For the second part of the brief 'When Worlds Collide'- we were given two lists of different words, in which we had to pick one word from each list. There were many different words to chose from, all of which were very interesting. However, after a lot of consideration, I chose 'Defining moments in history' from list A, and from list B 'Childhood'. I chose these words as I thought they were both quite broad in their meaning- but that I could also make them very personal to me. I feel that a lot of my work is from memory of people, which is why I chose ' Childhood'.
In November I visited the Pompidou centre, in Paris. I saw a range excellent work- including this painting below. However, I am still uncertain of the name of this artist. This painting depicts two dark haired woman, whom I assume are without clothing- and it appears as if they are holding onto some kind of light clothing to cover their bodies. When I first saw this painting I was fascinated by how it was so beautifully vivid in its colour- as the artist uses this mesmerising turquoise- yet so watered down; provoking such a strong sense of tranquility and peacefulness. I was slightly hesitant at the beginning of the project, with where and how I was going to even start this project however, it wasn't until I came upon this image- a whole range of ideas sprung to my mind. This was when I decided that I wanted to use watercolour in my work.
I have always been interested in watercolour painting, and became particularly involved with using it in my work when I was doing my A Levels. However, it was not until now that I realised it was something that I really need to get back into. As I am usually very precise, and fixated when it comes to my work- I love how watercolour allows you to work in a more spontaneous, liberated way as you never really know what the outcome of your work is going to look.
Over this past week, I have been painting small compositions of my friends, family and myself using water colour, and working from photographs. Whilst doing so, I wanted to retain the same watered down appearance as the artist had created- whose work I saw at the Pompidou centre. I deliberately chose to not paint their facial features, but only distinctive features of these characters. However, I am still undecided on whether I will draw in their faces using pen, watercolour or completely leave their faces blank as they are now.
In terms of developing my work, I would potentially quite like to experiment with putting these paintings into photoshop and turning them into negative images, which would make the colours much more luminous, and ultimately create a more sinister appearance for these images. However, I feel that they are already quite successful in their colour, and I really like the subtlety of the way the paint in some of them merges into the white background.
Developing my work
These past few days, I have been thinking more about how I can develop these compositions; in which I decided that I would like work into them- using black pen. The unusual marks that the watercolour has created, works quite well against the contrasting simplicity of the black pen; and over this week I have produced around 20 different compositions.
Here are some of the final compositions.
Charlie, My brother.
Self Portrait
Emerald, My sister.
Jess.
My Brother, Charlie.
This was painted from a photograph of my brother; I wanted to really accentuate the bold features of his outfit, such as his dark blue t shirt, his light orange hat, and his cold red lips. I like the way the paint in this image, merges in such an interesting way- creating all of these wonderful and unusual marks. Once the image had dried, I drew into it by only drawing the eyes- as I didn't want to over complicate the image. From looking back at this composition, I think this one is the most effective image- as the simplicity of the eyes, really contrasts against the intricate detail of watercolour marks.
Self Portrait.
Self Portrait.
Self Portrait.
Jules.
Self Portrait.
Evaluating my work
I am extremely pleased with the outcome of these compositions; particularly how the watercolour creates such interesting, and unusual marks within the composition- its actually rather beautiful. However, I also think these image are successful due to the simplicity of their faces drawn in pen against the intricate detail of the watercolour marks.
In terms of developing my work; I would defiantly like to experiment on a larger scale, and possibly contribute different materials onto the faces of these images- possibly start using paint or pencil to draw their faces. Make them slightly more abstract and less cartoonish. Although they do work well on their own, I would like to see what these compositions would look like with backgrounds.
Over the holidays I have been looking at many portrait artists such as Marlene Dumas, **3 others** all who which hold a very important influence to my work. I first became sufficiently interested in watercolour during A Levels- however, it is a medium that I haven't really come back to until now.
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