Taking inspiration from a single photograph...

I came across this photograph on the internet whilst i was searching for an inspirational photography artist. I was immediantly captured by it and have been throughout my project. It has a certain presence about it. I have been unable to trace the photographer of this photograph however i belive that it may have been taken for a fashion shoot, but i cannot be certain. The main attraction to this photograph is its sepia colour. This adds age to the photograph and makes it seem vintage. 

The model is beautiful an petite. The dress that she wears is vintage inspired and the high neck elongates her figure. The mirror in this photograph is fitting for this project. I love the emptyness of the room with only the model and mirror in it. 

This photograph provokes questions which cannot be answered. The viewer is unsure of who the model is, why she is wearing that dress or why the photograph is even being taken at all. 

This imagee has formed my main inspiratiion for my final piece photographs along with inspiration from Tom Hussey. I aim to take photographs of a model wearing my mothers wedding dress, with the reflection of the dress being shown in the mirror. This therefore adds a very peronal message to the photographs that this photograph lacks. From the photographs that i aim to take, i can then draw from them in the style of other artists that i have researched. 

Reflective Photography- Tom Hussey.

I have recently taken some of my own photographs using my Nikon bridge camera and i have titled these 'moments of reflection'. 

 The first shows my peer, Scarlett sitting on a swing in the forest, overlooking a reflective lake. The fact that i have angled the camera so that i have only taken a picture of the back of her, adds mystery to the photograph. The viewer cannot be sure what it is the girl is looking at or what it is the girl is reflecting on. This forces the viewer to ask questions which cannot be answered and allows the viewer to add their own meaning to the image. 

 The second photograph is an image of my mother, holding my chihuahua, Minnie whilst on a beach in cornwall. This is a very reflective piece as she is looking out to sea. My mother is looking towards the direction of the sea wheras the dog looks beyond. The pale blue sky and the deep turqoise of the sea blend together to create a typical seaside feel. I have captured a moment and this can be seen as the wind blows through her hair and the salt water surrounds her feet. This is of course a personal photograph to myself as it shows my mother. However, as my project is personl reflection, this becomes a valuable photograph for my project. 

Since capturig these photographs, I have reserched and found a photography artist in the name of Tom Hussey. I have created and annotated a page larger than A1 size for artist research. 

Tom Hussey is an American photographer specialising in commercial and lifestyle photography. Hussey mainly produces photographs for capaigns with the most recent being for an advertisement for a pharmecutical patch for patients with Alzheimer's disease. He titled this set of photographs 'Reflections'. 

Hussey has used two people for each part aged 40 to 50 years apart. One is an older 'patient' and the other an actor to look like the patient 40 years earlier in their lifetime. 

I have chosen to use this artist to combine his work with my own photography skills. Altough Hussey is creating these photographs for a specific cause, which is Dementia. I am not taking into account Husseys underlying message. I have been attracted to his photographs due to their reflective nature. I really like the usage of the mirror in his photographs and the usage of an older person looking upon their younger selves. The photographs have an emotive, personal aspect to them and this appeals to me. Therfore i plan to use this artist for his technique and composition of his photographs rather than for his own message. 

To use this artist in my own work, i plan to take photographs of people in the mirror using objects and people personal to myself. I would like to use this artist for my final piece idea wherby i plan to take photographs of a model wearing my mothers wedding dress and reflect this in a mirror. This therfore gives the photographs my own personal message.

To create this idea using art, i have drawn a mirror on my A1 artist page using water colour and soft pastel and then drawn an image of myself aged 4. The mirror is acting as a barrier from the past to the preasent. I am looking into the mirror and seeing a younger version of myself. The image has been drawn using graphite pencil in a varying range of tones. I have taken time with this drawing,especially  concentrating on the fabric and shadow on the face, hair and shoulder. I wanted this drawing to look as life like as possible, like the works of mark powell. 

This drawing has been drawn from a photograph of myself and my sister. I chose this photo due to the position o the face and the natural movement of the hair and clothing. 

To develop this, i will perhaps look at a pencil artsit who draws faces. I will also experiment with different mediums in my sketch book such as stick and ink, chalk, oil pastel, ink and acrylic. 

Historic inspiration for drawing Fabric- Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci was a man of many talents. He was an Italian painter, sculptor, architect and much more. He was one of the leading artists of the High Renaissance. Most of his paintings are on panels. I have used this artist for his drapery drawings which are thought to be preparations for later paintings. Most of these fabric studies have been drawn on "teal di Lino" or Linen Canvas and there are 16 known sketches altogether. This study shown below was completed around 1470 in grey tempera (an egg-based paint) and painted with a brush. This drapery study is one of the most famous of fabric falling on a seated figure.

Like the artist Alison Watt, Da Vinci also draws the fabric in the absence of the figure. This gives the fabric a greater presence and fills the entire picture which gives it movement. Da Vinci's works have inspired my own due to their photo realistic effect. His drawings look as if the fabric has been placed in front of the viewer. His works are examples of fine art. I am intrigued by his usage of light and dark. It is very easy to distinguish where the source of the light is. This is an incredible strength of Da Vinci's work and is part of the reason why his drawings are so realistic. 

Da Vinci has drawn fabric in different compositions. The image above shows the fabric falling around a figure. The image below shows the fabric sweeping across the floor:

And the image below this one shows a section of fabric in a position which is hard to define:

However, in each of his drawings it should be noted that his colour pallet is very monotone. Da Vinci uses black and white with a range of grey tones in between. By using these colours, shadow is beautifully created and the folds within the fabric are beautifully crafted. White is used to uplift the fabric and create a weightlessness effect whereas black is used to add depth and heaviness to the fabric and grey is used to blend these two colours together.

As stated previously, it is thought that these drapery studies completed by Da Vinci were in preparation for future paintings, and therefore they have been painted with a brush. By using this artist as inspiration for my own work, I would use Da Vinci's technique of light and dark. I would take inspiration from his colour pallet and also take inspiration from the paper in which he chooses to paint on. Da Vinci paints of canvases which are often grey or various shades of brown. This is an unusual choice of colour, however forces the painting to reveal itself from its background. The lightness of the background causes a dim light to be reflected upon the fabric which adds to Da Vinci's strength when using light and dark as it creates a dim glow surrounding the fabric. Another strength to Da Vinci's work is his allowance for the background colour to shine through. Not all of the fabric is coloured in. Therefore by using a complementary, dim background colour such as a light brown or light grey (as shown in the images above), the background morphs into the drawing being created and becomes a part of the painting and so the whole structure of the canvas, background and drawing are unified and becomes one. This is a beautiful aspect of Da Vinci's drawings which I wish to display in my own. 

Furthermore, Da Vinci often has a large amount of negative space which surrounds the fabric. This allows the drapery to spread out and find its own natural position. Da Vinci styles the fabric he draws to be natural. He allows the fabric to find its own length and for it to hang in its own way. I feel this is an important concept when drawing fabric and I hope to reveal this in my own drawings. 

The image above is of my artist research page in the style of Leonardo Da Vinci. This page is bigger than A1 and shows hanging fabric. I have drawn this fabric using coffee and watercolour. I have also researched Da Vinci's style of writing and this has inspired my title. I have added pictures of Da Vinci's work and annotated around the page. 

Since researching this artist, I have created a response. By using both Alison Watt and Alasdair Thompson, I have produced plastered pieces of fabric which can be seen in my previous post. I have therefore developed this idea further and have drawn from the pieces which i have plastered. 

I chose to draw this specific plastered fabric piece as this was created in the style of Leonardo Da Vinci. I focused on the way in which the fabric would hang if it was nailed in two positions to the wall. I focused on the folds and height within the fabric. Therefore I decided that this would be a very interesting piece to draw. I drew this drapery piece on brown paper, which I chose because it was a dim colour and would complement the black and white monotone that I would use to colour in the fabric. Furthermore, it would be easier to allow this background colour to shine through. I drew the outline in graphite pencil and took photographs step by step as I developed the drawing. 

Unlike Da Vinci, who paints his drapery pieces, i have created my own piece using black, white and grey shades of chalk. This was a time consuming piece and took around a week to complete. I have mounted the piece on white and black paper to complement the colour in the drawing. My drapery piece is currently being displayed in the school and it looks brilliant on the wall as it looks like it has been nailed to the wall and left to hang. 

I enjoyed creating this drapery piece and i would like to draw something like this for my final piece, perhaps more personal like Alasdair Thompson but in the style of Da Vinci. To improve this drawing i could perhaps create more areas of dark as it is unclear as to where the source of light is coming from. This is because when i drew this observational piece, the light was facing towards the fabric piece and therefore spread amongst the folds rather than on one particular side. 

Combining two ideas- Alasdair Thompson and Alison Watt

Ever since looking at the works of Alasdair Thompson I have tailored my reflections project to personal reflection and have come up with the idea of memory preservation and reflection on the past. By looking at the garments which Alasdair has produced in marble as part of his 'identity' collection, I have become increasingly intrigued by this idea of preserving a special item which will last forever, perhaps something from the past. However, although I have practised carving into stone, I am not specialised enough to do such a piece on a large scale. Therefore I have improvised and have decided to preserve garments in plaster. I prefer this idea as the garments remains inside of the substance which is protecting it. As a result the garment remains alive forever. I have used Alison Watt in combination with this idea as she looks more closely at the folds in the fabric and their delicacy. As a result, the plastered pieces that I produce are both in the style of Watt and Thompson. 

To create the plaster I used 3 parts water and 1 part plaster as well as PVA glue to allow the combination of both substances to bond easier to the fabric. 

I wore protective clothing including an apron and dust mask to prevent the fumes. I used a bucket of water and gradually added a handful of plaster and sprinkled it over the top.

I mixed the plaster in using my fingers to mould it together.

This is how I created the practise pieces which appear on my Alison Watt A1 page. Once I had created the plaster mix, I needed to decide quickly which garments and pieces of fabric I wanted to use, before the mix set solid. I firstly coated a large piece of Calico in order to show the folds in fabric and experiment with position and texture. This can be seen below: 

Once the fabric had been dipped in the mix, I moulded it into place and added the folds that I wanted. To create depth and added texture I placed screwed up pieces of paper underneath to add height. I left the fabric to dry for at least 48 hours before mounting it onto a plain white board to give the fabric a presence like Alison Watt. 

Once I had completed these practises of using just fabric, I tried using a personal garment. I decided upon a baby grow of my new-born nephew. I thought this would be an emotive piece as there are many emotions surrounding such a garment. 

After seeing such a garment preserved beautifully with all of its natural features, I decided that this is definitely an idea to use in my final piece. I like how the garment just looks as if it has been thrown on the floor and is in a natural position. This is what I aim to portray when creating such pieces. By using such a technique, I want to preserve articles of clothing which have a personal meaning to me. And then from there I hope to draw from these pieces. Therefore I can begin to build together an idea of a final piece which surrounds the idea of preserving objects/garments and drawings memories. 

Alison Watt: Capturing fabric

After Visiting Alasdair Thompson's sculptures at the on form exhibition in Burford I have become increasingly intrigued by fabric and the way it hangs and looks in different mediums.  I have seen Alasdair do this in marble and now I am looking at Alison Watt who paints it on a large scale. Alison Watt is a Scottish painter. Her first works to become well known were dryly painted figurative canvases, often female nudes. An exhibition entitled 'Fold' in 1997 at Edinburgh's fruit market Gallery was the first introducing fabric alongside these figures. Watt became fascinated in painting folds in fabric and draperies of the kind often used as props by life models. Watts new painting evoked the human body in its absence. Watt paints these fabric pieces on a large scale on canvas using acrylic paint. Her paintings are thought provoking and intriguing. I have created an A1 page to express her work and I have added my own annotation:

The title has been created using cut offs of folded ribbon:

I have been drawn to Watt's vast drawings due to their presence. Her paintings tend to zoom in on the natural folds of the fabric and tend to be in white which gives a sense of purity and cleanliness. I have decided to use Alison Watt as I have become increasingly interested in fabric and I wish to draw it and paint it. More specifically I wish to capture fabric and preserve it like the artist Alasdair Thompson. Therefore I wish to use these two artists in combination and preserve fabric using plaster. On this page there are small examples of such preservation of fabric in plaster. I hope to create this on a larger scale and use garments in the style of Alasdair Thompson. 

However, by using Watt's work as inspiration I hope to become more comfortable when drawing fabric, specifically when drawing the folds in fabric as this I find is incredibly difficult. 

This is an example of Watts work, the folds are easily distinguished and have been created with delicacy and detail. Light and dark are easily identified and the colour pallet is the same throughout: black, white and grey. I'm attracted to the scale at which her work is painted on, this gives the fabric a large presence in a gallery room. As Watt has stated, she began drawing nudes and then became fascinated by the fabric in absence of the human figure. I feel I have taken a similar path to this artist. 

Also on this page is a small study in chalk and charcoal of one of the small plaster examples that I have created. I have started to draw fabric and I aim to draw on a larger scale. 

Drawing a model faceless...

As it may have been recognised, I have chosen not to draw the faces of the models in many of my life drawings. A French Sculptor that chooses to do this is Hannah A. Laoust who sculpts dancers using clay. A video of her talking about her work can be found here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6T_Pw0jWV8 

Her reasons for not creating the face are for the benefit of the customer buying the work. When a customer buys her work they can see the model as themselves and so the sculpture becomes a kind of transference for the customer. Therefore the customer can see themselves in the position/expression/emotion that the sculpture is portraying. 

I have similar reasons to this artist, however I have chosen not to draw the faces of the life models as the models are not personal to me. I am simply drawing the models to practise drawing the human form. I will concentrate more on the face when drawing people who are personal to me such as friends and family. A few examples of such work can be shown below: 

This graphite pencil drawing is of my sister when she was a toddler. This is just an A3 pencil drawing. I could choose to work into this more using watercolour or soft pastel pencils. 

This graphite pencil drawing is of my late nan. This one has only just been started and is not finished. I need to add tone and finish off the line work. 

Looking at life drawing through history; Edgar Degas

As well as using Jenny Saville for life drawing inspiration, I have also looked at the historical artist Edgar Degas. I have used him when looking at drawing movement and using a subtle colour pallet. Degas was a French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings. He is especially identified with the subject of dance. He is particularly masterly in depicitating movement as can be seen in his paintings of dancers. I am using this artist to focus on how different compositions can portray different movements and I hope to use this in my own life drawings. I have created an A1 research page in the style of him to analyse his works further:

I have chosen pictures of his works which each show a different composition. As you can see I have chosen to focus on the dancers which Degas has painted. These are beautiful pieces which show natural and unusual positions and movements. I have been attracted to the works of Degas for two main reasons: the first for the compositions of the dancers and the second because of the pastel colour pallet that Degas chooses to use. Degas tends to paint in oil paint, however when drawing my own figures I have used soft drawing pastels and charcoal pencil. This life drawing was drawn on a recent visit to the jam factory in Oxford. I have chosen to draw more complicated positions and this one I found particularly tricky. The figure is foreshortened meaning the vanishing point is at an angle and the legs appear larger and the head smaller due to the angle which it has been drawn at. 

Using Degas as an inspiration I have drawn this more complicated composition. Unlike my other life drawings which I have drawn in the style of Jenny Saville, I have added a stroke of colour to these drawings. I have chosen a pastel pallet like Degas and have used soft browns, yellows, blues and greens to create a subtle and dim light. I have not coloured the whole model in as this was only a quick sketch and we were not given long to draw this pose. I have added in tone and shading by using hatched lines. You may notice that my lines are also relatively heavy. Degas has also done this for a few of his own sketches of ballet dancers. 

This A1 page is double sided, there are other drawings on the reverse side which I have done with inspiration from Degas: 

I have added annotation about my drawings and the artist, there are further drawings which I have done including another life drawing of the same model. This time the model is in a sitting position. This position was difficult as the left leg was very hard to put into place. I have added a small amount of colour to this picture and a large amount of negative space.

There are also small studies of hands on this page drawn in graphite pencil as these are areas of the body that I have needed to practice. 

These show movement of the hand in different positions. I have found it important to practice every aspect of the human form when attending a life drawing class. Using Degas and Saville as inspirations I will continue to attend life drawing classes to practice drawing the human form.