“PAINT” was our second project of the year, we were set to explore painting as a contemporary and abstract medium and use it in a way that expands out of our comfort zones. The three-week project began with recycling our sculptures from the previous project to create recycled supports to paint on. We also used the Free Use Hub to find different kinds of supports of different shapes, materials and sizes.

I began with taking my reference pictures, these images included a lot of natural and soft-coloured backgrounds set in forests and outdoor areas. This inspired my idea of creating paintings using cold tones and using paint to display the visual changing of seasons.

Reference examples:

I then began exploring using these references and working with the idea of painting with cold tones. I didn’t sketch or initially plan my paintings; instead, I went straight into it to explore and experiment with new ideas.

I started the painting by testing out contrasting colours to compliment the skin tones, you can see the use of blues and greens that stand out and blend into the skin.

Further experimenting and starting to play with the background and use of lines with complimentary colours. I kept my paint loose and focused on creating texture and movement instead of a realistic portrait.

Close-ups and progress images.

Details using acrylic thickening mediums with a pallet knife.

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Using my second wooden board I started to loosely paint on a cool blue tone as my background, again keeping my paint strokes fluid and expressive.

I added the outline of my sketch along with some thick areas of paint. To do this I used a thick acrylic modelling paste medium mixed it with my paint and applied it with a pallet knife. I gradually layered up the medium, allowing it to dry each time.

Some close-ups and process images of my second painting.

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Using card, I started to paint a smaller piece to contrast the size and shape of my first two paintings on wood. I approached this painting in a similar fluid style and started to play with harsher shapes and lines in the background, unlike the other paintings where I was using much softer shapes and curves.

 

To finish off my painting project, I did another painting on card, following a similar style to the previous paintings on card and then I did an experimental painting on canvas material, again using acrylic thickener and a pallet knife.

 

Studio images!

Nov 17, 2023

“We Are This Thing” was our first project of the year, it was a sculpture-based project that could be anything from an animal to a prop, costume or animatronic. There was a clear variation in ideas among all the students but our group chose to do a piece inspired by “under the sea”. With the parade being outside, the idea was to use materials that would be exaggerated in an outdoor environment, for example, we used paper chains to replicate the tentacles of a squid that would move organically in the wind and create water-like sounds with movement.

We did not immediately choose this idea and went back and forth on changing ideas within the group, from ideas on a smaller scale to ideas much more abstract and less literal than an underwater themed sculpture.

Our sculptures started off with a rectangular wooden structure base and then we added thin and flexible sticks from each corner to create a pointed shape, this was then covered by a thin sheet of white fabric, hot glued onto the structure. The idea from this point was to layered different fabric and use multiple mediums to create a colourful and textural look of a squid. We tested this with many different fabrics and materials and found it was not appearing in the way we had in mind.

From this point we started to change our idea of how we wanted to create our sculpture. Instead, we mixed up glue and water with strips of magasine and started to paper mache on top of the fabric. We did two layers of this over two days and it created a strong structure that had a much more distinct shape. Because of this new texture, we had a great base to paint on, using mostly red, yellows and pinks with complimentary blues, our squid started to take shape.

We also creates two curved shapes, made from foam material and paper mache, that would sit on each side of the squid. Two eyes were made in the same way, using foam material and covering it in paper mache.

After this, we began to attach our tentacles, first with the ones made from light blue foam fabric cut into a smooth and curved shape, we also used transparent dark green plastic and cut it to appear like sea weed for extra detail around the tentacles. Later on, we created paper chains with a variation of colours to appear as tentacles. When parading, these created a great water-like sound that added much more dimension to our sculpture.

With everything attached and the final details added, our squid was finished and ready for the parade. We were all able to get inside of the squid when parading and move it around to simulate underwater movements and sounds!

Oct 6, 2023