Book Art Project

 For this project i had to make a piece of book art using an old book/books. I looked at various artists for inspiration, and also researched the history of books and how they are changing over time. This influenced me to create a book that had a Russian doll effect, so that i could portray the infinite life of stories and also show how books have changed through each generation. I also wanted to portray how each individual book holds different stories and connotations within it, including influences from other books/stories.

To start my final piece i collected books from family members of different generations, as these books would hold memories and have a special significance to each generation.
I then glued down the sides of the book, sticking the pages together. 
 I could then measure out the section i wanted to cut, and begin cutting it with a craft knife.











Once i had finished cutting i glued the inside for strength and aesthetic reasons. I followed this process with each individual book











The finished product...

Book belonging to an OAP opening up to a book belonging to and adult...

 opening up to a book belonging to a teen...

 a book belonging to a child/toddler...

And finally a memory card...












The memory card represents how books may be stored in the future (by the next generation), which could eliminate the need for paper books and libraries. Therefore i decided to cut the shape of a coffin around this, as it signifies the end of an era, the death of paper books. I feel it is also very thought provoking, and the positioning of the coffin (cut out from an innocent child's book where a mouse once was) is open to interpretation by the viewers.

I am pleased with the outcome of this project as it captures the book related subjects i wanted to explore. I wanted to it appear enigmatic and interesting like a Russian doll, and i feel this has been achieved by the serious of books. However if i had had more time to spend on this project i would've added more books to the series to make it feel more exciting and never ending like a Russian doll. This would have made it more of an experience for the viewer, having to go through each book wondering when the end will be reached, and what will be awaiting them. I may have also focused on the aesthetic of the books a little more, ensuring the cutting was neat and perhaps making the first book appear more aged, and the last one newer, however i didn't feel this was an important aspect of the final outcome.

Life Drawing (second session)

In this life drawing session i aimed to be more expressive, and so used different materials and techniques in order to do this. I experimented with ink, water, bleach, and charcoal, using techniques such as stippling and scumbling.

Here i used charcoal and a sharpened wooden end of a paintbrush dipped in ink to show the tones and contrast within the form.
(20 mins)

                                                                                                I had roughly 1 minute 30s to record each pose, and so chose to use charcoal as this was a quick way of drawing what i could see. I aimed to capture the shape of the basic form and feel i have been successful with this through my use of lines

   


ink and water drawing, i used the water to show tone and left the highlighted areas untouched to capture the contrast

                                                                                                  This quick drawing was done in charcoal, i aimed to show the shapes of the muscles using tone and lines. I feel this has worked particularly well on the left bicep

I had a minute to record each pose as the life model went from standing to the floor, and then back to standing. I wanted to capture the basic shapes and each pose as a fixed stage in the process of his movement.
If i were to do this again i would have overlapped the drawings more to make the piece more dynamic

                                                                                                               Here i used the bleeding 

                                             technique with ink and water. I applied a wash to the areas that i                      wanted to bleed, and then started to draw the form in ink.I like the dark, enigmatic               effect this has on the drawing, and the contrast between areas of tone and highlight accentuates this. I feel this is successful as an expressive piece of work for these reasons

I like how the bleeding here makes the drawing more dynamic and dark, and the ink lines layered over this add to the sense of movement. Fast, heavy music was playing while i drew this, and so this influenced the pace of my movements and weight of the lines

 i drew this figure out quickly with water, and then added the ink to ensure it only bled in the shape of the figure. i feel my use of techniques successfully portrayed this pose, as the pose was quite delicate and so i used thinner lines and less dark areas of tone. Soft music was also playing while i drew this, further influencing me to portray the softness of the pose.

   



In this quick drawing i used stippling and scumbling for the areas of tone. I aimed to show the delicate outline of the  form through use of thin, descriptive lines

                                                                                                      charcoal, ink and water were used                                                                                         here to show 3 different angles on one pose

                                                                                             

Life Drawing

Quick charcoal and rubber drawings (15 minutes)












I found this was a good technique for showing highlights and tone

 

For this first drawing I held two materials (charcoal and red chalk) together at the same time to create a quick drawing consisting of 2 lines. For the second drawing I used these materials freely, being more expressive when showing tone and focusing on the scale and shape of the body.

From this life drawing lesson I learnt the methods that can be used to draw a correctly scaled form, and I can now incorporate this in to future work.

Playing Cards Project

My next project was to construct a design object with playing cards as the dominant raw material. However instead of planning first i was required to get straight into making; playing around with the cards and exploring what they could do and how they could be transformed into a 3D object.

At the end of the manufacturing process i was then required to make several A1/A2 drawings to document my final piece.

 I began experimenting with my playing cards, creating mini models and exploring fastening mechanisms, folds, cuts, rolls etc. I then discovered the artist Bryan Berg, who is famous for creating large pieces of 3 dimensional work entirely from free standing playing cards. I found that he uses a '4 card cell structure' in all of his sculptures, as this structure can hold up to 660lbs per square foot. This inspired me to experiment with his technique, and while doing this i developed the structure i was creating into a life size guitar. The idea partly came from a miniature model of a guitar i had already created in my experiments, however i also felt that a guitar was an appropriate model to make as it retained the basic purpose of the playing cards: they could still be played by a varied range of people (just in a different way now). This is also a personal object to me as playing the acoustic guitar is a hobby of mine alongside art, and so i felt this would put a slightly personal spin on the outcome whilst still allowing it to appeal to a diverse spectrum of people.

The photos above show the development of  the guitar. For joining i used sellotape, a hot glue gun, staples, and sewing as these methods were all found strong and successful in my experiments.

Here are the photos of my finished guitar.

I took into consideration the aesthetic of the guitar during the making process, focusing on a dynamic design that would bridge the gap between art and music.

I ensured the back of the guitar could be opened up to reveal the structure found inside, as this is a significant component of the model.





















 
This is my most successful drawing that documents my final piece. I used charcoal, conte, and chalk as i wanted to create a powerful piece that portrayed the guitar as a strong looking sculpture, as underneath its delicate exterior is a strong rigid structure.
 I used a diverse range of tones and single point perspective to add depth and highlight the guitar as the clear focal point.

 I am very pleased with my final outcome and how i dealt with the project brief. The project forced me to work backwards from how i would usually work, throwing my efforts straight into making rather than carefully planning out my ideas.

However i found that by experimenting first this led to new ideas constantly developing in my head, and i learnt straight away what worked and didn't work, and so knew the characteristics of my materials well before i came to making my final outcome.

 If i were to do this project again i would have considered using stronger joining techniques for my final outcome, such as super glue, and would have explored how i could make the exterior of the guitar stronger, for example doubling up cards.

If i had had more time to work on the project, i would have researched other artists for more inspiration, and would have experimented more in the first stages of the project.