Generating Work

Using my collected photographs as references, I started generating images using various materials in an illustrative style. I predominantly used pencil and watercolour because they enable me to create sensitive drawings that have a certain softness and human touch in the sketchy markings and subtle colours. I also used a black fineliner for certain details. Drawing in this style gives me feelings of nostalgia because a big part of my childhood was reading Roald Dahl books which had the iconic illustrations by Quentin Blake which are full of character and energy, so this adds a personal touch to the work that also relates to the theme.

 


Something else I experimented with was alcohol markers. I used them to create intense blocks of flat colour which remind me of a more comic style, compared to the book-ish look of the watercolour. In particular, the 'duck-n-dry' and frog candle drawings exemplify the saturated nature of the ink which reflects the bright, over-stimulating world of childhood. I decided to work with looser lines to give a more playful feel to the drawings.

In this drawing of one of my carebears, I used yellow and orange pencils to draw my outline before colouring it in, then decided it didn't need an additional black outline because I think the pencil marks are more effective in this case - especially because it's a soft toy and the black lines might be overpowering and detract from the radiant colours of the bear.

The next images are pieces I made using textiles. I used fabric and thread that I already had at home, some of which was second hand, and I wanted them to embody the sense of domesticity that seems to be attached to ideas of kitsch and collectables. For instace, most of the items I have collected and photographed would be displayed in the home, and many of my own kitsch objects were passed down from older generations. In my post about knitting, I highlighted that it is a skill passed down in the same way that inherited objects are, and I think sewing and embroidery have the same connotations.

These two final images were based on sentimental objects in my family, and I wanted to try acrylic paint so that I could build layers to create the furry texture of the objects, and I think I was successful in doing that. The two objects are several decades apart, and I like the idea that people of different generations will be able to find something in my work that they relate to.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

29.1.21 - Objects in the Bath and Shower

Image
One of the first things that came to mind when I got the re-arrangement brief was to do something with my collection of beanies. Because they are so colourful, I decided they should go against a plain background, so I cleaned the bath out and started filling it with the animals.  The first set of photos shows the animals in a random arrangement where I photographed them from different angles... For these close up images I placed the camera in the bath with the animals and blindly took the photographs, not knowing what the results would be. The flash came on for these pictures which makes the in-focus areas appear very sharp with a clear representation of the animals' surface textures. They also remind me of claw machines in arcades, which gives the images a nostalgic feel - all of these beanies were manufactured in the 1990's and early 2000's. This is the thing that opens and closes the plughole in the bath, and it created some strange reflections of the beanies which look ...
Read more

Mike Kelley Style Photoshoot

Image
  Mike Kelley's 'Ahh... Youth' piece inspired me to make my own version using old teddies from home, including some from my parent's childhood and some from my own - plus a recently acquired 90's troll doll from a car boot sale. I set up the studio lighting in a way that would reduce shadows behind the objects and used a white background like Kelley's image, which gives a professional atmosphere that  elevates them from being worn-out old creatures to something special and celebrity-like. I used a tripod so that they are all to scale with each other, and I like the empty space around them, it's like they have room to breathe and think. I also had to adjust the ISO, white balance and shutter speed on the camera to suit the light and conditions of the space, then I used manual focus to get the sharpness that allows you to see all the details and textures. After uploading the photos to the computer, I cropped them on photoshop and classified them into two separ...
Read more

Marbled Cartons

Image
 My next set of cartons are an experiment with different coloured slips to make a marbled effect. When my last set came out of the kiln I noted that the black one reminded me of oil and the problems we face because of it, especially in the ocean. I imagined that marbling black slip into the body clay would create a fluid pattern similar to that of an oil spill, and represent pollution contaminating the water.  swirling dyed black slip into plain earthenware slip Here's how it looks straight out of the mold. The black is quite subdued but I know from my nerikomi test pieces that the stained clay shows up very strongly after firing. The pattern it has created was exactly what I was going for, it has swirling lines and blotches of black that mimic the behaviour of oil on water, and it kind of reminds me of mould too. This idea of decay keeps coming back to me throughout the project and I think it's a reflection of the fading hope that our generation faces when we look to the futu...
Read more