Thursday, 20 January 2011

work in progress





The above photos demonstrate the current state of my bedroom. I think i may have slightly underestimated amount of images I am going to need in order to fill the space i am intending on using! My initial idea was to create some form of stand alone tent, but had a re-think as i feel placing it in an ordinary setting reinforces the underlying theme of escapism within the narrative. I considered using a cupboard space within the studio, but due to the translucent nature of much of the imagery i think some form of natural light source needs to be available. The final images are going to be hanging in the stairwell upon entrance to our studio, and in a slightly closed off area under the stairs. I'm trying not to panic or over-think the work as that will prevent the playful element showing through. I also want the set up to look like a montage of images, kind of like when you're a kid and your mum puts your pictures on the fridge. But in terms of narrative structure there does need to be a darker undertone within the pieces. Time to get drawing/painting/sewing.


Sunday, 16 January 2011

'spacey'




Found an amazing book over the weekend, it features images of different surfaces of the earth from space. The textures and colours are so lovely, they're just what i've been looking for to use as collage material. So i've been experimenting layering these over old photographs, pages from astronomy books and using extracts from the film script. I'm hoping to print them onto slightly translucent paper and then stitch them together with fabrics to form the tent-like exterior of my installation.




Saturday, 15 January 2011

crayon


7 people designing one poster is a challenge and a half. But here it is! Please come and pay a visit to the exhibition next month if you can.

Up In The Air...second attempt


Seeing as they extended the deadline for 'This Is' I had another look at my submission, the original colours were offending my eyes slightly! Although I was worried the original drawing itself was a bit 'dark', I do think the toned down colour scheme is more effective.

Thursday, 13 January 2011

Tent-like Experimentation






So it would seem illustrating space is proving fairly tricky.
From my critique last week it was suggested to look at more abstract ways of presenting the imaginative element within the text, for example looking at the surfaces of planets and nebulae. I've been experimenting with marbling inks and technique's on various fabrics since. I've also been playing around with incorporating old photographs as they denote the idea of childhood nostalgia and also gives a haunting feel once layered with textures. As you can see i've also been enjoying draping my images over various lighting fixtures...




crayon. an eclectic exhibition.

Leith Hill
Alice's Tree

Rachel Elsome is super duper and managed to secure us an exhibition space at the Moontree Gallery in Boscombe from the 30th January for one month. After much deliberation, and suggestions revolving around knitting, rockets and shelving fixtures we finally came up with a name...

crayon
an eclectic exhibition

How very exciting.
Above are a couple of images i'm considering using.


Monday, 10 January 2011

Up In The Air


This is my entry for this months 'This Is' brief, 'Up In the Air.' Although it perhaps isn't the most original take on the subject, I have always had a mini fascination with hot air balloons. The fact that they scare me quite a lot aswell also seems to have surfaced. I didn't exactly set out with the intention of illustrating it exploding but have since been informed by my housemates that this is what it resembles! I now feel I should go and draw something incredibly happy...


Saturday, 8 January 2011

tea please


Poster for my neighbour back home, she wanted something a bit more jazzy to advertise 'Teas at the Church'. I'm from a pretty small town...tea is a very exciting event.





Thursday, 6 January 2011

Critique: 8 Images







Prior to Christmas I was already considering producing some form of installation as a final realisation for the narrative unit. However, I may have got slightly carried away with this, creating a den in our utility room was great fun but perhaps not the most informative of research! After referring back to the text I selected four key moments where reality and imagination intertwine. I also found that the darker reality within the narrative could be best represented through four objects associated with the mother figure (who is coming to terms with being diagnosed with cancer). I took various photographs of a family friend and objects in order to gain reference material and used a combination of collage, drawn elements, watercolour and Photoshop in order to create these images.

The following 8 images formed the basis of a critique we had yesterday, despite being very nervous it seemed to go pretty well! General opinion was that some form of installation would be the most successful realisation. I want conceptual elements to play a part, but also still want it to remain 'illustrative', perhaps creating an almost quilt-like surface of images which can in turn be used to create some form of ‘den’. More research is definitely necessary...

Also here's the website for 'The Shed', the film this all came around as a result of. It's a really creative and interesting project so have a looksie...

* http://www.theshedfilm.net/ *