Reflection from the group crit of my project.

After having presented my up to date work to three people in my class, we discussed how many marks we would give my work based on the individual assessment objectives.

For AO1, as a group we thought that my result would be a total of 17 marks out of 30. The reason why we didn't allocate me more marks is due to the fact that i should have made more visits that would strenghten the meaning of the work (for instance I could have visited one of ROA's artworks as this would have bettered my understanding of his work). Also, i could have looked at more websites and screenshotted them to show evidence that I have looked into his work in detail.

Moreover, for AO2, we gave my project a 25 out of 30; this is because i have managed to experiment in the style of my artists work very well and i have shown a variety of mediums. After having successfully experimented with different mediums, i chose which I thought were the most accurate and suitable.

For assessment objective 3, we gave myself 23 marks out of 30. This is due to the fact that i have reflected on the majority of my experiments and observations, however i think that I could have reflected on some in more detail as this maybe would have helped me get a more successful outcome. Also, i could have kept the blog a bit more updated of why things changed in my work.

Finally, for AO4, we gave my project a 21 out of 30 marks. This is because i have shown many final outcomes at different stages of my work. For each i managed to show inspiration from my artists work and how my work has developed to become more imaginative and meaningful.

A comparison between my work and the work of Cy Twombly.

Recently, I have been looking at Cy Twombly’s body of work as I like the kind of marks and textures that he manages to achieve in his work. I have been wanting to create a piece of work that mimics his kind of marks and textures in order to convey my theme across to the viewers. I wanted to use his marks to show chaos and pain in my piece to illustrate the fact that I am against animal cruelty and that it is barbaric and inhuman.

            To start off with, I used red acrylic paint to create small experiments that showed different marks and textures. I placed the paper upright as this would allow me to paint with more control and I was able to paint in a similar way to Cy Twombly. I managed to complete six different experiments that had different textures and marks. I thought that the most successful experiments were the ones that were freer and less controlled as this allowed me to acquire a more chaotic outcome. This was similar to Twombly’s work as although some of his pieces appear childlike, the marks are also energetic and uncontrolled. I really liked the techniques that involved using a dry brush and the splatting technique. I thought that these allowed me to convey my message successfully and effectively. However, I think that some of the marks were very basic which is why I then went on to develop them and create more interesting pieces that resembled the style of Twombly’s work.

            I was able to combine my favourite outcomes from the initial experiments to create more powerful and interesting artworks. I thought that there was a lot of depth created in some of these experiments as the differentiation in tone created an almost 3-D form. I thought that the most successful development was the one where I used a dry brush technique in the background and then splatted paint on top of the dry brush layer. The layer of dry brush created the impression of pain, stress and chaos as the rough, dry texture made me think of scratches (of something trying to escape). I then liked how the splats created the idea of blood of an animal; I think this strengthens the power of the piece and shows the pain and torment that an animal would feel when being abused by its owner. After having witnessed the effects of animal abuse, this is what I took from the situation and I want other people to understand the repercussions of animal cruelty. However, I wanted to develop my work further and see whether ink would allow me to get more contrast in marks and tone in order to recreate the style of Cy Twombly’s work.

            I started off by making some initial experiments with red ink and seeing whether I can get the same marks, textures and tones as Twombly did in his pieces. However, I got the same result as before; the best techniques involved splatting and using a dry brush. This is why I then went on to combine these to see if I could get the same amount of depth as I could with the acrylic paint. I think that by layering the ink, I could achieve a high amount of depth and I think that this resembled Twombly’s work more than the acrylic experiments as he layered his work to show depth. However, I think that it didn’t show enough texture as there was nothing coming out from the page; I wanted the splats to appear like they were still dripping, even when they were dry. Therefore, I went on to combining different materials together to achieve the right amount of depth, contrast in marks and the right texture.

            As a result of combining some materials (for example: acrylic paint, ink, PVA glue and water), I was able to find out what materials work best together to get the best possible outcome for each layer. The best combination for the dry brush technique included, red acrylic paint, PVA glue, black ink and a small amount of red ink. This allowed me to get the right consistency to show how rough and chaotic animal cruelty is. The fact that I have combined materials, means that my artist link has been strengthened as Twombly also combined some materials. As I wanted the texture to be rough, I didn’t put a lot of PVA glue in the mixture as this makes the dry outcome shiny – this is not what I wanted. After having found this out, I then went on to combining the mediums again to see what was the best to create the splatting technique. The best outcome included, red acrylic, red ink and PVA glue. I used a lot of PVA glue as I wanted the dry outcome to appear shiny and to resemble fresh blood. I think that the consistency helped the paint to drip and it also showed a lot of contrast in marks, even though some of them were accidental. However, I think that some of Twombly’s marks were also accidental which is why my work resembles his.

            Finally, I created a final outcome of those techniques and combinations that I thought were the most successful. I really liked the outcome of this as I think it showed a lot of variety in marks, tone and texture. Despite the fact that some of them are controlled, they are still quite free and accidental, which is similar to the marks that Cy Twombly uses in his work. The dry brush technique illustrated a lot of chaos, frustration and pain which is something that I wanted to show in my work. Whilst the splatting technique resembled dripping blood which conveyed the idea of torment and mistreatment of the animals (this will be reinforced by the depiction of a cat that will be on top of this piece).

           

Critical Reflection of the practice of the final outcome

Time limit to produce piece - 1 hour 30 minutes

                In the space of the two hour lesson, I produced a piece of work that is similar to what my final piece is going to look like. I planned ahead, which included: a drawing of how I wanted the piece to look, labels of artist inspiration and mediums and then I also made a breakdown of the times in which I was going to do specific parts of the piece. I wanted to show that that I could take inspiration from artists’ work and make it my own, which is why I attempted to evidence skills that I have taken from ROA and Cy Twombly’s work. I thought that these artists helped me develop my project as I wanted to create a piece that gave impact to the viewer and sent a message to them of how passionate I am about the issue of animal cruelty. This a picture of my creation:

                I think that, regarding the drawing of the cat, I have managed to record shape relatively accurately. I think the details on the cat are the right shape as well (for instance: the eye, the nose and the ears). Furthermore, that claw marks that I cut out from the canvas are a good shape as they resemble real claw marks.

            For this piece I used a canvas that was approximately the size of an A4 piece of paper; I didn’t think that I would get the piece done in the time limit if I had increased the size. This practice told me that I may be able to produce a slightly bigger piece. Overall, I think that the components within the piece are a little too overcrowded as the words are too close together. Also, I think that the cat is smaller than I would like it to be (I want the cat to be the most dominant feature in the piece).

            I used the colour red in this piece as I wanted to convey particular feelings in this piece (for instance: anger, pain and torment). The red stands out from the dull, plain background and I wanted the black to give connotations of death, yet also gives a sense of power. Both the black and red together, increase the amount of contrast within the piece. At the end of making the piece, I had a couple of minutes left and I wanted to increase the power and intentions of the piece, which is why I attempted to add a slight hint of blue around the cat. (I thought that this would convey the message across to the viewer that the animal is miserable).

            Although I am working on a flat, 2-D background, I have tried to make the form of the cat more 3-D to increase the realism. I think I am going to increase the amount of layers in some of the painted aspects of the piece to make it stand out from the background.

            I think I have managed to capture tone in the cat really well as the patterns on the fur is clearly visible (in order to capture this tone, I placed down more marks onto the canvas and I also layered the marks to get darker tones). This created high contrast within the animal drawing.

            After having looked at ROA’s work in detail, I took some inspiration from his work. For example, I wanted to recreate his slightly expressive mark making and his tonal palette. I think I have evidenced these relatively well in my drawing. Although he uses walls as his backgrounds, I took this kind of inspiration from Cy Twombly. Due to the fact that Twombly uses canvases in his pieces, I have used a canvas. Additionally, I have used the types of colours and tones that he uses in his pieces as I think they give a powerful message in my piece. However, I think that I should attempt to layer some of the paints more as this is the kind of style that he uses in his body of work.

            Overall, to improve my work, I am going to make the blue tint around the cat more obvious and prominent to illustrate the idea that the cat is sad and unhappy. I also want to alter the scale of things in my final piece as this practice proves that things are a little too confined; I want to increase the scale of the cat so that it is the main focus of the piece. In order to improve the artist link with ROA, I am going to try and use thicker marks and be slightly more expressive as his work is expressive as well. Moreover, I am going to layer some of the paints so that I can achieve a similar style to Cy Twombly as well.

Analysis of Cy Twombly and his work

            Cy Twombly was an American painter, sculpture and photographer, however I am going to focus on his paintings. His large scale, expressive and calligraphic pieces are in collections in most of the modern museums/galleries around the world. As he focuses on these aspects, he always manages to include his mood into his pieces. Twombly was also a part of the post-abstract expressionist generation.

            Twombly attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina when he first met Charles Olson, who was the head of the college. Olson was also a poet and deeply inspired Twombly with his pieces; Twombly looked further into literature and that is how he got into his type of work. Moreover, in 1957, Twombly moved to Rome and settled down with his wife and soon to be son. These then resulted in him looking deeper into the Roman and Greek literature/mythology; I would get my inspiration from maybe looking at books about animal cruelty. He would also take some of his inspiration from his surroundings.

            Most of his work is made on a canvas with a layer of white or off white with a few exceptions (an example of an exception is the first image below). I am going to use a canvas when creating a final piece as they are easily accessible. Additionally, I am going to use a plain tonal palette in the piece with small amounts of colour (for example, I am going to use red to represent the pain and anger of the animals that are being abused).

Source 1



Source 2


Source 1:
Cy Twombly

2009

Acrylic on canvas

Leaving Paphos Ringed With Waves

Source 2:

Cy Twombly

Acrylic and wax crayon

2007

Untitled

           Although the colour scheme in source 1 is not the same as the majority of his work, it still appears to be expressive and inspirational. I think that the colours blue and yellow complement each other well due to the fact that they are both primary colours, however I don’t think that the orange works well in this case. I think that both the writing and other features in the painting looks childlike, which is his style of work. Although it is childlike, it still evokes a specific mood to me; I think that he was feeling confused at the time because I am slightly confused by the colours that are used. In my opinion, it reminds me of a pop art piece because of the striking and vibrant colours. He hasn’t used a variety of textures or techniques because I think that he was fixed on trying to convey his feelings through the painting and he did not want anything to compromise that. Furthermore, there is not a strong contrast in line as throughout the piece, the same technique of painting has been used. I think he has used acrylic paint because it can layer easy and it is very accessible. The lines in this painting give me the impression that he was also distressed when composing this piece as the orange lines appear to be very chaotic. He uses specific words or sentences (like the ones in this piece), to further convey his emotion or feelings to the viewers.

            Meanwhile, in source 2, Twombly has used a common colour palette in his body of work (he has used an off white in the background with red layered over the top). The shape of the red spots on the piece resemble a kind of flower (almost like a rose), which reinforces the fact that he occasionally worked from his surroundings. Despite the fact that he uses canvases a lot, he changed his background medium so that he could do a specific technique when he produced this work; he wanted to be able to scratch into the piece and make clear indentations. The colour red gives me the impression of pain and torment which could suggest that something had happened when he produced this work to make him feel that way. Rather than sticking to the mediums he usually used, he chose to use oil pastels as when they have been layered, it is easy to subtract some of it from the piece (in this case, his scratching method). I think Twombly manages to achieve a suitable amount of contrast in tone, as the more he layered his oil pastel, the darker the sections would get; some areas of the piece, are extremely layered and therefore very dark and deep.

            To conclude, from observing and analysing Twombly’s work, I have decided that I am going to try and use some of his styles and techniques in my project. I really like the idea of using words to describe both the piece and the project in my work, which is why I am going to use words that describe the harshness and brutality of animal cruelty. I also like how he uses a plain tonal palette in his backgrounds (I don’t like his use of vibrant colours), which is why I am going to take this as inspiration and attempt to work with it. Additionally, I am going to use the red and black to symbolise pain and torment that some animals have to go through. After I experiment with this style of work, I think I am going to combine it with aspects from artists, ROA’s work.

Update of the project, "Who Am I?"

After having thought about my project and what I have done so far,  I have decided that I am going to focus on animal cruelty/abuse rather than looking at animals in zoos. I have chosen to do this because it is more easily accessible and I have had the idea of using Cy Twombly's work in the background to show the harshness of animal cruelty and the brutality of it; I will also be able to show my personal feelings about the issue this way. Due to the fact that I was confused as to which medium to use, I tried to make a multi-media piece with the mediums that I liked to work with the most (pen, Indian ink and acrylic paint).





Due to the fact that I really like this technique of using all three mediums, I am going to take some more photos of a cat at different angles and then draw them small scale as multi-media pieces. Therefore, I think in my final piece(s) I am going to use these mediums to draw an animal (most likely a cat).

Printing workshops

Mono-printing workshop.
On Thursday 11th of November, we were taught how to make mono prints. We were told all the different variables that would alter the success of the prints. For example: the type of paper, how moist a surface is and the quantity of printing ink that is used. When I made my prints, I used cartridge paper due to its roughness, I used both dry and damp paper to see which is best and I experimented with different amounts of ink to see what is best.
Equipment:

• Two rollers (one kept clean)
• A printing plate
• Cartridge paper
• Printing ink

There are two types of printing:
Additive - this is when you place the ink onto the printing plate by making marks and then placing the paper onto the plate. A clean roller would then be used to put pressure on the paper that is on the ink.
Subtractive - this is when you cover your printing plate with ink and then use something to take it away so that marks are evident. Then you would use a clean roller to press your paper down onto the printing plate.

Collage of experiments with dry paper:


Collage of experiments with damp paper:


Final print (dry paper)


Polystyrene printing workshop.
We then learnt about how to make prints with polystyrene.
Equipment:

• Printing ink
• 2 rollers (one kept clean)
• Printing plate
• Polystyrene sheet
• Pen/pencil/knife
• cartridge paper

Method:

• Scratch your design into your piece of polystyrene
• Roll out your ink onto the plate and then transfer it to the polystyrene
• Place the inked side of the polystyrene onto the paper and use the clean roller to press the polystyrene down
• finally, lift to reveal your print

Evaluation:

I am happy with the result of these prints as each mark is clear and stands out from the page. I have managed to capture shape and scale accurately. On the other hand, I think that I could try to improve the realism of each drawing by adding more marks to the polystyrene.

One reason why I like the feathers is because I think that I have managed to show texture with accuracy however an improvement could be adding more marks to show more contrast. One reason why I like the second bird is because I think that I have shown a high contrast in mark making however, I think that I could make the prints better by trying to add some more details to the feathers on the bird.

Even though these prints show a good use of mark making, I don't think it links enough to my chosen artist ROA. It does not allow me to get high contrast in tone, whereas in his work, there is a lot of this.

Analysis of my chosen artist, ROA

            ROA, a very famous street artist from Belgium, is most well-known for his fascination in animals and his representations of them. ROA’s work, which is a part of the street art movement, was generally paintings of animals and birds that were in the area that he was in at the time. He got inspiration from the environment and animals around him. In a similar way to how I feel, ROA was deeply affected by the fact that animals were starting to become more endangered than ever. He managed to paint accurate representations of the animals that were becoming endangered in his area, which is something that I am extremely passionate about; I hate the fact that animals are being forgotten and how they are treated unfairly. ROA thinks that animals tell you so much about the world, in comparison with any other living thing, which is why he likes to paint them so much.

            The majority of his work is made with a colour palette that only consists of blacks and whites, however in some pieces he uses a few vibrant colours to get his message across that animals are treat. Moreover, he mostly uses acrylic paint or spray paint on abandoned or desolate walls within the cities that he has visited, however I cannot do this due to the fact that it would be illegal for me to do so. The majority of his work is very expressive and slightly stylised.

ROA

Rabbit

Hackney, London

Acrylic paint and spray paint

2009

                This large scale representation of a rabbit has been painted on the side of a dilapidated building with acrylic paint and spray paint. The fact that he has painted it on a large scale (12 feet tall) allows him to get a lot of detail in the rabbit. Even though he painted the rabbit on a flat background, he was capable of making it look 3-D; there is a high contrast in tone in regards to the darker and lighter areas of the rabbit which makes it look like it is 3 dimensional. He has used line in a more expressive motion which gives an accurate representation of the fur on the rabbit which increases the realism in the painting. The fact that he has only used blacks and whites in this painting means that he managed to get strong contrast in tone as he used more black in the darker areas than he did in the light areas. The fact that he has used a greyscale colour scheme allows him to show the world that he sees things in a different light and that sometimes the most beautiful things are in black and white. ROA used expressive mark making in this piece to give the animal a furry texture; the highly expressive mark making allows the viewer to see a truthful illustration of what a rabbit looks like.

                The fact that ROA has decided to paint the rabbit in an urban environment, yet also paint it next to plants that are taking over the wall, shows that he wants the audience to know that animals can live in both urban and rural environments; this gives me an idea of the context of the piece and the environments that the rabbit would be seen in. He has used the whole of the wall so that the rabbit is all that the spectator sees which is why in my pieces, which I am going to do in the future, I am going to use up all of my chosen background. In my opinion, I think that he has attempted to get a specific message across to the audience that animals can live in both environments and that we shouldn’t try to isolate them. He is trying to tell the story of a rabbit and how they are a natural beauty that shouldn’t be harmed or took for granted. However, overall, I think that he just wanted to simply show his passion for animals and how he thinks that they tell people much more about the world than anything else.

                ROA’s work relates to what I am doing because I I have a passion for animals and I hate the idea of them being mistreated. I want to express how I feel about animals through my artwork and how much I am fascinated by them. I am going to take inspiration from his mark making and how expressive he is in each of his pieces. I also like the amount of contrast in tone that ROA manages to represent in the fur. Although I can’t paint my art onto walls and fences, I am going to still get the same amount of detail in my drawings. I am going to use a limited colour palette of black and white, however I might try and add some vibrant colours to show how I feel about the animals. In a similar way to ROA’s work I am going to try and experiment with acrylic paint to see if I can achieve the same kind of texture and marks as he does.