Experimenting with materials

This week I have been developing my work based around graffiti and the man-made mark. As was discussed/mentioned in my previous post, the advice I was given in my tutorial was to experiment more with different materials and the way I process them. So I cut up a couple of squares of different fabric and applied bleach to them. I really like the outcome of these and so used the same process but applied it to paper, tissue and material that I had already made marks on, using black ink. These also turned out as well as I had hoped.

denim marked with lines of black ink, bleach applied on top

 One material that the bleach had an interesting effect on was dark leather. The outcome is photographed below.

appearance when bleach is first applied

2 minutes after bleach was first applied

5 minutes after bleach was first applied

Going back to the work I did a couple of weeks ago, where I was experimenting with different media to recreate the faded qualities of old black and white photographs, I found whilst experimenting with applying different substances to materials, that oil on paper gives it a translucent appearance similar to that of tracing paper. I love working with this.

The marks I was making with the bleach reminded me of the work by the artist Cy Twombly. I also found his work to be quite similar to some of my earlier drawings. This piece 'Untitled 1, 2005 (Bacchus)' (photographed below) interested me the most. I love the movement, colour and scale comparable to the marks made by graffiti.

 'Untitled 1, 2005 (Bacchus)'

Initial Drawings

This week (week 2) I explored the ideas of buildings and other building structures further. I took another trip back into the city to revisit the areas I found the most interesting. I started with some quick on-the-spot and blind drawings and mark making. Photographed below are pages from my initial drawings sketchbook.

experimenting with mark making

building and building structure drawings

This second week I found it difficult to develop my ideas further. I think I also found it difficult to move away from working in a small sketchbook which was probably holding me back from exploring other ideas. However I do really like the work I have done based around buildings so hope to later find inspiration to incorporate it again.

Beginning week 3 I started looking back at the other photographs I had taken and found an interest in mark making and the irregularities on surfaces in an urban environment. So I began by doing a couple of drawings from my photographs and some on-the-spot. This gave me the chance to get the birds eye view perspective that I had found interesting when it was suggested to the group at the beginning of the unit. However, I found this to be limiting in being able to develop the idea ambitiously. At this point I was feeling quite uncertain and unsure about how I was going to progress in this unit; but carried on doing more drawings inspired by the areas of the city I was interested in.

Following my tutorial, it was suggested that I add some colour into my drawings and so far they have all been black and white. I talked about exploring the idea of graffiti as a man-made mark on a surface. This was not only development of work I had done earlier in the week on mark making but was also introducing sparks of colour. I was starting to feel more confident about the direction of my work.

Visual Research

This week I began my research for my chosen area; Urban Influences. In our first tutorial, we were taken to the top of a multi-storey car park to make us think about different perspectives i.e. having a birds eye view over a large area. From this I took a trip around Manchester city center and the Northern Quarter, looking for parts of this urban environment that caught my eye. I particularly liked the older more quirky looking buildings that had a bit of character, but I was also drawn to the more modern simplistic buildings with clean lines. Contrasting with this I also took an interest in looking close up. I was drawn to looking at surfaces and marks in this environment e.g. on drain covers and pavement layouts. I took a number of photos to capture the areas I liked best. Below are couple I found the most inspiring.

I then started looking back at my summer work and picked out parts of it that I liked best. From the 'Present and Reflect' presentations I learnt that my work using ink and water was some of my strongest, and I would like to explore the ways of incorporating these faded qualities to my future work.

Over the summer I researched the artist Cecile Dachary. I found some of her work to be quite similar to mine where I have used water to disturb the the solid ink lines. I particularly liked her series of 9 samples where her work looks quite similar to this; all with a different outcome . This is something I love about working with ink and water - the unpredictability and uncertainty of what the final outcome will be. Although Cecile predominantly works with yarns making small 3D sculptural pieces, this particularly piece of hers I felt linked in well with my own work. Photographed below is an image of the series of 9 samples that I found similar to my work.

Unknown title, Cecile Dachary

So as a starting point I began experimenting with the ways I could create different marks on a page. I worked with glue, crayons, charcoal, ink and water to explore the effects and outcomes these give. I found adding water on top of charcoal gave the drawings/marks a painted quality which I liked. Combining charcoal, water and white ink also gave a really nice effect. These small drawings reminded me of the old black and white photographs I had also included in my summer work. This is where I began looking and focusing on buildings and other building structures.