Module 5 Chapter 6

Changing Faces

I was interested in this chapter as I had done some work last year on Maori's and the facial art that they use.  I went and dug out my workbook and enjoyed re-visiting it and the embroidery I produced at the end I was very pleased with.

Two of the pages from my workbook.

The finished article that now hangs on my dining room wall scaring all my guests.  He does have hair but you can't see it in this photograph.

This time, rather than look at painting the face I thought I would look at covering it with masks.  I made some notes in my sketchbook and decided to look at Venetian Carnival masks.  The women's mask are all a similar basic shape but with lots of decoration but the mens have more interesting shapes so I decided to look at those.

These are my notes

Some basic sketches of the masks I found on the internet.

The shapes fell into four catagories.  Half face masks, eye masks, long nosed masks and long chin masks.  Some combined the last two.

Popular colours are what they call 'Columbina' which is cream, red and blue in a diamond shaped pattern named after the puppets and plays of the past.

I decided that the long nose shape was probably the best to work with so I started with the shape and colouring it in different ways.

The half masks colour up lovely and decorate well but they are more difficult to make a stencil that has a recognisable shape.  So firstly I made a stencil and I bought a Gelli plate at the Knitting and Stitching Show so this was my first attempt.  The centre was blank, I had used too much paint but when I had finished with the stencil, I pasted it in the blank space and it looks fine.

On these prints I have pulled a second print from the first plate with a background that looks more like old leather now.  On the page along side it is a faded brown print which I cut out and put into the centre of the brown print and it looks quite good.  The green print stencil has come out grey and I couldn't work out why until I realised I had painted the wrong side of the stencil and the grey cardboard had pulled off onto my print.  I have tried to remove it but it is stuck and doesn't look too bad.

These prints didn't work too well although the one on the left looks a bit ghoulish.

This is the leather look after I had stuck the print into the middle.

All these prints are now in my sketchbook.  As the stencil was getting a bit soggy I decided to make a stamp and do some printing.  I went back to Module 2 and made some papers up from newspaper and various other strips stuck to it.  It takes a lot longer to do in winter as you have to wait so long for everything to dry but patience was rewarded and I ended up with this pile of printed papers.

From these, using another basic stencil, I cut out a shape from each piece of paper.  I wanted to make them look like a mask on a face but I didn't quite know how best to draw a male face.  I then had the bright idea of using a simple skull shape. I drew the shapes onto white paper then glued the masks to them.  I was quite pleased with the result but decided they would look better with a black background so I cut them out and stuck them on card and this is the result.

The one on the left is overprinted with an indian style stamp while the middle one is underprinted with it.  The right one, I painted the stamp with the three 'Columbina' colours.

The left is a Gelli print where I have drawn into the paint, the right has a Gelli print background of a fruit bag and the middle one is overprinted with a small Indian style stamp.

The left one has emulsion paint background, the middle one does not have gesso and is printed straight onto the papers.  The right one is underprinted with a circular lino print.

The right one is just red and black prints.  The one on the left is a piece of lutradur which has been printed with expandaprint through a thermofax screen, zapped with a heat gun then foiled on top.  This was done at a workshop with Lynda Monk and I thought it worked well for this exercise.

After cutting the shapes out of selected areas, I was left with papers that were uneven in size so I trimmed them all down and these will go into my folder along with my masks.

The very last trimmings I have tided up and put into my sketchbook.

I loved doing this chapter.  Once I got started I didn't refer to my course work until I had finished and then I suddenly thought that I should have checked that I was doing what was required. This to me is what a sketchbook/workbook is for and it is lovely to refer to in the future.  I enjoyed looking back at module 2 and getting that sketchbook out again. I have some bits of brightly dyed fabric that this print would work on and I just might have a go in the New Year.

Module 5 Chapter 5

Colourful faces

I chose to colour my pencil drawing of myself without my glasses on and I chose pastels to create the colour.

I did have some texture on the face but I smoothed it away trying to get the colour that I wanted.

I then took my black and white drawing and did a couple of colour changes on the computer.  This didn't work out too well as the original had no colour to change.

This was a negative with some hand drawn lines for the hair

This was called green edges.

I had a look at Picassa on the computer but Google no longer support it so I wasn't sure how long it was going to last for so I went back to Paint Shop and had another go with the colour drawing.

This is called coloured edges and it picks up the outlines from the drawing and makes it much clearer.  I like what it has done to my drawing.

This was called coloured foil effect.  Turns me into an alien.

I labeled this with the effect I used but it didn't fit on and I can't read it now but it is some sort of blur effect.

This is another negative print changing the blue and the brown colours.

This was a swirl effect which just changes the whole shape.  It could be used as a boss in an old building.

I wanted to try and avoid stitching my portrait but ended up doing so anyway.  I started by transfering the black and white drawing onto fabric by attaching the material to freezer paper and running it through my computer printer.

I have then added coloured chiffon to the fabric using fuse FX (very fine bondaweb).

I then cut away the surplus chiffon using a soldering iron and following the lines of the drawing which were visible through the chiffon.

I covered the whole piece with some very fine chiffon scarf in white just to tone down the colour and trap the chiffon pieces.

I have then added stitch, outlining the features and adding some coloured thread to the hair.  It sort of floats on this piece of paper I found in my box and looks a bit ghostly.

I wondered if I could do anything else with the piece so I photocopied it and then cut the copy into two pieces and stuck them to this piece of coloured paper.  It fits quite well with the background.

Something else I did was to copy the coloured picture onto brown paper which I then scrunched up until it was quite soft.  It certainly adds some wrinkles!

I don't think I will ever make a portrait painter but this has been an interesting exercise. 

Module 5 Chapter 4

Your own face.

I found this quite hilarious at times.  The funny images while drawing with your eyes shut and then the difficulty trying to get a picture to look a bit like you do.  Maybe I should start with a photograph of what I really look like.

Firstly drawing with your eyes shut and using your non drawing hand to guide you over your features.

I think I can see where Klee gets his ideas from!  So I had a second go this time using charcoal instead of pencil.

Not sure where my nose went.

I then did two continuous line drawings this time looking in a mirror.  In all these four, I have removed my glasses.

Done with charcoal and still doesn't look like anyone.

This was done with pencil and may be getting nearer.

I then did the observed self portrait drawing, the first one in charcoal without my glasses.

A bit better.  Looks a bit more like a human being.

This second one is in pencil and I have plucked up courage and put my glasses on.  

I am not sure that the glasses have improved what I am seeing but I am growing to like this one.  Noses are extremely difficult to draw.  

A very difficult chapter for me.  I found it hard to put all the shading in and not get it too heavy. I also think I subconsciously missed a few lines here and there.

Module 5 Chapter 3

Artists Self Portraits

I found the following self portraits on Google Images.

Van Gogh.  One of my favourite artists, there is so much texture in his paintings.

Rembrandt.  I love the series of self portraits so that you can see him age. His eyes are quite hypnotic.

Marie Louise-Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun.  Apparently she was noted for her wit, beauty and charm and I think this comes across in her painting.  She did many portraits of Marie Antoinette.

Picasso.  Quite a young man here but a few lines can portray strong features.

Andy Warhol.  This photograph has been produced in many different colours on the black background.  The head seems to float in mid air giving it a supernatural feel.

I have trimmed the photographs and mounted them in my sketchbook for future reference.

I was looking through books that I have at home and found this self portrait by Albrecht Durer.

This is the first time I have used watercolours to produce specific colours.  As you can see I had problems trying to get the shadows around his mouth and chin and he has ended up looking as though he has a dirty face.  I found it difficult to get rid of the hard edges of the paint but still keep it within a certain space.  He looks a lot more feminine in my painting and I think that is partly due to the tilt of the head that I have given him.  It probably wasn't the easiest choice to paint but I enjoyed doing it.

Module 5 Chapter 2

Hands and Eyes

I took the hand exercise on holiday with me and sat on the plane out drawing hands and on the way back I did section 3 creating patterns.

This first one I did before I went as I wanted to make sure I could do it whilst travelling.

I have put too much detail in I think.  The knuckles are two circular and I had trouble highlighting the large veins.  Looking at my hand now while I am typing this, I do have prominent folds of skin on my knuckles but I have omitted the bones showing down from my fingers.

This is better.  I don't take my rings on holiday as my fingers swell in the heat and I can't get them on and off.  I much prefer this drawing.

I haven't quite got the curve of the fingers right here and the hand is a bit thin.

This one is better.  The fingers could be a little bit longer but I have got the creases in my palm a bit better.

This one looks as though I only have four fingers but my little finger is curved round the back and is out of sight.  Again, I haven't got the curve of the two upright fingers correct.

Quite a difficult exercise this one.  I think I need to keep practicing, taking time out to do other things means you have to go back to the beginning again.

Activity 5.2.3

I cut out two hand shapes, one open one closed, to draw round and make my patterns.

This is the first one I did to show my shapes.  This first three were drawn on the plane and then coloured afterwards when I got home.

Here I coloured the background in squares of colour using a straight line in one direction and a wavy one in the other.  I then outlined my shapes in black felt tip.

Again, I coloured the background first, this time in stripes of three colours.  I then filled in the hands in black and white acrylic paint.  I went over the white with a gouche but it still doesn't cover completely.

This one has coloured patterns over drawn ones in the background.  The overlaps in the centre make some interesting patterns.

I like this one. I just sat in front of the TV cutting out shapes from a travel magazine.  The bright colours all mix well and create a lovely sunburst design.

Eyes

I have a copy of The Art Book as well as a number of back copies of National Geographic, so I sat and thumbed through them looking for interesting pictures.  Art Book first.

I love this picture, everyone is watching everyone else and you can tell they are suspicious of each other each one knows that one of them is a cheat if not all of them. I think it shows how expressive eyes can be.

This old man has a lifetime in his eyes.  He looks tired but there is still life in him.

I much prefer this lady to the Mona Lisa.  I think she is much more enigmatic, more watchful.

What happens when you can't see a persons eyes.  They seem to loose character and this figure looks quite menacing.  The different medium makes him look much harder, there is no soft light or edges to make him look more human.

Children can have such expressive eyes.  This little group were looking towards where there food was coming from, their hunger shows clearly in their faces.

This little Indian girl has such beautiful, soulful eyes. 

I'm afraid there isn't much soul in my attempts at drawing my own eyes.

Activity 5.2.4

This first attempt was done with pencil the second one is while wearing my glasses.  I'm not sure either of them look like me but one thing I can certainly say, is my left eyebrow is definately higher and slightly different shape to my right and my glasses do not sit straight across both my eyes.  We do have a 'good' side for photographing and I can clearly see the differences in my face.

I was a bit nervous about doing these two but I actually think they are much better than the two done in pencil.  They are freer because I could not rub them out and had to just go with what I did.  The top one is charcoal and the bottom one is Koh-i-noor paint.  I prefer the charcoal as I was able to smudge the shadows and painting straight onto paper is quite hard to manage.  Still not sure they look like me though.

The drawing is becoming harder now and I need to keep practicing.  I intend to try and draw something every day before starting on the next chapter.