Camber

A few drawings and photos from the drawing week in Camber. I really enjoyed the life drawing.

'The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.' Albert Einstein

I decided to use my drawings of mushrooms from the Horniman Museum in this project. I felt that the nature of mushrooms was mysterious: their colour, shape, their connection with fantasy and fokelore, their potentially deadliness and the way they can just appear overnight!

I looked at psychedelic posters and wanted to create a 'trippy' style print. I'm not that happy with the outcome!

After I had completed the print I started to consider the context of the quote. With Einstein in mind I did a couple of sketches, I'm quite interested in looking into the 'golden ratio' further.

Etching

I really enjoyed the etching workshop and want to continue using this process in my work.

Minutiae: 'small, precise, or trifling details'

Looking back at the work I had done I found that I am drawn to small or miniature things. I therefore thought that this would make a good theme for my collection.

I chose to put my chosen drawings in frames, this gives a sense of a museum collection and as at was my first time using photoshop I wanted to keep it quite simple.

Source

An intensive couple of weeks with so many things to look at and draw, but really useful!!

I have visited the V&A, Horniman Museum, British Museum, Hunterian Museum, Spitalfields and Camberwell.

 

Gummi Bears

Our first group project and I felt it went quite well! I was involved in the set for our puppet show. We chose to subvert the message in the song because it was so sickly sweet. We didn't want to allude to the twist in the narrative, hence the sweet, kind teddy bears. A teddy bear's picnic gone wrong!

I was just playing around with some blackberries to illustrate the 'gummiberry juice' in the lyrics. It doesn't look like blood but it is still gory!

Su Blackwell

I think creating an illustration from the pages of the book, making the book ‘come to life’ is a magical idea. I like the way she is able to manipulate the paper, it takes a lot of skill. I think she is an interesting artist because she has developed the use of her technique to produce pieces from fabric and created installation pieces. Her use of fabric is relevant to me because I would like to experiment more with this medium. 

Image: http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/

Sir John Everett Millais

I really like Pre-Raphaelite art and the stories that they portray.  Millais’s Ophelia is my favourite, I have seen the painting in the Tate Britain and think the detail is breathtaking. The way he has painted the face and the body half submerged in the water is very clever and realistic.

Image: Tate 

Rachel Whiteread

I really like the miniature world that this piece creates, the composition of the dolls houses staggered in rows successfully imitates a small village. Although a quaint village, the piece has a sense of eeriness because every house is empty and soulless, this is emphasised by the lights which show that they lack furnishing. I think that Rachel Whiteread is an interesting artist, she works in different medias and produces varying pieces of work. 

Image: http://www.tate.org.uk/tateetc/issue20/rachelwhiteread.htm

Tim Walker

These photographs are from a British Vogue shoot (August 2006) ‘England’s dreaming’. The photographs are taken by Tim Walker who works with Shona Heath a set designer.  I really like his fashion photography, which is magical and surreal. The sets are quirky and eccentric and definitely have a sense of Britishness! I like the theatricality that these photographs give to the clothes.

Image: British Vogue, August 2006

William Morris

William Morris is an important designer, not only did he produce ornate complex designs but he championed the use of traditional printing methods. I like the fact that the pieces are produced in this way as I also prefer to use original materials rather than technologically advanced techniques. I really like the focus on nature in his designs and it is a subject that I like to draw. I like this image because you can see how the pattern is developed.

Cath Kidston

I like the patterns that Cath Kidston designs. Although twee and sugary in style they have a nostalgic sense of Britishness that I like.  The strawberry print reminds me of the strawberry print fabric on my highchair. I like the images from nature that these patterns are made up of, in that sense they are similar to the William Morris designs.

Images: http://www.cathkidston.co.uk/default.aspx

Shirley Hughes

My sister and I loved her books when we were little, and they bring back so many childhood memories! I think her illustrations are amazing, they have so much energy, movement and colour. Her drawings of children are so lifelike and this is a skill which i would like to improve. The stories focus on universal childhood experiences, (universal to the ‘english suburban world’ in which they are set) which are relatable to their readers and are able to inspire a sense of adventure. 

Image: 'Out and About' Shirley Hughes

Arthur Rackham

I fell in love last year with a book from my local library called ‘The Golden Age of Children’s Book Illustration’ by Richard Dalby. I thought that all the illustrations were beautifully drawn, but Arthur Rackham’s work particularly stood out. His images are intricate and sensitively drawn with fine outline and muted watercolour. His work certainly inspired me to pursue the area of illustration.

Image: http://malmalrose.blogspot.com/2010/05/feeling-very-undancey.html

Rob Ryan

I really like the technique that Rob Ryan uses to create his images, I have attempted creating cut outs myself but am yet to reach a comparable level of skill or detail! I like the way he incorporates text into his illustrations, this creates a sense of narrative. His images have been used in so many different forms: book covers, greeting cards and also in fashion. Therefore he is relevant to this country because he is very popular. 

Image: http://www.itsrudetostare.com/rob-ryan-–-the-stars-shine-all-day-too/rob-ryan-i-opened-my-heart-orig-papercut-110-x-143-cm-courtesy-of-tag-fine-arts/

Eadweard Muybridge

I think this sequence of photographs beautifully demonstrates the way horses move. They have scientific importance and are also an early form of animation. Although a simple, unfussy composition it is fascinating to see the different shapes and movements of the horse’s legs.

Image: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Muybridge_horse_gallop.jpg

Rohan Eason

I think the detail in this illustration is amazing, the contrast of the black and white shows the intricacy of the drawing, highlighting the interweaving branches which spray out at the edges. The use of lines on the the trunk resembling contours effectively gives the tree tone and shape. 

Image: http://www.illustrationweb.com/artists/RohanEason/view

Linzie Hunter

 

I like the handwritten, free style of Linzie Hunter’s typography. The way she experiments with the mixture of capitals and small case, different thickness of lines and the blocking in of words along with the bold, bright colours, makes eye-catching images. 

Image: http://linziehunter.co.uk/