FINISHED!

There have been times when I really doubted this day would come, but I am now pleased to announce I have finished my outcome piece!!!!! All that's really left to do now is finish off my final evaluation and I've finished this project. I really really cannot believe that after a year and a half of work I'm pretty much done, I thought I'd be over the moon to be finished but part of me is sad it's over because I really have loved doing it! And now I present to you, my final piece:

Final piece

Outcome - Stage III

It turned out I ended up making so many changes to my final piece after having had feedback from my tutor. She advised me that I should have used more of the unusual  and interesting techniques I'd used throughout the project so I set to work planning out how to do this. I'd thought including too many techniques would over-complicate things but I can now see that if I'm careful it can still work.

Messy Sarah

For the air section I wanted to include spray painting as that had been one of the prominent techniques I'd used for air in the rest of the project. I designed and cut out a variety of stencils of birds and butterflies, which I then spray painted on in the same colour scheme I'd used previously in this project. I'm quite messy when it comes to spray painting, and the fact that it was windy didn't really help me either so I had to paint out some of the background with white acrylic paint, where the paint had blown.

Birds and butterflies

I'd also drawn in a flame shape, which is shape of flame I'd initially planned to paint around the lion. Instead of painting straight onto the mural, I did a practice painting first on one of my previous lion drawings. For this I used oil paints over a base of melted wax candles which I'd molded to shape - a technique I've also used previously in this project.

Lion emerging from the flames

Although I liked this painting, it would've been too overpowering to go on my actual mural design so I sketched out an idea with smaller flames before adding it on to my mural, along with the wax. The way I've painted on the flames make them look more like an extension of the mane and they merge much better with the drawing style of the lion.

Lion and flames

I also painted in a smokey effect around the lion, using the spray paint that had blow into the surrounding areas, to help it blend into the air area above it.

Air and fire areas

The next thing I did was some water experiments with bleach and ink, but they didn't work so well because the surface of my mural was hardboard which was too porous and therefore too absorbent, so the ink just soaked into it and practically disappeared. The photos below show the ink before it was absorbed into the hardboard, but I didn't wash it off and it can now barely be seen on my final piece. Leaving the ink and bleach on the surface just added a little bit of an extra water-like appearance.

Water experiments

I thought drip painting would work well to enhance the appearance of the jellyfish so I did some experimenting with this technique before adding it to my mural.

Jellyfish experiments

Drip painted jellyfish on mural

Following this I planned how I could link the areas of water and air together a bit better and thought that some spray painting would work well. I drew out and cut out some stencils of starfish and combined these with some stencils of birds and butterflies I'd used previously and laid these out as a plan on my mural design before spray painting them on.

After I'd done the spray painting

Planning the spray painting

The last few changes I made were changing one of the mushrooms to a jellyfish - surprisingly enough it was the one in the water area; changing the drawing style of the mushrooms so they had a less cartoon-like style to them, which I did using conte crayons; adding in some colour to the background of the lion; and drawing in some more flowers. So my outcome piece is now FINISHED!! But I think I could maybe squeeze in one more post, so check out the next post to see my COMPLETED outcome piece!!

Outcome - stage I

I started my outcome piece with a massive piece of hardboard measuring 85cm by 135cm, which with help from my dad, I covered completely in white emulsion. Following this I drew out the four main images of the mermaid, fairy, gnome and lion in pencil and drew out lines of where I planned the four sections of colour would go. I went over the pencil outlines in black marker pen so that my drawings could be painted over but would still show through.

Initial 4 drawings in black marker pen

I started with the water section, which I painted the background of using acrylic paint in blue tones with spray paint drips for an extra water effect and then drew on the mermaid using a combination of blue sharpie pens and fineliners. Apparently textured acrylic paint seems to be one of the few surfaces sharpies don't want to draw onto though!

Mermaid drawing and background

After I'd done the background of the mermaid I did the background of the gnome,  which was also done using acrylic paints - brown, green and white - and drew the gnome on using twig and ink based on the drawing I'd done previously. I omitted the pipe because I thought it would be more appropriate at the location of a family friendly music festival.

Gnome drawing and background (and you can can also see my messy working area)

Following the gnome I painted the background for the fairy using mainly white acrylic paint, mixed in with some pale blue and grey-ish shades too and then drew on the fairy with pencil.

Fairy drawing and background

Before drawing the lion I had some experimenting that needed to be done. I had originally planned to draw the lion in sharpie pens so needed to experiment on a separate page whether this was something that would actually be achievable and my outcome of drawing the lion with sharpie pens wasn't great. Once I'd decided I would use conte crayons for this lion drawing too I experimented with different potential background colours on a separate page. The conte crayons didn't really show up against any of these background colours so I just chose to keep the background white and then possibly paint round my drawing of the lion at a later stage.

Lion drawing

I hadn't done an exact plan of the locations of the background images and motifs to this was something I did next by drawing them onto my mural design with pencil and painting some areas out in white acrylic paint.

Planning the locations of background images and motifs

This post seems to be getting rather long and picture heavy now, and I've come to the end of the first stage of how I designed my mural so it seems like a good time to move onto another post.

Planning my outcome piece

My outcome piece ended up taking so long to plan. I sketched out a lot of different compositional ideas on different shaped canvases, including various aspects of each of the elements. I had no idea where to start so thought I'd sketch a potential separate composition for each of the four elements and then start to see how I could bring it all together.

Initial 4 composition ideas

I included various aspects for each of the elements and then also looked at how I could include pattern. Following this I did some more sketches, inspired by some of my mural research, that tried to link all of the elements together, but ended up over-complicating things as can be seen in the images below.

Composition ideas

Further composition ideas

Idea of incorporating all the elements into the fairy's wing

Idea incorporating all the elements - too busy

Once I'd done all these sketches I could see that the ideas weren't really that successful. My favourite idea of these was incorporating the elements into the fairy's wing but my tutor suggested I looked back at the compositions I'd used for my initial mythical research sketches and use these to inspire my final outcome instead.

Using the four main images I planned to use in my final piece, which were the lion, the gnome, the fairy and the mermaid, I experimented with various layouts of these until I found one I liked.

Experimenting with layouts

I was happy with this layout idea so I went on to sketch it out and to start planning colour ideas and the materials and techniques I'd use for it.

Final compositional sketch

Initially, I was going to use oil paint so the first colour swatches I did were with oil paint. I knew it took a long time to dry but had forgotten quite how long and seeing as I would be drawing on top of the paint and adding layers over it, I needed something much more fast drying so did some further colour experiments with acrylic paint.

Oil paint colour experiments

 The oil paint colour swatches were to experiment with which colour choices I would use to represent each of the different elements and to experiment with potential background colours too. I wasn't quite happy with the background colours so used acrylic paint to do further experiments for these.

Acrylic paint colour experiments

Then using the relevant media I also added on drawings of the gnome, fairy and mermaid to see how they would word against the background colours.

Rising from the Ashes

I'd used melted wax previously in my project and felt it was a clever technique with an unusual outcome so wanted to use it again when developing the element of fire. The main thing that comes to mind for me when thinking of the mythical aspects of fire is the phoenix, so I chose to do a painting of a phoenix incorporating the use of wax surface texture.

I melted the wax and spooned it out using two teaspoons and shaped it with my hands and the spoons. Following this I painted over it with oil paints to create a picture of a phoenix.

Wax underlay 

Final outcome of the phoenix painting

The problem with this painting is the markings on the background of it so I will have to find out a way to neaten this out.

EDIT: I've now gone back to this piece of work and edited it to neaten up the background. I originally planned to just paint over the marked areas but really struggled to get the colour exactly right so ended up re-painting the whole background. I think this has made it look so much better and more vibrant in contrast with its background.

Final outcome of phoenix - take two 

Recycling a failed collage

My surface texture collage was quite unsuccessful due to my choice of materials and the fact that making collages isn't really my strong point in art, but instead of letting it go to waste I used it to do some printing with.

Failed collage

One aspect I did like of it though is the fact that I used mud to paint the leaves at the bottom.

Mud painted leaves

Printing with the whole of the collage wasn't very successful as the background area and the actual leaves didn't really have enough texture to give a good effect when being used for printing, so in the end I just printed with the leaves I'd cut out myself from textured wallpaper and I was happier with the effect these achieved. 

Print 1

Print 2

Too Hot to Handle

I began my research work into fire with an experimental mixed media piece of art that included the materials of wax, wood, wallpaper, card and paint. Firstly, using one of my images from the original visual research to inspire me I drew a bonfire onto wallpaper which I'd stuck onto cardboard for support. Next I drew out the log areas and used a variety of wooden materials, such as matches and bamboo skewers I glued them down and built them up on the page to create a raised log effect. One of the more unusual things I've done in this project is using wax to create low relief surface texture on my painting. I melted candles on the saucepan and then poured and molded the wax into the desired flame shapes. Once this had dried I painted a fire over it using oil paints.

End Result

Whilst I'm really pleased with the outcome of this piece of work, it's really fragile and difficult to find somewhere to keep it as I'm scared it will break if I put it in my portfolio!!

First Ventures into Spray Painting

Following on from my previous post, I wanted to continue to incorporate the bird silhouette into my work, but wanted to explore it in an innovative and exploratory media, so seeing as I had never used spray paints they seemed apt. Furthermore, the fact that they are aerosols and therefore work my using air to release the paint, relates them to the element of air and my theme of the elements.

Using the bubblewrap from the previous activity, I printed the last bit of paint onto a blank page in my sketchbook in order to use the same shaped silhouette from printing as in my spray painting. To test the stencils I firstly used diluted paint and an old paint brush to flick it onto the page - I think this gives a similar effect to either blow paints (which I had originally planned to use) or messy spray painting.

Before removing the stencil

Result

The Stencil

Using some spray paint I had at home already I did a spray painting using the stencil next. The paint had nearly finished, but I think this gives the end result an interesting air like quality, in the way that the colour is slightly faded. 

Before removing the stencil

Result

The stencil

I really like how the stencil looks here before it is removed and after I have spray painted it as I think the black splatters on it from the previous piece of work give it more definition and make it art in its own right. My favourite of these 3 is how the stencil looks afterwards once it had been laid out on a white background as the red paint is very fine and air-like and the black splatters outline the birds well.

The last activity I did using this silhouette was a large A2 spray painting where I used new spray paints in colours of red, black and white and covered the page in birds. It turned out a bit messier than I would have liked, possibly because it was the first time I had spray painted properly and also possibly something to do with the fact that it was windy when I was doing it. I did each bird in red and black and then gave them all a shadow using the white and black spray paint.  I also used the stencil to create some prints, and again as art in its own right.

Bird Spray Painting

Bird Stencil (don't know how to rotate)

Stencil Used to Print

Bubblewrap Bird Printing

I was inspired by the use of bubblewrap and the bird silhouettes so I continued to investigate these ideas further. Firstly I used my painting to do printing with, by painting block printing ink over the silhouettes of the birds and printing with it; at this stage it was difficult to see which areas I had put ink and difficult printing with bubblewrap as it was a new technique. My favourite outcome of this was the one that I printed onto paper I had previously prepared with a wash of blue and white acrylic paint to give a sky effect - the image of this is below.

Bird Prints

Next I took a new piece of bubblewrap onto which I outlined two larger bird silhouettes again using sharpie marker pen and I used these to print with using block printing ink in the colours of black, white and purple. I experimented with mixing two colours onto the bubble wrap and with doing 2 prints on a page to produce a shadow effect - the image of this is below.

Bird Prints with Shadows

Bubblewrap Birds

For this project I am trying to be more organised than I have been throughout the rest of my art course so I made a timetable illustrating what I plan to do each week. For the first 4 weeks I'm spending a week doing research on each of the elements; the first one being air. In my timetable I also roughly planned what I would be doing each week to keep the work flowing and have a logical record of my thoughts and processes.

Seeing as the first element was air, I wanted to try and choose media and materials that relate to that element as well as using images from my original research to inspire my work. I chose to continue using the bird silhouettes that I drew in my original collage only this time to paint them onto bubble wrap because of its connection to air (the bubbles all contain air). I drew and shaded in the silhouettes using black sharpie marker pen as this was one of the few media that worked well on the plastic and then painted the sky background using acrylic paints, but to add more atmosphere to the painting I also added in colours of yellow, pink and green.

Bubblewrap Birds

 I chose to display this piece of work in a frame that I had at home already as I thought it would be a good way to finish it off and I think that the gold of the frame is a complimentary colour. I like to think this piece of art could be used as interactive art as the bubbles in the bubble wrap can be popped by viewers thus releasing the air from them. Furthermore, I think it would be fascinating for it to be done on a massive scale, such as in a gallery or warehouse to that visitors would have the opportunity to pop the bubbles.

The research continues

Next for each element, using the leftover images I had printed off, I did a page of thumbnail sketches using mainly pencil and a few in fineliner pen too. On the page opposite the sketches I did a more detailed piece of artwork that i felt had a connection to or represented the element.

For air I prepared the page using an acrylic wash of black paint, before drawing on the silhouette of 2 birds on an electricity pole using a black sharpie marker and a black sketch stick.

Bird Silhouettes

For fire I did a more experimental painting than those I have done in the past. Firstly I drew on the outline of a flame, using one of my research images as inspiration and then painted the negative space black using oil paints - I chose oil paints as they have more of a matte finish than acrylics. I then diluted acrylic paint in firey colours and then did a drip painting by splashing on the paint and allowing it to drip down the page. This made a massive mess!! Especially when I spilled a pot of black paint everywhere and left black splatters and splashes all over the kitchen floor, but I am really happy with the outcome. (And the colours look much nicer and more vibrant in reality.)

Fire Drip Painting

I haven't yet done a picture for earth, so lastly is my drawing to represent water, where again I wanted to do something a little bit more experimental and unusual from art I have done in previous parts of this project. I liked my inclusion of silhouettes in my drawing of the birds, so using that idea again, drew a silhouette of a person under an umbrella and coloured it using black sketch sticks - which are way messier and dustier than I anticipated, so not sure I'll be using them again. I drew the raindrops in a geometric style and outlined them in fineliner. Having a black silhouette and black outlined raindrops left the page looking too plain, so using orange ink that I had anyway, I added in a wash of colour to the raindrops. This gives them a firey feel and therefore connects them with the other element of fire.