Summer 2014

I have been thinking how I will spend my free time over the coming Summer holidays. As well as working 5 days a week at Hawick Knitwear I have 2 holidays to look forward to - Nairn, Inverness with my family and Poland with 3 friends, both in June. So in no way will I be 'bored' this Summer.

Receiving an A4 Moleskine sketchbook from my friend Flora will likely prove a very worthy - if a little belated - birthday present indeed. I plan and hope to keep up my creative ways throughout the summer and keeping my sketchbook at hand will almost certainly help.

Updating this blog will be a regular occurrence. I am also hoping to pursue a certain extra-curricular activity that will involve some guts (I don't mean intestines) and patience, then again it might not happen, probably because of the risks involved...I hope I'm not hyping it up too much ha ha.

Anyway this post was just for me to affirm my intentions for the coming months. I hope it helps!

'Fragment'

I recently discovered an app on my iPhone that is able to let you edit your photos in a unique and creative way that I have never seen before! I was excited at first because I knew it meant I was going to be able to adjust my personal photos if I wanted to share them on Facebook or whatever, but today I realised I could put it to the test with some of my artwork.

Below is a photograph I took a while back of a screen print I completed near the end of last year.

This wasn't the final stage in this particular screen printing series, I decided to test it on 'Fragment' it because of it's 3 colours. After glancing at the different tools available on the app I figured, the simpler the better for my first try!

Above, is what I came up with. I found the choices of shapes interesting, you are able to include different patterns on top of your photograph. As well as being able to adjust the contrast, colour, brightness etc., it allows you to decide the position in which the squares - or any other shape you want - are placed in relation with angles and lines. I, by no means wish to display this edited photograph as my original work. I admit some creativity on my part went into the adjustment of colour and composition, but overall - it's an app! If anything, the experimenting I have been doing has so far influenced me into thinking about straight lines and angles, especially how they effect the composition of images.

I felt it was necessary to post this because it has played a part in my important and expanding learning process, plus I needed to get it out there before anyone wrongly praised me for my digital talents...I've not mastered Photoshop yet!!

Progress Update

This past month has felt like a mad rush. Next week we have our Viewpoint unit hand in and presentation, as well as Exploring Specialist Techniques. Both units have been great fun and I have learned many things since beginning them.
The week after next we have our Botanics unit to hand in and present. Being the most tricky of the units so far to initially get started with I am pleased with how my sketchbook and final piece have progressed! I enjoy drawing, so having to include sketches of various flowers was a pleasant experience.

As for Viewpoint, I've felt the only way express my creativity regarding ideas for my cover and centre spread was to have a bash at Photoshop. Although weary to begin with I soon grasped the basic idea and how the different tools worked. Many if not all my ideas for the final pieces required me to get them down on paper first, just quick sketches. This proved a valuable reference when trying to convert the ideas onto the computer.

Exploring Specialist Techniques has allowed me to further investigate printing, and more particularly, lino prints. I have really enjoyed cutting my designs and experimenting with colours and composition.

I hope to achieve good grades with my last 3 units of 1st year, fingers crossed!

To The Kwai and Back

 

As part of my Exploring Specialist Techniques unit I have recently discovered an illustrator by the name of Ronald Searle. I came across him whilst researching other artists for my sketchbook, and his work instantly grabbed my attention.

He was called up for national service during the Second World War and subsequently was captured by the Japanese and forced to work on the Burma rail line. Although weighing in at 6 stone and living under the most hellish conditions, Searle still managed to maintain a sense of acute awareness. He believed that it was his duty not only to survive, but to record the experiences he and many of his fellow soldiers and officers were going through. He often hid his small drawings and quick sketches under the beds of his dying comrades, as the enemy would have no reason to go looking for contraband in such a place. 

After looking around the internet for examples of these impressive illustrations, I ended up discovering his book 'To the Kwai -and back' and could not resist purchasing it for myself. I have not yet had a proper read through my copy yet but the pages I have had a look at are great, it just amazes me to no end that this man had the patience and focus to record such a time in history of which he was a main part of.

This discovery is just another example of why this course is proving to be extremely eye-opening and enlightening. I may sound like I'm exaggerating but I guess I just become enthusiastic about a lot of things I like and admire. If nothing else, books like this one and people like Ronald Searle provide me with inspiration and a drive, they inspire me to maybe create something (hopefully not in the circumstance of a World War) that will live on after me.