Barcelona 22-28 July

This year I went on holiday with my boyfriend, Alfie, to Barcelona. Neither of us have been to Barcelona before so it was such an amazing experience to travel to a new place together. This was the first time we had been abroad by ourselves and so with this came a large sense of freedom whilst we were there. Travelling and exploring new places is something that I love to do as I get to immerse myself into different societies and cultures. Accepting all cultures is something that I feel strongly about and I think that we should celebrate having such a diverse ones ourselves in Britain.

La Sagrada Familia

On the Sunday we walked along the beach front and then up to La Sagrada Familia where I was astounded by its intricate design and sheer size. This Roman Catholic church was designed by Antoni Gaudi and has been in construction since 1822. Barcelona's centre is full of architecture that has been designed by Gaudi which brings a more eccentric vibe to the city. This large scale project is supposed to be completed by 2026, but it is still open to the public now. The photograph that I took of La Sagrada Familia looks almost out of focus, but in fact it is the weather that has made it appear this way. Although it was very humid this day, it was also cloudy and so these two factors combined has covered the photograph in a hazy film.

Whilst visiting the area that attracts most tourists, Las Ramblas, we sat down on a bench at the side of a street where an advertisement stand stood in front of us. At first I walked past this without taking any thought to it, but when I sat down I realised the amount of advertisements that had been placed on the board in the past. This ages the advertisement stand as it has been there long enough to add layers upon layers of posters, where as if the previous ones had been took down, the age of the object wouldn't necessarily be thought about. Another aspect that appeals to me is the bright colours used on the posters for music events and theatre shows. There is also a contrast that splits the stand in half vertically, as the darker colours on the left contrast the vivid ones on the right. This captures the dark nature of the theatre production being advertised at the time, compared to the music festival on the right. This stand shows how there are different audiences within the area, those who prefer to watch shows and those who prefer to go to festivals. I don't fit entirely into either of those categories as I enjoy and appreciate both of these for different reasons.

In Barcelona there was a striking amount of graffiti which couldn't go unnoticed whilst visiting. Here the graffiti had a happier vibe as opposed to the dark stamps that gangs often spray on our walls in England. It seemed that this was something that was not frowned upon in Barcelona as there had been no attempts to cover any of it up like you see on our motorway bridges at home. I enjoyed walking around to find new art that included such a variety of colour and themes such as cartoons or lettering. In this case, my outfit matches the colour palette of the graffiti so I stood in front of it and had my picture taken.

Digitally manipulating photographs that I took in Walsall and Birmingham

Continuing with my earlier theme of placing landscapes behind  street signs or different textures, I decided to do this with my Walsall and Birmingham photographs as I had not yet used them in my work. I used the same program to do this - Gimp.

For this manipulation, I placed a photograph of the sky behind two red telephone boxes on a street. As telephone boxes are not in use anymore, they were locked and I thought it was a shame that you couldn't go in them because they are a significant English motif. However, the telephone boxes in London are still open, so must be for tourist reasons. I decided to replace the telephone boxes with the sky as I think that they will be removed from our streets one day. I moved the top image to a position that shown the most tonal contrast in the clouds. Seeing as it was quite a cloudy day, it almost represents my thoughts towards them not being in use anymore as I think we should hold onto the icons that we are known for as a nation, along with items such as red double decker buses and the British bulldog.

This is an example of where I have combined nature with something that is manmade - a building. I took away the section of the bark that was green in colour to reveal a building underneath. There is a van underneath the part of the building that arcs over the road which I included as the red stripes contrast the green areas on the building. Furthermore, the red stripes are at the same angle as the detail on the building and so a harmony is formed between these two objects. Having the sky on display at the top is a gentle reminder that we, as man kind, have placed these ornate buildings within nature and makes the link between the background image and the foreground image less harsh.

This is a photograph of a New Street sign with a photograph of New Street behind it. At first I was going to only reveal New Street itself where the letters in the sign were, but due to the letters only covering a small area, it wouldn't have been very noticeable. So instead, I used a different technique that I hadn't done before, whereby I selected the background colour too and removed this section. This then meant that more of the photograph in the background was on display and you could still make out the street name as the shadows that the lettering made is still showing the outline of the words. I tried to keep with the same colour palette that is seen on the plant pot to the right, so I selected a photograph that included blue sky and a stone building, thus creating harmony within the manipulation. Also, the lines on the plant pot are at angles so I kept this in mind and recreated this idea when placing the photograph to show the diagonal shape of the building.

The way that I have been digitally manipulating photographs is similar to the way a stencil works, therefore I could look at making some stencil to use in my experiments with different mediums or when studying an artist. I think I could use this idea in Mark Tobey's studies to fragment multiple sections and to add another abstract feature to the studies. Furthermore, I could stencil lettering and objects onto my Chila Burman experiments, I think this would allow me to form bold areas in my responses, similar to how she makes loud statements.

Further Mark Tobey studies that include my own photographs taken on the way to Tenby

From looking at my previous experiments from Mark Tobey's influence, I found that my compositions were coming to look quite dark and heavy which is not something that I would like my work to portray. Therefore, I thought of ways to prevent this and how I could extend my studies. Having already used collage and added personal elements like signatures (as this is what Tobey's loose line reminds me of), I decided to use my own photographs to influence my work.

My photograph taken on the way to Tenby

In this experiment, I used soft pastels to create the background in blue and white, using them on their sides to create a hazy texture. Next, I went onto form the basic outline of a road, not wanting it to look realistic as this would distract from the abstract nature of Tobey's work. After adding my signature several times at various angles, I drew in the foreground expressive marks that Tobey displays in both charcoal and white pastel. I added this white pastel to create more contrast and also to lighten the middle area as it became too dark.

Untitled 1970

Mark Tobey

 

In this experiment, I applied the same concepts as before, but instead used green pastel in the background to add more depth to the composition. I marked in the 'road' and then only wrote my signature down each side to define its overall shape. On top of this I layered lines that are similar to those made in 'Untitled 1970', but this time I have varied the thickness and tones of them. I think this makes the composition more interesting as there is more contrast than in the previous experiment. Furthermore, layering few dark lines in the centre accentuates the middle section and creates a focal point.

Moving forward with these experiments, I need to find something to layer on top of my work as, at the moment, the marks that I am making have no relevance to me and I need to bring in a personal link.

Helen Frankenthaler experiments, influenced by my own photographs

Today I have experimented with working similarly to how Helen Frankenthaler does by using my own photographs as inspiration to them. Whilst in Manchester shopping for my holiday clothes on the 15th July, I only managed to take a handful of photographs as I was on a tight timescale. I have selected these photographs to work from as they are of the city and Frankenthaler often painted what was around her.

I began by preparing the backgrounds yesterday, light washes of watered-down acrylic paint. I have noted down what paints and brushes I have used in my sketchbook for future reference. With Frankenthaler's artwork images laid out in front of me as reference, I painted my photographs onto these backgrounds.

Cinnamon Burn

Helen Frankenthaler

1968

Acrylic on canvas

I have taken inspiration from 'Cinnamon Burn' and looked at how the colours are placed together and how colour is abstracted into block coloured areas of this composition. The sections of colour don't form recognisable objects and so I have tried to do this in my experiments, removing the likeness away from an object and instead focussing on colour.

My photograph of Manchester Piccadilly train station

In this experiment I gave the page a wash of Reeves 'blue lake' and painted over the top of this. I focussed on simplifying the different shapes included in the structure of the building. I then have picked out the colour which has stood out to me most in these sections and painted them in this shape. The subject now has no realistic likeness to the building, much the same as Frankenthaler's landscapes don't either. However, due to the painted shapes being block colours, there is no tone in this composition and I need to add subtle areas of tone like in 'Cinnamon Burn'. Furthermore, there isn't much variation in the translucency of the paint in this experiment, so these two factors then became my objectives for the next experiment.

My photograph taken on a street in Manchester

For this experiment, I looked at representing the street that leads to the Pretty Green store- a brand that Alfie always buys from. In the centre building, I have allowed the grey and red to bleed into one another to portray that it is part of the same unit. I have added more tone into the building to the left of this one to try and add a sense of perspective as this is behind the centre one. Also, I have varied the translucency of the colours, and made the outside buildings opaque as they are larger and are darker in the photograph as opposed to the brighter buildings that are seen at the back. To do this, I added more water to the middle area, and barely any to the outer ones. I think that this experiment would look more harmonious is if had painted the street onto it as then they would all be connected to something. If I did this then it would have more of a likeness to Frankenthaler's work as she doesn't often have disconnected sections of colour.

Monday 17 July - Journey to Tenby

Following my Dad's incident at work , his friend Pete came to pick him up on Wednesday and took him to Tenby where he lives so that Dad could have some rest and recuperation there. That also meant that Dad needed picking up again to come home as he wasn't allowed to drive.
On this Monday morning, Mum and I travelled to Tenby, setting off at 6:30am to go and get Dad. I photographed the journey to reflect upon when I got home later on that day.

My own photograph taken on the way to Tenby of the view ahead

Once we were in Wales, there were a lot of roadworks along our route. In this photograph there is contrast between the blue sky and the orange traffic cones. This disjointed line of orange leads the viewer's eye up the photograph towards the bridge ahead, then to the hills and the sky. The sky amounts for half of the photograph and so the blue is quite striking. I think there is a sense of harmony in this as there is contrast between colours and the white clouds and the white reflective strips on the traffic cones bring a balance to this photograph as a whole. There is a geometrical theme running through this photograph - for example, the curved bridge, the cones and the traffic signs - which creates a feeling of structure. Giving that there is new work being done on the roads, it also gives a sense of organisation as our man-made environment becomes more modern and more durable as thousands of people use our roads every day.

My own photograph of the sky taken on the way to Tenby

Untitled - 1970

Mark Tobey

The sky here reminded me of Mark Tobey's artwork in terms of the way that line is used.

The white lines in the sky are created by aeroplanes and so some lines cross, this links to Tobey as in his artwork, he layers different marks to create a composition. Furthermore, the sky creates the background of this photograph which has some tonal representation, similar to how Tobey's backgrounds are one colour but include other tonal aspects. Also, in Untitled 1970 (shown above), there are hazy areas of colour in the background which look similar to the wispy clouds in my photograph. I am going to use this photograph as inspiration when working in the style of Mark Tobey next time, I am going to combine Tobey's techniques with aspects of my photograph.

Working in the style of Chila Burman

Today I have began looking at Chila Burman's work in more detail by working in a similar way to which she does. I have taken inspiration from 'Punjabi Rockers' which is a mixed media composition. I decided to start by using collage, using media such as leaflets and newspapers which have arrived with parcels or been posted through our letterbox as advertisements.

Punjabi Rockers

Mixed Media

A2 - A0

2010-2013

In this experiment I have used a golf advertisement and a farm foods magazine, both items which we would receive through the post and look at them as junk. The colours in the golf advertisement are blue and yellow and so I selected an area of the magazine that included yellow as I like this colour because it is striking. The sections of the magazine, that include yellow, are contrasted by the darker colours like brown. I have torn the advertisement and the magazine as this creates unusual shapes, and I like that I wouldn't be able to replicate this composition exactly again.

In this next experiment, I have focussed on bringing bolder colours to the composition. I have done this by using the reverse of the golf advertisement as this has a solid blue background. I have also increased the amount of yellow in the composition, along with adding large sections of red which is harmonious this colour. I have used an Iceland leaflet to do this as their marketing colours include red, therefore meaning there were a lot of red areas that I could use in my composition. Furthermore, this experiment has more tone in it as there are different shades of blue.

I then went onto use newspaper to collage with. This material is a lot thinner than leaflets and advertisements and so it was easier to rip. I also found that, when torn, the spores of the paper created a soft, jagged edge which added more texture to the compositions than the higher quality papers. Furthermore, the colours on the leaflets were more vibrant as they have been printed onto a glossy paper. The colours on a newspaper look more vivid when there isn't any other ink behind it, demonstrated above in the second picture in the lettering 'RY'.