Light Trails

Here's a few shots I took earlier tonight with my camera. I've always wanted to tinker around the settings and see if I could capture light trails successfully. Adjusting the exposure allowed me enough time to draw words and shapes in the space in front of me where I stood in my bedroom. I was surprised to see it had actually worked first time, I think I was under the impression that it required more time to set up or something.

After Googling 'light trails' I was hit by a huge amount of photographs of highways and the lights of passing vehicles being captured. They inspired me to perhaps take my experiments outside and see what I can produce once the sun has set and vehicles are illuminated by their headlights.

Photo Editing with 'Afterlight'

Sat adding some graphics to photographs taken on my new phone just to play around with some features and I came up with these. It was fun working with the different colours and being able to choose the positions of the various shapes.
They're not based on any idea I had or on other photographers work, I just wanted to see what I could do with photographs I never had any initial plans for.

Our love is Like the Flowers, the Rain, the Sea and the Hours

Last Wednesday we travelled up to Edinburgh to attend the Generation exhibit at the National Gallery on Princes Street. Although I had visited twice before earlier in the year I still felt there were things to see and take in.

The piece I gave more attention to this time around was the installation in the largest room. I hadn't heard of Martin Boyce previous to the Generation exhibit but very much enjoyed interacting and viewing 'Our Love is Like...'

As I walked around the dimly lit room illuminated by the light strips hovering over me, I was thinking about why Boyce had created this. I thought 'Why these colours?' and 'What does this part mean?' and 'This reminds me of something...'. Of course it wasn't until I read the accompanying summary of the installation and artist responsible that it became clearer to me Boyce's intentions. Instillations in general excite me. For me, the more there is to get your head around - the better!

Portrait Artist of the Year

I found series 1 on SkyPlusHD and watched 2 episodes tonight. Very interesting stuff so far! Also, a great way to see how people work with different materials and how they approach creating their pieces. Episode one whittled down group of artists chosen from 1,800 in London to 3 groups of 4 and then to just 1 winner, in episode 2 the same process took place in Glasgow.
It was so fascinating watching how these groups of people took on the task of observing a life model and getting their portrait on to canvas. The subjects were mostly people from the entertainment industry and the occasional sportsperson. Each artist had 4 hours to complete as much of their portrait as possible all the while standing side by side, which looked unnerving to say the least!
Throughout the episodes I felt the urge to give portraiture a shot, or at least practice painting more often and just produce pieces as a way of developing my technique. This may indeed just be a fleeting, temporary ambition as so often happens whenever inspiration comes my way... but hopefully not!

Recently I have felt the necessity for information.
More specifically, information on certain artists, their work, the reason for it and the circumstances in which it was created. I am realising more and more whenever I feel the need to express myself and talk to people about my interests in art and the direction I want to take with my own work that it would help me a lot if I had references. If I had movements to source my influences, artists to procure technique from and concepts to base my work on I feel like my work (or at least ideas and development) would come across more credible and possibly be taken more seriously. I believe that wielding intent is sometimes more essential than wielding all the expensive materials and tools. Of course that helps, but what I mean is I want to be able to justify any development of an idea or experiment with references and reasons for it.

The past year on this course has really helped me get into the routine of reading regularly again. I love having books to hand and being able to read not just for entertainment but to broaden my mind and improve my knowledge on certain things. I mentioned in the last post my interest in contemporary art, and so I am hoping to get into the library this coming week and take out some books about it. Reading is one thing, but retaining the information is another! Note taking is always present in my reading, which does slow the process d--  I feel like I am rambling on a bit, so I'll stop now.

Grayson Perry: Who are you?

Grayson Perry has always been someone I've wanted to discover more about. I think it was last year I listened to his Reith Lectures that were broadcast on BBC4 and the way he spoke really engaged me. So until I go out and get his most recent book, I thought I'd follow my lecturer Niall's recommendation and give Perry's Channel 4 series 'Who Are You?' a watch.

Episode 1 down and I really enjoyed it! It's great that an artist like Perry has the confidence and drive to connect with people and join them in exploring both their true and 'second self'.
Throughout the meetings with his 4 subjects, I got the impression he managed to gain their trust and gradually allowed them all to open up. With a vision like this, and having the means to create a series documenting it, I believe one would require a certain amount of compassion to follow through with the process. I found Grayson Perry's investigative behaviour very necessary, yet compassionate.

The exploration of former Secretary of State Chris Huhne interested me the most. It was clear to me from the off set that Grayson Perry's methods of dissection as it were, seemed rife with intent. Perry sat with a pen and paper in front of a positioned Huhne and posed a number of questions.
In this case, Grayson was trying to uncover any signs of vulnerability in Huhne's identity particularly siting his resignation from office and perverting the course of justice. All he seemed to uncover was a brick wall, a somewhat 'indestructible' politician dripping with positivity and compliance. After a 2 and a half month prison stint, Perry was again eager to investigate and observe the now ex-prisoner Huhne. Perry kept this theme of vulnerability and created a pot inscribed with repeat patterns referencing different parts of Chris Huhne's life up to this point.
He then proceeded to smash the pot with a hammer and seal all the parts back together, thus symbolising a crack or at least a visible clue that what he has been through is beginning to show.

I'm not going to go and review the whole episode, that would be pointless. I just wanted to say how impressed I was! Identity is very important and is always at the forefront of our lives. The way Grayson Perry spoke of this highlighted it's diversity and through his four subjects managed to explore some very different identities, and the struggles and transitions of the people behind them.

Personally, my opinions on identity and how artists express themselves through their work has dramatically changed over the past weeks. I feel more open to discovering why we as a human race have this urge to express ourselves and possess the intentions of 'finding ourselves'.
I have truly understood through my time on this course that asking questions is the only way we find answers! I've always known that, but until recently and probably due to my exposure to more and more exhibitions around the country and speaking to my lecturers, I have been able to begin thinking about things in a different way.
I feel like the only way I will be able to appropriately produce my own, more personal work, is if I explore, discover and allow myself to be open to as many different kinds of art as possible.
More specifically, I'm looking at a lot of contemporary and more controversial work such as instillations.

I'll continue watching the series and if I feel the need to post again about it I will.

Bargain Hunter

Whilst in Glasgow I visited an old book shop bursting at the seams with piles and piles of books from the past 10 years, the 90s, 80s and 70s etc. The shop itself was a mess, what carpet you could see was filthy and any small child or short adult faced the danger of being crushed under mountains of dusty old books. The books themselves though were great, a huge variety were on display and it was kind of a challenge retrieving the book you desired especially when every one I liked the look of was near the bottom of a 7 foot tall tower!

Anyway, I managed to snag a couple of bargains. One from 'The £1 room' and the other from the larger, less price-specific room:

This one was £2.95 and as you can see came with a CD-ROM featuring 53 digital typefaces from independent foundries all across the world. I couldn't believe my luck when I found it. I will be able to scan some pages and use them for development of some of my ideas regarding my Extended Specialist Techniques unit. I want to go the extra steps necessary to create a comprehensive sketchbook on Typography and to express my particular passion for it. I will achieve this through further development of research and my own ideas with influence from practitioners and designers. This book will help me as it has a vast collection of digital fonts lesser known in the mainstream world of typefaces as well as more popular ones. Also, it will allow me to work digitally with my work and try out the typefaces provided on the CD-ROM.

For £1 I became the owner of this mint-condition encyclopaedia on the art of calligraphy. Like Indie Fonts this book should prove a worthwhile investment. Throughout are examples and step-by-step instructions allowing the reader to pick up practical and creative methods of achieving beautiful and unique outcomes. It's collection of techniques has already ignited ideas in my head of how I am going to attempt them.

Picking these up has really made me think about checking more books out from the library, as I don't do it often enough!

Kelvingrove Art Gallery

I decided since I had a weekend in Glasgow planned in order to visit my friends and hang out, I may as well make the most of it. My friend Calum and I headed toward Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum early Saturday morning quite looking forward to 2 or 3 hours broadening our minds!

On display in the first room we entered were groups of small to large sized oil paintings of figures, landscapes and rural scenes. Walking closer I was pleased to read that the room we were in showcased 'The Glasgow Boys' and a collection of their lives work. Now, the last I had read and been taught about 'The Boys' was back in High School so my knowledge of their story and general work wasn't up to scratch - so I was more than happy to have the opportunity to learn more about it all.

Upon entering we were greeted by John Lavery's 'Anna Pavlova'. A large oil painting that appears illuminated before your eyes, I was greatly impressed by it's striking colours movement. As I read the provided description just beside the piece, it intrigued me to learn that although Pavlova posed for Lavery in his studio, he decided to depict her dancing as if on stage. He achieved this through the vibrant choices of colour and careful tonal work. Seeing this in the flesh as it were, really gave me the indication that oil paint is a remarkable medium to work with. Lavery's precise and thoughtful use of light and dark gave me the feeling I should maybe give the whole oil painting thing another chance...

'Anna Pavlova' John Lavery, Oil on Canvas, 1911

Following Pavlova were a couple more pieces all equally impressing. The more I read the information provided about each painting and it's creator I gradually adjusted my eyes and how I was observing the artwork. I was surprised to be quite enjoying the choice of subject throughout this particular exhibit. To be honest I think it was more the historical aspect of it all, I like how portraits or landscapes for example can tell a different story than a photograph. I felt like each painting was a window into the past and this comforted me. I especially liked that some pieces deliberately lacked detail and in some cases were completely devoid of specific details (of which I can't include examples of because I didn't take notes on those ones for some odd reason).

Moving through the room we looked at a lot of rural and farming scenes, also I particularly remember a painting that grabbed my attention. It was by James Guthrie and is called 'A Highland Funeral'. If I remember correctly this depicts the funeral of a young boy as family members, friends and the local community gather to pay their respects. I immediately noticed the space at the bottom of the photograph and - going by the figures' large coats and scarves - the footprints in the snow leading to the group. All of the men standing facing the man officiating the service seem to have their heads downward slightly indicating sadness and perhaps a particular connection to the deceased. Either way I love this painting. It's a unique event to have chosen to paint and I really liked observing this one...

'A Highland Funeral' James Guthrie, Oil on Canvas, 1882

I very much enjoyed our visit to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and with so many paintings never given as much attention as others, I feel I will attend again quite soon. Being able to have access to these paintings by such greats as 'The Glasgow Boys' is an important resource to have and learning this history only helps me realise how integral it is to my own personal progression through the art world.

Toby Paterson

Today we had a visit from artist Toby Paterson. He talked of the various types of mediums he has worked with over his career along with explaining the basis of his work and interests in architecture and the reality it occupies. 

We took a trip to see his exhibition over in Peebles last week. I very much enjoyed the selection of art on display and was eager to get the chance to hear him speak to us and maybe ask some questions. I remember thinking I wasn't too keen on the sculptures dotted around the room, they didn't grab my attention as much as his 3-D work and aluminium paintings. I noticed there were no titles accompanying each piece of work  - this startled me at first, but soon I felt as if a sort of pressure was lifted off me. If I had a title in my face before I had even looked at the painting, I feel that would have distracted me slightly or pushed my mind to come up with an opinion too soon. 

Whenever I've attended an exhibit I've always had in mind whether or not the title of a particular piece is accompanying said piece. I usually spend an initial 5+ minutes analysing and just taking in the work, and then if there is an area for information regarding the work or the artist responsible, I will give that a read before going back to analysing the work in detail. 

What I especially took away from Paterson's visit was how he told us of his intentions and ultimate aim within his work. He explained at first how he can go very long walks and document what he sees with his camera. I remember understanding what he meant when he talked about being able to feel a certain areas identity, inhabitants and atmosphere. I was interested for example, that a building next to a patch of grass with a crooked rusty fence might affect him and inspire him in a way he has never felt before, and that he understands that these things won't be around forever. I understand why he believes the feelings he has about encountering such areas needs to be captured. He talked of a specific building that grabbed his attention whilst out walking, here is his rendition of that building:

After about 5 minutes of explanation,  he talked of the feeling he had when he found this area and that he could only describe it as a "completely aesthetic experience of light, colour and space". This gave me the impression that he felt strongly about this particular building.

Paterson also spoke of when he was in France, and he organised a bus load of locals from the town to accompany him a little tour of their hometown. I admire how he had such an interest in these peoples opinions and views, and that he himself invested time in order to gain information to further his work.

Overall, his talk was filled with interesting projects he's taken part in and created since the beginning of his career in art. I found he spoke very clearly and honestly about how he creates his work and the influences that drive him and keep him going. 

First attempt at using iMovie

Shortly before the holidays I was sitting listening to a few of my records, it was early in the morning and for some odd reason I felt a creative urge hit me. I decided to film a record playing from different angles and in different lights using my iPhone. I could have used my actual camera but once I had figure out how I was going to position the phone to prevent shaky footage, I realised my iPhone would practically be easier to work with. 

I put on a record, the torch on my phone and got filming! I had no idea at first the capabilities of iMovie and it's editing software, although in my younger days I tinkered around with Windows Movie Maker creating goofy clips with my friends, so I had a rough idea of how video editing worked. I managed to get all the clips together after uploading them, then progressed to cutting them and tidying up the start and end of each one of the clips. There are a lot of options regarding filtering, colour, contrast etc. but I felt that on only my first attempt, that would be overkill. 

Once I had all of the clips together in the order that I wanted, I looked into cropping and panning. I had fun with this because it gives the impression that the camera was actually moving during filming, of which I lacked the equipment for. I may have went overboard with the cropping and speed etc. because at some points in the film I feel the panning goes a little too fast and particular clips aren't shown for enough time. But of course this is something to take on board for future experiments and projects.

The last stage was audio. Now as much I would have liked to have kept the original audio track (The Sound of Bread) on each clip, they wouldn't have flowed together and would have sounded wrong. So I took away all audio and went for one of the many, many choices iMovie gives you at this stage of the process. It might not fit in with the speed in which he film progresses but I felt it was the most appropriate. If I ever go back to editing this particular group of clips I'm going to try and record the audio of my record player separately, so it picks up the crackles and authenticity of the record, and then splice that with the film. 

Well - here's what I came up with! It took me about 1 hour, so keep that in mind.

Holiday Photographs!

For the October break we visited Nairn, up past the Scottish Highlands. I figured I should take my camera along and see what I can come back with. I had ample opportunity to photograph my surroundings during our week there and came home with a total of around 500 images in total. I then proceeded to give a select few a quick look over in iPhoto, which led to me choosing these 6 photographs below.

I was aware during my time roaming around with my camera, that I was certain to end up with groups of images that looked very similar and had the same subject matter. So, during my cull of the original 500 I discovered this to be true. These 6 images below aren't my favourites or anything, I picked them because each one is different - whether referring to colour, composition, shape, light, colour etc.

This is the view from outside Primark in Inverness city centre. The sun was in my eyes and I wasn't exactly sure at the time what I was photographing...but I think it turned out okay.

This one was from a rest stop alongside Loch Ness. We stopped the car and continued down the small set of stairs that led us to a rocky patch of ground, and this was the view! The reflection astounded me and I like how you can just make out the misty fog lying on top of the loch in the background.

I quite like this image. The log you see in the foreground was about 6 foot tall and stood in the sand as if originally planted there. I took the photograph in black and white and made sure that my mum and sister had just about moved out of sight - this way the space on the left of the upright tree is left empty. Personally it gives me the feeling that the figures are going to disappear behind that log. I of course know that they won't completely disappear behind the log (they didn't) but, I can't help but feel that way when I look at the photograph. Strange!

This photograph was taken as a tester to see if the timer worked well. It seems 10secs was long enough for me to dart back across to the shore and pose so gracefully, unlike my sister and mum. I blurred our faces out on iPhoto to create an anonymity of sorts - I know everyone who will see these already know who we are but sometimes I feel faces distract too much and give away too much.

I genuinely can't remember where I was when I looked up at the sky and took this one, but I remember capturing the glare and light and thinking "I won't delete that one!". Composition was always on my mind whilst taking these photographs, I regularly remember that certain things in a photograph may look great aesthetically and pleasing to look at, but at the same time aren't technically in the right place. I hope that makes sense!

This one may not look like much at first, and you may notice that I took this from a moving car... But I guess the reason, or at least the main reason I kept this one was the juxtaposition of the trolley pushing couple in the foreground, and the fictional Specsavers customers in the background. Although not completely in shot, I think this little contrast is the main subject of the image. I struggled deciding how much of the left side to crop, I wasn't sure how much I should bring it in.