Day 1: Graphics

Today I started the graphics aspect of the course which will help me experience the graphic design process and explore new ways to work. It will enhance critial judgement in the use of type and image and increase my ability and awareness of what graphics is and can be. For the research I was told to bring a range of equirement to work with and newspapers/magazines to collect faces.

Famous people can represent the past because of their actions and impact to the world and making the world it is today, for example called Martin Luther King Jr. He is known for his 'I have a dream' speech is still remembered. Faces can be a great medium to work with as it can associate with identity and their past and present.

DRAWING 1

This is a thirty seconds charcoal drawing of Shani with my eyes closed, it has been a while since I drawn with my eyes closed and it was a weird experience. I found it difficult to locate the facial features and therefore it's very cram together and it reminds me of Picasso's work by the bold lips and the uneasy lines. It was also my first using charcoal and I found it very messy but I liked how it gives a strong opac colour but also the softness when its rubbed on and smudged. I think the outcome was abstract and I recorded the key features of Shani, a way I could improve this to use my fingers to smudge and add some soft tones to the look.

DRAWING 2

This is a one minute drawing of Shanice using my alternate hand with the medium of a blue fineliner. I am familiar with using fineliner but to be honest I have never tried drawing my alternate hand and I found it easier than expected, I used short and quick pen strokes so I can control my lines better and it gives of a busy and unsettle state in comparison of the calm expression, I am happy with this outcome especially and perhaps I will use this different approach to drawing in the future.

DRAWING 3

Here is a one minute drawing of Nikeisha with only using my mouth, again it was my first time doing this and it was very challenging to do. I thought a red felt tip will make a bolder outcome as I created light strokes to the paper, I held the paper infront of me and move my mouth around to create the portrait. The outcome looks very meaningful and open ended to how to interpet the piece, the weary uncontrollable strokes reflect the expression? Does both portrait and style connect together? In my opinion I really like how it is very clear to identify the features despite the lines being messy.

DRAWING 4

 

This is a continous line drawing of a self portrait that I did without the help of a mirror and purely from the sense of touch and memory, it is true to think that the only person who knows your face is you and so I didn't find it difficult while doing this activity. I used a biro because I am very comfortable and familiar using it and also it creates darker tones simply pressing it harder and going over existing lines. This was done in three minutes and I was surprised how I managed to finish the face within that time, despite the time restriction I am able to capture my features and add slight tone to my face.

DRAWING 5

My next activity was to draw an ear on a A1 paper using any materials of my choice, I wanted to use colour into my work and so decided to use water colour paint. Water colours is easy to blend with water and fix mistakes and so I had twenty minutes to complete the piece. I wanted to capture the contoured and highlighted areas and yet have the colour element to it too, I tried out a variety of ways to apply water colour to the work such as watered down paint as base and rough brush strokes to have some texture.

COLLAGE

One of my requirements to bring to the course today is newspapers and magazines which had faces to play with, with the faces I created a collage that had a variety of compositions and I let myself become creative and experimental. This collage I looked into tough/strong expressions and hidden identity, hence why I selective chose from my resources. I changed the orientation of some images to show it's breaking the norm and out of control mindset and simply playing around as well as trying to make it compact.

These photographs show two different images cut up and weaved in together to reveal and conceal some aspects of the faces. I like how it plays with your mind and I think it would be a great to illustrate two identities combined together, for instance a pop star we see on stage compared to same person living their normal life. This experimentation was fun and having some with different orientation is unusual but somehow works well.

With the idea of cutting faces in shreds, it got me thinking of the idea to cut shapes and removing their eyes to withheld their identity. I thought it was an idea while people can question the meaning to why their identity is withheld, I did this partly because I liked how it looked.

After I am satisfied with my collage outcome I created a view finder by cutting a 10cm x 10.5cm square and choosing a selection of my collage that I would like to draw, I chosen this composition because it has a variety of face sizes and I wanted to challenge myself to drawing curly hair. There is a mixture of expressions and some need more toning than others and I thought the structure itself looks like a scrap book which gives an authentic feel.

Here I used a pencil to recreate my view finder selection, I like using pencil when it comes to portraits of people because I am able to apply soft tones and make it seem three dimensional, also by sharpening my pencil I can add fine details such as the double eyelids, eyebrows and hair. At first I thought it was difficult because it was a while since I drawn faces but soon after I've gotten used to it, however I think my main weakness will be hair as I find it hard to make it look realistic. I started at the bottom right and worked my way up to the top right corner.

This is my final outcome next to the original composition, although it's not so accurate in terms of size I am pleased with the outcome despite not drawing faces in a while. I feel like the main side profile isn't at an angle like the original, that is one of the elements I would improve if I could. I didn't manage to draw all of the face from the bottom right and feel like it's squashed and out of portion, so based on this activity I need to work on my portion and size in the future.