Drawing a fabric dress - Time lapse

This video shows a time-lapse of me completing the compressed chalk and charcoal drawing of my mothers wedding dress. This was roughly 4 hours of work crammed into 22 seconds.

Visual evaluation

 I have produced a visual evaluation page, analysing each of my final pieces.

The first piece I have produced is a plastered baby grow in the style of Alison Watt and Alasdair Tompson. I have taken the idea of preserving the folds in the fabric and preserving a meaningful garment from these artists. Consequently, I have plastered of my nephews baby grows and mounted it on board.

I have then drawn from this garment in the style of Leonardo Da Vinci and Mark Powell. These images show a step by step progress of the drawing as I completed it. I Chose to draw it using compressed charcoal and chalk and completed in in black and white in the style of Da Vinci. Notice how I have placed emphasis on the folds of the fabric, by creating light and dark areas using the contrast between black and white. I have taken inspiration for this idea from Mark Powell who really emphasises the wrinkles in peoples faces to symbolise a life lived and a story to tell. this is what I want to viewer to feel when the view this drawing.   

This is the finished piece. This is about A1 size, if not slightly larger. Therefore, it is too large to fit inside of the chest and the plastered garment will go inside but this will be shown on an easel alongside the chest.  

To unify these final pieces, I have used an old chest which I had at home. This is an image of me fixing the chest on to its base using nails and thin pieces of wood. this chest would eventually enclose all of my final pieces.

            

Once the chest was fixed to its base, I could begin to fix the large mass of plastered fabric onto its corner. To do this, I firstly had to protect the wood of the chest using bind bags and cling-film to prevent the plaster from soaking into the wood.

I then had to mix up a large volume of plaster and dip this large sheet of Calico into it. This was the most trickiest part of this process. It was a matter of minutes before the plaster would dry and so it was very intense trying to make sure that the fabric was completely covered in plaster. I then had to carry the plaster and position it on to the side of the chest. This was even more difficult because of the weight of it. I used balls of scrunched newspaper to give the fabric more form and emphasise it folds. Within minutes, the plaster was drying and so moulding it became more and more difficult. It took around 2-3 days for the plaster to dry, however I was very pleased with the finished product.

I really like the contrast between the brown wood and the white fabric. It looks natural which is what I wanted. once it was dry I could add in all of my symbolic objects including the plastered baby grow.

Another object which still needed to be put inside of the chest was the board which had the drawing of my uncle Ray. This drawn was drawn upon a letter which my mother wrote about him after his death and is therefore very personal. This drawing was completed with inspiration from Mark Powell, in pencil on paper. These images show a step-by-step of how the drawing was completed.  

I am very please with the completed board. As you can see, I have placed emphasis on the wrinkled in his face. I have defined his cheek bones and the ripples in his arm. Like Mark Powell, this acts as a symbol of a life lived. There is a message hidden within these lines which defines the life he lived,. This is again a personal drawing which will be put inside of the protected, preserved chest.

The third piece that will be included in my installation is a drawing of my mothers wedding dress. This has been produced in a similar style to the baby grow, except I have introduced a brown tinge to the chalk. This drawing as bee produced from a photograph which I have taken in the style of Tom hussy. These photographs can be seen altogether in the united final piece at the end of this post. Likewise to the baby grown and the drawing of my uncle, I have again placed emphasis on the fold in the fabric like Mark Powel, Alison Watt and Leonardo Da Vinci. I wanted to express the life that this dress has had. It is my mothers and so has a certain personal reflectivity associated to me. Within each of the folds of the fabric tells a story about my mother. This is something I hope the viewer will reflect upon when viewing this piece. This is a large scale drawing and so will be hung next to the chest. The dress itself from which it was drawn will feature inside of the chest so everything links together. These images are of a step by step to producing the final drawing:

The final product therefore can be seen below. This is my installation with inspiration from Louis Bourgeois. The chest can be seen centred in the middle, which includes the drawing of my uncle, the plastered baby grow and my mothers wedding dress. Surrounding the chest are the photographs which I have taken in the style of Tom hussy and separating these 6 photographs is the drawing of my mothers wedding dress which is featured in the photographs. this has been drawn in the style of Mark Powell and Leonardo Da Vinci. The garment itself can be seen on the left corner of the chest. Finally, to the left of this photograph is the drawing of the plastered baby grown which is also in the style of Leonardo Da Vinci, Alasdair Tompson and Mark Powell.

Hidden between the folds of the fabric and surrounded by various objects of my mother and grandmother is my essay. This has been presented in a Bell Jar which is also a symbol of preservation. I first came across this idea in the Saatchi Gallery when looking at the taxidermist Polly Morgan who displays many of her works in bell jars. I thought that this would also be a fitting idea in which to display my essay. The essay itself has been printed onto a scroll of coffee washed paper which again links to the idea of a meaningful surface.

Overall I am very pleased with my outcome. I have followed a journey in this project and I have managed to incorporate personal meaning and reflectivity and I have taken the title of 'Reflection' into an unusual and different dimension.

Design ideas for final piece

I have created a visual design ideas page which shows the links between the artists I have researched and how I have come to produce each of my final pieces. Since I have multiple final pieces, I feel that this is a very important page in order to understand the linkage between each piece.

At the start of my project, I started by looking at the literal meaning of 'Reflection' and the values needed to be able to reflect. This led to look at artists such as M.C. Escher who drew from reflective surfaces. I developed this idea further by drawing my self-portrait from a mirror. This sparked my inspiration of drawing people. I began to somehow try and include my family in this title. I started to move from literal reflection in to personal reflection. Once I had decided that I wanted to somehow incorporate my family into the project, I knew that I would need to practice drawing the human form in order to show development in my portfolio. As a result, I enrolled myself into life drawing classes once a week on a Tuesday evening at the Jam factory in Oxford. The drawings I produced here would be my response to various life drawing artists such as Jenny Saville and Edgar Degas. I took inspiration from these artists because of their interesting compositions and the techniques they used to draw which included pencil and pastel.

I then attended various gallery visits with the On form exhibition having the greatest impact upon my work. I started to move towards garment preservation. this would eventually link to my life drawing as I would draw the garments that belong to the people that I would draw. Since visiting the On-form exhibition, I came across the sculptor, Mark Powell. I was completely inspired by his works of carving personal garments out of solid stone. I emailed this artist, asking him a variety of questions about his works. He then became my main inspiration for my project. From here, I produced my own sculptor out of sand stone after visiting Joslins Stone Masonry. I chose to carve a sculpture in the shape of a cube. On this cube I carved the initials of every body in my immediate family, including my mother, father, sister, nephew and myself. By doing so, the cube was no longer a block of stone but rather a symbol of family unity. This was inspired by the concept of Mark Powell who added personal meaning to the stone he was carving. I then visited the Saatchi Gallery in London and came across the installation artist Rafael Gómezbarros. he had produced an installation of ant, made out of casts from human skull and other natural materials to symbolise the plight of thousands of immigrants who die each year whilst seeking refuge. This gave me the idea of using such symbols within my own work and this helped me to place a greater meaning behind my own stone carving.

After many emails of correspondence with Alasdair Tomson, I became more and more inspired by the idea of preserving garments. From here, I began researching drapery artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Alison Watt. Because I wasn't skilled enough to produce a stone carving of a garment like Mark Powell, Alison Watt inspired me to preserve garments in a different way. I used plaster. From here, I practiced preserving various articles of clothing in plaster and mounting them on to white boards. I chose garments which had a personal relation to be such as the clothing of my nephew. This gave me the concept of preservation and the allowance to reflect upon the people whose garments I had preserved.

I then decided to draw from these preserved garments in the style of Leonardo Da Vinci. I used compressed charcoal and chalk on top of brown and off-white paper.

After much practice with drapery studies, I decided to go back to my family members who were the owners of the garments which I was drawing. I took inspiration from Mark Powell who draws within significant detail to the face. He places large emphasis on the folds/wrinkles of the face which to him is a symbol of a live lived and a story within the folds. Using this idea, I drew my garments with great emphasis on the folds in the fabric. This is evident within my final pieces of the baby grow and wedding dress where the folds and crinkles of the fabric and significantly emboldened and highlighted. I also took the inspiration from Mark Powell of drawing on top of a meaningful surface. Powell chooses to draw his figures on top of envelopes, or old pieces of paper that somehow related to the person being drawn. I have taken this idea and developed it by drawing my uncle on top of a letter which my mother wrote about him after his death. This has great personal meaning and great emotion attached to it.

I then decided to take photograph of the garments which I was going to plaster or draw. I took inspiration from Tom Hussey and from a photograph which I found on the internet of a girl in a white dress. This sparked my imagination of drawing my mothers wedding dress. This would be in the style of Mark Powell and Leonardo Da Vinci and would be place inside of my installation alongside the garment itself. The photographs would also be placed inside of my installation.

Consequently, all of my pieces link. I have three main themes running through my work. The idea of garment preservation, the idea of drawing family members associated with these garments and the idea of photographing these garments from which I would drawn from. However, each of these themes is united by one large concept. the concept of personal reflectivity and the idea of a personal journey which opens up the past.

Because of my multiple final pieces and because of the themes running through my portfolio. I needed a way of unifying them all. For this I decided to create an installation which would include each of my final pieces. I took inspiration from the installations of Rafael Gómezbarros and the French-American artist Louise Bourgeois. I settled on the idea of creating a room or area which would be filled with my symbolic final pieces. I used the idea of a chest which is a symbol of hidden treasure. This would enclose the various object such as the board of my uncle ray, in the style of Mark Powell, and the plastered baby grow of my nephew. The chest would also contain various other objects from other family members including my mother. From inspiration from Alison Watt, I would also have a large piece of plastered fabric emerging from inside of the chest which would be a symbol of the spillage of memories or reflection. Surrounding the chest would be drawings of the garments of objects which feature inside of the chest. I would draw the plastered baby grow in the style of Leonardo Da Vinci and this would be positioned alongside the chest. I would also draw on a large scale my mothers wedding dress which would be photographed in the style of Tom Hussey. These photographs will be hung around the chest. This large scale drawing of the wedding dress will be hung next to the chest.

This installation is a way of unifying all of my pieces. This installation will be on a large scale and will hopefully be positioned in the corner of a room in which the viewer the openly question the meaning behind each object.

As a way of showing development and my thought processes in my project, I have produced a small book showing my design ideas. I have produced a small drawing of each A1 sheet I have produced in this portfolio. This is a way of showing how I have thought about each and every single page. Towards the end of this book are my sketches of my final pieces.

Taking inspiration from an installation artist- Louise bourgeois

Since I have multiple final pieces, I have decided to create an installation to show case my work. For this idea, I have taken inspiration from Louise Bourgeois. She was a French-American artist and sculptor. I came across her work when browsing through various London gallery's and more specifically the Tate Modern. She showcased her work there in 2007-2008 and I was immediately influenced by it after seeing it on the internet. She has a major concept behind her work which is something I can relate to because all of my pieces have one thing in common. They are all about family, the reflection on the past and  the emphasis of  not forgetting the people that you love.

I have produced an artist response page to her work which uses only natural materials. Bourgeois has produced a vast amount of work, including sculptures and paintings. However, I have focused my attention on her installation works which she referred to as 'Cells'. She produced two series of these installations whilst in her late 80s.  Many are small enclosures into which the viewer is able to peer inward at the arrangement of symbolic objects, whilst others are small rooms into which the viewer is invited to enter. I have taken inspiration from this idea because I want the viewer of my work to be able to enter my installation to get a feel of every single object which I put into it because each one had a hidden message and acts as a symbol of my reflection upon my past.

In the cell pieces, Bourgeois uses found objects as well as personal items that carried strong personal emotional charge for her. This is also an idea I can relate to. I would like to place objects into my installation which also have a strong emotional attachment to me personally. This would give my installation a greater meaning and concept which the viewer can question.

Bourgeois' cells enclose psychological and intellectual states, primarily feelings of fear and pain, which Bourgeois states represent “different types of pain; physical, emotional and psychological, mental and intellectual pain',
One theme of Bourgeois' work which is evident in her installations is that of childhood trauma and hidden emotion. Her 1993 work "Cell: You Better Grow Up",  which I have taken inspiration from, speaks directly to Louise's childhood trauma and the insecurity that surrounded her.


I have taken inspiration from Bourgeois of using a concept to surround my work. It is clear that Bourgeois cells represent the idea of child hood trauma, and it is evident in many of her sculptors that they represent certain periods of her life. This personal relation to her work and the emotions that are attached to each and every object is something I would like to build on. I would also like to create a 'cell' in the style of Louise Bourgeois. However, mine will be surrounded my the concept of personal reflectivity and each object within my installation or 'cell' will reflect upon a person or moment in time which I wish to reflect on and remember.
As a refinement of this idea and in preparation of my final piece, I have produced a response to Bourgeois in the form of a Marquette of my final piece. This is a visual design idea which will allow me to decide the best way to showcase my emotions.

 On my A1 artist research page, I have included a design for my response to the artist and therefore a design idea for my final piece. I plan to enclose my Marquette in a box. This will form my 'cell' in which my symbolic items will be enclosed. In a large scale reproduction, this box will perhaps symbolise the corner of a room where my life size objects will eventually be displayed.

Since I have numerous final pieces, I wanted to find a way in which I could enclose all of these and yet at the same time would still be a symbolic and reflective idea. Resultantly, I came up with the idea of enclosing my personal objects inside of a wooden chest or Ottoman. A chest is often the symbol of treasure or hidden objects and therefore would be the perfect object for enclosing my personal objects which all have a hidden meaning and personal emotion attached to them.

Inside this chest, I would put in various object including drawings of family members and objects from the family members being drawn. 

Since I have researched drapery and the meaning behind the folds in fabric from artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Alison Watt and Alasdair Tompson, I also aim to include drapery into my final piece. I have produced responses to Alison Watt using fabric encased in plaster. This is a symbol of preservation. I have taken the idea of preserving garments from Alasdair Tompson and consequently drawing from them using inspiration from the drawing techniques of Leonardo Da Vinci and Mark Powell who place great emphasis of the fold in fabric and the folds in wrinkles which both tell a story. Therefore, I have decided to preserve a garment from a family member. This garment will be preserved in plaster and will feature inside of my chest. Accompanying this, will be a drawing in the style of Leonardo Da Vinci of the preserved garment which will also feature along side the chest. These will form two of my symbolic items which represent various family members.

To draw attention to the chest, I have also decided to plaster a large sheet of fabric and attach it to the corner of the chest. This will act as a symbol of the spillage of memories, the reflection of the past spilling over from the chest. It will form the idea of someone recently opening the chest and uncovering secrets and memories which were previously hidden or stored away. This fabric will start from inside of the chest and emerge from one corner until eventually hitting the floor and creating a pool on the floor. I may choose to add in objects into the surface of this fabric to symbolise a wave of emotion and memory.  

  

As a design Idea, I created a mock up of this chest using cardboard and mod rock. I chose these materials because they are sturdy and malleable.

Once I had constructed the cardboard chest, I covered it in modrock. This was firstly dipped in water which acted like a glue to stick it on to the chest. The mod rock didn't take long to dry and within a few hours it had set rock hard. This created a permanent structure which I could use as a design idea for my final piece.  

     

I placed this structure inside of the pre-prepared box which would form my 'cell'.

To create a finished look, I also added in light to brighten up the dark box. I achieved this by using battery powered LED light and small glass bottles. I though this would be a unique way of brightening up the inside and placing emphasis on my chest.

 I was then tasked with creating the plastered fabric which would overspill from the inside of the chest. This will be on a much larger scale for my final piece and I found this very tricky to mould since the plaster set very quickly. I had to wear a mask to prevent myself from inhaling the fumes.

The image below shows my finished Marquette and design idea for my final piece. I aim to have photographs which I will take in response to Tom Hussey. These will be pinned to the wall surrounding my chest. Inside of the chest will contain the board which will be of a drawing of my uncle with inspiration from Mark Powell. Along side this board will be symbolic objects of my family. These will relate to the images being drawn. For example, I also aim to drawn from the plastered garment of my nephew. this will be a baby grow. The plastered garment mounted on board will be placed inside of the chest and the drawing will either appear inside or will be mounted on an easel alongside the chest. Resultantly, the symbolic garment which is forever preserved in fabric in the style of Alison Watt and Mark Powell, will also be drawn from in the style of Leonardo da Vinci. My final piece which will be included in this cell will be of my mothers wedding dress. I was inspired to create this idea after coming across an inspirational photograph on the internet. This garment will be drawn on a large scale in the style of Leonardo da Vinci and Mark Powell. This will be the same dress that will appear in the photographs and the same dress that will also be placed in garment form inside of the chest.
Consequently, everything links. everything has a similar theme which is of personal reflectivity and family and therefore everything has an emotion attached to it. I want the viewer to question my reasons for putting these objects together. I want to viewer to question the meaning behind them and to reflect upon their beauty. Just like Louise Bourgeois.

Practicing on board...- Refinement of ideas

I have taken inspiration from Mark Powell by drawing one of my family members for my final piece. I am to drawn my Uncle Ray on this board, however I am unsure what medium to drawn him in. Therefore, I have practiced painting and drawing on top of a sample board.

I firstly painted this board with white emulsion in order to create an even surface on which to paint on and to prevent the paint from soaking in to the board. I quickly drew a portrait of my sister when she was younger in order to practice painting and drawing the human form. This is something I have practiced throughout my project since attending life drawing classes and taking inspiration from Jenny Saville and Edgar Degas.

I practiced with a range of mediums including acrylic paint, watercolour and dry painting. Each of these was tested upon the child on the board. I had a few issues with painting on the white emulsion. The pigment in the paint appeared dull and boring. This was because the emulsion was somehow mixing with the paint I was putting on top of this. This was causing the paint to have a milky appearance. I tried painting different sections of the board using a different emulsion, however although there was an improvement, I wasn't keen to use this in my final piece as I wouldn't want to risk the painting looking dull and unrealistic. I also tried watercolour, which I preferred as there was a degree of flexibility with the paint which allowed me to blend my colours more easily, however, when I painted the child and the paint dried back, it often appeared patchy in places. The final technique I tried was dry painting. For this I used black oil paint and 2-3 drops of engine oil in order to give the paint flexibility when spreading on the board. However, I found that it produced the same effect as acrylic, by blending with the emulsion paint.

After testing these mediums, I have refined my ideas further and came to the conclusion that I will use pencil instead of paint. Looking closely at the child, you should be able to see especially in the red fabric that I have worked into the fold using a coloured pencil. This was because the paint was just too patchy and the painting looked inconsistent and incomplete. By using the pencil I could pick out specific details and produce a more accurate response. Furthermore, I have also decided that white emulsion Is not a suitable background on which to paint and draw. Therefore, I have also refined this idea by deciding to draw on top of paper. I will take inspiration from Mark Powell by drawing on top of a meaningful surface that will somehow relate to my uncle or the person I drawn on top of the paper. Consequently, like Leonardo da Vinci and Mark Powell, the drawing and its background will be united and come together as one. To make the drawing more substantial, I will stick the paper onto a thin piece of board.