Hmmmm.... What to do?? ...

So I've been set a breif for my final piece in my Urbanscape unit. I have to produce a final piece, of any shape or size, using my primary images and I must include at least one printing technique.

At the moment, I have no idea what to do. I have started to brainstrom ideas of areas I can look into to represent Urbanscape. Once I decide on the image I would like to produce I will then decide on a printing technique, the size and the material I will work on.

My ideas so far are based upon every day issues in our urban environment and instant visions people contemplate about when familarised with the word 'urban'.

Final Piece Ideas:
-Construction (new buildings - scafolding, cranes)

-Destruction (London riots, fire, police force, broken glass)

-Knife Crime (hooded men, alleyways, murders)

-Global Warming (weather disasters- flooding, heat wave, drought)

-Pollution (cars, factories)

 -Bands (influences, extensive amount of different bands and lies)

Dexter Dalwood

An artist that I had to look at was Dexter Dalwood.

I chose two pieces of his work to analyse; The Calm and The Poll Tax Riots.

'The Poll Tax Riots' demonstrated a very urban, street art illustration; therefore I believed it related to the topic very well. The whole image seemed to be the after effect of a polling day.

I interpreted the blue wash in the foreground as a pool of water, which undercovered the fire that was engulfing the surrounding buildings.

'The Calm' stood out to me because of the irony in the piece. Although, named calm the picture demonstates mass distruction. The tears of paper dividing the page into three vivid factions emphasises this. I believe the strip of green in the centre portrays the view before the devistation and the surrounding dull environment is what the landscape looks like now.

Editing Photos

 I edited some primary and secondary photos to link to Jan Levy's artwork.

I edited the images by using an online site to add different effects and change elements of the photographs; including the contrast, temperature, highlights, shaddows, ect.

Laura Barnard

An artist that I looked at after drawing my idea for my polyboard, was Laura Barnard.
I was able to discover that there is an artist, whose work is similar to the style I used to create my composition for my print.

Jan Levy

The other artist I looked at is Jan Levy.

Jan Levy also uses very extravigant colours, however there is no simplicity in the work.

This is the website I used in order to gather information and secondary images.

http://www.architectural-art.co.uk/

Paul Catherall

Whilst my teacher was away on a trip I had to analyse two artists out of a list of four.

Paul Catherall is an artist whose work I annaylsed.

Paul Catherall is a printmaker and illustrator, who is based in London. He produces sharp, clean lino prints of landmarks within cities.

His artwork reminds me of the collages I have had to produce in class.

Collograph: the sketch

In order to create my collograph I needed to sketch a simple image from my primary images. This was my half term homework (4th June - 8th June). I decided to shade the drawing, as I believe my sketchbook is lacking in tonal drawings; therefore I wanted to demonstrate my ability in the skill. For my collograph I won't include the shading in order to allow it to be simplier and therefore I'll be able to produce a successful collograph.

Stephen Wiltshire

Stephen Wiltshire is an autistic artist who specialises in drawing skylines using thin, black pen.
He was the first artist that I researched for this unit.

The image above is one of the many panoramas Wiltshire has drawn purely from memory.

In this piece of work Wiltshire used paint to heighten the attractive, auburn, autumn leaves. I'm particularly fond of this image because I myself enjoy painting trees with watercolour, as I admire the fresh and natural, yet mesmorising colours and textures it adds to the atmosphere. He rarely uses colour, therefore he has specifically decided that the colour in the trees are worth adding to his artwork. As a result, he too may have fondness of the organic beauty of trees.

The image is of Albert Bridge in London.^^

<<This was my response to Stephen Wiltshire, after analysing his artwork.

Printing with a Polyboard

In order to begin my print I had to draw my image in my book using my primary imagery. The sketch had to be no bigger than A4 and no smaller than A5.

I decided to merge elements of a few primary images into one piece. This allowed a variety of different shapes, sizes and textures.

After converting my sketch onto tracing paper I engraved the design into a polyboard. This was a very difficult process as it is hard to create straight lines in that specific material and I needed to ensure I did not engrave it too deeply so that it breaks, but deep enough so that the print will work. At first I used a sharp pencil to do this, however I discovered later that it was easier to use the point of a compass from a maths set.

Monoprints

Throughout this unit I have been assigned many printing tasks. One of these was to produce monoprints by rolling paint out onto the table, placing my sheet on top of the blanket of paint (without applying pressure to it) and then drawing on top of the paper. When the page is lifted on the opposite side you will find your monoprint.

This is my most successful monoprint as you are able to see the actual image that I drew.

Overall, I was not fond of this method of monoprinting, as I found that majority of the time my prints did not turn out successfully. In addition, it is quite uncomfortable to draw without touching the paper.

Another method was to roll out paint onto the surface of a table, then using a glue spread wipe off lines of paint and draw out the image you wish to print. Afterwards, place your sheet of paper on top of this and apply pressure onto it (either simply with your hands or with a clean roller). Remove the sheet and you will find your print has transferred onto the paper.

I am quite pleased with my attempt (above). However, I have been told by my teacher to work back into the print; to highlight the outlines. I found this print was much easier to do rather than the first method, as you are aware of what the print will actually look like and it is harder for it to turn out unsuccessfully (by your print not being able to recognise).

Urbanscape

Urbanscape was the title of my second unit in my first year of art GCSE, which I am still in the middle of completing.

The unit allowed a range of man-made imagery, including buildings (skyscrapers and flats), construction (scafolding and cranes), graffiti, roads (signs, cones and road works) and textures.

After brainstorming ideas I began to experiment drawing buildings with different medias. This enabled me to draw using pen and coloured pencil; which I haven't done before.

As I was assigned this task I was daunted by what lay ahead, becuase by using pen I did not have the comfort of being able to rub something out.

-Although I usually enjoy and prefer to use watercolour to produce a piece of artwork, I discovered after painting Jumeria Beach Hotel that I was unable to add detail to the building.

This may have been because of my inability to keep a steady hand, however I believe the size of the painting also contributed towards this.

Due to my inefficient time management skills I was set the task of producing a drawing, using a media that I was not used to, within 20 minutes.

I set a timer on my phone and set off to create a drawing in purple pen using one of my secondary photos.

I was quite pleased with the result as I came under the realisation that I could generate a detailed, proportionate image in a short space of time.