Inktober

After in increase in my use of ink recently I though I'd try to attempt Inktober this year, after I completely failed last year and did about three drawings for the whole month. I'm not hopeful this year with my workload but I've already done better than last year so you never know! I only have four pictures to post now but will do a big post in the future if I manage to complete this

I have mostly been doing these quick inky faces, which I enjoy and remind me of Marlene Dumas's work (which I adore) but I have tried to branch out on my subject matter since I completed these. Hopefully more to follow.

Nelle

Ink Work

During class, my tutor often organises small activities to do during the day. A while ago we were getting into ink, firstly exploring different tools and mark-making, before getting us to push ourselves to do giant ink drawings of panoramic photographs we'd taken of our bedrooms and houses. I really enjoy working with ink, it's something I do in my spare time a lot and having Pam teach us ways to use different weird and wonderful tools further emphasised my love for inks. The mark-making was quick and spontaneous and the drawing were expressive and messy. I wasn't happy with my drawing and wanted to give up but Pam was extremely encouraging and I felt confident enough to push myself to finish.

Ink drawings in progress

Ink drawings in progress

Mark-making experiments using salt and strange tools such as sticks, cardboard etc

I chose to draw chairs over some background experiments because I often draw chairs from old furniture books in my free time. I'm really happy how these ones came out. I'm looking forward to further using ink in my work to come, and thoroughly enjoyed the session in class.

Nelle

St. Paul's and Tate Modern Trip

On the 26th September, me and my classmates went on a trip to St. Paul's Cathedral to watch a video installation by Bill Viola. The videos were moving and spiritual and the setting within the building emphasised this. There were two videos; one entitled Mary, featuring a number of interlocking short videos of life on Earth and in nature, the other called Martyrs, a series of 4 screens each showing a person being subjected to each element - earth, wind, fire and water. I personally found Martyrs to be more moving; the energy and power behind each video was exceptional. After researching Bill Viola and falling in love with his work, I found out what he had said about Martyrs:

"As the work opens, four individuals are shown in stasis, a pause from their suffering. Gradually there is movement in each scene as an element of nature begins to disturb their stillness. Flames rain down, winds begin to lash, water cascades, and earth flies up. As the elements rage, each martyr’s resolve remains unchanged. In their most violent assault, the elements represent the darkest hour of the martyr’s passage through death into the light."


His films are like spiritual, visual poems, captivating and moving.
After viewing these works, we walked over to the Tate Modern to visit the new extension The Switch  House. I had been to the new part twice before this trip so I knew what kind of artworks were inside, but it was helpful to go with a group to get a new perspective on some of the work I'd previously seen on my own. We were asked to chose 4+ pieces we liked and produce a presentation on each work and why we liked them/answer some questions about the work. I chose 6 pieces and the presentations the following week went very well. I have since been back to the Switch House a further two times to further look at some of the work I'd liked.

I chose 6 rather different pieces at the Tate to write about and made the PowerPoint Presentation in a day, answering the necessary questions and talking about why I liked that particular piece.

I have my opinions on the new Switch House extension which I will make a separate blog post about another day, however I do believe there is some fantastic new work to see and explore. For now, I will be finding articles and reviews for the work I've selected and putting together my research.

Nelle

First day of Fine Art HND

Today was the first day of my new degree level course at the college I've been attending for the last two years. It felt good to be back, despite some anxious feelings about throwing myself back into another quite intense course.
The course leader, Pam, is very up to date with contemporary art and artists especially in and around London which is what I've been looking forward to the most. Her knowledge and passion for the subject of fine art and it's history is something I find inspiring and was a joy to listen to today. We went over the course basics and materials and were given a small starter project as part of a competition called the Diversity Arts Award; we have been asked to create a small or large work of art exploring diversity in subjects such at gender, sexuality, race etc..
I decided to touch on my experience with sexuality in my work, having had many friends come out as gay, lesbian, bisexual and also many transgender friends all of whom have shared their experiences with me. I am honoured to be a part of all their journeys and decided to start work on a big collage that celebrated good overcoming evil in the situation of homophobia. I plan to have negative images of anti-gay protesters such as the West-Borough Baptist Church in America and anti-gay protests around the world at the bottom of my large work in black and white to show the lack of life and personality these people have and their negative impact on society and it's growth. I will play around with these images at the bottom of the work, photography and photocopy different positions and edit the images in Photoshop to come up with my final results. Above these images, most of the work will comprise of bright, bold and colourful images of pride celebrations around the world, the happy people involved in the marches and rainbow banners/floats. These images will my collaged around a colourful screen print or drawing of a brain scan with the text "Love will always conquer hate" written above the brain. I am yet to play around with the images properly and plan to draw over the top, use tissue paper, string etc but have started by doing a small drawing and laying all the collected images out to get a rough feel of what I want.

I enjoyed working in this way; quickly and roughly to get a feel for the images and idea. I do not know how much time will be spent on this project but I hope to have a colourful, positive image to hand in on the 14th October and a decent amount of research into pride and protests as well as a small number of collage artists. 

Nelle

Some sketchbook stuff

A plan of mine for the Summer was to fill at least two sketchbooks and for once it's looking like I will actually achieve this! I've forced myself to sit down and do shitty work in a couple of sketchbooks and I am making myself upload the awful scans. I feel like I'll always feel like my own work is awful and the only thing to do about it is just upload it and not think about it. If I want to do this for the rest of my life then I need to show my work (thank you Austin Kleon). Here's a small selection of work from 3 of my sketchbooks.

Don't really know what I'm doing right now, I'm just drawing and writing what pops into my head, sometimes as fast as possible with no care for the end product and sometimes I take time to get it right. I'm enjoying what's happening right now and looking forward to the future.

Nelle

On Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham has passed away aged 87. 

I remember watching Bill Cunningham's New York on Netflix a few years ago. It was there, I was bored, I watched it. It ended up being one of the most uplifting and life-affirming things I've ever watched to this day. Bill's personality shone through, it touched me. It made me realise that I wanted to be like Bill, that I would spend my entire life living in the moment. That I would lead a passionate life and do what made me happy and only what made me happy.

He didn't care about appearances, he didn't care about money, he didn't care about where he lived or how old he was. He cared about capturing the purest moments on  the streets of New York and he cared about his art. He opened my eyes to fashion and working with film photography but most importantly he actually made me want to be a better person.

I will always be thankful to Bill Cunningham. Always was and always will be an angel.

"He who seeks beauty will find it"

Bill Cunningham 1929-2016

(Bill also led me to the pure joy that was Editta Sherman, a gorgeous soul. May she and Bill have fun together wherever they are)

Nelle

Plans for Summer

I recently enrolled in a Fine Art HND course starting in September at the college I currently attend. I'm looking forward to the contemporary angle of the course and working with a fresh group of people and tutor. I want to get back into my art. The course I am close to finishing has put a halt on my own creative endeavours for the last two years and I haven't created any personal art in a long, long time. This has affected my abilities in drawing and painting etc.. because of my lack of practice.

Over Summer I want to fill at least 2 sketchbooks with drawings and studies and some paintings. I'd like to make a piece of clothing (big or small), take a life-drawing class maybe and go to as many museums and galleries as possible (and take loads of photographs).

With this blog I'd like to document my work, things I do and see and read and ideas for artworks. Hopefully this will help me get back into my art and take my next steps with more confidence and ability

Nelle