STARTING UNIT X

Today I met with my group, our task was to get to know each other,I think this is important as we have to work with each other for the next 6 - 8 weeks! luckily we all get on very well and we were able to jump right into this project and discuss the facts that we have found. 

Everyone brought different and some very random facts to the table about 175 but one that stood out was '175mph wind speed' which is the highest wind speed recorded in this country. 

we have all agreed to go away and research wind speed and then come together and share our idea's, as all will have a different/they're own take on wind speed.

i myself intend to look at how wind speed is recorded, as you can't 'see' wind but you can see it through charts that measure it.

I like the colours and the free flowing lines - this is only one type of wind chart, i intend to look at other ways of recording wind speed.

LAUNCH OF UNIT X

Today we had a lecture to launch 'unit x', the unit is based around '175' which is significant in that the art school is 175 years old this year. Thinking about this subject i have started to brainstorm a few idea's on what could link to the number 175. I typed 175 into Google and found these basic facts. 

• Actress Rose Tapley appeared in 175 films
• British children's television program Rosie and Jim ran on CITV from 1990–2000 with 175 episodes
• I Fought the Law (1965) by the Bobby Fuller Four ranked #175 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

Although these are just random facts, they could spark some inspiration, tomorrow i will meet with my group for the first time and we will share our facts found relating to the number 175.

CREATING SAMPLES THROUGH RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT

I next began to take the shapes from my drawings and photographs and develop them through samples in machine/hand stitch. I tried to minimise and pick out the repetitive shapes for my samples - each sample turned out different, some weren't so good, but still gave me ideas of how to develop them further.

 

hand stitched - ladder stitch with french knots through the middle -  imitating the growth of mushrooms on the bark of the trees.

imitating tree branch shapes through small french knots.

in this sample i imitated the shapes from one of my black ink drawings - using various widths experimenting with the satin stitch - i also added some white tone using the embellisher.

creating textured layers to represent shapes and layers in bark - french knots representing mushroom growth. 

KATHY PENDERGAST - TONE

When starting to look to adding more tone to my drawings i came across artist Kathy Pendergasy. Kathy creates line pencil drawings of maps. They have alot of tone, her use of pencil is very carefully usedd and controlled exellently. I intend to try and achieve a simillar quality in my plant drawings.

 

Kathy Pendergast map tonal drawings

 

I experimented with line simillar to Kathy Pendergast to help me get used to the types of tones the pencil makes and how to control it.

FURTHER DRAWINGS - MICHAEL LANDY

During my resarch i bought a book named 'the drawings book' in here i came across an artist named Michael Landy, his etched pencil on paper drawings in paticular. I find the use of shape and tone in his drawings really interesting. This made me look to my drawings and think about using pencil and more tone.

Michael Landy

 

Using Tone imitating shapes in drawings by Michael Landy.

 

I now intend to create/develop a series of small tonal drawings - using shapes and forms from my research.

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

After many drawing studies on 'plant cells' I began to broaden the subject of 'plant data' and develop my research further by looking at the data of plants in one specific area. With this in mind I visited a nearby park.

Map of park.

At the park I began to collect data/research from the area circled in red, hear i found a large amount of chopped down trees with just the stumps left. but I found that the growth coming through from the stump was really interesting. I began to take photographs and various drawings.

Growth from inside a tree

tree parts

mushroom growth

mushroom growth on a stump

DATA DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH

 

When researching 'DATA' I began to think about 'DNA' and types of DNA. I soon came across a book named 'plant life by Roland Ennos & Elizabeth Sheffield, which had diagrams & pictures of 'Plant DNA'. I found these diagrams interesting as they reminded me of black fine liner drawings - I saw this as an opportunity to develop the shapes and forms further through my own drawings.

pages from 'plant life'

I develop various drawings from these pages using mix media including Indian ink, water colour, charcoal, graphite, pencil, Biro & mascara.

I first started to work with Indian ink & stick, i found the stick to be effective as it gave a variety of marks - a sense of uneven surface which worked well with the drawings in the book. 

The drawings below are both taken from cell drawings in the book.

I then developed my drawing further using an old mascara.

 

I liked the quality of line that the mascara produced and think that it captured the texture in the photographs in the book 'plant life'. I also think that the water colour worked well and gave it some shading.

Over the Christmas period i have created various studies from the book 'plant life' in a range of media. i know intend to take my own photograph of plant cells etc. and develop a colour palette. 

Examples of drawings.

oil pastels - black, greys & whites (grey scale) gave interesting tones.

working on newspaper, coffee stained background a study in Indian ink and white acrylic paint.