense use of colour which creates a busy atmosphere representing the illuminate lights of a city at night. What I also find interesting about these sections is the application of texture and the contrasts between the large and small marks.

(Above and 2 below - sections from 'Oxford Circus 1')

The three sections presented above are from 'Oxford Circus 1'. I chose these again due to their use of texture and application of the marks made to show structure and contrasts between the dark and light tones. 

Studying all of the sections I have selected from my large scale paintings, I have found that my use of colour and application of texture using a pallet knife, does reflect on a city environment creating a bustling atmosphere even though there is not set image of a city in terms of perspective to give the viewer a certain context. Looking closely at these sections, if I were to recreate them I would have to use a larger pallet knife or depending on how large I wanted to go I would have to reconsider the tools I use. I also think it is clear that I enjoy studying the colours and textures within a composition to create a particular atmosphere and environment to pull in the attention of the viewer. 

As further development for my project I will look at producing ideas that look only at the use of colour and texture to depict a particular location and time of day. To do this I will select sections from previous pieces of work that I find most interesting recreating them using the same colour pallet and direction of marks. 

Drawing - Refinement of Ideas.

Looking through my ideas and evaluating the compositions I have used, I think that the arrangements that focus on the shapes and movement of the crowds, rather than the city structures surrounding them are most effective and eye catching to the viewer. These more gestural ideas allow the spectator to make their own assumptions of what is being represented as opposed to me telling the viewer what to see by adding in a city environment to the people which almost takes away the movement, in turn producing a static image. As refinement to my ideas I have been continuing with the idea of stretching the paper, gradually increasing the size to see how effective it is, if it works or not. 

With my drawings I have been looking at showing just the movement with subtle hints at people and crowd density. They could be drawings of the sounds or shadows that the people create in a bustling city environment. Also due to finding my use of colour effective, creating a more uplifting atmosphere I have been refining on my application of this. I found that the use of blue was most interesting and complementary to my compositions as it added temperature to my ideas and whilst improving my work I combined the use of blue with the black ink to help produce tone. I have also continued to use charcoal and graphite sticks to the drawings to help define the shapes and tones produced. One other material I have been using is varnish. I used it previously on a couple of ideas and I have found that applying it around the charcoal lines helps to enhance the shapes produced and also adds a contrasting texture to the ideas which helps to attract the attention of the viewer to look in close at the intricate detail. In terms of layout and positioning of my ideas I have been playing around with both portrait and landscape compositions. I find both interesting however the landscape ideas allow me to exaggerate the shapes and depth of my idea enhancing the idea of movement and shadows. 

(Untitled, ink, charcoal, graphite and varnish on stretched paper, A4)

(Untitled, watercolour, varnish and charcoal on stretched paper, A2)

(Untitled, mixed media - watercolour,
ink, charcoal, varnish and graphite on stretched paper, A1)

Self directed project - 2 paintings.

At this current stage of my self-directed project I have continued to experiment and develop my ideas in particular my uses of colour and structure to create pieces of work that express my interpretation of the scene being depicted. With my ideas I want to generate an urban atmosphere through my use of exaggerated  or soft colours and textures, putting the viewer in that location creating an environment that is bustling with the never sleeping life of a city. 

Throughout my project I have been generating ideas looking at different times of the day; morning, late afternoon, night time. I did this to allow me to apply colours that are either muted by the natural hazy late afternoon light or illuminated by city traffic, street lamps and shops in the evening. As well as this I have also been playing around with my use of texture and incorporation of photography. With my ideas, combining them with my photography I wanted to create a composition that is both blurred and also in focus, a moment captured whilst in the location and then my memory of the environment and how I felt at the time, represented through colour and texture, my own interpretation. 

(Oxford Circus 1, acrylic varnish & photography, A1)

(Oxford Circus 2, acrylic varnish & photography, A1)

During my initial research and development stages of my self-directed project I found it very interesting and enjoyable to create ideas both set in the day and also at night to help me produce different colour in relation to the lighting. I love the contrasts between natural light and artificial light allowing me to creating soft and fluorescent colours yet both creating a sense of urban atmosphere.

These two paintings shown above are my latest pieces of work, two large paintings roughly at A1 size depicting the same location at different times of the day, one during the afternoon and the other late at night.  To create these I used techniques learnt during the development of my work that worked well. I have combined my photography with my painting process. I find that by doing this it helps to emphasis the perspective pulling in the viewers’ attention. It also allows my paint work to seem like a memory showing what I was experiencing at the time, framing the moment captured in that location. I used acrylic paint to create the work, applying the paint using a range of pallet knifes to enable me to make texture and layers of colour to create depth and a sense of movement. The texture created in these helps to reflect on the city scenes being shown; the marks being the sound and movement of the people and traffic.

CPS - Statement written by a peer.

Written by Samantha Powell. 

Alice’s paintings are a series of city scapes painted in acrylic, she creates these images on wood, paper and canvas. Her paintings range from a small to large scale. The paintings also range in styles of borders and orientation, she has produced her pieces with a pallet knife which creates a more 3D texture and a very intriguing series of mark making which suggest she is trying to create a certain feeling or emotion within the images.

Before talking to Alice about her work I viewed her studio space and during that viewing I was very interested in the mark making in particular, because of its sketchy appearance and also the brilliant contrast of colours, they seem almost dream like because off the blurred and sketchy marks the pallet knife makes, and it gives the questioning to is it a memory? Or a dream its self?

After talking to Alice I understood that the reasons for the specific look and texture were to transfer how she felt about these environments, she took a mixture of images from different places in London and Leicester and created them to show the underground urban personalities of both these places. She also in doing this subconsciously created a vision of what could be memories and feelings from people who have encountered these places, giving her work a massive body of different viewers who would easily fall for and enjoy her work.

Some quotes from Alice herself about her work include when simply asked why paintings of this kind she replied “I enjoy painting the environment and expressing its urban side” also “my influence if I was to have one would me Sabine Moritz because of her environmental works.” Alice states that if she was to develop this work she would go to a much larger scale and use other tools to create her mark making other than a pallet knife to get out of her comfort zone.

Reading through this statement written by Sam, I find it very positive and it is clear that she listened to me when we did our interviews taking note of the points I made successfully.  

Self directed work in relation to group crit.

As suggested in the the group crit and also in response, I have done some more work looking once again at my use and application of colour. To do some of my ideas I went of previous paintings looking at the colour within the compositions. I also incorporated my use of photography into the ideas as well this time applying a stronger sense of texture the paint used. These ideas also relate to my previous contextual research into the works of Spencer Gore and Oskar Kokoschka who apply bright exaggerated colours to their paintings a long with strong brush marks to help show texture to define the mood and atmosphere of the composition. In my latest pieces of development I wanted to further emphasis the urban atmospheres in my ideas as this, along with my use of structure, is a main element within my concept. 

(Untitled, acrylic on paper using pallet knife, A2)

(Untitled, acrylic on card using brush, A2)

(Untitled, acrylic photo cardboard and varnish collage on paper, A2)

To paint the ideas selected above I used a range of pallet knives and brushes also incorporating relief elements within the ideas using corrugated card. Comparing my piece made using a brush against the pieces using a pallet knife, I feel that the textures made by the brush are very flat and bland where as when using a pallet knife I am able to create rough and smooth layers of texture which helps me to put an emphasis on the marks and colours used within my ideas. This then in turn helps me to generate a stronger atmosphere that is endearing to the spectator. Looking at my use of colour in more detail once again, has made me look more closely at my ideas and how I mix colours to represent different times of day and to generate an urban atmosphere. 

Drawing project - Stretching paper.

Due to finding out that my process for drawing does not work very well on cardboard I have decided to have a go at stretching ordinary cartridge paper so that my backgrounds are flat and do not crumple due to the wet media I use, in turn helping to make my compositions look more professional. I attempted this process starting with two small scale drawing to allow me to see how it would turn out. 

Stretching the paper

 To stretch the paper all you need is a role of gum tape, a wooden board, paper and a damp sponge or cloth.

Firstly I needed to dampen the paper I was going to be using with a sponge placing it in position ready on the board. Then using the gum tape, wetting it slightly with the sponge I placed four strips along each edge of the paper making sure it was all stuck down with no air gaps. Once complete I had to allow the paper to completely dry before working on top of it. Once dry I applied my ideas to the paper using my wet on wet ink technique and again letting it dry thoroughly. When the paper was completely dry, using a craft knife I cut  away the paper from the board. 

         before.              -                after            

Due to stretching the cartridge paper working positively; my backgrounds are now crumple free which helps to complement my drawings and looks more proficient when displayed on a wall. I will continue to stretch my paper gradually increasing in size to allow me to present my ideas more effectively without the distraction of warped paper. 

Drawing - Development in response to Crit.

Reading through my notes made during the group crit session for my drawing project, it was positive for me to hear comments on my use of media and also my use of just black and white. I think that using only monochrome best complements the subject matter as it focuses on the tone and shapes without anything distracting the viewer. I also found it interesting that my peers recognised my experimentation with movement of people and that I wish to represent it through the use of shadows. 

In response to the comments made by the group I decided to play around with composition once again, looking at shapes and view points of people (portrait and landscape) to help create different depths and densities of tone. As well as this I also experimented with adding subtle tertiary grays into the black ink using watercolour to see what that brought to my ideas. 

(Untitled, ink wet on wet, charcoal, graphite
and watercolour on paper, A4)

(Untitled, ink wet on wet, charcoal and graphite on paper, A4)

(Untitled, ink wet on wet, charcoal, graphite and varnish on paper, A3)

Above are some of my ideas that play around with black ink combined together with hints of colour and also experimentation with composition looking at idea orientation and also the densities of the crowds and the view points. As well as this I tried out using varnish over the completed drawing. I do not think this was successful as the varnish is not completely clear, leaving a slight yellow tone to the paper. Instead I will apply the varnish more as drips instead of painting it onto the picture as a whole to see what this adds to the idea. Evaluating these current drawings I think it is apparent that the ideas looking down on the crowd are not as interesting or as visually appealing as the ideas which generate depth with use of landscape orientation and subtle hints to structure which draw in the viewers attention. I then decided to add a lot more colour to my ideas to see how this changed the atmosphere of my drawings.  

(Untitled, watercolour, ink and charcoal on paper, A4)

(Untitled, watercolour and ink on paper, A3)

(Untitled, water colour on paper, A4)

These next few ideas show my experimentation with the use of vibrant colours as an extreme contrast to my ideas using only monochrome tones. To do this I used the same process ideas used previously, wet on wet, this time applying rich watercolour to the paper. I tried out using the watercolours on their own, mixed and also combined with the black ink to add stronger shadows. I used compositions that have been previously effective looking at landscape viewpoints. Comparing these colourful ideas to my previous dark black and white drawings, I think that by adding watercolour the atmosphere becomes less dark and  heavy, and is instead bright and uplifting to look at whilst still generating elements of people and the movement of crowds in a city environment. As further development on my use of colour I will try out my ideas on a larger scale comparing them against my larger monochrome pieces. 

(Untitled, ink wet on wet charcoal graphite
and watercolour on card board, A2)

When applying the same techniques used previously onto cardboard I found that the process was not as successful as it is on normal cartridge paper. Due to cardboard being thicker and absorbing more of the black ink, I found that when I produced the marks in the black wet surface they eventually merged in once completely dry. This then took away some texture which is expressed in previous pieces and I think that this makes the drawings seem a lot more bland and flat in tern detracting from the movement element of my ideas. 

Testing my technique out onto cardboard and finding that the process fails to be as effective as it is on paper, I have decided to attempt to stretch ordinary cartridge paper to that it does not warp as much making my pieces more professional and refined. To do this I will start by first producing some small scale pieces to see if the stretching process works to complement my ideas and choice is media.