Submission

Finally submitted all my work for assessment for this module.  Last two days I have had a constant headache but I think that was just all the stress of trying to make sure everything was done and I hadn’t forgotten anything.  I nearly forgot the 1000 word evaluation but it is all done now.  I can relax for a short while and look forward to Easter with my kids.  Can’t wait to find out what the next module will be!!

I’ll tell you a secret!

Decided (although it is not compulsory any more as the brief was changed) to have a go at making a book.  Primarily to upload to Blurb (http://www.blurb.co.uk/) and self publish as part of my project.

Initial images were drawn on a graph paper book that I was given as a freebie by a company I visited.

Images above not in any particular order.

I then cropped and cleaned them up and ordered a book from Blurb only to realise it probably wouldn’t come in time for the submission date.  I therefore made a smaller mock up version of the book which I printed myself, basically to try out my book binding skills (which at the moment are not the most expert).  Didn’t come out too badly considering it was my first attempt and at least I can submit the smaller book if the other one doesn’t arrive.

I aimed this book a small children, probably aged around 5-9 years of age to show them that other people have OCD and that it is okay and you probably will grow out of it or it will become less of a problem.

Hooked on editing……..

Tried some more photoshop – this time editing some ink drawings from a previous workshop and an acrylic marker image I did in another workshop.  Results were interesting and it amazes me how much you can change images.  I do think I have to ease up on Photoshop a bit because once you get into it, there are so many possibilities for adding filters, gradients, distorting, changing levels and various adjustments that you can actually be sitting there for hours upon end.  This happens quite a lot and before you know it the day is over and yet again I have done no drawing whatsoever.

I like photoshop and digital work a lot but I much prefer a hand drawn original artwork.

Word Weaving

Had a go at weaving paper with OCD key words on it.  Was fairly successful but was really difficult to get the words to land in the right place.  Took a fair bit of working out.

The some more Photoshop to see what effects I could get.  Not sure how I am going to use this.  Maybe I could combine it with another model/image to make another??

Sketchup

One of my screen savers showed rock formations which were made up of hexagons and I thought this might be a base for building an OCD logo:  I thought the easiest way to accomplish this was sketch up:

http://www.sketchup.com/products/sketchup-pro

Initial sketch up image

Then my edits came out like this.  Some I like and others not so much.

Photoshop edit.

Photoshop edit.

Photoshop edit.

Photoshop edit.

Photoshop edit.

Photoshop edit.

Photoshop edit.

Andrew Kulman’s Workshop

Workshop today was using ink on really good quality paper.  I prefer using brushes by choice but we did some using sticks which is quite new to me and very difficult to control.  However, you can get some very unexpected and pleasing results:

Not overly impressed with any of these but there might be further things I can do with them so I havn’t written them off yet.

Print Workshop

Made another visit to the print room today. Tried some mono printing and some other printing (unfortunately I can’t remember the technical name for it) but basically rolling the ink onto perspex and then through the press.  These were the results;

Love the Chaos part on this

This was supposed to be hand washing but it came out too dark

Don’t like this much

Forgot to mirror some of the numbers – always do that, sooo annoying.

Subsequent edits using photoshop are shown below.

Love this. It looks kind of tribal in colour. I was trying to give the impression of feeling trapped in your OCD world with no escape.

The one above kind of goes with some ink drawings that I did in Andrew Kulman’s workshop. They also came out rather tribal looking (perfectly by accident, I didn’t really intend them too):

Head No 2 – Collage

Decided to try a further head by using collage.  I had some patterns prints (that were actually a result of the ink running out on my printer) and I decided to add water drips to them to see how the colours would run.

When they had dried a continued to make this collage:

Collage and fineliner

I then scanned the finished piece into photoshop and did some edits:

One of my edits using Photoshop

I then wondered what it would look like printed onto acetate and maybe then I could collage again underneath it. I added words connected to my OCD theme and then printed this onto acetate.

Printing on acetate with text added.

Francis Hatch

Another fab workshop, this time by Francis Hatch.  This was a workshop very different from any I had been to before.  We were asked to draw to music.  Firstly of her choice, then of our own choice, then swap headphones and draw influenced by someone else’s music.  We used sticks, brushes, hands, chalk, string, many different types of media.  It was lovely to go so large and be so free with the shapes and colours.

At first I thought that the combined efforts of everyone together had made such a disjointed artwork but when you focussed in and took photo’s of different sections there were some really interesting things going on,

I love the way Francis works by painting with ‘found’ media in whatever setting she happens to be.  It creates some very earthy colours and I feel this brings you closer to nature creates some beautifully free artwork, some of which happens by chance purely as it would in a natural setting.

Artwork to music

Combined efforts

Sections of the finished piece

Home

Kate Brinkworth

We were very lucky to have Kate Brinkworth come into uni to do a workshop which I enjoyed so much. She had all sorts of new materials/media to experiment with and best of all lots of good advice.  She was happy to answer questions and demonstrate some really good techniques.  Lovely lady.

http://katebrinkworth.com/portfolio/

http://www.artnet.com/artists/kate-brinkworth/biography