Fine Art - Final Piece

Carrying on with my Music and Sound brief. After drawing from my sculpture, I decided I wanted to make a final piece based off of this work. Having worked with glass in my previous exploratory phase of 3D, I decided I wanted to go back to glass and give making another piece based off of this work for my final piece.
 So taking my favourite piece from the drawing day. I thought of was to recreate such a piece using glass. At first I thought of making multiple little spirals and then adding them onto a large panel sort of piece. With that idea in mind I went a threw a few quick tests together.

Following these tests, where I tried to create a straight block and a circle. I very much scrapped that first idea as The chance of getting the same effect with each little piece would be low and that wouldn't work with the idea I was going for.
My next idea was to make a spiral pattern on a glass panel, but to make it relate back to my drawing I decided on using only found scrap glass not cutting any myself to give it a very raw and rough feeling like my sculpture.

As well as that I didn't want to have gaps between the piece of glass. So I crushed up some smaller blue piece and added them to the gaps to try give the piece a more flowing feel, with everything connected. After this I sent it off to the Kiln with fingers crossed and hoping it came out well on the mould.

To my surprise the piece came out almost perfectly. I really like the effect the piece gives off. With its vibrant colours and spiral patterning. The only thing I wish I had done differently was add more blue crushed glass and some of it has almost become clear due to the lack of quantity in the gaps. I feel if I had found smaller piece of glass the clear base panel wouldn't have chipped as much giving it a more finished look.
However I really like the way this final piece came out and I am glad I went back to working with Glass for this piece. Overall I've really enjoyed the Fine Art pathway, a lot of that is due to the freedom I had to experiment in ways I wanted to. Aswell as having an interesting brief which Didn't just focus on drawing but let me work with making something and then drawing said piece, making everything feel more complete and my own work. It also allowed me the freedom to chose a medium I wanted to use when creating this final piece, instead of just a drawing or such.

Photography Project: Colour & Concept/Theme

 From the brief given to me, this project has two parts. The first being colour, which I chose to pick the colour blue, the aim was to work fast with a camera to get my photos. For colour it was important to focus more on the colour then it was the object which the colour came from. I had multiple ways of doing this which I experimented with. Such as close ups, details of larger pieces, leaving things in or out of focus. Below are just 6 out of the many photos in which I ended up taking for the first part of this brief.

 I tried many different forms of focus, ranging from completely out of focus, blurring the while image. Slightly in focus and perfectly in focus. Just to get a wide range of images as shown above.

The second part of the brief was to focus on a concept or theme, for that i chose 'Birds eye view' As capturing things from a height that they typically aren't seen from seemed to quickly draw my attention.

Fine Art - Drawing to Music and Sound.

Moving from the 3D pathway, I next jumped into Fine Art which I would consider my strongest area having had all my previous Art & Design background based in such a setting. So jumping straight in, just how I like it. I was handed my first and main brief for this 2 week period entitled 'Music/Sound Through Painting and Sculpture'. Automatically the first thing I thought of was sound waves having to paint to music but I quickly got rid of that idea as it seems all but the easy way out and having worked in such a way to let my ideas flow through me, I read over the brief a couple of times to let it sink in.
After looking it over and being told to focus on the key factors of music such as the Dissonance, Harmony, Discord, Rhythm, Theme, Composition, Progression etc etc. I set out to listening to a piece of music and drawing what I heard. At first I found this quite hard so instead of focusing to hard on a certain part of a song I just listened to the same piece over and over. For the first sketch I drew I just kept on layering and layering what I heard until I ended up with that you see below.

Having chosen to worked in charcoal this piece got very messy very fast, but that's something I found very fun. For all 3 piece I drew I was listening to - Supercell - Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari The reason why I chose this song, other then the fact I utterly love it. Is its a very strong and striking piece with a song piano lead throughout. For the fact it has a quiet start and over powering vocals, drums and piano at parts made it very fun to draw.
The piece above was made over the space of 45 minutes, listening to the track multiple times, layering up the different sounds I heard. From the swaying harmony of the quiet piano at the start, to the sharp structure of the drums. Overall i real love the amount of different marks I was about to create while making this first piece.

For the 2nd piece I was once again listening to Supercell - Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari but this time i wanted to focus on a certain part, for that I chose the piano and its repeated theme which is present throughout the song. Since It has a swaying spiral sort of feel I ended up having my hand flow in such a way I ended up with many a spiral on the page.

I really enjoy this piece, I'd say it is my favourite from the whole day for the fact I love the way the swaying motion is captured in a very dynamic way. I feel its strongly represents the way the piano was played, always leading up to something greater but keeping in tone with the rest of the song and instruments. Not to mention the overlay of marks from the charcoal work really well for this sort of piece.

Lastly I decided to move away from the charcoal which I have apparently become dependent on to make such amazing marks and to try my hand at watercolours.

Not my proudest piece to date as I feel I could still work into this A LOT more, but under the timing of the day this is what I ended up with. For this I was listening to the same piece again but focusing on the very start of the song. Where it starts with a very subtle and quiet piano and then all of a sudden explodes with sounds and emotions. For that I wanted to try and recreate the same sort of sounds with a very simple swaying form into a huge explosion of colour, For that fact i like this piece but I feel I could easily work into this with a lot more colour. I think using watercolour was the wrong median and I would have had a lot more success with acrylic paints. Overall I very much enjoyed this drawing to music and the results I ended up with. I cannot wait to take these forms and marks further into this brief.

3D Final Concept - Glass Work

After completing a set of Design sheets, my next step was to look back at these ideas and develop the ones I liked the most and what i thought would work the best into a final piece. At this stage I know i wanted to work in either clay or glass so I started to tailor my designs with one of those directions in mind.

In the end, I ended up with 5 designs I felt would work and while drawing these out I came to the conclusion i wanted to work with colour in my piece so inturn turned my mind to a more solid glass piece. So stopping with my final piece for the moment I went and did a quick test with a few glass layered glass pieces to see what sort of effect the end piece would look like.

I did this, as first i wanted to see what the coloured glass would look like when layered in between to clear pieces. The main reason for this was out of my final designed I really like my bottom left piece. Which didn't just include crushed glass and clear, but also wire to help with the forming of a coloured pattern. After solidifying my idea, I went back to the Glass room and started on collecting the scrap glass I needed to work on this piece.

I decided instead of adding a mould to curve my piece, I'd just leave the piece flat. This was mainly down to the fact I didn't want the crush glass to have a chance to move even if just a little bit, for the fact the design could be lost if that happened.
As well as that, i decided on using bits of cut glass leaving space between each for the top layered, instead of one solid piece which i used in my test. I wanted to try this out as I feel it would give a more ridged effect to my piece making it more interesting to look at. This come into my mind when I was thinking whether or not I could set the piece on a mould.

Not the best photo, but this is my final piece after spending its time being in the kiln and I am very happy with the way it came out. The glass on the top most layer moved a little bit from being perfectly straight with the back piece but I much prefer this effect as It gives the piece more characteristics which I didn't even think to give it. I really like the way the shattered glass isn't the same in each space too. I think this will be down to not being anal about putting in the exactly same amount into each space. Overall I am very happy with this piece and have learnt a lot while working with glass. I know it will be hard to try and recreate this effect as well there are a lot of variables working in glass but that adds to its charm I think. I'll definitely come back to glass work again later down the line and try out some more experiments and tests.

3D - Design Sheets

Carrying on from my Research Sheets, my next brief was to work on some design sheets. I tried to develop shapes from my previous research and then developed them in such a way that I'd end up with a wide range of ideas and different examples of designs I could later make into a concept or piece.

With each of these sheets, I kept in mind about how I'd then make them. So the main materials I had in mind were glass, wood and clay having just had my induction into those workshops in college. I feel like making a piece out of wood would be the easiest and most straight forward. However I feel that having the layered effect of glass or clay would work really nicely with some of these designs that had overlapping aspects.

3D - Research Sheets - 21st Century Architecture

Following my work with styrofoam and having had an introduction to the different workshops. The next brief I received was entitled 'Research'. For this I was tasked with researching 21st Century Architecture and creating 2 work sheets which I then worked into them.
For my research I went over to Pinterest mainly as its easier to store the photos I find if i need them for a later date. After collecting a lot more then what I needed I went to work in creating my 2 A2 pages. First off I gave the sheets a quick watercolour wash to help break up the strong white background to help prevent making my drawings becoming very flat and 2D.

For this first sheet I wanted to go with a very square focused research sheet. After letter my black and brown wash dry I went to sorting my images I found and picked out some of my favorite modern buildings and torn them out to give the images a more organic look. Once stuck down I went to recreating some of the building with my own pen drawing. I wanted this sheet to be very neatly drawn as I felt the contrast with the rough background and sharply ripped images really helps the ink work pop off the page.

Now unlike my first sheet I went with a more curved image base and because of this I wanted my drawing to be very quick and less perfected to see what sort of design would come of this. Since its the opposite of the first I think the two sheets together look really nice but I still prefer the first mainly because of overall finish it ha.

3D workshop introduction/Health & Safety - Styrofoam Block

Moving off my old timetable of Fashion & Graphics for the past 4 weeks, I am now working on 3D work for 2 weeks then switching to Fine art for the final 2. Following this, in my first 3D class it was very much an introduction to everything in our 3D areas.
This included the use of the work shop but before being shown any of the machinery the first thing I was shown was all the fire exits just incase of a fire and where the emergency stop buttons around the room were and on each machine. Aswell as this I was shown where the first aid kit was kept by each sink and the Health & Safety board. Next was an induction to each machine and how they work, how to stand when using them and where goggles and gloves are kept. The key thing to remember in the work shop room, is the check and double check the machine is set up how you want it before using. On top of that none of the machines will work unless the extractor fan is turned on before using each machines. After being shown these things, I was shown how to turn on each machine and use them safely.
As well as the workshop we were shown around the clay and glass workshops and how to work safely in both. Having never worked with glass or clay I feel I'll be experimenting with these at some point just to get a handle on them and see what sort of effects i can get out of them.
However to quickly not down some of the key safety rules from each room, start off with Ceramics:
Like with any of the rooms, No eating or drink is in place as well as having phones turns off to avoid distractions. The ceramics room is very compact so having bags or portfolios would be a major tripping hazard so I was told to keep them out. The typical tidy as you work attitude and always returning stuff to where it could be. Clay dust is also a hazard if not cleaned up properly and remembering to wash hands after using any clay or glazes. When using sharp blades or scalpels to be extra careful to avoid harm. When shown into the Kiln room I was informed only the tutors are allowed to use the equipment in there, as well as the heavy plaster moulds which were kept in and around the room to ask for help when moving them. On the note of C.O.S.H.H [Control of Substances Hazardous to Health] data and the instructions on containers to be well informed and make sure I real all of them. For the data sheets themselves when I moved over to the workshop room, I was also shown where these were kept and the folders for each section but in the instance of ever needing them, It would be quicker to ask a tutor to find needed information.
Moving over to the glass workshop the same no eating or drinking rules apply throughout all work shops and to have phones turned off. As well as having no bags or portfolios on the floor to avoid tripping. Unlike ceramics, in glass goggles must we worn when working with the glass. That includes cutting and crushing, this is to avoid having small shards being transferred over to the eye. In the case of this happening each sink in every workshop has a first aid box for cuts, burns etc as well an eye wash hose. Hands and work stations to be brushed and wiped down after use, this is extra important after using stains or pigments [Which come with C.O.S.H.H data also]. With Glass you end up with alot of scrap bits and as such special bins are provided, this also means people don't end up putting scrap into general waste bins which could later cause harm to cleaners or other people. When stretching lead strip or wire, be sure to always maintain a well balanced stand. All machines in any room can only be used with staff supervision. Lastly in the glass room, it is key when using the sandblaster to wait until the dust has settled before opening.

Following in the morning of introductions, in the afternoon I was given a piece of styrofoam with my first 3D brief.
In quick one day brief was to produce a concept model for either a piece of jewellery/furniture/interior/exterior with a thought on how to join material together in a none traditional way such as glue. So after a quick sketching session to give myself a few ideas on shapes I could use.

What I liked about this brief was the amount of freedom we had, as we could make a chair but we weren't restricted by the style of it as long as it could function in some way as a chair. So from my quick sketches I worked from the letter 'h' a simple chair form into something abit more extreme and out there.
Once I moved over into the work shop, I did most of my work with a hotwire to cut out the shape i needed from the foam block and then did all the finer rounding work by hand with pieces of sandpaper.

Now thinking about how to join the pieces of the back and circles to the side was a very simple task. All I did was take some very short pieces of wire about half a cm and just pushed it into each piece. But overall I really like the way this concept piece came out, it stayed very true to much original idea of adapting the simplistic letter 'h' and just rounding out all the edges.