Last week’s critical studies meeting

We were asked to read an article in preparation for discussion with our critical studies group.

Here is an attempt at a summary of the article I wrote in the session:

This is an essay based on an interview of James Victore by Steven Heller. It discusses his significant pieces of polemical poster works which respond to contemporary moral issues that he feels strongly about; it examines their successfulness and Victore’s progression to create his most effective possible way of impacting, as a graphic designer, on what he perceives as society’s evils.

His work made comment on the following issues:

• Columbus day celebrations ignoring the inadvertent genocide of the Native Americans.
• The 1993 race riots in Brooklyn between Hasidic Jews and their African-American neighbours.
• The right-wing U.S Senator Jesse Helm's campaign for a return to 'family values' (antihomosexual and antiabortion rights).
• The casual instillation of prejudice and hatred to impressionable young children.
• The racism inherent in the death penalty.

The text was engaging, and conveys admiration; the writer is clearly very passionate about Victore's work.
He's a very passionate designer; the article suggests he is extremely determined and driven. The following video interview with him supported this.

a new year begins....

Project 1a- Inventive Characters
Our first brief has been very similar to exercises we did in the first year, which were intended to loosen up our drawing styles and get us to approach it more freely. Ironically the restrictions sometimes did force me to draw in a more free and creative way sometimes.

The brief reads: "The figure is the most recurrent element you are likely to represent as an illustrator. Moreover the language for the figure is often the thing that distinguishes the 'individual handwriting' of the illustrator. It is important to remember that this process whilst rooted in academia, it can also be the catalyst for inventive and spontaneous drawing."

We were given a framework of characters and adjectives to pair together to create 6 different characters.
We had to base the drawing method on a set of rules:

• Draw characters using only straight/ruled lines.
• Draw characters using only circles/curves.
• Draw characters using only torn/cut paper.
• Draw characters using no outline.
• Draw characters using only printed marks.

Here are some examples of the work I produced:

Some sketches based on the 3D stoat I made, using ink pen, coloured pencil and watercolour (no outline); and the 3d stoat itself!

A stoat i drew within the rough outline from the reverse side of a sewn piece, using only little straight line marks.

An angry fire eater drawn with scribbly pencil (no outline).

A proud king, collaged shapes of patterned paper.

A friendly spider, made with pieces of wool and fabric sewn to paper.

Friendly spiders, dangling from web strings, pencil and collaged paper.

Getting back into working in the studio has been a bit challenging. I am determined to get back into working more naturally in 2d, and regain my confidence with ink and watercolour in particular. I've become so involved with a hands-on, 3d approach that it seems to be my default way of working. I still enjoy drawing, but i am able to create 3d characters with the least thought or effort. I am worried that creating characters with craft based methods in some ways dilutes my own personal 'visual language', in that it is much easier for somebody else to replicate to look of my 3d work, rather than the style of my drawing, which is based much more on gesture rather than practical methods. Drawing is more spontaneous and fragile, less reliable in a way, which makes a successful drawing far more rewarding. (Although i do like my little creations).

Summer brief progression

This is a piece Hannah did, and is the first piece of work I took inspiration from in our swaps. Her use of  varying thicknesses of black line on the white background is striking and effective as an illustration depicting the scene in Waterhouse's painting. I could imagine this appearing on a poster or flyer about the nymphs.

Here is my response from Hannah's piece. I kept the black and white theme initially, using ink pen on white paper, before I added coloured pencil to a copy. Like Hannah's use of minimal features, I left the nymphs faceless, focusing instead on their hair and figures. The hair was initially intended to appear like the waves of the water, but in the finished piece they appear to be floating in air rather than water; ghost like rather than sirens? The lack of facial features makes the nymphs more menacing, and more like objects; as Hylas views them as objects of desire.

Above are two examples of Bryony's responses. We all naturally seemed to become fond of the use of lines in the hair. It creates a sense of the hair flowing, and links to the idea of water. Visually, it is overwhelming, linking to how Hylas and the nymphs' other victims relate to with the sensation of drowning in the water. 

I wanted to focus more on the faces of the nymphs. Instead of looking at the faces in the painting, I based this face on Marion Cotillard. This is because I was struggling to capture the features of Waterhouse's nymphs and studying their features became counterproductive. Also, when I imagine a nymph (i.e. enchanting faces) she is one of the first people who came to mind looks-wise. I used 2b pencil and ink pen, then photocopied the original and added watercolour. 

After studying the nymphs I decided to focus more on their environment and how I could explore that visually. The nymphs are 'children of nature' and in the painting are surrounded by lily pads, trees and flowers. My studies of these flowers evolved from a sketch I did of some flowers in a park. In the first example I created a 'flower bed', which Bryony elaborated on in her own piece:

Although the difference in our drawing styles is evident, i think the simple addition of Bryony's nymphs gives the odd bundle of flowers a place, giving the nymphs a platform for the iconic figures they are.

Hannah's translucent use of watercolour in this piece is dreamlike and adds to the tranquil atmosphere of the image. My first thoughts when looking at it was that it would make a brilliant design for a stained glass window.

In turn, I added to this piece with watercolour. It is not meant to be a literal background; more like a suggestion of their environment. I think the watercolour became too overwhelming. I needed to use more of a light suggestion of colour rather than drowning the image with it. I think the line drawing Bryony created is far more effective and is more appealing as a simple piece, like a small book illustration.

Keeping up with drawing

During this project work I've found the best way to keep motivated when I'm going through a creative dry patch is to keep practicing drawing as often as possible. I feel like I stopped doing it as much last year, but I've always enjoyed drawing people.
On holiday I did sketches of my family in the spare time...

Here is a very quick pen drawing of dad...

...and pencil drawings of Anna...

Over the past couple of days I have been doing pencil and pen portraits, but they are drawn from photos rather than life.

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My visit to 'Le Musee des beaux-arts' in Carcassonne

The temporary gallery on the bottom floor was full of abstract expressionist paintings, mostly from the late fifties. I noted down the names of the few that appealed to me, but most of them I found ugly/pretentious/tacky.
The upstairs gallery featured the classical art collections from the 18th/19th century. I was lucky to spot one by Henri Lehmann, 'The Fisher and the Nymph' (1837), which conveyed the same theme as Waterhouse's 'Hylas and the Nymphs'.
It was interesting to note the differences in the character of the Nymph in Lehmann's painting and the ones in Waterhouse's.
Here are some observations I made at the time:
The Nymph is more pro-actively luring the fisherman, grabbing his fishing rod (suggestion of euphemistic visual metaphor) and exposing her full body out of the water. Her arms stretch out, gesturally, like a dance as one arm stretches up for the fishing rod and the other reaches out toward the fisherman's face. He leans his head onto his shoulder, gazing sleepily at the Nymph, captivated. Hypnotised. Strong chiaroscuro lights up the figures against the dark water and surrounding landscape. Sunset? Why is he fishing naked? The Nymph looks more glamorous than Waterhouse's Nymphs- her hair is curled and glossy-less pure and natural looking-staged and stylised.


Unfortunately I haven't been able to find an image of the painting on the internet, and photographs weren't allowed in the gallery.

Indie Craft

…the fantastic art and craft work being produced by artists and makers using traditional craft techniques but with a completely modern, alternative and subversive style, context and subject matter.

The alternative craft scene is thriving and flourishing, especially since the advent of the internet…

Its roots are in the DIY punk scenes that came out of the United States in the early 1990s. Hence, alternative craft is often called DIY Craft, also to distinguish it from its traditional and twee-er forebear. Other names for DIY and Indie Craft are New Wave Craft, Subversive Craft and Craftivism (Craft + Activism- usually when the work contains more political or socially conscious subject matter).

…artists who have taken craft techniques to a new level and have blurred or completely broken through the line between art and craft.

Indie/DIY craft can be viewed as a response to the homogenous mass production and mass consumption that is synonymous with the modern world. The scene’s continued rise in popularity can also be attributed to the current economic and environmental crises we face. As Magda Sayeg of Knitta Please puts it:

I’m part of the DIY craft movement that emphasises handmade artistry as a reaction to the mass-produced culture we’re immersed in.

If you make handmade items, whether for practical reasons (clothing or home wares) for decorative reasons, or as gifts, you are turning your back on the mass-produced items found on most high streets or in shopping malls. You are creating something unique, personal and special. A lot of indie crafters/artists use recycled or vintage materials, and making something yourself by hand from recycled materials obviously has less impact on the environment.

Textile-based crafting has traditionally been seen as a domestic, female-dominated (if not exclusively female) hobby or pastime and usually not as an art form in its own right. Several Indie Crafts artists are striving to change that perception. As embroidery artist Jenny Hart explains:

Embroidery serves no function, and is almost always secondary to a functional object (a pillowcase; a tea cosy). As an artist, one of my considerations is to make this type of needlework embellishment the substance of the subject and the object itself.

Any feminists who have bemoaned the current rise of craft shouldn’t worry, as both men and women are partaking in the new wave. Indie Craft isn’t about keeping women busy, as it may have been in previous centuries, and it isn’t purely decorative art. Today’s craft is also about empowerment: feeling a sense of achievement when making something with your own hands. It’s about taking a stand or making a statement against this modern, digital, disposable age of mass production and consumption that is leading the world into environmental and economical ruin. It’s about creating something you might not have ‘needed’ to make yourself- you could have gone to any shop and bought, for instance, an (unfeasibly, unsustainably) cheap, mass-machine-made scarf or jumper- but that gave you the sense of achievement and empowerment that comes from learning and perfecting a skill, making a unique item by yourself, for yourself or for a gift, and in many cases making a small, independent business out of your creations.

-extracts from the introduction to 'Indie Craft' by Jo Waterhouse, 2010. 

Monty the cat (below) was created based on photos and videos sent to me by his owner.

Apparently Piglet was feeling left out...

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Side Project: Animal 'Cuddlies'

I very much enjoyed an exercise we did earlier this year where we were asked to bring in various bits and bobs (recylcling, textiles, random useful found materials) and were then given a short time to make animals out of them.

First I made my crocodile. For the structure of his body and jaw i used pieces of a plastic bottle, joining them together with wire. The tail is made from pieces of egg box which i sewed loosely together so it can move around. I wrapped wool around the body and attached split pins for the lumpy scales. The jaw is covered in scraps of green fabric. The eyes are made from a piece of egg box, glued on with a glue gun. The teeth are made from a beer can, also attached with a glue gun. The legs were made from the same wire i used for the structuring. We were advised to use as little glue as possible, instead relying on wrapping/tying/stitching/fastening in other ways, but it became necessary because of the time constraint.


I posted this on my facebook and was particularly flattered when a fellow student on my course compared it to a Quentin Blake illustration!

For my reindeer I relied more on the textiles. I used a plastic bottle again for the main body, but i detached the narrow end of the bottle and tilted it downwards so that the head of the deer dips forward (secured with wire). I wrapped bits of canvas material around the body to conceal the plastic, followed by some brown wool which i wrapped around to help tuck in the fabric and maintain the shape. I added a piece of texted knitting on the top for the thicker coat of the reindeer. His antlers and legs are made from my favourite trusty wire. I cut out thin strips of brown fabric and glued them to the bottle head one by one to keep the shape, and attached a piece of egg box for the muzzle with split pins, which became the eyes. I glued on a piece of scrunched up red fabric for the 'rudolf the red-nosed reindeer' nose. The ears are just cut out pieces of brown fabric, along with the lacy piece around the head (I'm not sure why i needed this bit, it could be a lighter piece of the reindeer's coat or just decoration). And I finished him off with a scarf.


Since then I've been happy to carry on making similar creations in my spare time.
At the moment I am making friends and family their favourite animals. 

Taz the turtle

I made this for a friend for their birthday. This one took me about a day to finish.

Monty the moggie cat.

Currently working on this. It has taken me a few weeks of on/off work, as there has been a lot of knitting and sewing involved to get the pattern and features as accurate as i can.

Arthur Rackham

Here is an illustration that has clearly been influenced by the painting 'Hylas and the Nymphs' by Waterhouse.


The suggestion of water is simplistic- there is minimal use of line here that is very effective and looks elegant. Like in Waterhouse's pencil study (see earlier post), the wavy lines of the water link visually to the women's hair; the hair flows seamlessly into the ripples of the water, like they are a part of it.


Stylistically it is very reminiscent of Japanese illustration and ink drawings (before modern manga/anime etc); it brought the work of Katsushika Hokusai to mind.

Katsushika Hokusai’s 'The Great Wave Off Kanagawa', circa 1831, Hakone Museum (Japan).

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Dirty Car Art

Stumbled across this today when I was browsing illustrations inspired by 'Hylas and the Nymphs'.

'Meet Scott Wade – a talented artist, who like every creative  and curious person can’t resist a dirty rear car window. We suspect that Scott started off with clever sayings, like, “wash me”, however his later works became much more sophisticated.

He lives on a mile and a half of dirt road – caliche, as the locals call it, road-base: a blend of limestone and gravel clay. Driving over this surface results in a fine, white dust that billows up behind any vehicle driven faster than a galloping turtle, coating the rear window. Being an experienced artist it wasn’t long before Scott started experimenting with techniques to achieve these amazingly detailed and shaded drawings.'

[http://www.boredpanda.com/dirty-car-art-by-scott-wade/]

More examples can be found on his website: http://www.dirtycarart.com/