Wax work

I decided to layer wax on top of a painted board, and then carve silhouettes into the wax, showing colour from underneath. It was a new way for me to draw the silhouettes and the layers of wax and colour are representational of the body of a crowd and its volume.

My wall this week

What my wall is shaping up to look like before Christmas break :)

Experimenting with line

Pages from my sketch pad exploring different mediums, colour, shape and scale.



Mono print

Print of crowd of over 10,000 people at a concert in the O2; photo which was translated to print, print half way through and finished print.

Text

The space within the image is busy with colour and the layering of text reflecting back to my concept.

Smudged photo

I went to print off the photo which I wished to use as a template for a mono print. When it was printing it got jammed so I had to manually remove it from the printer. The ink was still wet so I smudged it quickly and manipulated the shapes. Surprisingly it came out quite nice.

Finished prints :)

Mono prints 22nd November

Statement

I want to translate how one can feel lost and anxious within their surroundings in relation to agoraphobia. I’m exploring common triggers and confrontational environments and situations. Currently I’m focusing on crowds; unconcerned with their nature, instead looking at the crowd as a whole; a mass or ‘swarm’. I wish to communicate the sense of indifference of the crowd to their surroundings and interactions as well as how it can be intimidating, cold and overwhelming. I am now exploring this through line drawings of passers-by, in motion in particular spots.

From my studies of crowds and their variance and disorientating nature I deduced a series of line drawings. These provided a basis for study for me as I began to manipulate them in terms of scale, materials and depth. I continued to photograph crowds, often distorted to show the dizzy overwhelming qualities of such a scene, reflecting back on agoraphobia, panic and discomfort. Some of these photographed scenarios I translated into prints, due to their quality of colour and line. The perspective of the photographs and prints are one of the key elements to understanding the work, as I attempted to create a sense of being on the outskirts of the crowd, shying away from it or in the shadows. The transition from photograph with layered elements to printed simple silhouettes proved very effective in expressing the jarring, foreboding and daunting nature of the body of a crowd.

Completed print from woodcut :)

Finished chalk drawing

Crowd done with chalk on reem of brown craft paper

Acetate

During the weeek I continued to manipulate and experiment with the line drawings I already had. I translated them to several sheets of acetate using marker and layered them. The different colours used gave a depth to the drawings.

Monoprint idea

I want to make this image into a monoprint as it will be easily transferrable due to the quality of the silhouettes and block colour created by the lights in a night club.

The image itself refers to the disorientation of this crowd; even sober you are intoxicated.

The perspective also gives the feel that you are on the outside of the crowd shying away and only observing.

Prints to follow :)

Projection

 When I had a line drawing blown up  to larger scale and finished on the wall, I projected photographs I took previosly onto the drawing to give a background, and used a third-party digital camera to record it.

The result channels movement although the figures are stationary. The blurred lights give the illusion that the figures are in motion, which asks the question, what would be the result if movement was added?

Juxtaposition of photographs

I thought the collaboration of these two photographs created an interesting juxtaposition distorting two separate crowds, showing the dizziness an discrepancy of a crowd.

As I made a woodblock out of the lower image, I said I'd create an opposing drawing on wood to oppose this; again reflecting the variation of the crowd.

Experimenting with scale

I decided to experiment with the size and scale of line drawings I had previously done. I projected one of these drawings (seen in a previous post on a slideshow) onto a wall, so translating it to larger scale would be easier and more efficient.

I made a drawing in marker, and another with chalks, and began messing around with shades to give depth.

 

Photos of crowds I took to study

I took photos of students toing and froing one afternoon in U.L, coming out of lectures and standing around chatting near the main building. It was significant to me that I include such a scene as from personal experience this was a trigger of panic when I was in a larger college.

I duplicated and manipulated the photos I took before I arranged them on my wall.

 

The arrangement I feel communicates the repetitve nature of a crowd which seems to continue for some time, as the corridors and pathways seem to, in bustling, busy places. It also has a dizzyness to it as some images are blurred, others are clear; posturised; saturated. The fact this shows a young demographic; my peers, also has significance as their opinion and judgement is important to me, which in turn can inter nervousness and loss of self-composure when situated amongst the masses.

Woodcut

I decided to do a woodcut because I came into college thinking I wanted to do print, and resorted back to it. The fact I had been experimenting with line, I believe this was a good progression from drawings and and photographs, which I played around with on photo shop, emphasizing and dramatizing lines.

Half way through cutting

I took the image from a photo I took when researching the nature of crowds.

The photo that it came from, original and posturised 

 The finished block

Prints to follow :)

More distorted crowds