Thesis for Folio Two

I went into this project trying to continue with my first folio work. I was interested in masks and masking the body in different ways. I was also interested in merging animal and human elements together. I decided to try something different and use myself as the model. Using myself as the model gives a new perspective on the work. It enable me to express both the physical attributes from the outside and the internal emotions I have. I created my own headpiece and modeled it. I tried to draw from the reference photographs, but I do no believe the outcome was that successful. It didn't quite convey what I wanted to achieve. 

I then went in a slightly different direction. I started looking at Frida Kahlo and her self portraits. I was interested in how she expressed her discomfort and pain. I wanted to somehow depict my own illnesses, and the fatigue and pain that surrounds it. I tried to use my self portraits to create a mask-like depiction. This mask is something I use on a daily basis. It's difficult to constantly draw healthy bodies in class, when your own body isn't like that. We talked a lot in class about how our own bodies are reflected in the work we create. This idea is what I kept in mind when drawing my work.

This second piece came out a little too traditional. I stuck to conventional portraiture rules. I tried to explore the use of the material a little more here. I attempted to move away from my normal method of using line to create the image. Instead I tried to build it up with charcoal and conte.

The third piece turned out quite mask-like and slightly ethereal. I quite liked the finished product of this piece. It was similar to what I had hoped to achieve. I think I was able to convey some suffering and depict some of the cloudy feeling that I have. 

Overall I think the work is incomplete. I feel that the issues I was exploring have not yet been resolved. I hope to continue to investigate using myself as the model in the future. 

Response to Petherbridge

'Performativity and Traces of Action'

Deanna Petherbridge

In this reading, Petherbridge discusses the use of line in drawings. She goes with the argument that the quality of the line directly reflects the quality of the artist's response. Gestural mark-making is a trace of an action, an action that could be deliberate or accidental. The intensity of the graphic mark is based on the concentration of movement from the mark-maker. These marks can set the mood for the work and draw the viewer's eye to certain parts of the piece. 

Petherbridge goes on to analyse works by Goya. He is an artist that uses line very dominantly in his work. Goya uses contrasting lines to create certain effects. Through his process he has responded to accidental marks that were created. I think this is an important point. You can go into a drawing with a plan, but sometimes the work has a different idea of the outcome. It can be beneficial to incorporate these accidental marks into the work. These marks can represent the movement of the artist, a literal trace of the artist's actions. 

Petherbridge also discusses the incorporation of the body into the work. She discusses Yves Klein, who I reference in another blog post, and his anthropometries. I don't really connect with direct body prints in art. I prefer to see the marks made by the artist as he creates, the incidental marks that come with the performance of drawing. Not the direct print. 

Drawing is a record of the movement of the artist. Each mark is a trace of the action that created it. Different materials and different touches can add different effects to the work. 

Response to Rosand

'The Phenomenology Of Drawing'

David Rosand

In this chapter Rosand discusses the relationships between the model, the artist and the viewer. The involvement of the audience is a very important part of art. Personally, I create art to be seen by others. I don't draw with the intention of hiding my works away.

Rosand discusses how we, as draftsman, can each create something different from the same subject. We all view the world in a different way and that is reflected in our work. The body of the draftsman also becomes an integral part of the work. The movement of the body is recorded by each marks that is created on the page. Through these movements we begin to understand the draftsman.

'...the draftsman himself knows the world only by drawing it; the artist 'sees' with hands as well as eyes....'

He goes on to say that drawings that are done quickly and left unfinished are then completed by the imagination of the viewer. I think this is a very interesting point and it is something that I believe we, as a viewer, do. Sometimes leaving something unfinished can achieve more than if it was completed by the artist. It allows the viewer to interact on a personal level with the drawing and implicates them into the creation of the work.

Within this reading, Rosand discusses some very interesting thoughts on the relationships in art. When I am drawing I don't always think about those relationships and who will be viewing the work I create. It is something to keep in mind when I am creating something.

Response to Hollander

'Subject Matter: Models for Different Media'

Elizabeth Hollander

In this reading Hollander discusses the relationship between the artist and the model, and the impact this has on the work that is created. She discusses the model's perspective on making pictures. It's a very interesting reading. It gives insight into what the model thinks of their job. Modelling for drawers, painters, sculptors and photographers all brings different challenges. 

From a drawing perspective, we try to capture the model's gesture and movement. Generally we work faster than painters or sculptors and try to reflect some movement and personality into the work. Hollander almost echoes these same thoughts. She agrees that she can see more of herself in the drawings. As she looked around the class, she could remember the poses she took and saw the learning that went into each drawing. The distribution of weight, the lighting, the proportion. By studying a live model, students are more able to convey what they see in the moment. When models work for painters, the work becomes less about the model and more about the artist's vision. 

Hollander also raises the issue of collaboration. Model and artist work together to create the final product. But the model's name is never on the finished product. They are normally seen as an object within the piece. In drawing the model generally has a repertoire of poses they cycle through and the artist draws their poses. In other art mediums, the model usually portrays a certain vision that the artist has. Personally, I like drawing the poses the model chooses. The poses come somewhat naturally to them and I am able to express some of their personality through the pose. 

'When classroom exercises call for certain kinds of pose, the model is clearly a responsible collaborator in the process of instruction. But a clever model will always pay attention to what issues or problems concern the draftsman most, and adjust her poses accordingly to lead the way.'

This reading brings up a lot of interesting questions. The relationship between the artist and the model and their collaboration in the process of creating art is very interesting. It's not something I had thought about before doing life drawing and this drawing course. I don't have the answers to the questions of collaboration. But these questions are now in my mind as I go forward and create more works. 

Yves Klein

Yves Klein was a pioneer in performance art. He used naked women as human paintbrushes to create body prints, while he dressed in a suit and conducted the performance. Musicians played his composition, a single note for twenty minutes, and the paint he used was the colour that he created. This work was all about his creations, Klein was in charge and made all the decisions. His work questions the role of the model in the artwork. 

Frida Kahlo

I was interested in exploring a more personal approach to my art. I have not used myself as the model before so I looked at artist's that explored self portraiture. In particular, self portraiture about physical limitations or illnesses. 

Frida Kahlo is one artist that I quite like and got inspiration from. I admire how she worked through her pain and portrayed herself in her paintings. Her work is quite literal. You can physically see what's wrong with her. Whereas my pain can not be seen. It's all internal. So I tried to portray my illness in a different way, 

Class #10

This week was all about collaboration. I worked with a fellow class mate to create some drawings. We used different ways to draw each piece. In the first one we tied our hands together and used the same material to draw. We took turns leading for different poses.

In the second one we drew on each end of the paper (small receipt roll paper this time) and then brought them together in collage form.

 In the last one we went back to our first method. We tied our hands together once more and drew together again.

It was a very interesting class. I hadn't collaborated with anyone like this before. It's tough to relinquish all control to the other artist. 

Zoe Porter

Zoe Porter is a local Brisbane artist that works with a variety of mediums. I became interested in animal-human hybrids and masking the figure, Porter's work explores many boundaries that concern these ideas. She looks at real and imaginary states and the transformation of the human to animal form. Porter's work becomes very colourful and lively when she adds in watercolour to her drawings. I like the way she depicts the masking and the way her composition flows. 

Class #9

Class this week was about spacial limitations. Any paper we brought was to be our drawing space. We did not move from the paper. It was quite an experiment. It got a bit messy.

I rolled paper from the floor and up onto the walls. I worked with dry materials (conte and charcoal). I quite like how the drawing I was sitting on turned out. The work came from footprints standing on it, sitting on it and having powder from the other drawing fall on it.

Tony Orrico

Tony Orrico is a very interesting artist. He is a performance artist that works with drawing materials. In his Penwald Drawings Orrico creates a series of bilateral drawings. He explores the use of his body with choreographed movements. Orrico uses every part of his body to make marks on the paper. His drawings are very large and are a test of physical endurance as he commits to his work. Orrico uses his body as a measuring tool and his work becomes quite symmetrical. 

“I commit my attention, rationally, to the sensitivity of my body at the receptive level— ready points and lines in space. I attain a sense of embodiment that is geometric and mechanical. With no dominating sense of axis or directional force, and find the ability to motor from invented traction. The course is non-objective; it is a continuation of pathway and response to stimuli.”

Orrico's work is extremely complex and time consuming. The outcome of his endurance pieces are incredible. His drawing process is so different to the process I go through when drawing, it is quite amazing to me. 

Folio #2 Process #4

In this folio I am exploring self portraiture. By using myself as the model, instead of someone else, I can investigate my sense of self and the feelings of fatigue and physical limitations that I experience. When we draw in class we look at healthy bodies that hold poses for a period of time. I wanted to implicate myself into the work as the 'acting' model. 

Folio #2 process #3

Working on some self portraits.

Folio #2 process #2

I have been struggling alot with the second project. I've bren drawing but haven't been liking the outcome. Here is one experiment.

I have started another drawing to continue exploring fatigue and illness. It's a self portrait. 

Folio #2 process #1

I made the costuming in these photographs. I have decided to use myself as the model. I like the anthropomorphic characteristics in these images and want to explore this further.

This drawing is still a work in progress.

Jess Cochrane

Last night I went to the Powerhouse and saw an exhibition by a young NSW artist. She prints off photographs of her models and then paints directly over them. This exhibit had very large works and were completely captivating. Alot of her work looks very mask like and surreal.

Charlotte Caron

Charlotte Caron explores the humanizing of animals as she transforms her human subjects into animals. Caron uses acrylic paints and draws animal faces onto  the photographed portraits of people. The results look like masks and each animal mask gives the portrait a new personality. She uses the contrast of painting and photography to reflect the contrast between human and animal; civilized and animalistic. 

I am very interested in the interaction between masks and people and like the idea of making that mask (possible other covering) animalistic. The anthropomorphic is a very interesting concept. 

Cropping experiment

I experimented with some cropping in my life drawing class this week. I liked the sketchiness and quickness of the marks in this work.

Response to Rosand

'The Phenomenology Of Drawing'

David Rosand

In this chapter Rosand discusses the relationships between the model, the artist and the viewer. The involvement of the audience is a very important part of art. Personally, I create art to be seen by others. I don't draw with the intention of hiding my works away. 

Rosand discusses how we, as draftsman, can each create something different from the same subject. We all view the world in a different way and that is reflected in our work. The body of the draftsman also becomes an integral part of the work. The movement of the body is recorded by each marks that is created on the page. Through these movements we begin to understand the draftsman.

'...the draftsman himself knows the world only by drawing it; the artist 'sees' with hands as well as eyes....'

He goes on to say that drawings that are done quickly and left unfinished are then completed by the imagination of the viewer. I think this is a very interesting point and it is something that I believe we, as a viewer, do. Sometimes leaving something unfinished can achieve more than if it was completed by the artist. It allows the viewer to interact on a personal level with the drawing and implicates them into the creation of the work. 

Within this reading, Rosand discusses some very interesting thoughts on the relationships in art. When I am drawing I don't always think about those relationships and who will be viewing the work I create. It is something to keep in mind when I am creating something. 

Class #8

This week's class was extremely difficult for me. We were set the task of combining both the model and the artist together. I tried many different ideas and feel that a lot were unsuccessful. I feel that the last image of the two figures overlapping is the most successful experiment. It was interesting having the model on the floor and drawing on the floor- at the same level- and seeing the pose of the model reflected in the way I sat and drew. 

Folio One

Here's the final work I submitted today. I am quite happy with the outcome. I want to continue doing larger works and continue experimenting.