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. 

Interpretation of my artists work (Alberto Burri)

After studying Alberto Burri's work in depth, I wanted to interoperate his work into my own drawings. I find his piece of work called "Father of the burn" extremely interesting, I feel it clearly shows layers which relates to my overall all project. For this piece I used a black sharpie to create expressive marks throughout the page. I then suck down cling film over the page. Next, covered it with red paint, leaving some places blank so the black underneath was clearly visible. I really enjoyed the look of the cling film with the paint, it made the piece still look like it was wet, the paint had a beautiful shine over it and I feel the cling film really brought that out. Finally I burnt different parts of the cling film to reveal the black expressive lines underneath. I was really pleased with the end result of this piece, it clearly shows layers and it relates to my artists work well. Although I was happy with how the cling film burnt, I feel that I need to maybe try a different material or add some more layers of it, to create real texture and a effective layered look. 

Experimenting with ink

Experimenting with ink

I wanted to experiment using ink in my sketch book. I dropped ink into different places into my sketchbook, I then blew it in different directions and used a pencil to smudge the ink to create the branches which stem off the tree. I want to use a different coloured background to make the overall look of the picture a lot darker. I feel that I have achieved this, however I could have spread the ink out further into the darker coloured paper to give a creepy affect. 

Charcoal experiment

I did this piece by using charcoal. During experimenting with charcoal, I added pressure to the top of it and started to create expressive lines. I didn’t think that this created the affect I wanted so I pull a rubber down the page three times. I think the affect created in this piece was successful, my expressive lines worked really well and overall looking at the piece I feel that it shows exactly what I wanted to express.

This was the second piece I decided to create with charcoal. I found that turning the charcoal on its side and twisting it around the page creates a really nice effect. I then smudged the charcoal in certain places to create a shadowing affect. I feel that by doing two charcoal pieces, I have developed my understanding of charcoal therefore I will be able to use it throughout my further work.

Interpreting my artists work

This piece was my inspiration from looking at Alberto Burri’s work. I decided to draw my vintage Polaroid camera when flashing because I feel it was a interesting object to drawing. I wanted to create Alberto Burri’s expressive lines technique, however instead I decided to use ink colours because I feel that I could be more free with them. I believe that I’ve clearly used layers in this piece, from the way I layered the ink to create the “free scribbles”, to way I layered the paper create the layered affect. I also wanted to layer the paper because I felt it gave my work meaning and made my work look older which I enjoy.

Creating layers

Creating Layers 

From looking at CW Twombly’s work, i had decided to use his style of “freely scribbling” to create my own work. I started by running charcoal along my page in a looping way, i then added white emulsion paint on the top. I was hoping that it would lightly smudge the charcoal to create a layered affect, however by the time i had finished it could only be lightly seen. So i decided to do another layer of charcoal on top but this time spraying the charcoal with hairspray to stick it. I believe that this was effective because the paint lightly smudged the charcoal and left a dark under layer of loops and expressive lines. Whilst adding ink to my other painting i accidentally dropped some onto this, instead of trying to get it off, i smudged it and found that it created a really interesting affect. I then added more to it and i feel that it has made my drawing a lot more interesting and in the process it added another layer.

I  decided to use ink for this particular painting, i wanted to experiment with using different materials. I started off by just using ink and creating expressive lines all through to paper, however i felt it looked boring once i had finished. Therefore i decided to add red ink on top but this time creating bigger loops instead of small repetitive ones. I feel that this gave it a great colour when the black and red ink mixed together. Overall i feel that this piece went very well, i am happy with the the completed look of it. To improve it i could try adding another colour such a blue to added another overall tone to it. 

Artist research 3 -CW Twombly

CW Twombly

Born in 1928 in Lexington, Virginia Edwin Parker also known as “cw” was an American painter whose work focused on mainly large scale drawings. His technique is known as freely scribbled or graffiti like drawings in which he mostly worked onto mostly grey, tan or off white backgrounds and he is most known for his work in paintings, sculptures and calligraphy. Twombly’s education consisted of attending the School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, he also attended the University of Washington, and was a part of the art student’s league of New York. Twombly’s work is often quoted by poets, in particular Stephane Mallarme. Twombly’s work also included classical myths and allegories in which he would quote either use quotes or phrases from them. During his later career it has been noticed that Twombly began to paint more romantic paintings, often used poems quotes rather than using classical myths and allegories. For my study point i have chosen to look at a particular piece called “Mars & The Artist”, it was painted using oil paint, wax crayon, collage and pencil on paper. 

Picture= http://www.cytwombly.info/twombly_gallery2.htm

Mars & The Artist

This particular piece was done by using pencil,oil paint and wax crayon in a collage format and draw onto to paper. It clearly demonstrates one of CW Twombly’s many “freely scribbled” paintings and also shows the term of layers being used by the small layering of paper on top of each other. Although this wasn’t one of Twomblys most famous pieces, i think that it is the start of his drawings that show layers. Even though his work doesn’t intently show layers, i think that by looking at it closely you can see layers by just the small pieces of paper that are stacked on top of each other. Whilst i do enjoy all Twomblys pieces, this piece wouldn’t be one of my favourites. Normally i enjoy to read the poem quotes or stories that he scribbles across his work but in this piece i find it really hard to read what he has written, i had to google it and find out. This makes me feel less interested in this pieces, also i find that the drawing doesn’t represent anything to the artist. Normally Twomblys work has a certain link to his life, a family member or a memory, but after research i haven’t found that this work represents anything in particular. However I can’t just criticise this piece, i do enjoy the visual aspects of it. If i studied this piece, i would probably enlarged the scale of it and only focus on certain parts of it. The materials i would probably use to make this piece more textured would be, sand mixed with paint to create textured layers, use a fountain pen to recreate Twomblys writing but using my own words. Overall i find this piece interesting but not one of my favourites. 

Artist research 2 -Charles Sheeler

Charles Sheeler 

Charles Sheeler, born in 1883, can be seen as one of the creators of the American modernism. Charles grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and studied at the Museum School Of Industrial Art with the teacher William Merritt Chase. After graduating Charles easily established some success by his work being displayed at the Macbeth Gallery. During 1908 to 1909 Charles lived in Paris just as Cubism was becoming mainstream,on return to the United States, Charles released he couldn’t carry on creating modernist paintings. Alternately Charles took up photography, mainly focusing on buildings. Charles Sheeler lived with another artist, Morton Schamberg, during his photography stage in a small farmhouse. Inside the farmhouse, they owned a 19th century stove which Sheeler made the focus of many of his photographs. Sheeler mainly photographed structures such a buildings and machinery, he would then use his painting technique to complement his photographs. Later in his life Sheeler was employed by Ford Motor Co to advertise their factories by taking pictures and painting them. Although from the brief description above of Charles Sheeler, layers isn’t related at all. However after studying his building paintings i believe that his work relates to layers well. The style that Charles Sheeler paints buildings shows layers built onto of layers to create the different buildings. There is no space between any of the buildings, each building is connected and created by different colours on top of each other. This creates obvious layers. 

"Canyons” 

This is was made using oil paint on a canvas and was created in 1951, well into Charles Sheeler’s modernism paintings. I really like this pieces of artwork, i think it clearly shows layers on which the buildings on top of each other to create a layer, to create a finishing picture. I can try incorporate this into my work by using the style of Charles sheeler to create layers in my drawings of buildings. I can also use the texture that Alberto Burri uses in his pieces, to create textured building drawings, showings layers.

“On a Shaker Theme” 

Again this piece has been painted onto a canvas in oil paints. This particular piece shows Charles Sheeler’s respect for the shaker design. This then lead onto Sheeler collecting shakers furniture and visiting the towns of Hancock and Massachusetts to photograph the second meeting house. Ultimately Sheeler painted the first shaker piece, which then lead onto the private Shaker collection. This piece of artwork shows two overlaid images, both of a laundry and machine shop. One of the images position is changed so it faces the other way. Sheeler was know for his processes of changing and “overlapping” his images. This is why i believe that this piece clearly shows layers because of how Sheeler overlaps the two pictures which creates a layers. I think that Sheeler’s work has been strongly influenced by Cubism, because of the bright bold colours and bold shapes. I feel that i can link this into my work well because i can create simples layers using bold colours and shapes. 

“Ballardvale Revisited” 

Created in 1949 and painted onto a canvas, this piece is one of Sheerler’s many famous factory paintings. It shows his abstract painting method used throughout many of his artwork pieces. It also shows the bright, bold and strange, colours and shapes that you notice in many of Sheerler’s pieces. I appreciate this piece of work, i like the bright colours used because it catches your attention and this makes you interested in the art work. I also like this piece because you cant tell what it is straight away, i enjoy art work like this because it makes you think about it. I can easily link this particular picture to the topic of layers because as i haver mentioned in the art work i have analysed above, Sheeler creates layers whilst drawing his buildings, each building is put on top of each other, which creates a layers, then overall it creates the picture we see when it first catches our attention.

Artist research 1- Alberto Burri

Artist Research 1= Alberto Burri 

Alberto Burri is a Italian painter born in 1915, he began his teenage years by studying medicine to eventually work in Africa as a doctor to the military. Alberto Burri had never had any interest in art before he was taken as a prisoner in 1943 and sent to Hereford, Texas. This is where his interest in art began as he started to paint, so when he was moving back to Italy he decided to move to Rome. This was too become a painter and Rome influenced the beginning pieces of Alberto Burris work. During living in Rome, Alberto spent months in Paris, this is the time where he developed his abstract style, this was later followed by him adding stacking into his pieces which he then developed into using plastic, iron and wood to create his artwork. Alberto’s artwork will often contain many different textures and he use many varied materials. This is what interested me in his work because of the uses of different materials and the different textures that he creates. I believe that this also links nicely into my topic of layers because he creates layers on all of his artwork pieces by layering materials on top of each other. I feel i could incorporate this easily into my layers project because i enjoy using materials in my sketch books and i enjoy the work that Alberto Burri creates.

"Stacking and Red"

This one of Alberto Burri famous pieces, he created it in the early 1950’s and this piece shows the start of Alberto’s stacking pieces. It was painted onto a canvas using acrylic paint and hessian. Alberto was often questioned about this piece, asking if the red colour related to blood lost in the war, also relating to the his job as doctor severing in the military, however he distinguished that his is independent and his work related to nothing  “a freedom attained, constantly consolidated, vigilantly guarded”. I enjoy this particular piece because it looks very textured which i enjoy to look at because i believe that using texture brings another sensory element into the artwork which makes it a lot more interesting. I also enjoy the bold red colour in the back ground, because it makes a statement and i believe that it makes people focus more on the materials used in the piece. I feel that this piece links to the topic of layers because of the “stacked” up material on the canvas which creates layers of texture and material. I have tried incorporated this into my sketch book by using a lot of materials to create a lot of texture such as the brick wall i created on my opening page. 

“Bianco Plastica” 

Another one of Alberto Burri’s famous pieces, it was released in 1966, well into his stacking and textured pieces. This distinct piece was made out of plastic, acrylic and combustion on cellotex. It again adds to Alberto’s stacked pieces using different materials. However in this piece Alberto uses combustion to create this. The main thing that i enjoy about this piece is is the pattern like framework that is created by the cellotex that has been combusted. I feel it gives a interesting look to the piece and i believe it clearly links to the topic of layers because there is a distinctive cellotex layer on the top and underneath is built materials which creates layers. I have again tried to use these techniques my sketch book by creating a lot of texture and layers into my drawings of Herculaneum.

Form and Matter, “father of the burn”

This piece is again Alberto has used a lot of texture but less different types of materials. He has used a thick black background and a bright red sheet of thin plastic which has been burnt. Although this piece may not look like layers, i believe that this whole piece is a layer, each sheet of plastic has been placed on top the black paint then melted to create small holes therefore the plastic has been layered before it has been melted. I also think that it looks worn down overtime, the layers are protecting something precious has been worn away. I like the effect that this piece gives off, it makes you think about it, such as what is represents, is it positive or negative, i feel that this piece makes you think about a lot. I can incorporate this into my work by using materials such as cling film over some parts of my buildings create a layered effect. 

Summer project: an introduction to layers

Introduction to layers

I have been given the project layers for my as level art work. With conducting a lot of research into the term layers i have found that i would like to do my work on buildings, walls and cities. Whilst on holiday in Italy i was given the chance to visit the beautiful site of Herculaneum, in its simplest terms it is a city under a city. This interested me for my layers project because the city of Herculaneum is under the another city which creates a layer. Lucky i got go inside and explore around Herculaneum and once in the middle of the partly dug up site, i looked up to see the to living city above and this amazed me. Not only the the big layers of city upon city but the small layers of mud, grass and concrete that had separated this hidden city from the rest of the world left me in amazement. This is why throughout this project have chosen to mainly look at layers of brick, layers of cities and Herculaneum, the city hidden under a city. I enjoy using a lot of texture in my sketch books because i feel that it creates more interest and helps me develop my ideas a lot more, this is why i found using buildings as layers would help me a lot because i can bring texture into my ideas easily. Throughout my sketch book i have studied 3 different artists, so i could bring together all of their influences on my work through using materials and focusing on the layers of bricks and buildings.