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Sketch Book
Unit 1
Scroll down for unit 2
In these drawings of plant cells through which I experimented with using guide paper to emphasise the scientific/ research theme of the work and different coloured inks with a fine brush. Exaggerating the shapes of the cells and they're positioning to create patterns and a more stylised composition. I was refreshed by the use of vibrant colour's in contrast with the steady monochrome theme, which dominates a lot of my most recent work. I think the style behind these works has a lot of scope for developing into bigger and more complex works. However, as they vary so much in colour and style they don't fit in smoothly with the majority of the work I have been doing this term.
Real vs artificial by R.Hogg is inspired by the artist Alberto Baraya. Exploring the use of annotations in art work to make reference to botanical illustration, scientific research, conservation, information sharing and the real plant vs the artificial.
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I think this is a really interesting idea, as I am excited by art which is not only aestheticly pleasing but provides educational information in the form of text. However, as this is very similar to Baraya's work I felt that this had already been done and that there wasn't a lot more a wanted to tease out of this idea.
In creating this mono print using real leaves. I discovered that printing from real leaves where a good way of drawing attention to the detailed veins and textures found in plants.
Although, I think this method worked well after a few attempts, I think I need to play around with more layering and interesting compositions and complimentary colour choices. Yet from this investigation I learnt that it is vital that plant's are dried out properly before printing, so that they didn't leak green and brown water when pressed.
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Furthermore, I need to practice applying the right amount of ink in order to get a good prints of the plants. Creating ghost prints was a more effective way of creating detailed prints, as the leaves where not as heavily loaded with ink.
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These tester paintings made by R.Hogg on Japanese paper made with pigments made from crushing plants was inspired by artist Gillian King who uses natural resources to create art, such as, soil, plants and rust. It was in making pigments and painting with plants and using my hands and engaging with the subject matter in a very physical way.
That I became obsessed with using plants as the main subject area for my art and developed my understanding of the power of materials as a point of reference. I think this work has a lot of potential, I think the work would be better if it was created on a much larger scale. However, I decided not to continue down this line of work as I didn't feel comfortable killing lots of plants to create pigments just for the sake of art.
Compost development annotated drawing
Before making final decisions about how I wanted to present my work and the composition of the piece compost.
I experimented with a variety of different compositions. This was important as the composition of the work greatly effected how the work was read and the references and links made within the work.
In some of the compositions I created I focused on group certain uses of material together or certain processes. In others I focused on try to make the work over lap and look as busy as possible. Yet in over variations of composing these works I tiered presenting them in a much more tidy and grid like fashion. all of which had different effects on successfulness of the work.
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Through this process I learnt alot more about what my work was saying to an audience and the effects composition had on what my work was able to express.
This image illustrates the process through which I began to categories and make links and draw out themes from within the multitude of work I had been creating. This was a helpful method for enabling me to better understand my own work and potential references being made and avenues of exploration that I could further develop.
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Key themes drawn from the work included new life, birth, the human form, plants, interior designated prominent material and processes such as charcoal, projection, ink and printing. In and of it's self this method of categorising and understanding my work has made for quite an interesting image and led me to thinking about my art work more as a piece of research.
Exploring the idea of labelling the work as part of the art. Using little brown stationary cards and white sticky tables and travel tags to label the work and highlight references between pieces in the work. Inspired by presentation of research and artefacts found at the natural history museum.
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Although this was an interesting idea, in order for labelling of the work and further referencing building to be effective I think it would have required me to document the changes in the work and the references within the work in much more detail and over a longer period of time. Furthermore, I was wary of not wanting to impose too many of my own references on the work and making the references in the work to obvious but giving space for the view to discover them for themselves.
Unit 2
Plants and money an economic resource, building materials
Plants and food, millage, deforestation for food
plants used as medicine
Areas of exploration
Gardening tools and machinery that works the earth.
Similarities between the human body and plant's
Community gardens and the relationship between plants and human communities
Greenhouses, botanical gardens, garden centres
Habitat loss
Science of how plants work
patterns found in nature
Food chain and the interaction between plants and animals.
Spiecies Loss
Biomimicry
Exploring the art of collection
These are a collection of small clay sculptures based on the forms created in my ink drawings. Unfortunately, I have been unable to finish them as they are at college waiting to be fired. however, I hope to create other clay objects at home using air dray clay, display them in my garden and finish these objects when I'am able to re-access college facilities. The idea behind these objects was to display them as a collection a long side the ink drawings which inspired them.
During the locked down period I set myself the challenge of spending abit of time each day learning how to use Adobe illustrator and experimenting using my Wacom tablet which is new to me. These digital drawings are a result of that time spent using illustrator and are based on earlier hand drawn ink drawings. Although, I prefer the original ink drawings, it has been useful to learn some of the basics of illustrator. As it has opened up new possibilities to include some digital drawings in my animations and use them to allude to a more futuristic and digital age.
Sketches of ideas for exhibiting my work
Air dry clay modles
These photos are a selection of air dry clay models of plants that I made and photographed in my garden. I used them to explore local plant habitats, to consider their environments and to better understand the delicacy of plant form and design. In creating them I considered whether or not to create a stop motion animation using them but I wanted to stir away from creating a stop motion animation which was too cartoon like and therefore I decided against this idea. However, I like how these clay plants reference the the man made encroaching on natural environments and the arrival of the artificial plant.
Exploring exhibiting etchings on the side of the shed. I would like to further investigate the possibilities of exhibiting my work outside, as I think it would help my audience engage with nature. However I'm aware that exhibiting work outside could be challenging as it would be very weather dependant and it may not be easy to find suitable places to exhibit. On the other hand, it would be interesting to see what impact it has on how the work is read, to look for interesting outside places to exhibit and possibly create my own outside exhibition space, so that I have more control over the enviroment.
Etchings
In these A3 etchings on steel I explore different ways of wiping and applying the ink, as well as using Chine Colle. In the first etching I experimented with adding and wiping each coloured ink to the plate separately. This technique was effective for creating clear distinctions between colours and enabled me to actively choose where to deposit the different colours. Alternatively, in the second print I applied blue, yellow and green to the plant at the same time and wiped them together. This was a effective way of creative a unique torquois shade, but made both the etched lines and the background blur into one because the colour was too similar across the whole slate. Therefore, the use of Chine Colle helped to draw out aspects of the print and create a separation of different areas in the drawing. Unfortunately, due to lockdown I haven't been able to continue experimenting with this form of printing, however if I get the chance again I would like to further explore methods of wiping and applying ink in etching, Chine Colle and aquatint.
Animation stills
Pressed flowers
Learning the process of pressing flowers has helped me to further understand some of the process which was used for collecting plants in science and natural history collections. As well as gaining a greater understanding of the plants form and delicate texture. I hope to be able to use these pressed flowers to make detailed drawings of the plants and incorporate those drawings into my work.
Ink drawing
This ink drawing which was done using fine ink pens didn't quite make the cut for joining my other ink drawings on the gallery page because I wasn't happy with the composition and it was too similar to another drawing that I already had on that page. In this drawing I was exploring the subject of sustainable energy and plants and hope to continue exploring the topic through other drawings.
Unit 3
Possible ideas for presenting animations.
Option 1:
Projecting the animations or playing them on a large thin TV screen as computer files layered on top of each other. The screen starts off as empty and then one at a time each file is opened and plays all the way through. When the first animation id finished another file is opened and brought to the front of the display screen and plays, while the previous animation is paused. This pattern of opening and playing new files continues until they are layered on top of each other on the display screen.
This is an example of what my work could look like in this formate.
Option 2: A number of screens displayed throughout the room with all the animations playing silently all at the same time. The room is filled with a low static hum. The tv's and wires throughout the room could be used to create a forest of stories. I think this could be an interesting way of presenting and experiencing the work as a walk through instillation, however I'm aware that it could cost a lot of money to get hold of this many screens.
Option 3: I could use a selection of old vintage Tv screens are stacked on top of each other and different aspects of the same animation are played on the screen. However, I'm not sure about this presentation of tv's as it seems quiet cluttered and might make it difficult for viewers to focus on the video and could cause the video to loose any order that it has.
Option 4: I could possibly use a folding out screen to project the animations on to, I think this would be effective if I created an animation which was a series of silhouettes and shadows. However, I think I would need to create a video which was specifically designed for this kind of presentation because otherwise the shape of the curving screen may distort the video.
Option 5: I could create an instillation which combined animations on screens, tangles of wires and real plants or maybe artificial plants.
Option 6: I like the presentation of this work as the wires and position of the screens look like a tree, as if the video of the plants are growing up the wall. It could be an interesting way of playing an animation if the animation started playing in the bottom screen and then slowly moved up and started to play in the next screen.
Display idea's for collages and stitched photos
Abraham Cruzvillegss
Here is a selection of different options I have considered for displaying my 'Greening up' collage. I want to create a collage with a sense of building up and growing out like a plant. However, I am aware that the shape in which the collage takes is important and much represent the the theme of the work. Therefore, I'm considering using a collage that maps out the shape of a tree. I have considered other shapes like a vegetable garden but I don't think the shape of the rectangular magazine clippings lend themselves to looking like a vegetable garden.
Alternatively, I am considering making the embroiled house clippings into a fold out book that would over slip with embroidery thread. The little book could sit on a white display block in the centre of a gallery space for viewers to walk around and admire.
Etel Adnan
Lisa Kokin
I have also considered framing all of the different embroiled magazine clipping and displaying them together in a similar way to Kokin's work. However, the frames my take way from the tactile overgrowing threads of embroidery, which add to the works greening ascetic. Therefore, I think it would to try and display the works on the wall without framing but maybe by just mounting on some fitted white card.
Lisa Kokin
Digital collage experiments
'Narcissus'
This digital collage is the first digital collage I have made and is inspired by greek mythology about plants, which included the story of Aristaeus, Clyde, Cypariussus and Narcissus. Elements from each of the stories are represented in the objects found in this piece and the works composition.
'Utopia'
'Goldilocks and the three Bears'
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This digital collage is inspired by the children's story goldilocks and the three bears. The work explores the transition from fictional animals bound by anthropomorphism to reality.
Modles
I have recently been exploring the idea of creating 3D collaged models using paper and objects, playing with different set ups and compositions. I think it would be interesting to try and use a collection of images and objects to tell a story or maybe reflect the relationship between people and plants in a certain place. The model could draw on inspiration from the local area and be exhibited as a representation of plants found in the area.
Amble and Sketch
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Drawings, rubbings, photographs and gatherings collected while walking and drawing outside. I have begun to explore recording my experiences and walks in nature through drawing, collecting and photographing using this gathering experiance to create collages of my nature walks. I'm hoping that I will be able to build these small works into a foldout sketch book and use them to develop a series of 'amble and sketch' socially engaged workshops in my local area. These works were inspired by artist James Aldridge who records his walks in nature through drawing and gathering different aspects of interest found on his walks..
Animation Stills
Animations that are still a working progress
'Tomorrows lunch' illustrates the unhealthy relationship of over consumption that we have we natural resources. Plants are seen as objects to be used by humans, the work reflects on current issues concerning mass consumerism and natural landscapes being replaced with farm land.
Experimental Models and background colours
Climate of Race : Racism and Climate Change. Can White artists make work about Black issues?
Sketches and Foraging drypoint prints
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