Fine art brief - final

Combining the techniques and research I've done earlier, I made my first two finished outcomes for this brief. The composition is pretty similar, but one of them was painted straight onto card, while the other one uses layers of tissue, tracing paper and masking tape. In both of the pictures, the figures gradually dissapear, showing the theme of fading memories.

 

No. 1 - paint on card

 No. 2 - paint on layers

 

Close up

To present the final outcomes I scanned and printed them onto photographic paper and placed them in picture frames next to each other, so that it looks like they continue one another, emphasising on the theme.

 

SET 1

 




 

 

SET 2

 

Traces brief continuation (4)

Starting the ideas for my final piece, I decided to do it on a long piece of card, combining people from all my photographs, and make the figures gradually dissapear towards the end, to emphasise the fading memories theme.

I first made a sketch on some tracing paper, again, trying to use layers of paper and paint.

 

I continued to explore ideas for the background. Instead of just using using paint and tracing paper, I also tried to add some masking tape and tissue. I used a tracing paper sketch on one of them to see what it will look like.



Traces brief continuation (3)

Continuing my work on the theme of memories I tried to combine techniques and different ways to make the pictures "fade".

Below, still using Maaike Schoorel's work as influence, I used very light and limited colours. I think it turned out quite well and is harder to see, but I could have used a bit of a different background colour than white, perhaps a really light yellow or orange.

 

Here I tried removing the human figures and only using the outline created by paint.

I also made some mono prints and tried painting on top of some of them.

This picture was meant to portray a person in the forest. I quite like the patterns that were created by the trees and their shadows, the whole piece looks messy and disjointed. 



 

Here I tried to combine pen and pencil sketches with oil pastels

 

 

 

 

Traces brief - continuation (2)

 

Working further with the theme of traces and fading memories, I continued to produce experiments using my old photographs as a reference.

 

 

 

 I tried to make some sketches of people as well as try out different techniques of making them dissapear into the background.

Below is an experiment with graphite powder mixed with white spirit and oil. It produced some ineresting patters and smudges that I could use in my work.

 

I also tried to use layers, to see if I could come up with some different textures. Here, I used layers of tracing paper and paint.

 

 

 

 



Portfolio prep

3D PROJECTS

MASKS AND HEADS

 

In the last year's brief we were looking at heads and faces, and had to produce a 3D outcome for the final piece. I never work in 3D and it was really hard for me to start anything, but I decided to make something that would resemble the African tribal masks - using only sticks, leaves and other natural waste that I found. In the beginning it kept falling apart all the time and I even considered giving up about halfway, but in the end I managed to put it together, even though it didn't turn out exectly how I planned.

 

 



Photo manipulation in photoshop

 

Original image

 

 

Curves Adjustment

 

Hue/Saturation

 

Invert

 

Filter (chalk & charcoal)

 



Fine Art Brief (1)

For our new Fine Art brief we have to interpret the word "traces" and think about what it means to us. I decided to focus on memories, as you often don't remember everything exactly how it happened, because memories fade - so all you are left with are "traces" of your memories.

 

One of the artists that inspired me was Maaike Schoorel.

The artist explains that people are used to viewing images quickly and that media, such as television and internet, present everything in a disjointed way. Her paintings, on the other side, reveal themselves slowly, and you actually need time to start seeing the hidden images and the meaning behind them. That way, she creates a "sense of connection" with the viewer. Each brush stroke and mark is important.

As she said, her paintings are usually "felt" before they are "seen". I wanted to create a similar sense in my work concentrated around fading memories.

 

Maaike Schoorel's work:

 

Aritist's profile

 

To begin with my images, as a reference I used my old family photographs to continue with the theme of memories. I wanted them to be recognizable, but a bit unclear and hard to see, similar to Maaike's work.

 

 

Medium used: acrylics and watercolor