Friday, 27 March 2015

Artist movements

Artist movements
18th century - 19th century 
Modernism is related to current times, but it can also mean the relationship to a set of ideas that, at the time of their development, were new or even experimental. The birth of modernism and modern art began in the 18th century to the 19th. Prior to the 19th century, many artists started to make art about people, places, or ideas that had interested them. Modernism refers to the type of materials and expressing feelings and ideas by creating abstractions and fantasies, rather than displaying what is real.  It  consists of a variety of artistic movements such as, symbolism, dada, surrealism and futurism. There are various painters likeVincent Van Gogh, and Paul Cezanne.
Trees in Park at Jas de Bouffan - Paul Cezanne

1916-1922
Dada is and art movement that started during world war 1 as a form of protest as the people of France and Germany had to find refuge in Zurich. They were angry that the war was allowed to happen so they began protesting through word based art. Dadaists used any form of public forum (a place where people could meet and discuss) to make a mockery of structure, everyday objects, create obscenities,
scatological humour and visual puns. The art movement ran from 1916 – 1922 and some key artists of the movement include Francis Picabran, Alice Bailly and Marcel Duchamp.



1924-1945
Surrealism is a form of art which began in the 1920’s of writers and artists such as Salvador Dalí and René Magritte. These artists experimented with the ways of unleashing the subconscious imagination
And to make the mind curious to what is the meaning behind the picture. They wanted to recreate there dreams into a piece of work, and this linked to the unconscious mind. ‘The art surrealism was created in the 1924 and ended 1945.
The main artists that were linked with surrealism were; Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Pablo Picasso
and Andre Breton who started the art form in the first place.

Image result for salvador dali clocks
1940-1950
Abstract Expressionism is a development of abstract art that originated in New York, in the 1940’s and the 1950’s. It aimed at personal feelings, tastes and opinions as well as emotional expression with particular emphasis on the spontaneous act of creating art. Abstract Expressionism was first influenced by mixed media paintings in the 1930’s, but became a fully formed art movement in the 1940’s and 1950’s. It still carries on to the present day. Hans Hofmann was one of the main influenced artist.






Different types of mounting

Presentation techniques 

This post is about the different presentation techniques that could be used for my purposed final outcome. 

Flat mount- This presentation is where you fix your work to mount card either by double sided tape or adhesive spray. To add a more finished look you can have a 1mm or 2mm black boarder around your image before its applied to the card. 

Suspended- This technique involves hanging your piece of work from the ceiling using wire. This technique usually takes place in galleries. 

Float mount-  This presentation can be produced by various materials such as foam, wood and aluminium. This technique gives a contemporary finish to flat pieces of work.  The board tends to me smaller than the image to give the illusion that the image is floating

Flat wall mount- This technique is where you directly stick your artwork onto the wall using an interlocking method of wire/string and sticky pads

Window mount- This method is more traditional. You cut into a board thats just slightly smaller than your artwork then using sticky tape you fix your piece into the board. This can then be covered by a glass panel to produce a professional finish. 

Wire hand experiment

Wire hand experiment

This experiment was looking at how you can manipulate wire. 
 
Equipment:
  1. Wire
  2. Thread
  3. Wire cutters
Method:
  1. First you need to collect your materials. Next using the wire bend it to produce the basic outline of a hand. Then continue to wrap the wire around the outline. Use the wire cutters to bend the wire to stop it from falling apart.
  2. Keep wrapping the wire to make the structure sturdy. 
  3. Next take some thread and begin to wrap it around the wire like the lines on the palm of your hands. Its similar to what i did to my pin hand. use the thread to bring the wire into proportion. It also stabilises the piece.
  4. Once you're finished tidy up your area. 

HEALTH AND SAFETY
  1. Refer back to my wire bike post for health and safety. 

Plaster hand development

For this experiment i decided to use clay as a mould and work onto a different surface.

Equipment:

  • clay
  • rolling pin
  • plaster
  • water
  • knife
  • sugar paper
Method
  1. First thing you'll need to do is gather your equipment and then roll out a slab of clay on top of sugar paper, make sure its the thickness of a pound coin and big enough to make an impression of your hand. 
  2. Once its rolled out you'll need to make an impression by pressing your hand into the clay. Make sure the imprint is quite deep.
  3. Then you need to build up a wall around the clay using scrap pieces of clay. Make the wall about 10cm high, this ensures the plaster doesn't spill once its poured into the clay. 
  4. Next you need to mix up your plaster. The ratio is half the water to plaster. First you add a little water then you continuously sprinkle the plaster into the water until you get snowy peaks coming through the water.After that you can mix it together. Once thats done you can pour it into the mould and leave to set. 
  5. Wash up your bowl and clean up your area. 
  6. Once its set you take it out of the mould and put any clay with plaster on in the bin because its contaminated. 
  7. Then using sharpies begin to draw the main lines on the palm that represent paths such as heart line, life line etc. Once thats done you can draw on the corresponding symbols. Once thats done you can colour in the outer area. 
  8. Once its finished you can clean up your area and pack the equipment away. 

HEALTH AND SAFE
  • Plaster can be irritating to the eyes as well as skin but this is very unlikely to happen if its only brief contact.  To be safe you should always wash your hands after using plaster as well as avoid touching your face.
  • When the plaster is mixed with water it gradually becomes hot so avoid touching the mixture while its setting.
  • When making moulds always use a barrier around them to avoid spilling the plaster.  You should also be supervised to avoid any miss measurements or accidents.
  • When mixing the plaster or clearing away dry fragments wear eye protection to avoid getting any splinters in your eyes.
  • If anything gets in your eyes wash it out immediately using warm water.
  • When dealing with dry powder wear a protective mask to avoid inhaling.
  • Don't run with the knife and always clean up after yourself. 


Friday, 13 March 2015

Diptych

DIPTYCH. 
The idea for this experiment it was to combine 3d and 2d. The methods for this are on my previous post. The 2d comes from the ink,bleach and wax experiment. As for the 3d its on my clay post about using slips and glazes.  



Health and Safety 

Clay health and safety
  • ·      Silica is in clay, slip and glaze. When the clay is dry it produced a dust known as respirable crystalline silica (RCS). Also known as free silica.
  • ·      Inhaling RCS can lead to silicosis, it’s a serious and irreversible lung disease.  It causes permanent disablement and early death.
  • ·      Respirable means the dust is very fine and can embeds itself deep into the lungs.
  • ·      This can be minimalized by-
  • ·      Using a damp sponge when cleaning surfaces.
  • ·      Washing down the work place at the end of each day and cleaning up any mess.
  • ·      Using a bin to collect scrap and damp slip.
  • ·      Clean up scrap and spills regularly. Don’t let slip, clay or glaze spill dry out uncovered in a workroom.
  • ·      Work in a well ventilated space.
  • ·      Wash aprons regularly or use a disposable aprons.


mixed media paint development

MIXED MEDIA PAINT DEVELOPMENT
This post is a step by step process of how I developed my second and final idea. Using key inspiration from Jeane Myers, Karen goetzinger, Cody hooper, Debbie smyth and Valery. 

For this whole post you'll need various pieces of equipment. Acrylic paint, thread, glue gun, scrap material, cardboard, ply wood, sand paper, tissue paper, polly filler, sand, flour, gel medium, primer, plaster, pins and threads and a palette knife.

My first method is experimenting with mediums within the paint. 
1- First you need to cut out your cardboard samples, I used 6 different samples. Then go get your paint and mediums which will be the primer, gel medium, flour, polly filler, sand and plaster. 
2- Now you can apply the paint with the medium to each different sample. I used a scrap piece of cardboard to mix each medium with the paint before I applied it to my sample. I also used different colours. 
3- For the application of the paint I used a palette knife and mixed the mediums with it. Used each medium for a different piece of cardboard. When applying the paint there is no definite method. I applied the paint smoothly then lifted it slightly to create soft peaks. It can also be used to create direction and sharp lines, to do this you put the paint on the edge and spread it across almost like plastering a wall. 
4- play around with the palette knife and mediums until you're happy you've got the basic understanding of how it works. 
5- After that clean up your palette knife and clean your areas and let your samples dry ( you can also experiment with the heat gun and see what effects that produces with wet paint.) 

My next method is adding in other materials under the surface of the paint. 
1- First you need to gather your materials again, acrylic paint, tissue paper, glue gun, sand paper, and cardboard.
2- Now cut up your cardboard you'll need 4 pieces. 
3- For the first piece I stuck down tissue paper in loose crumples. I used pva to stick it down, once that's done you can use paper since its a different texture. After the tissue paper you can use scrap materials such as shredded paper. 
4- For the second one I again used tissue paper as well as a glue gun. I applied the tissue paper in the same way as before, as for the hot glue gun I I used loose lines followed by a big bulk of it. 
5- For the third one I ripped back into the card board, leaving the corrugated layers. I also ripped up sections of sand paper and stuck them down along with thread. 
6- Then moving on to my last sample I used the loose scraps of cardboard paper and stuck them down to the cardboard creating soft peaks. I also ripped back into the cardboard, tearing in different directions. 
7- Once that's down I used acrylic paint and just painted over the top.
8- Then tidy up your area don't forget to let the glue gun cool down. 

For my next method I focused on combining each elements that worked together. 
1- Gather your materials which will be cardboard, acrylic paint (red, blue, green, yellow, silver, black, white 
 palette knife, polly filler, flour and thread.
2- You'll need 3 cardboard sample boards. Then like method one you need to mix up the mediums which is flour and polly filler. Remember too much flour and the paint becomes like cement, and too much filler you loose the colour. 
3- Then you need to rip into the cardboard up the top corners and at the bottom then using the thread create a divide between the middle. 
4- Then using the polly filler with blue acrylic make soft peaks heading towards the thread, think tidal waves. Then for the flour add that and place it smoothly with the palette knife to create a textured surface this should be towards the top of the board. Then on the other side just use paint by itself to create a contrast in texture. Then using the silver paint spread it over the thread to create a divide. 
5- Do this 2-3 times till you get your desired result a balance between texture and colour. 

Method for surface material experiment.
1-  For this you’ll need to cut up 5 pieces of plywood, they are just sample pieces so don’t make them too big. Again you’ll need acrylic paint, polly filler, flour, palette knife and thread.
2-    For each sample piece you apply a different material, start of with the polly filler. Mix this in with acrylic paint and apply it to the wood. Don’t be shy when applying it you need to see it reacts with the material so make harsh strokes as well as smooth.
3-    After that you can move onto the next material you should have one for just acrylic paint, flour, polly filler, thread, the last one should be a combination of both flour and thread.
4-    For the last one you need to stick down the thread then paint over one side with normal acrylic and on the other apply the mixture of flour and paint.
5-    You can than do one with cardboard although this is pretty similar to the previous experiment where you rip back into the cardboard then apply the paint.
6-    Once you’re done leave to dry and clean up your area.

The next method is ripping back into the surface of the material like Jeane Myers.

1-    For this experiment you’ll need 4 cardboard sample pieces. Not too big but not too small about 15cmx15cm. You’ll also need a craft knife, acrylic paint, polly filler, flour and thread.
2-    Then take each material and apply it to a separate sample panel like the previous method.  Steps 2-3.
3-    Then while the paints still wet, take your craft knife and begin cutting into the samples in various directions. Alternate between soft and sharp cuts.
4-    Once you’re happy with your sample pieces you can add it to a bigger version of method 1. ( to make a sample for this copy steps from method three) Then you can cut back into that. For me I varied between diagonal and horizontal cuts on both sides of the paint.

This method is influenced by Debbie Smyth it’s about pinning onto the surface of paint using pins and thread.
1-    For this you’ll need acrylic paint, flour, polly filler, two cardboard samples, pins and thread.
2-    First you need to recreate each half of the outcome, for the first half all you need is paint, using a palette knife (for this use steps for method three) once that’s done leave to dry.
3-    Then move onto the other half this involves polly filler and flour. (refer back to method three for this)
4-    Once both samples are dry you can begin to draw out each image to pin. For the first half its arches. Refer back to your images from the cathedral. The other half is a simple drawing of a coffee cup in the lower right corner.
5-    After they’ve been drew out you can begin to firmly place pins along the main line and curves. Work from the inside out.
6-    Once that’s done you can apply the thread. Tie it around one pin and being to weave it through and around the other pins like a dot to dot.
7-    After you’ve produced the main lines you can tie it off again. Don’t forget to cut off excess thread to neaten it up.
8-    Put it in a safe place as its too big for your sketchbook but remember to take pictures of it before hand. Now you can tidy up your area.
9-    For development you can try this on one whole piece.

The last method is sizing and combining all these methods to produce an outline of my purposed outcome.
1-    There is not much I can instruct you on here because the method behind this is basically it’s combining each of the previous methods onto one larger panel then figuring out the ideal scale.

HEALTH AND SAFETY
·      When using the plaster be careful not to inhale it or put it in your mouth, as it can be dangerous.  Wear a protective mask.
·      Avoid putting the polly filler, flour, primer and gel medium in your mouth, don’t eat around this equipment either.
·      With a cutting knife use a cutting map, always retract the blade once finished with. Store it in a safe place out of reach of children.
·      For the flour be careful to not create a dust cloud as it can be harmful for your lungs. To minimise this close up the packets once finished with and wipe down any surfaces with a damp sponge.
·      Wash your hands after using sand especially if you’re going to eat.
·      Wear protective clothing when using acrylic paint.
·      Don’t run with scissors.
·      For the cardboard be careful when ripping it. Rip away from yourself.
·      Work in a well ventilated room.

·      Always clean up after yourself.

Plaster health and safety.
  • ·      Plaster can be irritating to the eyes as well as skin but this is very unlikely to happen if its only brief contact.  To be safe you should always wash your hands after using plaster as well as avoid touching your face.
  • ·      When the plaster is mixed with water it gradually becomes hot so avoid touching the mixture while its setting.
  • ·      When making moulds always use a barrier around them to avoid spilling the plaster.  You should also be supervised to avoid any miss measurements or accidents.
  • ·      When mixing the plaster or clearing away dry fragments wear eye protection to avoid getting any splinters in your eyes.
  • ·      If anything gets in your eyes wash it out immediately using warm water.
  • ·      When dealing with dry powder wear a protective mask to avoid inhaling.