Year 11 Art - 9

Although I have already formed a piece consisting of a celtic knot, I felt that other versions of the same and even different celtic patterns were needed to show that it is genuinely meant to be involved in my work. Using water colour paper, water colour paint and acrylic paint. I painted half of a celtic knot in black acrylic paint and used different water colour paints to fill in the free spaces within the pattern. Around the knot, I used purple acrylic paint and faded out the strong colour using a clear gel medium. The further away from the knot, the lighter the shade of purple. Once again, using purple to tie in with my other pieces.
Also, I have begun with sketching other ideas for my three larger pieces. Some of the ideas consist of the half celtic pattern, using the roots from the woodcut print, as well as tree branches separately. These are some ideas which I am looking at turning into stencils for spray painting. I am looking at using blue, yellow, white and silver spray paint for these stencils. I decided to go against the use of purple spray paint as I want to use purple acrylic paint instead.

Year 11 Art - 8

I have now completed my woodcut and printed it on the paper using purple ink. The use of the colour purple helps to tie this piece in with the other two pieces which I have made for my board. I found that the print looked plain the first time I tried it, so then I tried to add a bit more detail to show different textures. Parts from this woodcut which I am hoping to use in other pieces are the roots of the tree, as well as the line separating the ground from the sky in the middle of the print.
My next focus will be on finding other small subject pieces to work together with what I already have. The reason for this is because my second panel is going to consist of three horizontal pieces. The plan for these three pieces is spray paint a background with multiple colours and using  objects to help with gaining different textures. Then continuing to form and use stencils to layer on top of the background. After the stencils, then using acrylic paints, adding in whatever I need to allow the piece to work together.

Year 11 Art - 7

So far I have finished two pieces for my first panel. These two pieces are linked together, connecting my idea of intertwined stems or vines and celtic patterns. Both are done with black pencil drawn and shaded over top of water colour paints on A3 water colour paper. There can be multiple interpretations of the two pieces. One perspective can be that the lines are a confused mess trying to make sense of themselves, eventually falling into a natural order. Sort of like when a single person is thinking too hard about what is going on in their life, and not allowing everything to just fall into place the way that they should natural fall.
Originally, I was going to stop with just having the water colour background and black pencil, however I felt that it wasn't enough. To add more detail into both pieces, I added in dark green, blue and white paint in the background to give extra depth. Also, painting over the black pencil lines with black acrylic paint to make the lines look bolder.
For my next art work, I am wanting to do a wood cut print. I want to use the same idea of 'natural' in the wood cut. I have a drawing of a tree from the roots to the branches, with a line either side showing where the level of the ground would be.

Art History - Level 1

Swamped by Peter Doig

Oil on a canvas - 77.5 x 95 inches (197 x 241 cm)

This piece of artwork from Peter Doig, is of the Magic Realism genre, sharing an eerie feel with it's audience. Within this oil painting, we see a 'swamp land', including a background coated in trees, along with a lake, holding a reflection which confuses the eye with a complex paint application. There is an intentional want for a romantic, but uncertainty. The main focus is on the canoe, in the sense that it stands out - the use of white as the colouring is very effective. However, the shape of the canoe gives off a slightly fake impression, also because of the impeccable, yet so simple painting of the canoe, having a perfect reflection. Also, by using a single, motionless canoe as a staple piece, it sends questions to the audience - Why is there a canoe sitting in the middle of the lake? Also seen, are tree stumps, scattered through the artwork, as well as the trees of the background casting shadows into over the lagoon. Peter Doig successfully uses the concept of a reflective surface to portray a magical, but meticulously realistic image.
Also, if you closely below the moon in the painting, there looks to be a small structure - like a cabin. Is there someone in there? That was my first thought when I finally recognised, after many times of looking at it, that there was actually something there. It has made me realise, that a lot more can be seen if you keep looking.

Doig has explained that in this piece, that the use of reflection helped to create a wider image than what would have been intended. "The mirroring opened up another world. It went from being something like a recognisable reality to something more magical" is how Doig described this artwork.

Peter Doig has mentioned that a lot of his work is inspired by what he has seen in photographs, or things which he has photographed. What he does, is takes the image and recreates it through the eye of magic realism. His final pieces are intentionally made to look slightly disorientated in order to support the magic realism feel. Rather than using new oil, he prefers to use it from old tubes and tins, as a way of gaining inspiration for texture in his work.

There are techniques which Doig has used in Swamped that shows how he works well with different textures. Using oils, he painted this piece on quite a large landscape canvas (197cm x 241cm). He seems to have used brushes of different sizes, but it also looks as though he has used the edge of a palette knife to form finer lines in the artwork.
The colours used to create this artwork really add to the magic realism effect. It also looks as though Doig has flicked red, yellow, and white coloured oil paint off his brushes to give a speckled effect. It also looks as though he has used the edge of a palette knife to form fine areas - like the thin tree branches - in the artwork.

Few questions arise when viewing this artwork. When looking at it briefly, there are obvious questions making a point, however, if you were to look further into detail, there is a lot more behind the main objects.

Year 11 Art - 6

Ideas for my portfolio

To start off with, I really struggled with finding a way of starting off my portfolio. I began with drawing, and I came to find that I was drawing and shading what looked like tangled thorns. From there, I was guided into the direction of Celtic patterns. Celtic patterns are a range of knots which have been stylized into looking organised and were originally implemented in religious monuments by the Celts - a group of people. It is believed that the 'Celtic' reference, is aimed toward the European Iron Age. Celtic art is seen as the product of the growth of Christian religion in early Britain and Ireland, when they combined with the native styles of Mediterranean influences.

Celtic circles are known as one of the earlier designs and are believed to represent a 'life-force'. Celtic knots are seen more in Christian manuscripts and are formed with the idea in mind to keep a continuous connection throughout the line. Celtic key patterns, can be recognised as spirals in straight lines.
  

The drawing which I have already begun to draw, is a disorganised mix between the Celtic circles and knots. With my work, I am hoping to make my version through tangled thorns in the center of the surface, and the further out, the more separated and organised the thorns will look.
When it comes to producing these patterns in my own work, I hope to use more shading, rather than using the bold shades of black and white. I would like to show more depth and texture in my work. I am wanting to gain an a emotive response through my portfolio, and I think that be working with the Celtic art idea, I could work around with possible colour and different paint application to draw more meaning out of it. Even though I personally don't have a strong religious background, I feel that this could start off my work.

Year 11 Art - 5

Planning my Portfolio

So far, I started to plan my portfolio. My idea is to draw emotion from the audience. In order to gain an emotional response, I'm wanting to start off by working with different textures. So I will be beginning with square blocks trying different forms of textures. I'm using Vincent van Gogh's work to give me a few ideas on the kind of textures I want to use. He used quick but expressive brushstrokes, but also used intense colour to help show how passionate he was about the art he created. I'm also heading in the direction of abstract art. I feel that this genre of art, could hold a deep meaning, attempting to draw out an emotional response.

Year 11 Art - 4

Monday 27 February



Swamped
Artist: Peter Doig
Year: 1990
Medium: The medium used in this work is oil. It is applied with brushes with fine strokes to a canvas.
Genre of art: Pastoral
Period: This artwork is from the time of Magic Realism time period

I chose to look further into this piece of artwork, because the purpose of some areas within the work, leave me questioning. Why is the reflection of the forestry different to what is displayed on land? Why is there short tree stumps in the reflection which look incomplete? And one that really gets me is, why is there a canoe in the water, with no one actually using it.

Year 11 Art - 3

Wednesday 22 February

So far, I have completed a few idea pages, and two pages with of drawing to help me get a fair idea of what I'm heading towards. I've decided that I want my artwork to be along the lines of ambition, optimism, positivity, and looking forward into the future, because I feel that there isn't enough of that happening.
For me, I'm ambitious in the way that I'm determined to do well in the things which I enjoy doing the most. I like being able to build on the things which I enjoy doing, and trying to make it something which I'm good at. I've found that keeping an open and positive mind helps, therefore, I will be holding onto that when it comes to working on my portfolio.

Year 11 Art - 2

8 February 2017

This year in art, I am wanting to produce more work than last year. I also want to put a lot more effort into my work and I feel that I need to come up with more detailed ideas to gain a stronger idea of exactly I want to produce. Last year, I found myself not knowing exactly what I wanted to do, so I just added to my work as I went along. Doing my work that way, usually ended in me not really liking the finish as much as I had hoped. So, this year, I want to ensure that I have a stronger idea as to what I'm actually doing, and taking more care of the ideas I have by writing them down more often.

So far, I still haven't completely decided what I want my overall theme to be this year as I have come up with a few which I quite like. At the moment, I'm still looking through books on some artwork from different artists. I'm looking more in depth on the work which catches my eye and I'm trying to find out how they got the ideas shown in their work.

I'm leaning towards something along the lines of being an individual and showing strength in my own opinion. But, I am also considering going ahead with a topic which I personally am not involved in, but more to show my awareness of any crisis going on around the world. I am interested in making people more aware of things like refugees not being allowed into safer countries - in particular, the United States. Also, something which concerns me, is that there are supposed leaders who are trying to run the world to their preference rather than what they're actually meant to be doing - leading.

I have also considered basing my art on something which I enjoy in general, and that is softball. Although the sport is something which I am passionate about, I'm not really sure how I would develop artwork from that source.

Year 11 Art - 1

7 February 2017

Starting this year, I have begun with finding some ideas on what to produce. Firstly, thinking of things I care about or have a strong opinion about. I started off with family, human rights, and the environment. I have managed to come up with a few ideas under the area of human rights. So far, I am heading along the lines of equality in our society - or the lack of.

With a broad idea of inequality within our society, I am beginning to branch off into more detail. Some ideas I have come along are gender, ethnicity, or religion. These ideas also made me think about the topic of discrimination and stereotyping. I feel that I could tie that topic in with the idea of inequality in our society.

I feel strong about being your own person and not trying to be like everyone else. I have found that this topic feels natural because of the way that I'm trying to find an idea which no one else in the classes would think of. Although there is still the chance of someone else having this idea, I feel as though it could be interpreted in many different ways. I just depends on their own understanding of individuality.

For me, showing yourself as an individual, even in a group, means that you're okay with making a point of being where you are. Standing by your own decisions and believing in what you feel is right. There are some people who I feel get individuality - making a point - and attention seeking mixed up. The difference is that seeking for attention usually involves doing the wrong thing and you knowing, whereas showing individuality means that you are making a point which you believe is correct. It may not be right in the end, but you understand why it isn't. All that really matters is that you stood for what you thought.