Exam evaluation

After completing my final AS Art exam, I feel that I am ready to talk about it.  My early studio sessions consisted of me not putting my full attention towards my work and just "slacking" within the subject of art. This led me to being behind in my coursework, especially my blog, which I have come to adore. However, once I had started to try, I found Art an extremely beneficial subject and I feel that although the first few lessons did not go well, they showed me how much I would have to work throughout this subject. I found using a blog throughout my exam process has really helped me to analyse my work and conclude where I wanted to go next. For example, I decided to change my exam question from "magnification" to "indistinct". I feel that my blog really helped me to make this decision efficiently, I was able to look back at my previous posts about my sketchbook and really think over what I wanted to do. I learnt from my coursework that I desperately needed more drawings within my work. Therefore, I decided to create a sketchbook full of drawings within my exam journey. I believe that this helped me to develop both my drawing skills and confidence in myself when drawings. As I became more confident my drawings developed, the marks became more free, making the overall drawings refined and more effective. Although my final coursework piece was created by using photos, I wanted to start using photography straight away within my exam journey because I feel that it backed my work up completely. In addition to that it gave me new ideas for what I wanted to take photos off and made me think whether or not I wanted to use photography within my final exam piece. My intentions from the start of the exam unit was in fact to use a strong influence of photography within my work, I didn't quite know how as I had so many ideas buzzing around my head so I had to get them in order. I knew straight away that there was a selection of different artists I wanted to look at and I feel that this really helped me to explore new and different ideas. I feel that creating a sketchbook full of drawings gave me a lot more leeway to choose artists as I didn't worry whether the work was completely drawing based or not because I felt I had the confidence to create studies from it.  

During my exam process, I decided to develop my understanding by visiting three different museums, the Tate Modern, The National Gallery and Somerset House. Throughout each museum I saw completely contrasting works, varying from beautiful, technical sculptures, to historical portraits. I feel that the Tate Modern influenced me the most, it contained a huge amount of expressive pieces and surrealism. I found both photography and expressive pieces side by side and this really inspired me. In addition to that, I found a new photographer, Henry Wessel, which really changed the way I looked at photographs with colour and without. I feel that looking at the photographs without colour really changes they way you think about them, I feel that it brings a darkness to the photos, which I strangely liked. The National Portrait Gallery offered me the chance to looked at "traditional", historical and royal work. This led me to looking at the work of Monet, an artist whose paintings of landscapes really interested me. The way he slightly blurred his paintings so you had to look closely at what interested you really caught my attention. The final gallery I visited was Somerset House where I was able to look at the work of Guy Bourdin, a fashion photographer whose work gave me inspiration to start to look at taking photos of people and covering up different parts of their body and how this affect what people thought of them and the photos. I feel that seeing art work in real life is completely different to what you expect to see. I expected to be standing opposite a wall, behind a barrier of glass box, looking at a piece of work that I couldn't really get close too. Galleries are nothing like this, you obviously can't touch the work but you are able look as closely as you want too. You can look at the work for as long as you want too, you may not always get this experience due to technology letting you down. I feel that galleries change the way you look at work, you may have two completely contrasting pieces of work next to each other and you are introduced to a style of artwork you may have never considered before. For example, sculptures have never been something that have really interested me, however when visiting the Tate Modern, I found myself indulging in in a variety of sculptures. Before visiting a gallery, I would have never really considered sculptures and I think that it why it is so important to view art work first hand.

The main artist that fundamentally changed and inspired my work was Gerhard Richter. I think his work will continue to inspire me every time I look at it. I believe that the variety of work he can produce leaves me in such amazement and that was what I was first really interested in by his work. I found Gerhard Richter's work in the library when searching for a book on a artist that really interested me. The first paintings of his I saw was"9.1.89", of a person or small child with paint expertly yet freely placed on top of the photograph, which covers up the face of the subject. This really interested me because I felt it fit so well within the topic of indistinct because I felt that not being able to see the subjects face completely changed the way I look at the photo. Richter's use of colour influenced me extremely throughout my exam process. The way he uses a similar colour then adds another completely contrasting colour which flicks throughout the streaks of paint creating an beautifully interesting tonal value. I couldn't say that my other artist Bruce Conner was discarded along the journey but I believe that he influenced me differently to Richter's work. I find Conners work a lot harder to study because the back story to most of his work is so in depth. Neither the less, I adore his work. I was introduced to Conners work by my teacher, and I knew that I would want to study his work. I find his use of found objects to create his work extremely interesting, they add so much more to the piece, like individual stories being added just bring more to each piece. Overall, I am extremely pleased with both of my artists, although I did only have two, I feel that they have inspired me enough and supported me enough to carry me through my exam process.

My theme for this process was "indistinct", a theme that originally interested me at the start of the process but I didn't choose until about two weeks into the process of my exam. I feel that the theme of "indistinct" really hit home. As I developed my work throughout the process, I develop looking at how society judges people without be able to see there face. I feel that this concept really interested me because as a teenager within society I feel judged a lot by things such a fashion, looks, body image and intelligence. Therefore I felt that I had a larger basis of ideas to work from. The main problem I faced during this journey was convincing people to let me take the photos, however once I had stated to them that you wouldn't be able to see their face their responded changed completely. People often asked to see the picture after and mainly complained about how they looked but felt reasonably comfortable because there face would be covered. I found this really interesting and it became an really important aspect for me to present within my work.

 I feel that I have really incorporated the use of material within this exam process therefore I believe that this is the newest way of working. Bruce Conner gave me the most inspiration for venturing out into using different materials than I previously had. For example, I decided to use different pieces of leather which I then decided to sew together to create an almost thick sheet of paper. I then looked at hanging it within my book on two separate pages. I felt that using different materials and techniques such as sewing has changed my perception of my work. I felt that it mades my work stand out more, the people became more real on the pages. This was really important to  me. 

I feel that all of the above has led to the creation of my final piece. I feel the my artists that I have chosen have really helped me to discover and conjure up ideas that really feel personal too me. I definitely feel that my final piece means something to me and I feel that it mean something to other people too. Everyone one has some sort of insecurity therefore I feel that my final piece really explores the way you judge people and how not being able to see there facial features really makes them become indistinct. My final piece  To improve my final piece, I would have defiantly liked to have create some more pictures. As I think about it now, I feel I would explore different ways of presenting my final piece if I had to chance to do my exam piece again. Whilst I really love the book because of the beautiful black and white toned pages, I feel that leading up to the exam I could have given myself some varied ways of presenting my final piece therefore I wouldn't feel as trapped to one particular piece which I believe did hold me down partly. To conclude, I am really happy with how my final piece turned out, although I did have trouble with the colour tones throughout my final piece, I feel that it really represents what I want it too. 

Below are some pictures of my final piece- 

Exam preparation books

I found the prefect book. After searching, I found the faultless book to hold my pictures, the pages, black and white with tiny sections of writing within it. Although this book is on gardening, I feel it will look great with white emulsion paint thinly covering the top of the writing. Since I had my photos and my book, I felt ready for my exam. However, I needed way more experiments with different mediums and materials I enjoyed. Therefore, I decided to find another book that I would to carry out my experiments in. This work really well, I know have lots of interesting ideas to cover my photos with, that also relates really well to my artist. I would have blogged about every page within my experimentation book, however I felt that it would have been pointless. Firstly because it would have dragged out my blog making it unbearable to read and secondly I feel that the experiments speak for themselves.  

Storing my final outcome

Since I knew exactly what I wanted to do for my final outcome, I needed to think about ways around presenting my photos. I liked my sketchbook pages because they were big and plain, however I felt that they had no real meaning to them. After discussing this with my teacher, I was shown this post card book. I knew automatically that I wanted to present my photos within a book. It adds to the idea of indistinct, with the photos covering up pages and words of the book, it simply made my work more indistinct.  

Final outcome ideas

After doing a lot of thinking and planning about what I would like to do for my final piece, I came to a conclusion. I want to take photos of people, relaxed and looking into the camera. I then want to manipulate these photos with different mediums such a paint, charcoal and others textures that I find interesting. After printing the photos in colour, I decided to change them to black and white. There was two reasons for this change. After visiting the Tate Modern and discovering Henry Wessel's work in which I adored the black and white colours of his pictures, I knew I defiantly wanted to use the tone of Wessel's pictures. Secondly, when I printed the photos in colour and began to work over them with paint and other mediums, it just did not work. The colour was too distracting to look at therefore you weren't focusing on the materials or mediums used. In addition to that looking at the picture as a whole just presented too much, there was simply too much going on. I decided to take two types of photos, firstly I would take a full body picture of someone standing still, looking at the camera. I would then a second picture of them without them knowing, I decided to take the picture very close to their face because the shock factor caused people to move away quickly which create movement within the background of the photo. My idea from this comes from the idea of our facial features making us distinct, so to take them away from us simply makes us indistinct. I wanted close up and full body pictures of people because as a society we judge people by there facial features, so to just be able to see a body or a background really starts to makes you think of what the actual person looks like, and how seeing there face would change your perceptions of them. To conclude, I am happy with my final outcome idea, I feel that it really represents something close to my heart. 

Painting over photographs

I continued with using photographs within my work. I used white emulsion paint to create different marks onto the photographs. I feel that the colour of the photographs really mix well with the white paint covering them up. In addition to that I feel that the marks made within the piece also add a lot of emphasis to the photos. I feel that creating these pieces have defiantly drawn me to the conclusion of taking photographs and covering different parts of them to make them indistinct for my final outcome. I feel that covering photographs up in certain ways really interests me and allows me to use the influence of Richter and Conner within my work. 

Photographs

I really enjoyed using photography within my work. In addition to that I enjoyed using the string and paint. So I decided to experiment with them both. I started by creating a small study of the paint and string, trying to re-create the previous study. However this did not go to plan therefore I had to try again. I feel that this time it went a lot better, so I was ready to create it using a photograph underneath. However I don't think that it turned out well, the paint has completely ruined the photograph and when I decided to scrap back the paint to create marks, it just stripped the photo down to the page. I decided to try one more time using a actual photo, by that I mean one that has not been printed using paper. I feel that this has improved the paint and string, however I still wasn't able to show the photograph. 

Pen and charcoal

I wanted to continuing with drawing different parts from the photograph. I decided to use newspaper as the background because I knew it had worked well before with pen and charcoal. I gave myself five minutes and began to observe the picture, creating studies using different mediums. I dislike the black smudge I had created within the middle of the page, I had accidentally created it by looking closely at a small texture created on the bone of the animal. To conclude, I am happy with the drawings I have created. 

Continuing with drawing

I decided to continue looking at this photo because I found it so interesting to study and create studies off it. I decided to use pencil and create some five minute sketches because I felt that I had been lacking drawings in this sketchbook and since I wanted to continue with using this photo I felt it fit perfectly. To conclude, I feel that this piece went well, although I feel that some of the drawing lacks shading, I feel that I have achieved the right shape. 

Photography

I felt that I had been making some real process with the different materials and mark making throughout my sketchbook. I wanted to started using photography within my work again therefore I decided to combine the two. I used a picture I had taken of miscellaneous objects I found within a box, it included a bird skeleton, feathers and other beautifully interesting objects. I started by creating a transfer, however when I placed it against the blank background it looked extremely plain. Therefore I decided to create expressive marks with charcoal underneath the transfer. This really brought the colours of the skeleton out which I liked. The second piece was created by using paint marks and covering up different sections. I really enjoy the way this turned out, it looks really interesting, especially because of the way the different colours blended together. Next, I used the glue  and painted it over the photo. I then dried it with the heat gun to try and create bubbles. However, it just made the photo cripple up and really change colour. The final piece was created with tights, that I had decided to dye with ink, being stretched across the photograph with certain parts of it burnt out. I think that this piece has been very successful, I adore the way the burnt parts of the tights have revealed different parts of the photograph. Overall, I feel that this piece has really helped me. I defiantly know that I want to use photographs within my work and create different marks and textures within them. 

Paint with string

I decided to continue with using string and paint. However, I don't feel that this worked as well as the other two pieces because I made the marks straight downwards therefore they were more defined. I did use string within  this piece, however completely ripped it out because I disliked the way it looked. To conclude, I like this piece, I feel that the colours on page have blended really well together. The light to dark tones worked really well together, especially with the red creating a distinctive colour, which highlights the different pieces of texture throughout it. 

Paint and string

I continued with using strong and paint to create texture within my work. I feel that it brings together both of my artists, Conner and Richter. The use of colour and they way it is blended across the page links with Richter, whilst the use of unusual materials such as string linked within Conners work. Whilst I liked the string within the first piece, I disliked it within this, it looked awful therefore I ripped some parts of it away which I feel has worked really well. To conclude, I am happy with how this piece has turned out, I feel that it has really shown how both of my artists have inspired me. In addition to that it has drawn me closer to thinking about what I want to do within my final piece. 

String and paint

I decided to try and make the string more interesting by adding colour to it. I used the same process as before but this time I dripped black ink down the page. That was a bad idea. The ink only stayed within the first layer of string and when I dried it, it just made the string go rock hard so I couldn't pull it off the page. So, I decided to cover the page with white emulsion paint. I feel that this rescued my piece, it created texture within the piece and really made it stand out. To conclude, I am happy with how this piece turned out, I feel that the white paint gave it the structure it needed. In addition to that it emphasised parts of the string which I really like. 

Using string

I decided to develop the use of thread and paint. This time I used string but separated the pieces into smaller pieces. I then used the exact same process and covered the string with white paint. I feel that this piece has turned out a lot better. I feel that it does not look like string, more like an cob web that is hanging across the page. I feel that this makes it look indistinct therefore it fits within my topic perfectly. However, I would like to add a small amount of colour to this page, although it's subtly beautiful, I feel that it needs to something to draw your attention to it. I could either do this with a small amount of ink or paint running down the page. 

Using thread

I decided that I wanted to look more into Conner's work. I love his use of materials, and although his work is seen as outspoken, I feel that it has a subtly about it, especially with use of material in it. I decided that I would use thread, a light materials that is very gentle and subtle. I lay it on the page in different directions and then added white paint over the top of the string. I really liked that effect created on this page, however didn't feel that I the string made enough of an impact. I know that the reason I used string was because it is subtle and delicate but the paint has almost completely covered it up. Overall, I am happy with how this piece turned out but I feel like it needs something adding to it, maybe a thicker type of material or colour. 

Working on a larger scale s

I felt like I had come to the end on my short experiments at looking at different materials to paint with to create similar marks to Richter. I decided to create a larger scaled piece. I did this using cardboard, something that I had really enjoyed working with therefore I decided to do it on a larger scale. I really enjoyed the scale I got to work with in this piece, I felt it gave more room to move around and create marks. This is something that I will defiantly keep in mind when starting to plan my final piece. I decided to use cardboard within this piece because I really like the 3-D effect it gave the piece. Overall I am really happy with how this piece turned out, I feel it shows clearly that I have been studying the work of Richter within my work. 

Using a paint scraper again

For this piece, I decided to use a paint scarper, since I really enjoyed painting with it earlier I wanted to use it again. I really dislike this piece, I feel that the colour has been hidden by the black paint that I had used therefore it just looks irrelevant. Also I did not put the paint on thick enough so it was really patchy on the page. To conclude, I am not happy with how this page turned out, I feel that it looks way to dark and nothing on it works well with each other. 

Sponges

Next I tired using both sides of a sponge. I really enjoy the effect created on the left side of the page, it allowed the paint to blend along the page evenly. In addition to that the colours worked really well together. The other side of the sponge did not work as well. It dragged the paint down the page, ripping the page and making it look strange. In addition to that it made all of the colours blend together to leave an dark grey colour which I really disliked. Overall I have mixed feelings about this page. I feel that it has really helped me to look at what materials are effective to create texture and structure within my work. However, I feel that the horrible grey colours just draws the attention aways from the piece that actually turned out well. 

Polaroid pictures

Continuing with painting with different objects I decided to use a polaroid. I was surprised to find that it worked really well with creating texture, I originally thought that it would a smooth texture but instead is created a ruff structure within the paint. Overall, I am happy with how this piece turned out, I feel that it looks structured on the page therefore I have achieved what I wanted too. I can also try out using polaroids and cardboard to creating different ripples throughout the page. 

Painting with cardboard

I decided to start looking at creating texture when painting with object throughout my sketchbook. After studying Richter's work, I wanted to look at created the rippled affect I can see throughout many of his painted over photographs. I really enjoyed painting with the cardboard. I feel that it gave me the opportunity to create structure within the paint which made it look a lot more interesting. In addition to that, I feel that the blend of colour worked well together. They created the dark to light tonal value that I desired. To conclude, I am happy with how this piece turned out, I feel that it has created an really interesting effect. 

Finger painting

I decided to return to studying the particular tones Richter creates throughout his paintings and adding my own influence within them. I decided to paint these three pieces with my finger because I felt that it created the smooth looking consistency that I wanted to achieve. I feel that I have created the similar way Richter blends his paint together throughout his pieces, he often has a two contrasting colours in which he gently mixes together to create a light to dark tonal value, in addition to that, it creates a "middle" colour that as both colours running throughout it. I feel that I have created this throughout these pieces. However, I dislike the bottom piece, I feel that it the colours do not work well together and the browny colour just looks silly within the middle of it. 

Dripping paint

Since I really enjoyed creating different textures on the polaroids, I decided to carry on with one of the studies. This was the thick paint dripping down the photo. Instead of using more photos, I decided to use my sketchbook. I feel that the top piece went well, the paint dried evenly creating a smooth thick red paint across the page, which I feel looks really interesting. The second piece did not go so well. The blue paint spread on unevenly therefore dried strangely which just ruined the piece really. In addition to that you can't do anything to it once it's dried therefore I had to just leave it. However, I feel that this benefitted me, I got the look at the piece in another colour, which didn't work as well. I also got to look at what could actually go wrong when not evenly spreading the paint out. To conclude, I am happy with how this page turned out, I have developed on of my ideas and looked at in further detail. 

Photographs

I wanted to take a brief break from paint, so I decided to use photography. I adore the way Richter painted on photos, therefore I decided to take some of my photos and use different mediums on them to create contrasting marks and textures. Overall my favourite type of photograph was the polaroids, I feel that the pure size of them changes the way you look at a photograph. I believe that it makes them more indistinct because of the way the photo develops slightly faded and then the paint added to the top really creates the effect of the object being indistinct. My favourite polaroid is defiantly the middle one with red paint oozing down it. I think that it really makes you look closely at the photograph and what image is actually of. My favourite normal photograph would have to be the bottom picture with the blue ink running down it. Although this picture is simply of a puddle, the ink makes it look like it has been captured and trapped. Almost like a prison. I really like this idea because you can interpretate the picture in any way you want too. Overall, I am happy with how this experiment has turned out, I have looked at similar ways of creating marks onto photograph like Richter has, in addition to that I have looked at different ways of working onto the photographs to make them indistinct or more indistinct. 

Blending paint

I really enjoyed the blue colours that I had created in the last piece, therefore I wanted to look at painting them onto paper to look at the different tones that I could create throughout this piece. I'm happy with how this piece turned out, although the marks all look the same I feel that this study has really helped me to look at how adding different tones, for example, black will change the overall tonal value throughout the piece. In addition to that when drying the paint, I noticed that it began to crack, I really like this affect, it adds needed texture within the piece. To conclude, I am happy with how this piece turned out, I feel it has really helped me to look at how tones blend together. 

Cling film and ink

For this piece I decided to use black ink within it. I wanted to use a calming blue paint and then add the darkness of the black ink to change the atmosphere of the piece. I feel that this relates well to Richter's work, he completely changes an atmosphere by adding paint to a photograph. Therefore I was changing the atmosphere of this piece from a calming blue and something more intense with the black ink running throughout different ripples created by the cling film. Overall, I am happy with how this piece turned out, I feel that it portrays exactly what I wanted it too. In addition to that I feel that the different cling film studies have really helped me to develop my ideas with working in different mediums and materials. 

Black and green again

Since the first disaster with the cling film, I still wanted to carry on. There was nothing wrong with how the piece was created, I just messed it up when I decided to stick it the wrong way round in my sketchbook. In addition to that I decided to use the colour green and black again, colours that I had previously slated because I was not careful enough with them. Therefore I wanted to try using them again, to show that I could evenly blend to colours together. I used the exactly same process in this piece but stuck it the right way down this time. I am happy with how this piece turned out, the cling film created a smooth surface in which I could create different brush strokes on, similar to Richter's marks. I defiantly want to create more studies using cling film as a material to paint on. In addition to that I also want to use different mediums create marks on cling with because I find it such an interesting material to work with. 

Cling film

Since I wanted to start using different materials, I decided to use cling film, something that I had used before and really enjoyed working with. I started by mixing together a range of different colours, then using a paint brush I made marks and vivid brush strokes onto the cling film. I was really happy with how this piece turned out, the marks made within it were all different and striking. However, when I stuck it down into my sketchbook, I stuck it the completely wrong way so when I can back to open my sketchbook and look at the piece, I found a clear piece of cling film and a large smudge of shiny paint down the page. In addition to that, the colours had completely blended together to create a hideous browny colour. To conclude, I dislike this page, nothing about it works, but I did not want to give up on using the cling film therefore I carried on to create more pieces. 

Green and black

Carrying on with using a paint scraper, I decide to work with the colours green, black and white to create this piece. I really dislike this piece. I decided to change the scale by painting over two pages instated on one, this was a bad idea. Firstly because I didn't paint over two pages, I left blank gaps between the two pages which just made it look awful. Really awful. In addition to that the green and black blended together to create an extremely dark colour and I couldn't lighten it no matter how much white paint I added. The only positive thing about this piece is it gave me opportunity to make marks and starches within my work. I did this using a knife and feel that it went well. However the colour of the page makes it really hard to see the starches created therefore I feel that it was pointless unless you look closely at it. Overall I have learnt to not mixed these types of colour together again unless I am going to be more careful about how much of each I mix. I dislike this piece but it has defiantly helped me, I feel that I should started to use different materials to make marks on because it would allow me to link my affection for texture with my studies of my artists work. 

Using a paint scraper

I decided to continue using black and white paint because I enjoyed the contrast it created between the two colours. However I also enjoyed the striking grey tone created by it as well. For this piece, I decided to use a paint scraper on this page. I really enjoyed working with this object, it allowed me to create a sort of ripple within the paint and tones throughout the page. Overall, I am happy with this page, I feel that I have created both texture and contrast within my work. I have also found an object that has helped me to properly look at the way my artist has made marks therefore I will defiantly be using it again within my future work.

Creating marks

After completing a book full of sketches and finding two  artists that I really liked, I felt that I had done enough observational drawings and could move onto different mediums. I decided that I was going to look at the way my artist made marks within their work and study the techniques that they had used. I began with just finger painting, I feel that this method of painting creates smoother marks that it does when using a brush. When looking closely at Richter's work I could see both texture and the beautiful smooth consistency created when two contrasted colours  were mixed together. So, for this piece I decided to use black and white. Two completely contrasting tones. Overall, I feel that this piece has gone well, I was able to the create similar effect Richter does when painting. However, I felt that this page looked a bit basic therefore I decided to tear some of the page out, to create the texture that Richter is known so well for. To concluded, I feel that this piece went well.