Study Task 6: Presentation

Dan Forster

Markets his work on 'Etsy'

The piece of work is framed in the photo but comes unframed.

States the size of print and type of paper stock (270gsm)

4 colour screen print

125 editions




Big apple prints

Etsy user

Painter, scans his paintings in and prints them onto canvas's, posters or glossy prints.

Reproduces a lot of prints

Presented against a wall - show customers what it looks like in context.

Moving Images proposal

What do I intend to produce?

My initial idea was to produce a simple animation of figures walking from left to right along the screen and then walking off the screen with 'Toni Morrison' popping up. 
If this doesn't work (I heard making figures walk is actually quite difficult) I was thinking of having a figure praying and then blue eyes gradually start appearing until the whole page is blue and the 'Toni Morrison popping up.

Themes/concepts?

I want to use one of my prints which outline both my author's work and her beliefs. Based on her quotes and texts from her books.

Moods/ideas?

I want my animation to reflect more of an old retro feel - If i could add an effect to make it like this than I will. A lot of the stuff Toni Morrison writes about is from years and years ago so I think this effect will fit the animation quite nicely.

Audience?

My animation will be aimed at more of the older generation or people who understand what actually happened or people that can relate to the experiences. It could also appeal to the younger generation who don't know much about black history or slavery - potentially educate them.

Reflective report - printed pictures

What have I been doing?

I have established that lino print isn't successful enough to be considered for a final print. My designs are very simple and I feel like lino is for more complex designs with more line work.
Screen print is also something I have drifted away from, purely because of the crisp, precise compositions in the outcomes - something I don't want reflected in my outcomes.
Mono print not only conveys that gritty, dirty texture, but there is something really interesting about the unplanned and unpredictable nature of the outcome. Through experimenting, I have discovered some really interesting 'mistakes' which have contributed to the success of the composition. 

I have been spending a lot of time in the print room, experimenting, playing and testing.

What is working?

My colour palette of black and blue - very striking and the blue reflects the poignant emotion.
The simple imagery opens up various interpretations for the viewer - allowing them to relate in some way or another.
The texture the mono printing press is giving to the design adds that extra edge and gives it a greater level of sentiment. 
The texture of my paper also adds to this effect.
My designs cohesively work well as a series.
My concepts reflect my author's beliefs and themes from the books in more of a subtle way

What needs improving?

The paper I am using for my stencils is far too thick, therefore the ink is struggling to get through the smaller cut outs.
The printing press's pressure is too much and actually creasing my prints.
My stencils (A3) are perhaps too large and I need to reduce the size to A4.
Some of my prints are a little too messy and perhaps need to scan them in and clean them up a bit on Photoshop.

One to One tutorial feedback:

One of my designs (the space ship one) I have a 'space ship' with intentions of morphing it into a blue eye. My tutor told me it doesn't look anything like an eye so this was something I needed to adjust. 
For my 5th design I was struggling to come up with something. My tutor suggested that my theme seems to be repetitions of themes, for example the eye, the people, the hands - so why don't I choose something else to repeat. 

Ideas:

A mouth engulfing a figure (Sethe from Beloved) with hands coming out from the teeth.

Blue eye at the back of the mouth

Repetition of hands grabbing a figure

What am I going to do? Actions?

Design my 5th design and re do all my stencils but in A4 print so my prints don't crease. 

Study Task 5 - Sound study

Animation 1:

https://vimeo.com/47547114

'Two Finger Typist'

The sound corresponds well with the animation by changing colour. When the sound gets faster so does the change in colour. It gets faster and faster until the coffee spills on the laptop  - this relates to the kind of thing I am thinking of doing in terms of people walking and then the speed gradually building up alongside the sound. The sound getting faster and faster until the black figures walk along the screen when there is no sound anymore?


Animation 2:

https://vimeo.com/4020697

The sound in this animation is really interesting. It's harsh and the colours give it more of a fuzzy, fragmented representation. I like this idea in relation to mine - with the figures walking, each step they give off a fuzzy (noisy) effect with the sound. I quite like the fuzzy texture anyway because it gives off that old retro feeling (my author writes a lot about black history so it works quite nicely).

Study Task 4 - Animated shorts/stings

Animation 1:

https://vimeo.com/117803815

'Shapes'

The simplicity and cohesive narrative - each shape blending into another - strong relationship and smooth transitions. Variations of pace.

Animation 2:

https://vimeo.com/79823240

'Asu'

Complex - numerous transitions - Text mixed up with the characters - focusing on the walking cycle which is something I am hoping to try and achieve. Very fast paced. Effective cohesive narrative. 

Animation 3:

https://vimeo.com/47115080

'The Unconscious Homeless man'

Very simple but so effective - subtle transitions but a clear narrative with some added humour. Successful and elegant aesthetic - is this something I want to focus on? - making very simple movement with well illustrated pieces of work? Very slow paced which keeps you locked in.

Further ideas

I like the idea of morphing the famous 'blue eye' into a spaceship somehow, capturing all the black bodies. This whole concept is extremely provocative but I wanted to show the black people's urge to feel accepted and 'normal'. But it also shows aspects of being captured for slavery - this idea was mixing both aspects of 'The bluest eye' and the slave trade.

I wanted to really simplify the black figure down to convey that message of not feeling human and not being treated as humans.

Initial designing

I wanted to look back over some of my original sketches for my editorial work to give me some further inspiration.

One of Morrison's quotes which really stuck in my head was 'Trespassers among the human race' (when she was talking about how black people felt in the time.)

I liked the idea of a busy crowd of people walking in one direction to represent the 'human race' and then a few small black 'figures' walking in the opposite direction to emphasise the separation and isolation.

The contrast in the tall and small figures works so well as it really captures that idea of power and segregation.

The repetition of figures emphasises the busy composition and adds well to the intimidation the black figures are experiencing.

The black figures aren't the cleanest and sharpest pieces of work to represent that idea of feeling incomplete and not included.

Group Crit

Main feedback points:

Don't be afraid to be more provocative with your designs.

Continue printing and experiment with some more designs.

Try some mono prints with your stencils to add some texture.

The simplicity works so well with such a complex concept.

Printed Pictures Proposal

I intend to produce:

5 striking prints focusing on simple imagery.

The content will focus on:

The social and cultural background of not only Toni Morrison, but the books she has written. I want to find out the deeper meaning of the books and the messages conveyed - the relevance they both have on today's society.

I will be aiming to communicate:

Levels of power, sense of segregation, blue eyes contrasted with the black. I want the bits of blue to really stand out. Quite shocking imagery but I also want this to be presented in quite a subtle way - allowing people to really analyse the image and question bits.

To an audience of:

I want my work to appeal to the younger generation to make them slightly more aware of the context - I do feel however because of the context, it would appeal to more to the older generation as they would be able to understand it more, and of course if the imagery is quite striking and provocative it would appeal to someone with a thicker skin perhaps.

Study task 1 - Who am I? Why am I here?

I have learnt that I am more of an analogue illustrator than a digital one. I have learnt that it is perfectly fine to make bad drawings - this has allowed me to have more confidence in my work.

I want to know more about selling my work and setting up my own website. I want to become a pro at screen printing. Digital art is something I've never really experimented with so it would be nice to know more about it.

My strengths are mono printing and generally mixing medias to create interesting outcomes. I tend to really think outside the box with my concepts and not be so literal.

I need to be more reflective with my blogging and do it more regularly. I tend to sketch out a few ideas and stick to one which I feel is best - i need to produce more initial sketching.

Noma Bar is one of my favourite illustrators. Rick Berkelman and Shepard Fairey - I'm really drawn to colour and simple shapes.

I need to look at more resources that demonstrate my area of interest within the creative industries - Other than Instagram etc.

Noma Bar





 Mono printing





Screen printing

Digital art

Study Task 3 - Print process illustrators

Rick Berkelman (Hedof)

Uses screen printing. Scans everyday objects like bread, water etc. Also does some street art. Works in his studio for commercial art. Exhibiting his work made him famous on an international level.

Shepard Fairey 

Screen printing and hand-made stencils. He does a lot of street art. Limited colour palette (red black and gold) Makes a few 4 layered stencils.

Iain McIntosh

Uses both traditional and digital techniques. Creates logos and line illustrations. Wood and Lino. Doesn't just stick to one type of illustration but likes to create numerous different type of illustrations (editorial, book jacket designs)

Reflective Report - Editorial illustrations

Thoughts?

The cut out designs work really well as compositions - the simple designs create more of an abstract complexity when you look closely at what is being portrayed. I think negative space is something I want to really use to my advantage in my editorials, as this is a tool which could really work with my concept. I need to start thinking about format and how my designs will fit into each of the dimensions. Do I want to start adding texture? Perhaps introduce a different colour?

Texture?

Adding some texture to my designs gave them a whole new dimension. It emphasised the struggle for power with the black texture juxtaposed by the pure solid white (representing the more polished and 'desired' aesthetic). It adds real sense of depth and I think the scratchy technique works so well with my concept. 

Texture doubts?

I think because the black has become more textural, it has lost that sense of opaqueness and therefore the contrast between the white and black is less striking. The pure black and pure white combination emphasised the intense, dramatic atmosphere which was being portrayed. The white doesn't stand out as much which is something I wanted to really portray. 

Solutions?

After scanning my textural cut out experiments into Photoshop, it became evident that the print out versions were not as effective as I hoped. I felt like the image was lost amongst all the texture in the background and the simplicity (which I initially wanted to focus on) wasn't clear anymore and the overall composition depicted more of a complex structure.

I decided to go back to my original idea of pure black and white with the edges shaped and perfected.

Final Images

I completely stand by my decision to not add any texture. I think my images are extremely striking, dark and intense which is what I really wanted to convey and feel like it reflects Toni Morrison's writing very well. My motif for these illustrations is the eye. The subtle use of blue which pops out works really effectively and makes people question what is going on. The simple images and my bold use of negative space add real intrigue and you can clearly tell there is a deeper meaning. I wanted to emphasise the bold contrast between black and white and show a sense of power, something I wasn't able to achieve using texture.

improvements? 

Perhaps I could of experimented with using different colours other than black and white. I know that my concept is all about the difference between black and white and how she 'longed to have blue eyes' but I could have taken it to a whole new dimension and played around with colours - what colours represent lower class and higher class? In my group crit someone said that she didn't really understand what was happening in my third image - 'what is it looking at'? Maybe I could've made it more clear somehow.

Thumbnail sketching

I focussed on creating really quick sketches based on both books I have been reading. After having a group crit, the main feedback I got was to focus more on the portrait designs as they seem to be most striking with the black and white design kind of morphing two faces together. The clear direction i got was to keep it simple and not be afraid of emphasising the very minimal composition.

What will I do next?

I will start by playing around with the idea of connecting two faces together, nicely blended and morphed into one design. I could perhaps start playing around with cut out paper, my main focus being on simplification. 

Study Task 2: Editorial illustrators

John Holcroft

Holcroft is inspired by 1950s screen print posters and uses this style to create retro style illustrations. His metaphorical illustrations depict what is going wrong with the world today. He focuses on concepts like society's dependence on technology, devaluation of workforce,obesity and politics. 

Ben Wiseman

Bright, witty informative contemporary illustrations. Current affairs. He uses digital software to create his illustrations. I really like his simple take on very complex and large scale concepts. A lot of his illustrations depict technology and I think that this is a running theme. 

Study Task 1 - About the Author zine

I wanted to combine imagery from both books I have been studying - 'Beloved' and 'The bluest eye'.

Both books convey a real sense of disturbance and dark, sinister auras. I wanted to predominantly focus on high contrast black and white images to create an atmosphere.

Reflection

What went well?  I stuck to a strong and clear style which created a cohesive structure - each page looks as though they are meant to be together. The limited colour palette added to this successful effect. I think I have used a strong sense of symbolism throughout leaving people to feel intrigued by what is behind all the imagery and wanting to find out more. 

What I could of done better? Perhaps i could have used more daring materials other than ink. If I had more time in perfecting the book I would definitely have used more paint and maybe adopted more of a scratchy technique to emphasise the trauma and pain and the deeper meaning behind the books.

Crit feedback - majority of people loved my use of strong images and symbols to represent my author. They also like the dramatic uses of black and white and thought it worked well alongside the simple shapes. They also mentioned I should use different media.

Her works

'The Bluest Eye'(1970)

Centred around a young African American girl named Pecola, who grows up during the years following 'The Great Depression'. Because of her skin colour, Pecola gets taunted as the members of her community associate beauty with whiteness. She develops an inferiority complex and desires blue eyes.

Because the book raises controversial issues such as racism, incest and child molestation The book got a relatively bad reception and has been numerous attempts to ban it from libraries and schools.

Morrison's intentions

In an interview, Morrison was asked about her motivations for writing the novel: She wanted to remind readers how 'hurtful racism is' and the fact 'people are so apologetic for the fact that their skin is dark.' Morrison wanted people to try and understand what it was like to be treated that way.

Reception

The book only received a modest amount of attention. Morrison was praised for writing a 'series of painfully accurate impressions' and her wide coverage of emotion in the novel. The most critiqued aspect of her writing is her language in the novel as it was often viewed as being made too simple.
Early critics were also seen as being ambivalent about the portrayal of a black person being an object in society rather than a person.

Themes

Breakage and seperation

Effects of white beauty standards

Media and Culture

Religion

Shame


'Beloved' (1987)

African American slave, Margaret Garner escaped slavery in Kentucky by fleeing to Ohio (free state).
Sethe (the protagonist) a slave who also escapes slavery. After 28 days of freedom, she is found and kills her 2 year old daughter so she is not recaptured and taken back to Sweet Home.

The home in Ohio is haunted by the ghost of Sethe's daughter. Because of the haunting (things thrown around the room) Denver (Sethe's youngest daughter) is shy and friendless.

Paul D - one of the slaves - attempts to make the family forget about the past and forces the spirit out.

'Definitions belonged to the definers not the defined'

'Unless care free, mother love is a killer'

You can't let the past strangle you if you're going to go forward. But nevertheless the past is not going anywhere'

Tresspasserds among the human race. Watch dogs without teeth; steer bulls without horns; gelded workhorses whose neigh and and whining could not be translated in a language responsible humans spoke'

'Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all'

'In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hibernate'.

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison is the first African-American to win a Nobel prize

She grew up in the American Midwest in a family that possessed an intense love of and appreciation for black culture.

Storytelling, songs and folktales were a deeply formative part of her childhood.

The central themes of Morrison's novels is the black American experience, her characters struggle to find themselves and cultural identity.

Morrison's family were 'intimate with the supernatural'

Storytelling was a huge part of her family when she was growing up - both the children and parents would share stories with one another.

She uses her childhood memories to help her start writing - her real life world is often included in her novels.

'About the Author'

Initial Research


Toni Morrison:

Novelist, editor, teacher
Won the Pulitzer Prize and American book award in 1988 for Beloved
Awarded Nobel prize
When she was 2, the landlord set fire to the family house because they didn't pay rent. Morrison decided to 'laugh at him', she felt that was the best way to keep your integrity.

The 'Beloved' trilogy

The true story of an enslaved African American woman 'Margaret Garner.' After killing her baby, returns as a ghost to taunt her mother and family.

'Song of Solomon'

'The Bluest Eye'  black girl who longed to have blue eyes -  girl she met at school, didn't believe in God, praying for 2 years to have blue eyes.

Politics:

Morrison believed Bill Clinton was 'our first black president' with the whole sex scandal. She felt like he was treated like a black person: already guilty.

'I want to see a cop shoot an unarmed white teenager in the back' - justice.

Does not identify her work as 'feminist' doesn't want to take positions that are closed - 'expand articulation rather than close it'.



Michael Gladwell:

Journalist, author, speaker
His mother (psychotherapist) huge role model as a writer
Started at 'the New Yorker' - gained popularity with his articles (tipping point) - became basis for his novels.
Process behind his writing: 'interested in collecting interesting stories and interesting research'.

'Tipping point' - how little things can make a big difference

His works deal with research in the areas of psychology, social psychology and sociology.



William Burroughs:

American writer and artist
Beat generation  writer - group of young people who rejected conventional society, valuing free self expression and favouring modern jazz.
Drug abuse
Killed his wife in a prank

Naked lunch - disturbing drug culture journey, slicing up words and phrases to create new sentences.
After drug addiction treatment

Themes:  Drugs, homosexuality and death



Margaret Atwood:

Canadian novelist, poet
Feminism - female characters dominated by patriarchy 
Dystopia 
Speculative fiction not science fiction - could actually happen
Animals - relation with humans
Handmaids Tale complex and disturbing futuristic thriller - All the horrible developments take place in U.S near Boston, while Canada is portrayed as the only hope for escape.
Used to read comic books

Reflection

Toni Morrison is an author who really sticks out for me. There is something really interesting about her writing style and her concepts. Her work is quite dark and deep - I like her point of view and how it is translated through her writing. She is definitely someone who i am extremely intrigued by and want to research more intensely.

Evaluation

This module without a doubt has been my favourite. The projects have really allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and produce outcomes I never thought I was capable of. Each project I have tried to take risks and think outside the box when it comes to generating ideas and concepts.

I learnt so much throughout, like creating gifs, using vectors on illustrator and even creating a lino print. Mono printing was an induction I was particularly drawn to – it allowed me to be really experimental with shapes and layering creating real abstract compositions. What I have really learnt throughout is to move away from the literal response to briefs – I have acknowledged that the most successful pieces of art are the ones in which at first, are a struggle to understand, but at a closer examination things start to become more recognizable.

My gifs were probably my strongest outcome because I invested so much time in creating and perfecting them. I think it was a great idea to try something new with my 3D idea by actually dressing up as my character. I enjoyed creating a completely new perspective. I thought my stickers reflected something deeper than just ‘an act of kindness’ – I felt like my concept was so relevant and actually quite a serious concept which everyone can relate to and be inspired by. With my Maya Angelou project, I really enjoyed the progression of my ideas from start to finish. I like how my initial idea changed so much throughout my ‘journey’ through tutorials, group crits and constant reflection on my work. I completely moved away from the literal sense and started to include some metaphorical ways of working. After my mono print session, I felt so motivated and inspired to create further prints because they turned out so successful. I decided to really experiment with this project, using all the skills I have learnt in the previous modules from illustrator to lino print to collage experiments. The introduction to gif making made me incredibly inspired as I didn’t know how easy it was to create. I may have got a bit carried away with this project in producing gif after gif, but I just felt so energized and had so many ideas.

I used a range of artists to help with my inspiration. I used the internet but also some books from the library and an illustrator book I have at home which I occasionally look through. Analyzing shape driven artists really helped me in terms of composition and selecting colour palette. I have learnt so much about composition and the selection of colours through contextual research.

For future modules I aim to be much more conceptual with my ideas – be more metaphorical in my approaches and less literal. I aim to use more workshops, to widen my visual vocabulary and again try things I wouldn’t normally. Perhaps for future projects I could spend more time in the early stages producing roughs and playing around with more ideas, not just developing one design.

Final poster

I found this analogue experiment extremely fun allowing me to use all media to be really expressive. The combinations of pen and paint with collage and newspaper work so well together and conveys the idea of freedom quite well. It also represents music in a way I never would have imagined before. The cage looks as if it is broken which is exactly my intentions and was a struggle for me to portray in parts of my project. I definitely think analogue is the most effective way of portraying my idea as it creates more of a personal response - my literal response to her poem using my own personal hands and brush strokes to get my feelings across. It also creates a real sense of depth - something which is particularly hard to create on Photoshop. It was initially without the white collaged hands but adding them has allowed the composition to become more refined and brings closer attention to the concept - they seemed to be lost within all the shapes and chaos before. 

Group Crit

My final group crit was very useful in terms of making final changes before i went ahead on choosing my final outcomes. People felt that my simplified cage stamps were perhaps too simple and wasn't as successful as my analogue designs. people suggested that i focussed more on the analogue side of things as my collage experiments were so strong. This made me really think about my final poster as I want it to be the strongest image and if analogue seems to be the strongest maybe i should consider producing an analogue poster? This could be quite interesting with combinations of materials and shapes mashed together coming out of the cage creating an explosion of freedom? I will definitely try this on A2 paper as I think it would look really effective blown up - something I haven't actually tried yet for this project.

More stamp ideas

I feel like my previous stamp designs were just replicas of the previous designs and i don't know if I want every single format to be a cage. These are zoomed in aspects of both my post cards and poster. I think the abstract nature of them work so well and there is still that strong link between them and the other formats. I like how there is aspects of both collage and mono print along with digital techniques. They seem represent feeling and emotion when reading the poem - feelings which I get and probably things which Maya is going through when writing the poem. I like how it moves away from the whole cage concept and there is a real sense of intimacy present. 

Post card ideas

These are my three ideas for the postcards. I like how each design is completely different but they all work well together with the cage used as a motif. I also feel like each design conveys the idea of power and strength which is something I aimed on portraying - Maya being such a powerful and strong woman. 

Stamp designs

So for my stamp idea, I was thinking of taking small aspects from my collage experiments. This didn't particularly work as well as I hoped because the images didn't seem that interesting and perhaps I felt like it was a bit of a cop out - especially if I'm using them for my postcards. So i decided to again to create a whole new perspective of the cage - this time a very simplified version - minimalist style illustration. I think as a series this could work out really nicely with the post card, stamps and postcard each having a design with the same idea being reflected but done in various different ways and using different materials and techniques. Perhaps I could add some text in the hands so it blends nicely into the design - the words 'freedom' maybe. Maybe i could have a series of the same image not only using different colours but maybe different materials/processes.

Sebastien Thibault 

An artist I have only recently discovered in a book I was flicking through is a political based illustrator who pays huge attention to objects, shapes and colours to create conceptual illustrations. Much like Noma Bar's works of art, he uses very simple combinations of images to convey an interesting, striking concept. In a lot of his work he uses a real limited colour palette to create a stylish composition. For my stamps I aim to use a similar method of working - simplified image but perhaps using words as a way of composing my image. I aim to stick to a maximum of 3 colours.

  

Poster designs

I wanted to look at another perspective of the cage, a zoomed in version, going back to my collage. I scanned it into Photoshop and played around with filters and starting to add some shapes. The combinations of music notes and shape works really well and add to that idea of 'breaking free' through the power of voice. I am undecided at the moment whether to use a lot of combinations of colours or just stick to one colour. The variations of colour work well as they show they reflect the different tones of voice but does it become a bit too complex and do the shapes become mixed up and lost within the composition? I really like the contrast between the striking opaque music notes and the translucent coloured shapes - giving the composition alternative variations of tone.