THE PLACE IN QUESTIONLucia Hearn

Location studies

When first looking at my space, I photographed it and concentrated on perspective, how the trees frame the composition, and the fence seems smaller as it is further back. I also looked at how the light hits different

features in the area, in particular the leaves and plants. I decided to portray three main parts of the space; the trees, ivy/plants and fence. I based my project around how these three elements were spaced, and the form of

linear perspective that was created.

I did a site survey and looked at the textures and bark on the tree and the wood of the fence. I also looked at different ways I could represent large

areas of plant life as drawing/painting the leaves individually would be too time-consuming. I discovered Van Gogh’s mark making techniques, (below),

and how he uses curved small and long lines to represent the space.

Van Gogh’s drawings

One of my initial drawings from the space

Initial photographs

Location studies: Sketch Up and Movie

MultimediaI created a sketch-up model of my space, keeping it quite a basic, realistic representation instead of using an abstract style. One problem I had was to create round, 3D shapes for the tree foliage, so I used various 2D shapes and placed them at different points on the branches and trunk to create an illusion of different levels of leaves. I then filmed my 3D model of the tree and fence and used Adobe Premiere Pro to combine the two multimedia representations with photographs from my original space to show different equivalents. I like how the video is in one form for the viewer, but encompasses three different elements of my project; initial photography, the sketch-up model and 3D sculpture work.

Sketch up Model

3D Work

Making and developmental work - (Large drawing, 3D, print)

I created two large, developmental pieces. For the first piece I used cardboard and PVA glue to try and create a 3d surface for the bark of the tree. I pinned the piece up and used different tools to create an abstract painting inspired by Anslem Kiefer. I used splashes of paint and a swirl circular movement to show the areas of plant life. I like how the painting with ink creates a very dark and atmospheric style, which I like but doesn’t represent the original space very well as it is bright and spacious. For the second A2 multimedia piece, I used charcoal and white chalk to create a tonal drawing of the fence, trying to highlight where the light catches it on one side of each panel. I then used collage and oil pastels to create the plant life in front of the fence. By doing this and using lighter colours further back to create colour perspective - I wanted to show the depth of the area of vegetation. The trees on either side were done with tissue paper, PVA glue and watercolour paints. I then used ink for branches inspired by Anslem Kiefer.I liked using mostly black and white but a touch of colour with the collage, and 3D textural surfaces.

Dry-point prints

A2 multimedia pieces

Using Historical and Contemporary research, and Applying Professional Practice in my work.

I looked at a variety of different practitioners during this project. For the first part, I looked at Anslem Kiefer, Paul Cezanne, Henri Moore and Francis Bacon. I looked at their paintings of spaces and areas, and concentrated on techniques that I could use. I adopted Anslem Kiefer’s dark and rough marks in my 2D pieces, as well as Van Gogh’s small marks. I liked Francis Bacon’s colour scheme with dark, warm colours – black, browns and dark greens.

I also looked at textile artists once I had written my brief. These were Mary-Anne Morrison, Elaine Megahey and Louise Baldwin. Morrison’s work uses music and movement as inspiration, and I created gathers to replicate her work in a simpler way. I liked Elaine’s use of heavy machine embroidery to create tone and shading in her shapes, and Louise Baldwin combines different panels and techniques. All of these pieces of work have inspired my experiments and final piece.

Health and SafetyI kept monitoring health and safety through-out the project, in particular, whilst printing using the big printing press. I made sure to keep my hands away from the centre of the machine and make sure to wear gloves at all times, especially when cleaning the plate with harmful chemicals.

Developing my personal brief, and producing my own ideas (Unit 11)

I decided to develop a textiles based brief for an interior designer client to display in an open house. I liked the idea of the house being minimalistic, and the designer wanting a stand-out piece to draw the eye of potential buyers. I considered that I didn’t have the resources to create a full piece, as I wanted the project to be aimed at a wall-hanging that covered most of a wall pillar. For this reason, I decided to make a small, maquette sized piece, but blow it up on the computer and Photoshop it into the house. This meant that I could take my time creating the smaller piece with more intricate work. I researched images that I liked and created a mood board. I also looked at three textile designers that inspired my work.

Here is a page of textiles experimentation that I did, including using photographs, embroidery, beading, gathering and applique. I then did intricate pencil drawing of certain parts of this page. After developing the techniques that I wanted to use, I planned out my final wall-hanging model.

My brief was using textiles as a broad theme, so creating a visual mind map of images that I liked, helped narrow down the sort of textiles I was interested in using. After experimenting with different techniques, I used different methods to refine them. For example, I developed the perspective ideas into triangular panels to make the idea more prominent.

Through-out the project, I used a sketchbook to present my work, as well as using one board for my 3D work, and I felt this was most interesting displayed at multiple different angles. I also felt my model had the most interesting shapes, as I used layers of cardboard to build it up into a natural form. I have tried to keep my sketchbook in a suitable order to show development from the initial observations, to artist research, to the 2D work, 3D work and then leading on to developing my own brief. I hope that this has shown how all my outcomes were linked through different research and experiments. If I had more time, I would have made more presentation boards, one more each outcome.

In terms of progression, I have visited three universities in London for the Undergraduate Shows; Central St. Martins, Camberwell and Chelsea College of Art. I also recently visited the Edinburgh College of Art, looking at Design based courses. I have uploaded photographs and explanations onto my blog of these visits.

Unit 8Personal, Portfolio Development & Progression

Final Outcomes