Looking for layers

As I had mentioned in my last post,  I missed my paint brush. Well once I had used one again to create expressive marks, I felt that something else was still missing. After thinking for some while and searching through my blog and sketchbook I realised that I haven't used any of my own photography in a long time. Without sounding dramatic, I was shocked, I love photography and couldn't wait to start using it within my art so I was baffled to see that I hadn't been. I have been recently been taking taking a few pictures of perfect examples of layers to me. I feel I can use each picture effectively within my sketchbook. I have been looking at the term of layers from a different point of view recently, I want to look at layers peeling aways from the surface, breaking off to reveal new layers, which may have been unseen. I feel that a great representation for this is rust, rust builds up over time, covering what was visible and changing it. Then when the rust starts to lift, you get this brand new layer, as mentioned before almost unseen to the eye. In addition to rust I have looked at paint peeling and wall paper peeling up. I feel that all of this shows layers in a brand new spectrum. I am excited to start my experiments using these pictures and more. 

 

Back to the good old times

I wanted to use a thick paint brush for this piece, I have recently been doing a lot of experiments with using different materials to make marks and to be honest I started to miss using paint brushes. Therefore I chose a thick paint brush and started to create emphasized marks all over my page. I used the previous colours in which I had painted the John Wells inspired piece with to do this piece. I will freely admit that it was lazy of me to use the same colours on the same two pages but I feel looking at them next to each other has worked effectively. It makes you noticed how different the textures are on each piece, you can clearly see on this piece, that the materials used to paint was something like a paint brush but on the other piece you have to look closely at it, thinking about what it was created with. Therefore people are thinking about my work in more depth than they usually would when flicking through my sketchbook. Overall I feel that this piece turned out well, I got to use a paint brush again which I enjoyed, in addition to that I created another type of texture within my book in which I can demonstrate my experiments with.

Exploring new textures

From looking at John Well's piece "Abstract" I wanted to look at re-creating the way he makes small scratches within his art work. I had tried to re-create similar marks with the end of a paint brush, a fork and a knife but none were successful. So, I decided to take a chance and use a screw. It worked beautifully. The screw moved the paint around lightly leaving little marks within it.

I really like the effect that the screw has created on this piece, it has allowed layers to build upon each other. The simple light colour used as the base of the piece still shows through when looking at it. In addition to that the red and black blend together, which is surprising because I didn't think that would show. I decided to use the colour scarlet lake extra for the tone of red, it gives off a vibrant energetic colour, however tones down nicely when blended with the black. When actually blended together I have found that a light brownish/ grey colour is created. I would liken it to the similar colour of warm light grey, it gives a gentler effect to the harsh overall look of the piece. I feel that this piece turned out successfully, and I would definitely use a screw to create texture within my work again.

Different material, mark making

Using the back of my sketchbook, I started making mark using different materials. I really liked the way my compositions using my coffee stained material turned out therefore I want to re-create the marks but with different materials. For this, I used a sponge, cardboard and an cheap paint brush.

This was created us a small piece of cardboard cut neatly into a square. I was really unsure about using this type martial, I thought it would create really contrived lines showing no expression at all.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
The cardboard created subtle lines enclosed by bold streaks which contained a mix of the colours. I feel that I could use this technique throughout my sketchbook because it creates a simple yet very involved piece. It clearly relates to my artists work and the way they choose to make marks. In addition to that, I feel that it relates to layers well, the lines "layer" up on top of each other, I also think that I can create some really interesting experimental pieces with this.

The next piece of material used was a sponge. I feel that it gives little texture, which disappointed me because I thought the small holes you can see within the sponges top layers would create a gentle print in which I could layer up on top of each other. However I don't feel that this worked very well, the sponge obsorbed too much paint therefore the paint dragged thickly across the page, creating fixed expressive lines. To conclude I feel that I won't be using a sponge to create marks within my sketchbook again, however I can easily involve the texture that a sponge gave without any things else being added to it. 

The final material used was a paint brush. Although it's not a material, it was a old groggy paint brush with about six strands therefore I've classed it as a material. I didn't like this at all, I tried to move my brush freely across the page, however it just slowly dragged creating an very contrived mark. On a positive note the brush did create light mark when pulled across a small section of the page fastly. I feel that I could use this within my sketchbook, to create simple backgrounds. 

Transfer techniques revisited

I wanted to revisit transfer techniques because I really liked the effect it created in my sketchbook. However I wanted this page to be simpler because my other used a lot of colour, but I didn't want it to look boring therefore instead of creating lots colour in the background, I created texture. I did this by placing strips of newspaper on top of each other, layering them. To start to create real texture within the piece, I covered the page with white emulsion paint, I decided to use emulsion paint because I knew it would highlight the small folds made in the newspaper when gluing it down. In addition to that I added a small amount of red paint which turned out into a light pink, creating a subtle effect. I was pleased with the result of this piece, it would create more emphasis on my transfer. The transfer I had chosen to use was a piece created by John Wells, I personally adore this piece. The simplicity of the drawing creates a powerful statement, which I really appreciate. I considered changing the background of the piece to create a colourful atmosphere to surround the simple drawing. However I realized that this would take the beauty out of the piece, making it almost, meaningless. Therefore I kept the background simple and effective. The actual transfer turned out significantly better than than expected. I thought that the light colour wouldn't show up on the transfer, however it work well with it. I am pleased with this piece, it shows the skills of transfer techniques which I had learnt and developed to suit my artists. It also shows clear layers, starting from the bottom page being built upon with "layers" of newspaper, then the additional layers of the added transfer. 

 "Untitled"

John Wells- "Untitled" (1952) coloured pencil , pastel and watercolour on paper

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wells-untitled-drawing-t02233 

Sandra Blow interpretation

There is  a particular piece of Sandra Blows work that I really admire. The name of it is "composition" and I really adore the use of material and colour she chose to create this piece with. It inspired me to start using material within my work again. Blow uses a the material called hessian, but I didn't have any of that so had think around it. I then had the revolutionary idea (well revolutionary in my opinion) to use a old cleaning cloth and stain it. I got a cloth which looks very similar to hessian but instead is a lot softer and easy to move around. It's the type of cloth your nan uses to clean the kitchen table with, very white sewn up with red thread. To get rid of the whiteness of the cloth I decided to soak it overnight in a metal tray of coffee. Although the coffee looked odd in the tray it covered that material really well. I wasn't too sure if it would work but to my surprise it was successful. I then dried the cloth out, it was still flexible, which was good when it came to placing into my sketch book and it look similar to the colour gold ochre. It wasn't quite a dense and compact as hessian is but it worked really well. 

I wanted to create a piece in the style of Sandra Blow, especially looking at the way she uses material . I knew I needed a plain back ground for my material, for it would really stand out and make an statement. Therefore I ripped the material I had previously used on work I didn't like and it left behind  really interesting marks, subtle but still very powerful, perfect to place my martial on. Instead of just shoving it down and bring done with it, I wanted to create movement into the piece. So, I had to decided which angle it should be at and how the material should be placed, after debating with myself for a extensive amount of time, I finally chose a position for it. Although when I had stuck it down, I was disappointed, it lacked movement completely. It was motionless. To solve this issue, I decided to use a dark brown pastel to create shadow throughout the piece, I then added white emulsion paint to create light tones. Overall this created a dark to light tone, which rippled down the material. I was pleased with this piece, I've never tried to create something like this before and the outcome turned out successful. 

Scratching in style

I feel that the previous two pieces gave me a lot more confidence to start going a step further into studying my artist's work. I have noticed that my artists make a lot of marks into most of their piece, it was one of the reason that I really liked the style of their work. I feel that this piece if relevant for both Sandra Blow and John Wells. I started this piece with ivory black in the hope that adding yellow white would give my a tone between three colours, ivory black, cold grey and yellow white. Thankfully it did. I used a thick paint brush to create expressive marks  across my page, I then used my finger and blurred all of the really visible lines together. Instead of waiting for it to dry I thought I would be able to start making some scratched marks in the piece. It turns out that if you scratch it too hard when its wet the page rips, therefore I decided to wait for it too dry. After it was completely dry , I turned my paint brush upside down and started to make small marks in different directions in one of the corners. The paint was unsuccessful at making marks into dry paint, it just gave off a shiny colour and no actual paper was visible. So I decided to use a knife and it was successful, it took of the right amount of paint and it was a lot easier to make marks into the dry paint. I created scratches in different directions because I felt it represented how both of my artists make marks into their art work. Overall I feel that it was successful, I know now how to make marks and scratches into my work like the style of my artists and in my own style. 

More mark making

From the title you can probably see that this piece was more mark making. I felt that I had not studied my artist work for long enough, therefore still didn't have a really good understanding on how they create their pieces of work. I began this piece by covering the centre of the page in cold grey. I had decided that for this piece I wanted to work from the inside out. I feel that by working like this I can create more texture hence creating more layers. Once I had make my block colours in the centre of the page, I chose the add the colour deep ochre around the edges making sure that I create the same striking marks that both of my artists create. Also I chose to use the colour deep ochre in particular because it can be easily changed from light to dark using water. This gave me the freedom to change the colour from light to darker on different parts of the piece, which helped give me piece a lot more movement that I thought I would originally create. I waited until the piece was dry before deciding to add the final colour, which was yellow light. I really wanted to experiment with painting with different materials such as sponges or cardboard. Instead I found something much more interesting. A fork. I dipped it into the yellow light then moved it across the page, the same way I would if I was holding a paint brush. I really like the effect that the fork created on the page, it added something extra to the piece which I can't identify but know is there. 

Marking making

I've started to make marks in the style of my artist recently, I feel that is helps me to gets used to the way my artist creates their marks into their work. I started this piece with  ivory black extra, I wanted to create a base tone onto my drawing then slowly start to include more colours within it. I made thick expressive marks in the ivory black then using the yellow light, I started to make thinner marks. I had known that the black ivory was not dry therefore the yellow light would smudge into it creating a lighter cold grey colour. It worked well. The ivory black smudged with the yellow light to create  smooth lines with gentle blurs of a light grey. I wanted to create an atmosphere of movement in this piece, so I decided to add another colour. I chose the colour cerulean blue light because I thought it would bode well with the ivory black and yellow light. I then took a piece of charcoal and made gentle smudges in the empty pieces of the page. Overall I think that this piece turned out well, it has helped me to start to look closely at how my artist actually makes marks rather than just creating them in my own style. 

Transfer Techniques

 

For this study I learnt how to transfer an image onto cellotape. At first thought it sounds a bit obscure, however it creates a beautiful way of showing your own images throughout your sketchbook. I used one of John Wells pieces (referenced above), because I didn't want to use my own image in my first try, I think it will be better to involve them later on throughout my sketchbook because I will be more accurate and can create more of an affect with them. I started of the process by placing my image face up and sticking tape on it from top to bottom, I then placed the image face side down into water and soaked it making sure the paper back was wet. Then I took the image out of the water and using a sponge started to rub the paper side off. Once I could clearly see the image through both sides, I turned it over to look at the overall image. I think my image turned out really well, I really like the effect that's created when it's placed on a white background. However I think that when trying it with one of my own images, I need to try something with a high colour contrast or with really light sections because it would become more see through and make more of a statement. Once I had finished my transferring, I needed to place it into my sketchbook. At first, I had painted the page with white emulsion paint to create a textured page, thick with lots of bumps and dents within it. However using white paint on a white book doesn't really work very well, theres no contrast at all and the piece just looked boring. So, I decided to stain the page with black ink because it would show up all of the bumps and dents I had created. This worked really, well the ink showed up exactly what I wanted it too. Although the ink had created a dark, almost angry like piece which worked really well, I feel that it needed some lighter tones added to it, to make the transfer stand out a bit more. I added small patches of white paint around the transfer and I made small marks into them in the style of John Wells. In conclusion this turned out really well, I managed to changed my dreary, plain transfer piece into something that really shows of my artist and transfer. 

Transfer Techniques, John Wells

                               

I decided to start making marks in the style of my artist throughout my sketchbook as I am making my own journey throughout my sketchbook. I started by sectioning off a piece of John Wells "Microcosm" with a view finder, I then looked carefully at the work, looking at the way Wells has presented the marks. I wanted to use paint for this piece because I knew that I could create texture and marks in the similar way that Wells does. Once I had blended my work together, I got a spatula and started to make marks into the wet paint. Overall I feel that this piece didn't go very well. the blue is too bright therefore not blending in with the rest of the colours and the piece, I hadn't efficiently made my artists marks into the work. After thinking for some time, I realised that I could link my page on transfer studies in with this, as i have mentioned before, I wasn't happy with my transfer page as I feel that it looked too plain and boring, nothing really drew much interest to the page. It was overlooked. For that reason I decided to stick my transfer onto this, page, the background makes it stand out much more and it now catches your attention as soon as you look at it. However, the blue was still too bright, I tried to paint over it in a darker colour but it just made it worse. So after doing some more thinking about what I could tone down the garish blue with, I decided to wash over it with black ink (watered down). It turned out well, the colour had been toned down and gave even more attention to the transfer piece, which it what I wanted. 

Overall, I am please with how this has turned out. I have incorporated both my newly learnt transfer techniques and my artists work into one. Without realising, I have also created layers into my sketchbook,  the paint has been layered on top of each other to create a thick textured piece and finally the transfer has been placed onto the top. I also feel that by toning down the blue colour, it has given more life to the other colours, they now stand out more, making the overall piece work a lot better. 

A comparison of John Well's and Sandra Blow

In my opinion the style in which John Well's and Sandra Blow's work is created links very closely with each other and with the overall topic of layers. Both artist create layered pieces of work, which is obvious but there are more unoticable similarities between them. Both use texture greatly throughout their work, whilst Well's creates his by mark making and brush strokes and Blow creates hers by using material and paint, they both manage to create 2-D pieces which are full of texture. However there are big differences between the two artists, Blow has created this particular piece with materials and more blocked colours of paint. She uses set colours, not being blended to create a powerful piece, a statement. Whereas Well's uses a range of different tone and colours throughout his piece, he uses no material. Well's makes his work flow more, almost like waves created around the page with these different tones. Im not saying that Well's work isn't powerful but his work seems calmer, and flows more, making less of a statement then Blow's. Overall both pieces of work are pieces that inspire me greatly, I could honestly talk about them and stare at them for hours, without sounding strange. I feel that by choosing them I can really start to make my own journey, studies and work into my sketch book which excites me.

Analysis of Sandra Blow's "Composition"

Sandra Blow- "Composition" (No date given) oil paint and hessian on hardboard 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/composition-80906

Born 14th of September, 1925, Sandra Blow is an incredibly significant artist into the leading work of abstract pieces. She started her artistic career by studying at St Martin School of Art, 1947 to 1948,  under the teacher of Ruskin. She began to teach at the Royal College of Art and received second place in the John Moors Liverpool Exhibition. She was known as Alberto Burri's partner or lover in simpler terms and her work clearly shows Burri's materials and techniques used such as tar and wood. She describes that her works biggest flaws are the problems of balance and position. She is known as an academic abstract painter. I feel that Sandra Blow's work clearly links to John Wells, even by looking at their pieces side by side, you can see similar techniques of paint brush strokes and the way materials are used to layer the paintings and pieces of work. With the three pieces i have chosen from their work. I can see even the same dark colours and tones used. To conclude I feel that Alberto Burri is an huge influence on Sandra Blows work, I found her work on the Tate Modern website after following the links to artist similar to Alberto Burri. By saying that is sounds like I just want another artist to copy, to do similar work in my sketchbook. However that is completely wrong, I really like Sandra Blow's work, her own independent work,whilst it may have been influenced by Alberto Burri, it still appeals to me. 

This particular piece is called "composition", it was made with oil paint and hessian on hardboard. At first glance you can see a thick looking material, then you realize a burnt like textured piece in the top right corner. I thought at first it was material, the kind of material that was used to wrap parcels in, in the old days. However after reading about it in more detail, I found that it was hessian, a type of wiry, rough material used to hold things such a potatoes. If someone still didn't know what that was, the best way for me to describe it is to say that its a brown rough material, with frayed edges. Anyway back to the painting. I then found out that it was covered with in different parts with oil paint and stuck onto hardboard. By looking at it, I can clearly see that different sections have been cut or ripped and stuck onto the overall piece in different directions. On one particular strip, the underneath has been covered in red paint, which is slightly visible through hessian material. There is three main colours used, red ,blue and black, they are each placed boldly in different parts of the piece. However none of them join together, could this be done on purpose to create a certain effect? I'm not so sure. I believe that the form of this piece is more 3-D, whilst its not a sculptor or something that is usually classed as 3-D, its come of the page, the layers of materials make it stand out not just as a 2-D piece but rather an 3-D piece of artwork. They are easily seen lines in this piece. All pieces of material are connected to the middle section, where your eyes are drawn to first, this creates an 3-D effect. The different lines create different outlines, almost creating small shapes into the piece of work, then the stronger lines of material come together to connect, they create an overall shape. Tone is very noticeable throughout this piece. Firstly there is the solid black colour in the top right hand corner, which has the burnt like look. Reflecting on what Alberto Burri's work often creates. There is then two other primary colours in orangey red and blue. These are placed so closely together but don't touch. I would definitely define the tone in this piece as being dark, Sandra Blow uses a darker coloured back ground, two dark coloured oil paints but then contrasts it with a greeny blue coloured paint to make an overall background. The mark making in this piece of artwork is very visible. I admire how Sandra Blow has made marks into this piece, they aren't made by brush strokes or shading but are made with materials, which I really like. They are delicately created with the materials and then strong colours are used to give the lines and mark making real power. Also Sandra blow makes mark in the paint she uses, by where she has placed the paints and how much she has used. The composition of this artwork is very intense in my opinion. You are first drawn straight to the black colour, looking at how textured it is, I feel that it gives off feeling of you wanting to touch it, you want to feel the textured piece of work. Then, you are drawn to the centre as I feel you are in most drawings, to see the linked up pieces of material which your eyes can then follow them in different directions. I have looked into why this piece has been created and found out that it was purely inspired by Alberto Burri's work, as I have said before Sandra Blow dated Burri and her work was deeply influenced by him, I couldn't find out whether is was created whilst they, showing the emotions of love or if it was created after they broke up, showing the emotion of anger or sadness. I feel I can create really good studies from looking at Sandra Blow's work, her work enables me to use dark colours and materials to experiment with and create overall textured layered pieces. I think that Sandra Blow's work links beautifully within the topic of layers, her work clearly shows layers with materials built on top of each other and different paints built on to each other. 

Analysis of John Well's "Microcosm"

John Wells- "Microcosm" (1957) oil paint on hard board 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wells-microcosm-t02229

Analysis on John Wells "Microcosm". 
John Wells, born july 27, 1907 was a high influential artist in my opinion. All of his work inspires me and i have chosen to analyse three main pieces which inspire my work into my layers project. John Wells lived in Sussex until 1925, where he left to go and study medicine at the University College Hospital, London and studied there until 1930. He interest into art only began when he started to attend night classes at St Martins School of Art, where his noticeable talent was shown in the "Daily Express" dedicated to young artists. I believe this is when Wells first really began to show his true interest and his talent in art. Wells studied with Stanford Forbes and was introduced to Ben and Winifred Nicholson, and Christopher Wood.  He then put his interest in art to a side when he qualified as a doctor and began worked in different hospitals for the Scilly Isles from 1936 to 1945. Wells then worked in the war as a doctor but still made occasional visits to St Ives where he met Naum Gabo, who highly influenced Wells throughout all of his worked. Once the war had finished, Wells chose to restart his career as a full time artist. Newlyn, postwar was the centre of artistic activity to which Wells thrived upon, he opened such clubs as the Crypt Group (1946), Penwith Society if Arts (1949) and shared many exhibitions with Winifred  Nicholson. Wells career began to thrive, when his work was shown throughout many different exhibitions in Britain and when he was awarded the Art Critics Prize by the International Association of Art Critics. In 1960 Well's was given a one person exhibition of his work, the Waddington Galleries, which created a popular buzz around his work. However when Wells created a second exhibition in 1960, his work was given little interest. Wells then went back to Newlyn where he stayed for 30 years, arousing little interest in his work until the revival of St Ives artists where seven pieces of his work were exhibited for the Tate Modern Gallery. I find that Wells work clearly links to my topic of layers, as he layers different brush strokes, marks and materials on top of each other to create a overall layered affect. Well's use oil paint a lot throughout his work although that may not be the visible material you see, he still uses it thoroughly throughout his artwork. I wouldn't say that Well's use materials such a clothing or solid piece of texture in which he would stick onto his work. Instead he uses things such as paint, crayons or lithograph paper to build on top of each other, therefore creating textured pieces of work. Well's work was highly influenced by Naum Gabo, a Russian sculptor who create powerful yet delicate pieces. You can see that Well's uses Gabo's influence in his sculptor like paintings he creates, that almost look 3D. 

The piece I have chosen to analyse is "Microcosm". The piece is created by oil paint onto hardboard, at first glance you can clearly see the prominent wave of a dark red. Underneath that is an array of darker colours all built up on top of each other creating a "layered" effect. Below that there is faded coloured rectangles in the darker colours used throughout the rest of the painting. The best way to describe the rectangles would to say that it was painted on lightly, then a sponge was placed on top and dabbed off some of the colour. Finally there is "scratch like" markings all over the piece which change from cross hatching to just scratches going downwards which I believe really creates the overall look of the piece in my opinion. Well's manages to create texture with only using one material which I really admire and like. The form of Well's work is definitely 2-D, although I haven't seen it through my own eyes in real life, I can see through my computer screen that Well's has created a 2-D piece of work. It's scale is 253 x 406mm, which could contribute to the fact of it being 2-D. Well's creates many different lines in this piece of work, some less visible than others because of being smudge out and blended with other colours. I would say that the most visible line would be the smudged wave of red in the middle of the piece, not only because it's in the middle, which is where you first look' but because of the prominent colours of red that Well's has chosen to use. Tone is used throughout the whole whole of this piece, there is the strong abrupt tone of the red in the middle and how it doesn't blend into the colours in the background or the colours surrounding it lower on the piece. Then theres the shades of light blue and grey which create a soft tone, a lot calmer from the red centred piece of work which almost creates the emotion of anger. From looking at the colours I would just say that there is four primary colours, white, black, red and blue. Then secondary colours would consist of colours smudge together on the piece to create more blues, greys, browns and some light purple. By looking at the oil paint colour chart I have been able to develop my understanding of the colours in this piece. Well's uses mark making techniques constantly throughout this piece, theres in not one part of it left blank or textureless. He varies the mark making from making scratches in the piece, to using smooth lines of paint. Well's use the bold colour of red to attract your eye to the centre of the page. You then start to slowly look at the colours behind the red, then to look up and down and side to side. I would say that Well's arranged the painting to be looked at how I have describe above, however that is just my opinion and my own perspective on how I look at his work. I think that you are drawn to the centre of the piece then led to different part of the piece. I dont think that rule of thirds is used in this piece because you are attract straight to the centre of this piece. After researching this piece deeply, I couldn't find any meanings or any relevant information of why John Well's created this particular piece. Therefore I decided to re-read over my own information I create on John Well's to try to explain the meaning behind this piece. I think this piece is like many of his others, just pure expression of his emotion at the time. This was created many years after Well's exhibitions with Wilfred Nicholson, the prime of his artwork being shown to the world. It could be the meaning behind him using the red colours, his anger of people not looking at his work anymore? Or the blue could represent the calm feeling his work actually being looked at and appreciated, therefore making him feel complete with his artwork? From all of my other studies, using charcoal, graphite and using different textures, I feel that I can include my interest of John Well's work and make it flow into my own work easily. I believe I can learn from John Well's by starting to use oil paint in different colours and looking how they blend together in my own work. I can develop this into using oil paint in my own work completely. I really admire John Well's work, he inspires me which I think will benefit my work greatly. This is one of the many pieces of work of John Well's work that excites me. 

Charcoal Studies, part 2

This picture was taken of layers of moss on brick outside. I then replicated this drawing in charcoal. I had previous done a study into the use of graphite and wanted to do the same in charcoal. However I didn't  like the picture I was drawing, therefore I changed it to another picture which I thought would be more suitable, especially to draw in charcoal. Ive used charcoal a bit in my sketchbook but not in such a large scale. I will admit, I found it difficult to not smudge it, but I have now released that it is a lot easier to create tone throughout the piece. Instead of drawing the whole piece, I used a view finder to section of a bit of the picture. 
               

 

                                                           

I started this piece by making a lighter toned background because I felt it would be easier to draw into the piece with a rubber to create the "fuzzy like" texture that moss gives off. I then created the darker patches on top, such as the leaves and the darker lines created by the bricks. I then took a rubber and started to make lines across the page where I could see that the moss was lighter, I noticed in the picture that some parts of the moss has a lighter tinge on them, which is the reason I wanted to use a rubber. I feel that creating a base tone in a medium colour helped me a lot when creating the lighter colours. 

Charcoal Studies, part 1

I chose this picture from my ten in which I had taken, I felt this would have been good to draw because of the obvious layers I could see, and also the very different textures I could see which I believed would be good to create in charcoal. 

This was my first attempt at using charcoal on a large scale. I personally am disappointed with this piece, although I created a good use of tone, I went astray from my view finder. I then started to make my work up, which wasn't helpful, since I was using it to draw. However this did help me as a sort of practice run on how to start properly creating tones in charcoal into my drawings. I feel I did a lot better in my second piece because of the skills I learnt in the first. 

Graphite Studies

This piece i drew in graphite, I've not used graphite a great deal therefore I wanted to trail out some large drawings in the scale of it. I chose this picture because it I feel that it clearly shows layers and would a interesting drawing to attempt. After starting to work into my piece, I found that graphite can create a really nice texture if lent on its side. I used this for most of the trunk but used darker details when drawing on the branches. Overall I don't like this piece, mainly because of the bad shading and I feel that it looks nothing like the original picture of the tree. Therefore I didn't end up finishing this piece because I without using other materials such as a rubber to create different lines, I couldn't add anything else t o the drawing. 

This is a closer up image of my drawing in graphite. I wanted to show the texture I was talking about in the previous paragraph. Although I don't like the piece, I have learnt a new was of creating texture on my work that I will be experimenting with throughout my sketchbook. 

Layering pictures

1. Stacked, built, topped. 

2. Naturally assembled.

3. Enclosed, covering, stacking.

4. Coating a surface.

5. Human layering.

6. Ancient, formed, deposited.

7. Layered, built up.

8. Stacked onto, breaking.

9. Covered, material layers

10. Built. 

Artist research 5 -Sandra Blow

Born 14th of September, 1925, Sandra Blow is an incredibly significant artist into the leading work of abstract pieces. She started her artistic career by studying at St Martin School of Art, 1947 to 1948,  under the teacher of Ruskin. She began to teach at the Royal College of Art and received second place in the John Moors Liverpool Exhibition. She was known as Alberto Burri's partner or lover in simpler terms and her work clearly shows Burri's materials and techniques used such as tar and wood. She describes that her works biggest flaws are the problems of balance and position. She is known as an academic abstract painter. I feel that Sandra Blow's work clearly links to John Wells, even by looking at their pieces side by side, you can see similar techniques of paint brush strokes and the way materials are used to layer the paintings and pieces of work. With the three pieces i have chosen from their work. I can see even the same dark colours and tones used. 

"Space and matter" 

Sandra Blow-"Space and matter"(1959) oil paint on hardboard 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blow-space-and-matter-t00355 

I really admire the piece of artwork. I had previously really enjoyed studying Alberto Burri and the way he use different materials and textures in his work, so when I found Sandra Blow's work, I automatically enjoyed her work because of the influence create on it by Alberto Burri. This is the first piece that attracted me to Sandra Blow's work, I adore the textures and lines create on this piece, in my opinion, they make the whole piece extremely interesting. It makes you want to touch the piece and feel that different textures created on it. 

"Abstract 1"

Sandra Blow- "Abstract 1" (1959) oil paint, charcoal, pencil and college laid down onto board

http://www.askewart.co.uk/item.php?id=75#view

I enjoy this piece, it clearly uses vivid, strong lines to create an overall affect. Again, she has created a textured piece which makes you want to feel the different lines and bumps on the board. I really like the expressive lines created in this piece, it distinctly shows and relates to my topic of layers, the lines are built up on top of each other, some darker, some lighter, to create an overall layered affect. 

"Composition" 

Sandra Blow- "Composition" (No date given) oil paint and hessian on hardboard 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/composition-80906

This would have to be my favourite piece from all of Sandra Blow's collection, it evidently links to Alberto Burri's work, with the use of materials, colours and textures she has chosen to create. I will really look forward to creating my own interpretation of this art work into my sketchbook, I enjoyed my studies I created on Alberto Burri's work because of the amount of different materials I was able to use. Therefore I feel I will enjoy using studying and interoperating Sandra Blow's work.

Artist research 4 -John Wells

John Wells, born july 27, 1907 was a high influential artist in my opinion. All of his work inspires me and i have chosen to analyse three main pieces which inspire my work into my layers project. John Wells lived in Sussex until 1925, where he left to go and study medicine at the University College Hospital, London and studied there until 1930. He interest into art only began when he started to attend night classes at St Martins School of Art, where his noticeable talent was shown in the "Daily Express" dedicated to young artists. Wells studied with Stanford Forbes and was introduced to Ben and Winifred Nicholson, and Christopher Wood.  He then put his interest in art to a side when he qualified as a doctor and began worked in different hospitals for the Scilly Isles from 1936 to 1945. Wells then worked in the war as a doctor but still made occasional visits to St Ives where he met Naum Gabo, who highly influenced Wells throughout all of his worked. Once the war had finished, Wells chose to restart his career as a full time artist. Newlyn, postwar was the centre of artistic activity to which Wells thrived upon, he opened such clubs as the Crypt Group (1946), Penwith Society if Arts (1949) and shared many exhibitions with Winifred  Nicholson. Wells career began to thrive, when his work was shown throughout many different exhibitions in Britain and when he was awarded the Art Critics Prize by the International Association of Art Critics. In 1960 Wells was given a one person exhibiton of his work, the Waddington Galleries, which created a popular buzz around his work. However when Wells created a second exhibition in 1960, his work was given little interest. Wells then went back to Newlyn where he stayed for 30 years, arousing little interest in his work until the revival of St Ives artists where seven pieces of his work were exhibited for the Tate Modern Gallery. I find that Wells work clearly links to my topic of layers, as he layers different brush strokes, marks and materials on top of each other to create a overall layered affect. 

"Microcosm" 

John Wells- "Microcosm" (1957) oil paint on hard board 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wells-microcosm-t02229

This was the first piece that attracted me to John Wells art work. I really like the way he uses a blend of different tomes and colours and different materials used to create scratch like marks onto the painting. I feel that this clearly relates to the topic of layers, he layers the different colours on top of each other, he uses different shapes in which in combines into the overall piece to create a beautifully layered affect. 

This piece is untitled by John Wells. 

John Wells- Untitled, (1961) oil paint, lithograph and crayon on paper

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wells-untitled-t11951

I again feel that this piece clearly shows layers, i also appreciate the materials used to create this, i like to work in different materials through my sketch book and i feel that by studying John Wells work it will allow me to try and consider using different materials such a crayons.  

"Abstract" 

John Wells- "Abstract", (1958) lithograph on paper 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/wells-abstract-p77177

Again, I feel that this piece clearly shows layers, the different blocked shapes in two bold colours layer on top of each constantly throughout the whole of this piece. I believe that the best thing about this piece is the colours that John Well uses, they clearly are opposite and both equally stand out as much as each other but together they create a powerful piece of artwork. 

Burning experiment

After my two previous attempts at creating layers by burning layers I decided to burn different materials to find the best one to put on my work. I worst piece to burn was the brown wrapping paper, I couldn't create any holes in it at all. To my surprise the best piece to burn was the cling film, I found that if I use more than one layer and stacked on top of each other it burns much better. So to conclude I will be using cling film in my piece of work interpretating my artists. 

Attempt 2 of my artist interpretation

This was the same piece as my cling film piece, however it was done with parchment paper instead because I felt that the cling film didn't burn well enough. I don't like how this has turned out, I feel that it shows very little layering and the burns looks unfitting. I don't think the places I have burnt look random which was what I wanted.