Module 3 Chapter 1

Activity 3.1.1
Making linear marks

These are my first two pages where I have drawn lines across the page using various implements and inks.

I then decided to try making lines using stitch.  The first three rows are on the sewing machine and then I have used hand sewing.

This is the reverse of the page.

I then went on to the varying pressure.  I have labelled each page with what I have used.

I thought I had done more of these but can't have done.  I then went on to using pencils to create single pages of varying pressure.  Hving said I have labelled each page, I haven't done this one but it looks like a 3B pencil.

I particularly like the last two and I am getting used to using charcoal.  It is a bit messy but hairspray keeps it in place.

3.1.2

I made a template to make my pages into 4 sections.  My sketchbook isn't large (8" x 8") so the squares are fairly small.

This is my first go with the small stones.  I had collected them from the garden but they were all very smooth and had no patterns or markings on them.  So I realised I would have to make a trip to the beach.  I spent about five minutes on each drawing.

These stones were much better.  I now have pockets full of sand but quite a nice collection of stones.

This is my first go at drawing them.  Again I spent only five minutes drawing each picture. This one got spoilt a bit as the colour came through from the next page.

I couldn't get to a photocopier  that enlarged and reduced so I used my Paintshop Pro to do the job.  First I cropped the last picture then printed it to fit into an A4 sheet of paper.  It doesn't quite fill the page because it is now a square rather than a rectangle.

Here I had resized the image but asked it to fit it all in so it is now squidged together.

This is where I really got clever.  I used the layer facility and managed to superimpose the small arrangement on top of the larger one and made the small one transparent.  It's not perfect by a long way but I am pleased with the fact that I managed to do it.  When I have got more time I will have a play around with colours!

This next one is the second picture traced and placed over the enlarged third picture to create a new one.

Activity 3.1.3

I used my template again for this exercise and some coloured pastels.  I have done most of them on a white background but I think a coloured background can intensify the feeling.  The first page was anger.

This next one was the back of the above page.  I got a bit over zealous with the hair spray and the page was quite wet causing the pastel to soak through.  Still made a nice page though.

This page represents peaceful.  Soft flowing lines and pale colours.  I smudge the pastels to get the effect.

This page represented happiness.  Bright bouncy lines and colours.

On the last page I have tried to make the same feelings from black and white marks.  The fourth one on this page is confusion.  I think the happiness one really doesn't work, it needs the colour.  You can't be happy in shades of black.

I might try looking at my enlarged and reduced patterns again and see if I can produce something better.

Module 2 Chapter 10

Making books.

I love all forms of sketchbooks and notebooks and wish I could use them up quicker so that I could have more of them.

I made 3 blank booklets to start with.  The first is made from brown paper scrunched up several times and then coated in gesso.  This has made a very floppy page that has a cold unusual texture.  The pages are thin paper bags and the cover is an old envelope.  I have coloured the cover with pastels which I have blended together and then coated in mod podge.  The effect is like a leather.

This photograph came out very orange, it is on the same carpet as the one below.  As the original was quite yellow in colour and not like an old leather, I decided to add some alcohol inks to darken it.

This looks a bit better.

The finished book with wooden beads threaded down the spine.

This is what the pages look like.  I think I shall keep this for medieval designs as it is the nearest to velum that I shall ever get.

 

The second book is made from all the scrapes of handmade paper that I keep.  I have loads of odd strips and little pieces that I can't bear to throw away.  This has made a nice little booklet and even the tiny pages can be used for small experiments.  I have stitched the spine with cotton perle and a sparkly thread.

 

My third book is a stab stich one made from wallpaper lining paper which I have painted with Koh i noor paints.  It has come out a bit brighter than I wanted, I thought I would like something a bit more grey and dark blue but there are still some nice pages in it.

 

The last project I have used my papers from the rest of the module.  I wanted to use them as I think they will be looked at more displayed in a book form rather than just kept in a box.  I was a bit nervous about cutting them up, especially my favourite pieces, but they actually look better when they are neatened and fastened together.  Firstly the cover.  This is one of my recycled pages that I didn't print on.  Again I used pastels and mod podge on both sides to make a fairly robust paper.  I then printed the word Alphabet onto it in acrylic.  The stitching is cotton perle and a sparkly thread but unfortunately this thread broke as I was stitching it so I threaded the ends through a bead and tied them off.

Most of these pages you have seen in previous chapters.  It was difficult to get the book to open wide enough for you to see them properly and I thought there was rather a lot to photograph each one.  I have taken pictures of new pages I have added.  On four of the pages I have put beaded tags on the bottom right hand corners.

This one is a page I painted in module 1 and I have just printed random letters on it.

This page is in the style of Jasper Johns.

I added a zentangle to a page I painted in module 1.

This was in the style of Klimt.  I really liked the effect of the gilding flakes (torn up bits of coloured silver paper).  I haven't used them before.

This is another view to try and get some of the other pages in.

And last of all, I used up some of the scraps from my pages to decorate the cover of my sketchbook.  This looks much more integrated than it does in the photograph.  The camera picks up the sharp edges.

 

I really enjoyed this module.  I feel I have got better with each chapter.  I liked looking at other artists whose work I hadn't seen before and trying out their ideas.  I still feel a bit wooden in my approach to painting papers, I always go for straight lines right to left but a lot of the papers have worked out well.

 

Module 2 Chapter 9

Klimt.

I have a book of my own on Klimt so I didn't take any photographs to put in my sketchbook and I used the illustrations from my book for my inspiration.

My first pages are black and white drawings of shapes that Klimt uses in his paintings.  I then decided to do another page of them but using colour.

 

My next page was using these shapes to make a complete picture.  The background is bronze acrylic sprayed with gold acrylic.  I have used silver and gold papers and black card to make some of the shapes.

 

 

I particularly liked some of these shapes so I have used them again in my illuminated letter.  I was quite pleased with this one.  I had tried to copy Klimts way of making the central figure quite pale in comparison to the background, although the photograph comes out much darker than the original.

 

 

My last one I have used the letter 'K' that I made in an earlier chapter and worked the designs around it.  Again I have kept the letters light in colour in comparison to the background and have not even outlined them.  I tried to make very concentrated patterns as in the picture 'A kiss for the whole world'.

 

 

I've never been quite sure how much I like Klimt's work, I think it is a bit 'busy' for me.  I much prefer the simple lines of Jasper John.

Module 2 Chapter 8

I started doing this chapter in the summer, just taking photographs as I saw things.  One or two other people got involved and they enjoyed looking out for things.  I was quite suprised when I started putting it together that I was only about 5 letters short of a full alphabet.  I have to thank a friend of mine, Hazel, who has done this exercise and posted it on her blog.  I did take a look to see where she had got her ideas from and I did steal the brickwork one.  Here are my photographs and where they came from.  I had a bit of trouble putting the pictures on randomly so I found this template but there was only room for 25 so I had to tage Z on the end.

A - Bird scarers     B - Wroght iron gate       C - Radiator       D - Garden seat side on
E - Electric fire decoration        F - Brickwork        G - Sewerage grating        H - Brickwork
I -     Wooden post         J - Wrought iron fence       K - Canes on garage floor     
L - Window architecture       M - University architecture         N - Fencing      O - Bungalow window
P - Sewing machine thread guide         Q - Wardrobe door handle upside down    R - arranged fabric
S - Wall bracket       T - Shovel handle       U - Horseshoes        V - Bracket on telegraph pole side on
W - Heraldic device      X - Gate         Y - Pickle fork       Z - Road sign side on


The next set I managed to arrange randomly.   I could have done the whole alphabet from 1960's/70's LP sleeves, they are so colourful and imaginative.

A - Tag Heur logo       B - Embroidered sampler       C - Children's theatre poster      D - Damart logo
E - Title page in book (Eire)     F - Illuminated latter        G - Great Railways Journeys log
H - Record sleeve    I - Record sleeve       J - See 'G'        K - Newspaper advertisement
L - Tate & Lyle logo       M - Embroidered letter       N - 'Indigo'  clothing range      O - Oxo logo
P - Part of Tag Heur advertisement       Q - Theatre Poster       R - Regatta logo    
S - supermarket fruit label       T - Childrens book       U - Artist's print       V - Volkswagen logo
W - Volkswagen logo      X - Next logo        Y - New York Times        Z - Restaurant name

 

This third photograph are some of the ones I liked but didn't include.  The first and the last are from second world war posters.

Module 2 Chapter 7

Jasper Johns.  I noticed that the library service had a book on Jasper Johns in their county store so I ordered it, which is why this chapter has taken me a few weeks to do as I have been waiting for it to come.

Looking through the book I found several pictures that I liked and have chosen these three to put in my sketchbook.

The first is the alphabet one which is in the course material.  I have made some notes on the page for my own record.  At first glance the paintings look random because the colour is random but the individual letters are all one size and of a similar design.  The lithograph shows this when he has put the numbers 0 through 9 over the top of each other.  The mix of colours makes the picture very vibrant which is why I have chosen the more muted Gray Numbers for my second piece.  This comes out quite green in the photographs but there must be '50 shades of grey' in this one.  All the numbers seem to stand out from the background.

This is my attempt at the brightly coloured letters.  I like the group of 4.  Not sure if the letter A was the correct one to choose for this excercise.  I am not sure if the highlights work, I didn't know quite how to place them.  Jasper's don't seem to give depth or indicate a light source, to me they are random so that is how I have done mine.

Having chosen the picture with the paler colours I decided to try that myself.  This looks brighter here than it does in my sketchbook but I am quite please with it.

 

Altogether I am quite pleased with my attempts and I have enjoyed looking at an artist I didn't know before.