Experimenting with colour and marks.

Recently, I have been experimenting with colour and marks and how they can imply different moods, emotions and concepts as I want my aspects in my end product to all link together and make sense as to why I chose those colours and marks. At the moment, I am just getting used to the different types of marks I can create and the meanings that they express. The following is my initial experiments with colour and marks.

1 - To create these marks, I used a dry brush to make the rough texture and then I used a the edge of a piece of cardboard to create harsher marks that appear to have fairly crisp and sharp edges. however, I wish that I would have added more layers to the experiment to enhance the depth within the piece which is something that I am going to try in my next experiments.
2 - This was created with a very dry brush and a lot of layers as to build form, I had to deepen the colour when compared to the outer edges of the experiment. These marks almost represent a fur texture which would be useful when attempting to paint an animal or a response to an animal in the future.

3 - In order to create these marks I splatted the page with different shades of red and then left them to dry for a little while and then used a dry brush to spread the left over wet paint. The rough texture of this piece would work well when comparing it to a piece maybe about anger or if I was linking it to a piece with an animal I would choose one that is commonly known as fierce e.g. a lion.
4 - The more curvaceous marks of this experiment leads to a more delicate atmosphere when compared to some of my other experiments. I used a slightly wet brush to create these marks as they appear more fluid and smooth when compared to the experiments with a dry brush.
5 - These marks are created by using a lot of paint on a slightly wet brush due to the more block areas of colour and I really like them as they stand out on the page more than some of the others do. However, they would probably only be good to use in a piece that are more linear and patterned, and as I am not doing this, I don't think I will use them in the future.
6 - When creating these more fluid marks I used a long soft textured brush to create the more curvaceous marks. I like the blends of the different tones of red.

7 - To create these drips of watered down acrylic, I combined water and acrylic together to create a more viscous medium that would be able to run down the page freely. Although I had controlled the areas where the drips had started out, I like how the direction of the drips has slightly changed as it made its way down the page. These marks would work better in a piece that was maybe depicting something that is fragile and/or delicate.
8 - I am fascinated by the types of marks that this specific brush had created as the stripy effect is quite fierce and sinister even. I was able to layer the brushstrokes to show contrast in tone of the colour red and build depth in the experiment.
9 - These are marks that have been created by a sponge piece that is covered in paint that has been smudged slightly onto the page. I don't really like these marks as they aren't very exciting.
10 - I prefer these marks when compared to experiment no. 9 as they give a more interesting texture and may work well as a background for my photos. I especially like how the black has started to mix with the red to create a variety of tones of the same colour.
11 - These marks were more fun to create than some of the others and I like how the black and red have infused to almost create a smoky effect. In order to create these marks I splatted heavy amounts of the acrylic paint onto the page and used a straw to help disperse the medium. From the moment that the black and red acrylic meets each other, they blend together and this is what causes the smoky effect. The marks created are quite smooth and would work quite well with a piece that illustrated something fragile and delicate. However if I were going to do this then I would use a softer colour such as blue.

12 - This multimedia piece was created through the use of acrylic paint, oil pastel and red sharpie. I layered these marks to build depth however I think that I need more layers for this to become apparent. The bottom layer was created by splatting marks onto the page and then drying them so that I could then spread the leftover wet ink with a dry brush. By doing this I was left with a harder outer shell of acrylic that adds texture to the piece. I then used a slightly wetter brush with red and white acrylic paint to blend colours and make the experiment more subtle. however, I don't think that it was subtle enough for the work that I want to create. The red sharpie was used as I like Vince Lows use of expressive line.
13 - I much prefer this piece to the one on the page before as the marks are much more expressive and the increased level of white in the piece adds more subtlety. If I was going to improve the piece I would have used more dry mark making with acrylic and a dry paint brush. I like that I have used a lot of layers in the experiment as Agnus Cecile does this in her work too and this is something I was most influenced by. To increase subtlety I could have used different tints of red such as pinks to add a more gradual change in colour.

First fully edited digital composition.

After completing multiple experiments with colour in my experimental sketchbook and a couple of drawings with pen, I wanted to combine these with my photos from a previous shoot to create a composition that was unique to me.
I used these different pieces to make the final composition:

1 - These marks were a combination of dry oil pastel, acrylic and watercolour. This was originally two separate pieces however I thought that they worked quite well together so rather than recreating the marks in my book, I layered them on Photoshop.
2 - This photo was taken in a photoshoot in the studio and I wanted to choose an animal that would harmonise with the composition of this portrait.
3 - This drawing was created on a sheet of acetate with a sharpie after creating a couple of other drawings like this. I really like the expressive marks that I have used and I think that it would work well with the marks that I have created for the background (1).

My Final Composition:

In order to create this photo, I had to layer each aspect so that the expressive marks were in the background, the portrait was in the mid ground and the butterfly was in the foreground. This creates depth in the composition, which is something that I like about the piece. I decided to change the colour of the butterfly to match the colour in the rest of the composition as this is something that I was influenced by in Flora Borsi's work. I used this similar colour palette throughout each layer of the piece as Borsi uses a constant colour scheme throughout her pieces to find common ground between humans and animals. Meanwhile, I also took inspiration from Vince Low's work as I used expressive line in the butterfly drawing to give the piece energy. Also, I am happy with the influence that I took from Agnus Cecile's work as I took her expressive mark making and made it my own, whilst also using harmonious colours to create balance and subtlety. I used the colour blue as I think that it reflects a butterfly quite well as it makes me think of something that is delicate and vulnerable. Additionally, I used more curvaceous marks in the background as I think this would convey a delicate or fragile atmosphere when compared to the atmosphere that more angular sharp lines would have created.

The butterfly in the piece was inspired by a combination of both Vince Low's work and the Santana Borboletta album cover.

The Santana Borboletta Album Cover.

Section from Vince Low's "Mr Bean"
Biro

As you can see, I have been influenced by the butterfly in the album cover, whilst also being influenced by its main colour scheme. Along with this I have also infused Vince Low's chaotic lines as I think whilst my intention is to show calmness, I want some energy and life to be shown and to do this, I was chaotically making the marks.

London Trip

On Thursday 5th October, I visited a couple of galleries in London including: The Tate Modern and The Photographers Gallery. Whilst I thought that The Photographers Gallery had interesting pieces, it was full of similar photos, made by the same artist so there was not much inspiration for me to gain as there was no variety. On the other hand, at The Tate, there was a huge variety in art, from massive sculptures, to paintings on a wall; this meant that I was able to gain a lot of useful inspiration that may help me in the future.

The Tate Modern

The majority of pieces that I was attracted to in the Tate was the compositions that had a lot of contrast in abstract mark making as well as a small amount of photography.

Gerhard Richter
A piece from his series, "Cage"
2006
Acrylics and Oils
3000x3000mm

This composition was one of the pieces that attracted me most as I am fascinated by his technique and how the layers have allowed him to achieve a similar look to erosion. The contrast in marks is something that I want to show as well, which is why it may be good to see if I can work in a similar style, despite the fact that his work is slightly different to the figurative expressionist pieces I am currently looking at. By painting layers and then scratching and peeling away, Richter is able to create a similar texture to eroded walls and in some places he has also used other marks such as drips and splats; this is something that really interests me. The pieces are named after an American minimalist and experimental composer whom Richter listened to when creating these paintings. In a similar way to Richter, I would create my pieces as a response to my concept and maybe even other pictures or sounds relating to my theme. 

Tsuyoshi Maekawa
"Two Junctions"
1962
Oil Paint and Burlap on Canvas
1621x1302mm

Flora Borsi Analysis

In a similar way to my concept and starting point, Flora Borsi has created the series, “Animayed”, in which she intends to find the common grounds between the human world and the animal kingdom. She manages to evoke the uniqueness of each animal, whilst also showing the communion between humans and animals. As well as the fact that I am inspired by her concept, I like her use of overlaying an animal with a human in a way that acts as a comparison between both people and animals. Through the colour schemes and alignment of subjects, Borsi is able to show common ground in both factors.

      In order to grab the viewers’ attention and entice them into wanting to find out more, Borsi has printed the photo as a large 2D piece which is approximately 27x23 inches. Despite the fact that it is a flat format, the huge scale acts as the selling point to the audience. I believe that she has also used this size as it leads to more detail being showcased, leading to a more successful use of textures in her work. Whilst the textures in the fur are quite crisp and rough, the smooth skin of the human acts as a juxtaposition to the fur; this juxtaposition is a way of showing a difference between animals and humans rather than just making the piece about the common ground. This contrast also shows the uniqueness in both animals and humans and despite the fact that we have resemblances, we are all different.

      Furthermore, her use of composition is another way of capturing the audience’s attention. Borsi uses a vignette in the composition to frame the subjects, which as a result acts as a spotlight on the subjects. This in a way, highlights the key message in which Borsi wants us to understand and empathise with her. Meanwhile, the positioning of both subjects shows a common facial feature between animals and humans as the eye of the rabbit is acting as the other eye of the human. This use of positioning further reinforces the concept and highlights one of the common grounds between the animal kingdom and human world.

      Additionally, in this photo, nearly every component matches in colour, which places a common theme through the composition and concept (this is the same in the majority of the pieces in “Animayed”). The colour in this composition is mainly made up of quite earthy, dull tones, for example: browns, blacks and greys. These colours are mainly based off of the animal in the piece and the colour of the subjects’ hair. However, there is also a lot of contrast in tone in this composition due to the positioning of the light, leading to an increase in the differentiation between the shadows and highlights. This use of lighting is known as, “hard lighting”.

      Finally, another factor which I like from Borsi’s work is her unique use of a shallow depth of field. This creates a slightly intimate atmosphere with the audience and further implies how close animals and humans are together. On the other hand, this use of depth of field could also be used to place the viewers into the scene as humans see through a shallow depth of field, meaning as we focus on one subject, everything else around it would be blurry and obscure. This technique allows us as the audience to witness the similarities in person and therefore changes our perspective on the matter.

       To conclude, I am going to use her work as inspiration to somehow fuse in double exposures of animals and humans into my project whilst also combing influence from my other chosen artists. As my theme is about the similarities between animals and humans, I need a common theme or aspect throughout my work and I think the colour palette through this piece is an example of what I could do; for instance, the fact that each subject in the photo has a small amount of the same colour means that the viewer can see common features more successfully. I will use Photoshop to create double exposures, however I also think that her style also resembles that of layering on top of each other, so I could build experimentations which will allow me to improve my layering skills and maybe even result in a stimulus for a final outcome. 

Source 1 - https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/657455245574067475/

Agnus Cecile Analysis

Cecile is an artist who takes styles from both figurative work and expressive work, which links into my fascination with Figurative Expressionist work. Her emotive compositions are created through the layering of watercolour and expresses how she feels on topics such as culture and relationships. Although she only took part in a few art classes, Cecile is mostly self-taught, meaning her extensive research and experimentation resulted in very successful compositions, which present her own unique watercolour style. She focuses more on technique than meaning when creating her work, as despite the fact that she presents her feelings and opinions through the compositions, like a visual diary, her desire was that her audience would read it as something else that is personal to them.

Her unique style of layering allows the colours to become more prominent, when compared to the areas with one layer of colour. This watercolour and acrylic painting has been produced as a 2D format, however the layering of the marks gives the piece depth and therefore creates a very slight 3D form. These layers are built up as this results in more dominant colours and darker tones when compared to the areas that have only been made with one layer; these will be the lighter colours and tones. Her technique when creating contrast in tone is by either adding more water, to create lighter colours or adding more paint to create the darker colours and tones.

           In order to create an accurate, yet unique style, she uses watercolours, which are known for their smooth properties; her marks show a similar texture to silky hair and even in the expressive areas, she is able to create a smooth smoke effect, which is something that I am fascinated by in her work. This is why the expressive marks are shown to be free and flowing. As a result of using a viscous medium, Cecile has managed to achieve contrast in marks by using the viscosity to aid her (for example; the drips and the cloudy areas).

            One other aspect that really captures my attention, is the use of colour to create a slight surreal atmosphere. Cecile’s use of contrasting areas of colour (blues and orange) could give off the implication of juxtaposing ideas that the piece is trying to discuss. Meanwhile, in each area of colour, harmonious colours are used (for example, in the area that is mostly blue, other colours such as purple, pinks and dark and light blues have been used). In order to create the impression of the subject blending into the smoke, Cecile has used a similar colour to the expressive marks on the top right of the piece; this creates a subtle harmony throughout the composition.

Furthermore, I really like her use of composition within this piece, as the subject has been centralised in the middle of the page, leaving negative space around the face and expressive marks. This creates a much bigger impact on the viewer, similar to a piece of art in the centre of an empty room in a gallery. As there is no body connected to the face, I receive the impression that she has been highly influenced by the genre surrealism as it appears like the head is floating in a dream like vision. Surrealists were attempting to recreate visions of the subconscious, in a distorted, unrealistic way, mirroring a dream in their artwork. I can see that Cecile has also tried to do this, like many figurative expressionists and their work. She has also taken inspiration from an artist called, Carne Griffiths, who creates similar work to her, yet creates more raw compositions that are quite busy and involve natural, earthy colours.

Overall, I am mostly influenced by the genre of artwork that she uses; figurative expressionism. However, in particular, I really like her use of expressive free marks that contrast with each other, in a similar way to the juxtaposed colours. I have been interested lately in how one certain mark can evoke a certain mood or feeling. When it comes to practical experimentation, I am going to start by creating a variety of marks that I believe represent mood, feeling and location (I will look at location due to the fact I am still looking at animals). Cecile’s marks are fairly similar to that of Amy Hamilton’s as there is a lot of contrast in marks and the use of colour is fairly surreal. I will refer to both artist’s when starting practical’s. Additionally, another good way to experiment using inspiration from Cecile’s work is by maybe placing ink into water, to create this cloudy effect, whilst also placing a portrait of someone behind the ink. This will allow me to experiment with her style, without actually copying her work.

Source 1 - https://agnes-cecile.deviantart.com/art/this-thing-called-art-is-really-dangerous-320675040