Boxxed

I made the above for my 3D project. The transparent cube is made out of resin with tablets floating in it. The other cube is made out of perspex.They are supposed represent how using drugs such as steroids to enhance physical appearance can make you look good on the outside but can ruin your insides. I had to make the persepex cube twice. The 1st time i used 1 piece of plastic to make a set and then bent the it. this looked scruffy as the edges did not meet properly. The second time round I used 5 seperate bits of perspex and glued them together. In order to make the pills float in the middle of the resin a had to half fill the mould with resin and leave that to set. Once I had done that i put the pills in and poured more resin to full the mold. Unfortunately some of the pills I put in floated to the top of the resin leaving two imprints in the surface, however I quite like this accident as it creates negative space in the resin.I am going to mount it on a clay stand.

Bacon Vs Hughes

(*= Next Subject)

*For contextual studies I am comparing Francis Bacon's - Figures in a landscape (1956, top left) and Arthur Hughes - The long Engagement (1855, top right). Both of these paintings are on show in Birmingham museum and art gallery. The paintings were produced nearly exactly 100 years apart. Although the paintings are radically different there are some key elements which are similar, for example both paintings feature two figures. The figures in Bacon's painting appear to be in a violent embrace - whether this is a representation of a sporting clinch or a sexual act is debatable. The Figures in Hughes painting are based on the Shakespeare characters Orlando and Rosalind who are unable to marry because of poor financial circumstances. There is a lot of symbolism in this painting, such as the ivy creeper, to represent the story behind it. To further my research i am going to watch the film 'Love is the Devil' which is about Francis Bacon. There are a lot of information sources available to investigate Bacon. I am also lucky enough to have visited his exhibition at Tate Britain last year. Hughes I am somewhat less familiar with, I have been to Central library and found a couple of books about his work which have been helpful.*Today i finished my 'Cakes' drawing (see earlier posts). Overall I have spent 7 hours working on it. I am fairly pleased with the end result however I could easily spent another three hours on it to make it perfect. The pastle colours I have used are all very light (white,cream,pink) I need to use some darker colours such as blues and browns to give the picture more depth.*I have been doing a bit of research about the film maker Tim Burton. I watched a short film he and Rick Heinrichs made called 'Vincent.'I love the way it merges 2D and 3D animation to create unique style.*I have been looking as some images of Jackson Pollocks work, he does so called 'action painting' using his whole body to fling paint on to a canvas . I find his work erratic and exciting, I can imagine him throwing all his enery and passion onto a canvas. It is this act of creating the painting rather than the finished article itself that I admire about his work. The photographer Hans Namuth has captured some fantastic images on Pollock at work. I am going to try and capture this method of painting in a short film I am making for my fine art project.

Superficial Steroids

I made these sculptures out of clay a couple of weeks ago. I got them back from the kiln today. The are inspired by the famous Jean Paul Gaultier perfume bottles. I am pleased with the final result they look quite realistic.

Today i have worked hard on my 3D project. The brief I am working to is 'positive and negative.'I am exploring the effects of using drugs such as steroids to enhance the male physique. On the positive side drugs can increase muscle mass, which many men would be pleased with. On the negative side steroids can seriously damage health. Also Muscle gained from steroids is also very superficial. To visually create my idea I made a cube out of transparent resin with tablets floating in it. I then made a cube casing out of perspex which the resin cube sits in, the case leaves one side of the sculpture exposed. The shell and the resin then fit into one another to create a positive and negative structure. Previously I was considering making a resin statue of a male torso with pills floating in it, however I thought this would be taking my idea too literally.

I haven't stopped today! I had a Eureka moment earlier about my fine art project. I am making a bizarre surreal film inspired by Dali. I want to use an old camera, a fish and some paint...to make a stop animation film....gonna take forever though!Watch this space it will be weird I guarantee.

Today i have also been researching Ralph Stead. He is one of my favourite illustrators, he did the pictures for 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.'I have got a poster of some of his work on my bedroom wall actually!Anyway...I like his use of block colours and shading as well as the bizarre, sinister characters in his work. I think his images are powerful, they evoke emotion...but I'm not sure what emotion.Good Stuff....

Fishy Friday

Today I went to BCU open day, I took a tour of Visual Communication and Fine Art. I have fallen in love with the Margret Street Art School it is where I would love to do my degree! I need to really focus on getting an outstanding portfolio ready for when I get an interview, apparently there were 400 applicants last year and only around 100 places...lots of competition!The building itself is beautiful, its old fashioned and modern at the same time, I love it!
Whilst in Birmingham I went to the fish market and took some photos for my fine art project. The photo above is of some fish heads. I was intrigued to why anyone would want to buy fish heads...any ideas?Anyway I thought it was interesting how animal heads were just being sold in the same way as any man made mass produced product would be. Just stacked up all looking the same, something about it doesn't seem right. I also took some pictures of octopus and squid it is hard to imagine them as living creatures, they look like a splats of goo.I don't no if I'm soft, but i always feel sorry for animals when i see them dead on a market...even if they are tasty. I thought I could make a stop motion film using a dead sea creature and reanimate it, like a fish zombie...maybe.
Ideas---This evening I have been thinking about the way the media generally represent the human body. Women as super skinny and men as toned and muscular.This lead me to think about anorexia in women and steroid abuse in men. It seems a paradox that people put their health at risk in order to achieve the so called perfect body. I want to incorporate this idea into my 3D project. I might make a perfect male torso made out of pills :)

Hustle

Hi, this is a photo of me with not enough hours sleep....Today I volunteered to help out on the film set for the BBC drama Hustle (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007gf9k).It was filmed at Millennium Point in Birmingham at FEED studios. My visual applications teacher - Adam - runs the studio so he arranged the experience for me and my classmate. We had to be on set at 7.30am -  we helped setting up the computers and graphics for about half an hour. The rest of the day we spent observing what was going on and asking questions. The director Colin Teague Directed episodes of Holby City and Doctor Who, which is pretty impressive. He was very friendly, he spent some time explaining what was going on and how a film set works. It was all very exciting....lunch was delicious too!

Trapped In my mind

Today I attempted to produce some images on photoshop for the zine I am making. The Zine is called '1 Second of Happiness' it is about my battles with depression and things I have used to escape it (Drugs, Alcohol, Partying,Sex....all lifes little pleasures basically.)I am using photographs I have taken or set up myself, as well as magazine cuttings and still shots of films I like.I am also using text from my old diary. Above is a photograph taken for my zine....yes, I am naked but i thought it was cool and tasteful...it is supposed to be me feeling trapped in my own mind set.

I also did some research on Venus of Willendorf a statue that dates back to 24000Bc. It is supposed to be the oldest representation of the female form discovered. The status shows the a woman with massive boobs and a huge arse, her pubic region is also unshamefully on show. I did a comparison of this Venus and the traditional Venus portrayed in Sandro Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus'. In this painting Venus is coveing her modesty and is not particularry curvy. It shows how attitudes towards woman sexuality have changed over years, and turned into something ot be ashamed of.

Chalk Cakes

Today I have spent about 4 hours doing this picture on A1 paper with pastels. I started off drawing the basic geometric shapes in soft pencil and then worked into that with pastels. I am pleased with the cake on the right i think it looks 3D...i also like the contrast of light and dark shades on it going from top to bottom.I think the jam tart is starting to look realistic too.I am going to continue this drawing next week....i need to put more darker shades in the french fancy and draw a reflection of the cakes in the wine glass. My main focus on this picture next week will be to work into the negative space around the cakes and glass and turn the white background into a paper plate. I was chuffed today when a few people said they liked my picture :) woo!