Black & White

It's surprisingly fun working from my photographs bringing them up to a much larger scale! Here is just a quick one I did on A1 black sugarpaper with a white oil pastel :P Oh but first heres the image I worked from:

 

And my quick drawings:

 

 

 

Big Close Up Drawings

As part of my project I'm continuing to make these rather large drawings, using the wall as my table. So, here are a few images of the most recent ones I've done :)

charcoal and eraser on an A1 sheet

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 I was advised to try some paper folding, so by using my leafy photographs as references I gave it a shot!

 I noted how the veins could not be accurately recreated by simply folding the page, so I took an A1 page and crumpled it up as much as I possibly could. The veins in a leaf are random and intricate

Above is the finished page. I used compressed charcoal to highlight all the protruding crumples of the page. I like how it defines between the positive and negative areas. I was happy with the overall result and think I will definitely be trying this technique in various ways :) 

Ceramics Seminar

On Tuesday last I attended a Ceramics Seminar, which was a lot of fun! It thought me to maybe not be so particular about my work, that its good to just mess around sometimes and loosen up! It really helped me with my studio work also, before this I was kind of working at a slow pace and I didn't have much inspiration as to what direction to go in next but since Tuesday I've been working lots and getting things done :) Here are some images of the eh.. very 'freestyle' blowtorch I had fun messing around with:

Here are two of the minute drawings we had to do at the beginning of the seminar to help us loosen up and get more comfortable with making mistakes 

Images of my 'wild' Blowtorch!

Had fun just really messing about with it :)

Leaf Vains

Getting up close and personal with my drawings as I was advised turned out to be more enjoyable that I had anticipated (I guess I'm more of a crafty person). I started bringing my drawing up to a whole bigger scale by   taping paper together and hanging it on my wall and just basically going for it! So I've been doing a few of these and kinda experimenting and all that jazz.

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This is one drawing I completed today. I used Willow Charcoal to do the outline of my leaf and to imitate the little veiny bits I used a PVA and tissue roll.

An overall view of the image. I was quite happy with how it turned out! 

Another close-up of the image. I lightly brushed over the tissue with the charcoal to make the 'veins' more prominent 

Richard Sweeney

Earlier in my blog I mentioned the work of artist Richard Sweeney. He makes absolutely fantastic pieces of work by using paper and folding it in different places to create the final piece! He also does a good bit of photography work and I found him though recommendation from one of my group 3 tutors, Elaine. He has taken some very interesting Macro shots of different bits and pieces but probably what I find most interesting about his work is how you really have to examine it and look closer to get an idea of what the subject might be!

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I really like the pattern that's going on here and also the fact that he's taken the image in black and white which I thing really highlights the texture and the negative and positive spaces

 This image really interests me for the reason that I am still trying to figure out what it is he has capture. To me it looks like some type of insect, although it seems more like a macro shot of Velcro or something of the sort.

Here (below) is a macro shot of a seed pod and again I love the use of black and white. It can really give depth and life to an image!

  

 

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There are some other shots he has taken of more man made objects but I'm more interested in the natural organic pieces for my project. I would love to see some more of his work like this but unfortunately its not easy found as he seems to prefer taking shots of his beautifully intricate 3D pieces.

Frances Lambe

Please excuse my little delay in updating my blog the past few days, with our Progress Reviews next week (mine Monday) I've been desperately searching for some motivation to get me kick started again. In this time I've been working on my notes and also my Contextual notebook, which I really enjoy! I'm coming across some very interesting artists whose work relates to me and my work in some way. One being the inspirational Frances Lamb.

I first got intrigued by her work upon seeing it in the Bluewall Gallery in Co. Cavan last year. The shapes, forms, textures of her work are beautiful. I love how each piece she makes is based on something that has significance and meaning to her (and this is where I come in). From the work of hers that I have seen it’s inspiring to see how she always works from nature. She sees feels and experiences things in her everyday life and in the hobbies that she does that inspires her pieces.

I hope to do this through my work also. In the way that my passion is to photograph things and more recently for this project, beautiful aspects of nature that I feel are taken for granted every day. Anyway, I just wanted to show you some of the works by Frances Lambe that particularly appeal to me :)

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I love the peculiar 'flow' this piece has to its form. It seems so organic in its colour and texture, almost like a stone or pebble found on a river bed that had been smoothed by the water. The markings remind me of star constellations.

Perhaps not the best image as the selection of this particular piece seems limited (as is my knowledge of technology). For me this piece is quite nature orientated and organic. The ring of little toadstool looking pieces seem almost fairytale like.

 

 

This piece is my favourite as it looks just like rain running down a window or on a clear surface. I love being able to include the element of water or ice in my work in some way and I really love Lambe's precision in making this seem as though it is just that.

 

Work Work Woreeehjbgfrwjbf... ugh

Need I say any more? I'm sat here trying to decipher the code that is my c.c.s notes. I really enjoy Art History, and have since my school days but for some reason every time I try to research, Facebook seems to advance onto my screen...? Does this happen to anyone else or just me?

Tell me something... Is it possible to get out of the wrong side of the bed when there are two people in the bed? I don't know, like would you physically have to roll over the other person to make your exit or push them out first then get up yourself? Or on that day does your side of the bed automatically become the wrong side? Which in fact means you’d be safer departing on the other side of the bed thus rolling over and/or pushing the other person out.... Hmmm food for thought as my mother would say! I'm not even cranky, just hungry... and maybe a little whiney. Rant over! (promise).