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.