Illustration

Sunday, 9 March 2008

Portobello market yesterday

This man works on a stall there. I love him. I've added him to my collection, which I will one day draw. His dog stayed there the whole time I saw him.

Author project

I mentioned this project earlier but I will explain it better now.

We were given the brief: 'using the primary needs as the basis for further development you are asked to design and construct a wearable 1:1 scale, body

suit or costume.' We then had to wear it in a 'rebirth' on 4th march and explain it to the class and tutors.

I wanted to make mine adaptable. As one of my needs was escapism I needed it to be something that could change so I could escape. I looked into pods. I had a strong image in my head of what I wanted it to look like however when it came to making it, it didn't work at all. The images show some of my rough ideas and plans and what I wanted my costume to look like.

I looked at Lucy Orta and Erwin Wurms' work which helped me a bit.

I need to upload the photos of my costume but I need to take them first! I will get onto this.

New brief and Berlin

19th february. We got a new brief to have finished in 2 weeks. We have to make a 1:1 scale body suit. I will talk about this at a later post as I didn't think about it until I got back from Berlin.

Berlin- friday 22nd feb 08 to monday 25th feb 08.
We got set a brief to 'observe the city and the way it works, isolate a 'thread' of activity.'
I mainly took photos of things I liked so I could draw them when I got home.

22nd- We arrived at Hotel Transit (Mehringdamm tube,) dropped our bags off and then we went to the jewish museum (judisches museum berlin.)
23rd- we went to a flea market then to a nearby monument in a park. Then we went to the Bauhaus Archive which wasn't good at all. We went shopping to a vintage shop where they weigh what you buy. In the evening we went to bang bang club which was so bad. We ended up leaving, travelling to different places around berlin and ended up in a small bar until 6am. It was good but we had no sleep.
24th- we went to Berlins natural history museum and drew dinosaurs because I love them (I mentioned this before!) Then we went to Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, it was like Berlins version of the Tate Modern. I enjoyed these but we were really tired. We went to the Berlin Tower in the evening and on the way met 'Charles Xavier'. He was apparently a 'rapper' from America.He was bad. He told us he was the devil and he was going to corrupt our minds etc. He also told us his life history and how he was a drug dealer. We didn't talk back much but we videoed him. This was on the tube. We went up the berlin tower which was also bad as all we could see was our reflections in the oddly angled windows. I'm pleased we made the effort to go up it though. Then we met everyone in a nearby german pub.
25th- we went back to the area where the tower is to get rubbish souvenirs, went to an italian restaurant near to the hotel for lunch and then we flew home.

Life drawing and odd shoes

Mon 18th february, life drawing.
I signed up for life drawing a couple of weeks ago. It said start at 10.30 so I got there at 10.20 (early) but as I walked in the lady was talking about how 'illustrators are always late.' Apparently it started at 10. No one told me this. It made me uncomfortable and I felt embarassed in front of the class who were set up and ready to go.
As a result of being late I was put right next to her. Less than a metre away, looking up at her. I could literally only see her torso and side of her hair. I could just see some of her face if I moved around slightly. Also, she was clothed.
I got left to it so started drawing in my sketchbook with my usual pens. The lady came round after criticising everyone elses work to look at mine. I don't think she knew what to do with me. She looked and said 'I'll leave you to it.'
The group stopped for a break and I decided to leave as I had some work to do and I had already drawn the same part of her about 10 times.
As I got in I took my shoes off only to realise I'd been wearing odd shoes...
oh dear...
bit of a disaster really. Glad I went though.

Assessment feedback and V&A

14th february. Had my assessment feedback with Pete. I got:

Unit 1 - 77% (2-1)

Unit 2 - 85% (first)

So I'm happy with that!

I need to do more workshops though. Start doing more craft based work. Making objects etc. Do workshops to back this up...learn as much as possible etc.

Pete told me to go to the V&A museum to see Out of the ordinary:spectacular craft exhibition.

So I did...

15th february. Really nice exhibition. The website reads:

'Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft brings together the work of eight contemporary artists who place craft at the heart of their practice: Olu Amoda, Catherine Bertola, Annie Cattrell, Susan Collis, Naomi Filmer, Lu Shengzhong, Yoshihiro Suda and Anne Wilson.
Collectively these artists use a diverse range of traditional and new technologies, from carving, sewing, welding to animation and laser etching. Working with exceptional skill and attention to detail, they use ordinary materials - paper, thread, dust and nails - to make works that are both intricate and large in scale.'

I really liked the exhibition.

This is work by Annie Cattrell, Yoshihiro Suda and Susan Collis. The last image by Susan Collis was a dust sheet but the paint splatters were sewn. It was really nice as it looked just like an old dust sheet on the floor then when you got close to it you could see the stitching.

Author project

We were asked to 'make or gather imagery that describes our world.' From the material we gather we were asked to isolate our primary needs for survival.

It was to be imagery that describes my world, particularly relevant to myself. An attempt to try and capture everything.

It took me a long time to get into this project as it is so open. I didn't have a clue where to begin or what to focus on etc.

I started to think about my universe and how it can be broken down. I split it into my general universe and my personal universe. General was all about science, language, cultures etc and personal was about myself. 'Myself' was split into mental and physical which was then broken down again and again etc. From these I came up with my personal primary needs for survival. My first thoughts were.. laughing, mobility, remembering things, travel, question, communicate, loud and quiet, escape, record, fun, positive interactions. Then from these I came up with:

-Escapism. Need to escape everyday life- travel, dreams (when sleeping,) watching (people/cities at night/sky etc,) loud and positive atmospheres, being on my own, laughing.

-Memory. Need to remember- memories, reminders, calendars, photos, drawings, write, record, videos, people etc.

-Experiences. Need to experience- going places, traveling, trying new things, seeing anything and everything, doing anything.

I got a collection of photos which describe some of my universe and needs to show in our group talk as visual imagery.

I also thought about the human body as an object. How we 'charge' ourselves up etc, our equivalents.

Saturday, 8 March 2008

I love London

Sunday 10th February. Me and my two friends Chloe and Sam went to the London eye to lie on the grass, have a picnic, knit, draw etc however when we got there we realised the sprinklers had recently been on. We were not impressed. Instead, we walked around looking at all the buskers and street performers. I loved it. We ended up walking round and through Trafalger Square. The Chinese New Year celebrations were happening. It was such a nice atmosphere. We had a really good day.

I thought I'd mention this as some of the people we saw out were such good characters. I always seem drawn to old people anyway. I think it's the detail in their faces or something but I love them. Anyway, these are some of the people I liked... This man was busking...