Eric Standley and Church Leaflets.

I stumbled across Eric Standley on the internet, who creates these stunning pieces which are replacers of stain glass windows. They are created with paper which has been cut out and the detail in them is quite astounding. I like how the artist has made the stain glass window become more 3D and added depth to it with the different layers found in the paper cutting. I found a connection with this artist which my current brief as it links in with the images I have been looking at for my primary research of stain glass windows in churches. It has inspired me to think out of the box for my ideas and consider lots of different methods of working and playing about with different techniques and materials through my experimental stage. I really love the detailed patterns that are in these designs by Eric Standley and could see this type of design being created on illustrator to make a digital pattern or being screen printed onto fabrics. I could also see this type of design being transformed into laser cutting and vinyl cutting to create some vinyl sticker designs. Furthermore I am drawn to her textured paper backgrounds and would like to maybe screen print onto some similar textured paper or layer designs over them on photoshop as I think they work well as being backgrounds that don't over take designs that are put on top of them with them not being too detailed.

Linking in with this artist is a pile of old church and cathedral leaflets, which I found being unused at my nana's house. I have found them to be such an inspiration and help for this project because of the amount of images in them. They are full of the interior and outside of churches and cathedrals and they have some really unusual imagery, which I have never seen anywhere else before. I have drawn some of the patterns, which stood out for me for my development work and have also really taken to the gothic type imagery inside them.

Below are some examples of images of these church and cathedral leaflets.

I have looked quite a bit at the ‘gothic period’ in for imagery of the décor of that time and also been very inspired by that. I also found an amazing book titled “Gothic’, which was full of black and white images of the gothic period patterns and buildings and I have also used this for drawings. Looking at this particular style of patterns has lead me to add lots of texture and a grunge type style of painting and drawing in my sketchbooks (especially with the backgrounds) I would like to incorporate this into some my final designs by using this type of textured style for backgrounds and layering with my hand drawn scanned in designs on Photoshop.

Below are some examples of my sketchbook drawings and experiments showing what I have discussed above.

Visit to The Science & Industry Museum (Manchester) for Primary Research.

Upon deciding my final idea for my proposal would be based around circular shapes and was concentrating on drawing the sky, eyes and leaves I found myself drawing quite a lot from books and images on the internet as I didn't have access to real moons and suns in the flesh. For this reason I decided to take a trip to Manchester's Science and Industry Museum as I knew that they had a railway display where there is lots of machinery and coggs in the shape of circles. I wanted something more to draw that could be put into patterns and mixed with my other designs and just really to see how the circular machinery worked together spinning and connecting and moving together. I found myself really interested with the machines and I was fascinated at how much the creators of the railway machines made without computers and how complex the engines were. Furthermore the sheer size of some of the machines used to generate the trains astounded me and inspired me to want to work on a bigger scale. I found lots of clocks on the engines which I was pleased at because I have been using the idea of time in my work and I managed to get some photos of them to draw from. I have done some sketches from the museum which I feel has helped me a lot with my primary research.

Below are some images I took around The Science and Industry Museum.

From seeing the railway machines at The Science and Industry Museum I found myself thinking back to some of my previous research in the holidays when I looked at the artist Leonardo Da Vinci and his sketches of machines and anatomy. He mixed the two together in his drawings (like ****) and studied both subjects in great detail drawing from life and to make sure each drawing was so accurate and life like. I really admire his commitment to his love for art, the body and machinery and would love to have the time to study a subject in great detail like him to make my drawings really accurate too. It has inspired me to look closely at what I am drawing and visiting the museum brought circles to life for me and made me realize how important it is to see things in the flesh as real things instead of drawing from books and the Internet.

Although I didn’t look at the space exhibition that was in another part of The Science and Industry Museum I did come across some amazing post cards in the souvenir shop which I bought to draw from and found a great help for my drawings of the sky. I plan to go back at some point and explore the rest of the museum as there is so much to see and do and I feel it’s a place that artists can get a lot of inspiration and ideas from and there is lots to draw from also. 

Below are some of my images of the post cards I found. 

Exploring Radial Pattern (Circle Symbolism)

My ideas for my major project were initially to focus around shape, concentrating mainly around shape found in churches and cathedrals, nature and anatomy. I was looking into fashion and how the shapes I was looking at could be applied to fabrics and different materials. I considered this idea for a while and experimented but found myself a little lost and wanted to find another path. I began to look at my work so far and see if I could pick out the key elements that really stood out to me and the parts of my work that worked the best and seemed to have the most focus and meaning to me. I found that more of my drawings and research were focused around radial patterns and circle shapes, so I decided to base my major project on this. 

Signs & Symbols Sourcebook with circle definition example. 

I looked into the idea of circle as symbolism and found myself quite intrigued with the answers I found. Circles are seen as a sacred thing that can mean wholeness, fertility, equality and strength. As the circle is a whole shape with no gaps it can be used to symbolize strength being unbreakable, also it is seen as a protection (protective circle). I have read parts of quite a few books on signs and symbols in the past but I found a brilliant book ‘The Illustrated Signs & Symbols Sourcebook’ by Adele Nozedar, which really brought out the meanings of circles and radial shapes to me which is why I chose to base my work around this subject. In the book the author describes the circle as ‘an expansion of the dot’ and states that it ‘represents the spirit and the cosmos’. The part of the description of the circle symbolism that stood out to me the most was “Where would the man have seen the most important circles? Obviously, in the Sun and the Moon. As the Sun, the circle is masculine, but when it is the Moon, is feminine. Because the passage of time is marked by the journey of the Sun, Moon and stars in orbit around our Earth, the circle is a symbol of the passage of time. In this form, it commonly appears as the wheel.” I was really drawn to this explanation of the sky connecting the idea of the circle representing time so I have based my drawings around parts of the sky like the moon, suns and stars and also drawn some clocks and compasses (to represent time and mapping the sky). I have kept the nature and the anatomy in my proposal but took just come parts of it, only drawing leaves to add decoration to my designs and the eye as it is a circular part of the body and is seen as very sacred and important, as I didn’t want to include too much subject matter in my work. I feel I am learning a lot from reading this book and have developed a keen interest in the idea of symbolism. I have lots of ideas to explore and am now confident in my idea and am satisfied that it has a story behind it to add some passion for me to create my designs. 

Below are some of my drawing work inspired by the sky and radial pattern.

Ideas for creating digital moving artwork

Today I had a lesson where I was told I would be required to make some digital moving image/ giff artwork by editing some of my current and future work so that it will move in some way.  We can use the image to be displayed at the end show when exhibiting out work to add something different to the show and also the final moving image could be put onto our website to add a little extra spark keeping viewers occupied. 

As I have just began my final major project I thought this would be an appropriate time to record some ideas and do a little research into some moving artwork that interests me and that I like the look of. I must admit I am not a massive fan of moving images but as i've looked into it a little more i've found I'm keen on in the idea of having a little bit of an image move or changing colour. I thought as my current work is based around shape that it would be a good idea to include an illustrator file of a simple shape or a drawing from my sketchbook and have it expand out into another patterned shape.( The image I found on Tumblr below is an example of this) 

I think this idea would be effective because it could make quite a simple shape transform into something that appears more detailed and exciting. I also see this as a really good way to explore a new side to surface design as it's something different that I have never tried or really even looked at before so it's adding a little fun into it.

I'm also fond of the idea of having an image on my website that could be interactive for the viewer to play around with as I think this is a good way of them feeling like they are getting involved in your work. Another idea I would like to consider is the idea of creating a moving image to some music, almost like a mini video to suit the music. I have seen a video by the band Tame Impala for their song 'Half Full Glass of Wine' which I think displays a really good example of a video that includes lot's of moving imagery. I'm not quite too sure how it has all been created but I like the handcrafted aesthetic to it as there are some illustrations that don't look too digital and the changing of colours and intermixing of different medias adds energy. Furthermore the changing of images in timing to the rhythm of the song really adds character to the video and I feel it works really well to displaying an imaginative vision to the song.

I have collected some images of some giffs and moving images that I have found online mainly on Tumblr. Sadly I couldn't find any with references to who's work they were so couldn't list any creators.

M. C. Escher

 Today I came across the work of M. C. Esche and was really blown away with his graphic style drawings which include lots of tessellation, architecture and shape. His work includes a great amount of detail but I love the simplicity of the black and white colour and other muted tones as it displays the images true age (his work being was created in the early 19th century). His work also includes a lot of interesting and uneasy compositions and his images were sometimes mathematical. I think I am most drawn to his images that look quite patterned and geometric as it is currently what I am concentrating on for my final major project.

Art Forms in Nature: Prints of Ernst Haeckel

I found the images of this book of Ernst Haeckel's 'Art Forms in Nature' on someone's blog by coincidence today. Ernst Haeckel created these stunning illustrations of creatures and life forms through studying them at great detail being an biologist, naturalist, philosopher and professor. I think it's extraordinary that he has made art from natural life that you would otherwise probably overlook. His detailed patterns remind me of the artist Katie Scott who' work I have recently looked at, also having a similar subject matter it has inspired me to look further into nature for some idea for geometric patterns.