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.