End of Module Evaluation

Schedules

Schedules

It feels strange uploading my life outside of university to my blog HOWEVER I guess it is necessary to show how I time manage. I visualise all of the business going on in a normal week and then have to do lists which I work from whenever there is a gap in my timetable. 

During this module my bluegrass band performed out first gig and then our second which consisted of 20 songs. This meant I needed to dedicate time to practice for these shorter deadlines (performances) along side uni work. This did result in missing some things in order to do uni work, and late nights getting into the project. I wouldn't let my band and dancing get in the way of my work, I just like being busy...

I have also discovered that my friend and I are good at getting in the zone when we work together so that is good at killing two birds in one stone. I also prefer working at home than in the studio because I can create my own working space which can be flexible and not break focus.

Creation of Finals

CREATION OF FINALS

POSTCARDS

These are the scanned images of my final postcards which I created A4 and shrunk to size.

I had a bit of a scare when I created my mock up of the actual size that the stamps had to be printed out. You can notice that from the practice I took out the fine-liner squiggles from the gaps in between the "cobbles". I felt that this wouldn't work without white in the background but I wanted to take that out and just keep constant with the coloured shapes. Letting the string and line drawing do the rest of the talking.

At the stage of creating these images it was a fluid process. I don't feel that I really could plan how I was creating them. I just needed to get in the zone and decided where I wanted stripes and circles and then starting layering the images up, deciding what colour after I had done the last cut out. I couldn't map out where I wanted what colour to prepare the shapes as I had to make those decisions balancing out the colours on the page - especially the yellow! I found that it was very important to have little breaks or put the images on my wall so I could take a step back and see what was missing and I needed to add. I also found it quite difficult deciding on an end point where I was to stop collaging.

When I scanned these images in, I made the deliberate decision to not play around with the levels or enhancing any of the colour balance as I wanted to keep the image as analogue as I possibly could! I had already lost the physical texture and didn't want to lose anything else. However of course because they are printed out they look quite professional.

A2 POSTER

I think that this is my least favourite image. I kept the same proportions of cut out shapes as with the smaller images which makes it seem more complex with more going on but it also has left empty space. Also I think that the yellow is slightly colder than the paper I have at a4 size. 

STAMPS

As the images were hard enough to delicately create at larger sizes I thought it would be impossible to create stamps to the exact size. Therefore I created a larger image and wanted to cut it. I felt that this links well with Delia and the was she worked because separately each piece of her tape didn't create the sound she wanted but they were important elements to create the final piece of music. 

I knew that I wanted this image to be more abstract and a single element. I wanted this to be one element of noise, then the postcards be have 3 different scenes and then the a2 poster a collaboration of all the noises.

I order to create my design I needed to go through my sketchbook and pull out all of my favourite elements of the images and chose the ones that communicated the electronic music and technology through motifs so that I could explore how to collaborate the different shapes into the vehicle. I chose the ambulance as I felt it had to most space and areas to incorporate shape. I also chose the background to be red so that I could keep the aesthetic of warm background colours (red, orange, yellow)

Because the image was that bit smaller I decided that the POSCA navy blue pen I had been using was going to create a too thick line so to keep the scale I used a navy blue 'Flair' navy blue pen instead. This created a different colour when on the coloured paper as it absorbed into the red, becoming darker rather than sitting on top, opaque. However I don't think this is a problem really,

I really feel that the use of the graph paper really adds a level of sophistication to the image, even though it is very subtle. I find that the green is a very unusual colour and i'm sceptical about using it as it doesn't quite fit with the other colours BUT I when I don't use it the image lacks some sort of edginess-a bit like garlic when cooking... This is evident in the original ambulance scene where I didn't feel that the image was finished but only later realised that it was because the green was missing but felt that it was too late to add it in later as it would look artificial and out of place.

Also the use of stripes as the background takes perspective out of the image which is different to the other images, making it more of a design and adding to the abstract aesthetic.

This is the first time I have ever cut up a finished piece of work and i'm not going to lie, it was quite scary...

I like how when you re-arrange the stamps they look like a combination of abstract shapes however when put together they create an image.

I also like how I have managed to keep texture to these stamps. Reflecting back on the whole of this project I feel that maybe I should have tried to incorporate more 3 dimensionality to the images and my favourite part of these collages is running my hands over the string and touching the parts which stick out of the collage. Although this may have made the images too busy.

THOUGHTS

I have really enjoyed getting stuck into this project and I am quite pleased with the outcomes. They are a lot looser than work I have created previously which was an aim I wanted this year and I achieved it without planning it. I feel that they reflect Delia and her tone of voice well because she was a very precise person who studied maths to a high level and was very scientific in her approach to music BUT the images also reflect the quirky, unusual music she created through the bold use of colour and texture created from pattern. ALSO I think it is effective that the line drawing connects the elements of sound and motif (shapes) together like her tape connected the sounds she used. HOWEVER maybe I should have included more 3 dimensional objects like the string as I really like the added texture to the collage.

I feel as a result of this project I have a lot of respect for her and her struggles with the analogue process. It was said in the documentary I watched that she used to prepare her tape cuttings during the day and wait till the last person left the studio and then lay the long line of tape around the corridors and when she got into a project she couldn't sleep for days as there was so much to do and she was so invested. 

I feel that I can relate to some level because when everyone went to bed one night I took over the living room of my house and printed and then lay my work everywhere. Also I have been wrestling with problems and solving them and having ideas all the time through my days. these days have also got longer and longer as to start off with I would become creative and get engulfed in collaging or printing when I should be going to bed BUT also in the last week there has been such a large work load in creating these time consuming images that I have had to power through with a tiny amount of sleep in order to have them done on time.

I think that through out this project I have been very research driven and everything is sparked off her work and the processes she used, I feel I have a real understanding about her legacy. HOWEVER to improve I definitely could have had more time to develop different motifs I could include as shapes in my images. I mainly used: cobbles, sound-waves from oscillator, turning table wheels, the knobs on the desk, the sliders on the mixing desk.

OTHERS INTERPRETATIONS

 Summatively the review of my work concluded that my work was child-like, playful. I guess this is because of the use of coloured paper which is associated with childhood and also the cut out simple shapes. Also the use of continuous line drawings also add youth to the images as they aren't accurate and play around with pattern. However I don't think that this is an insult to the imagery as they are interesting to look at and have taken time and craft to create. People also got music portrayed through the imagery and that they are busy and noisy which is what I wanted to portray.

Starting creating

Starting to create

 I thought that I would definitely use the train as an image as there are so many sounds associated with this. You could even go as far as linking the train track to the different snippets of Delia's cut tape, that without one segment the track (both train and musical) doesn't work. I thought I would try using a different coloured background to create this and therefore a different coloured pen as well. Although this is quite an interesting image I like the strength of the dark blue pen, especially in relation to the strength and power of the train.

I thought I would try and create all of the images in dark blue with an orange background. This would mean that there was a constant between the images but that they would still be interesting and have their own character due to the different patterns and coloured paper used.

 I was trying to think of other things that make a sound in a city. Inspired by the found sound noise of a siren I thought it would work to use 1960 style ambulances.

 Cars also make a noise and they have the beep...

I quite like that there is one, two and then three vehicles in the images, almost like a sequence.

I have also concluded that I need to make these images a4 and scan them down. Even though it goes against the resources Delia had available, in the time I have and with this aesthetic it is the only way forward.

Continuing on with this I thought it would be good to combine all 3 images together, to create a noisy scene. This is my design for it. I like that perspective can be achieved from the train coming from the distance. I also like the contrast of the  swirls on the train with the straight lines of the surface it is on. I also chose to have 2 vehicles going in one direction and the car going in the other. I am aware that that it looks like they are going to crash but so what! CRASH is another sound that she could have used. I think also this scene is busy enough to draw attention on the size of A2.

I bought coloured a2 card that was the same as the other coloured paper colours I had ( apart from orange but I think that this works in my favour as it would be too much orange). I wasn't sure about which colour I wanted to use as a background but decided that I really like and want to continue with the dark blue pen. I had the idea that I wanted to work in yellow so I saved that to the second attempt and tried the red. I was quite happy with this and even though it is a lot bigger I was happy that I managed to fill the space well. I wasn't happy with the train as I didn't achieve the perspective that I wanted at the end.

 I like this image a lot better and speed has been captured by the train. I also like how the complimentary colours of yellow and dark blue work effectively and vibrancy is captured by the yellow. I am however unhappy with the ambulance because the front of it, due to the continuous line drawing, isn't in proportion/perspective right. I think I am going to proceed with this as a final a2 poster, just need to hit the collage!

Found sounds

Found Sounds

http://www.findsounds.com/types.html

I have decided that the sounds which I am using aren't exactly perfect for the "found sounds" that she used. Therefore I have googled some sounds (which helpfully have a little audio clip) which would have been like the things that she used and the clips were short enough to appreciate how the sound could be manipulated.

From this list I have drawn a few:

• bird
• clock
• door/doorbell
• drumkit
• clapping
• storm
• hammer
• car
• bike

HOWEVER these are all objects rather than scenes like I have done before...

I have decided that compositionally these aren't going to work as backgrounds. It is important that the page is filled so I am resorting back to landscapes, cityscapes. Although it was worth doing more line drawings and helped me be able to make things more proportionate through continuous line.

End of Module Evaluation

Designing explosion

Designing

I went to the library and photocopied all of my line drawings/paper cut-outs so far so that I see everything around me to come up with a solution to this brief.
An important stage was laying all my work out around me and figuring out how to combine everything together... this took a highly emotional splurge of a blog post and lots of walking in and out of my room but FINALLY I thought I could collage the photocopies together, using a line drawing as a frame work.

Postcards:

Possible postcard aesthetic?

I took the train continuous line drawing and then added the shapes that I had already created from the technology side of my project. This therefore incorporates the found sounds and the musical elements all in one image. I think it looks interesting and is a development in the right direction.

PROBLEM: I scanned it in to print it out to see how big the final image would be and it is tiny! I physically couldn't be able to create the paper cut outs to size and the string is hard enough to stay where it is told. It would be easy to do what I did here and create it twice as large as the size of the postcards and print it off BUT it is really important to work analogue because she also was restricted by having to work analogue! I also like the added textures that an analogue collage creates.

The problem with creating collages especially with textures like cobbles is that I will have to create more of this which took a very long time before and I am aware that there is so much work to do in basically 4 days now. I worked from scans which worked well in this image to plan everything out HOWEVER quality is lost from the coloured paper and again it is using a digital, reproductive, fast method that wasn't available to Delia...

Calm now... I need to find a way of producing all of this work in the time given. This is an important skill to learn in the world of Illustration because when there is a brief you have to meet the deadline and when there isn't a deadline it would impact on the number of projects you can get through in order to stay a float. You got this Alex. Just break everything down and prioritise.


A2 Poster

I have booked a digital print slot as I understood it was important to plan ahead BUT I have decided that I would much rather produce final pieces that are analogue as it links with her work and my feedback. The possibility of producing a screen print is a nice one as I, as well as my peers in the feedback, can see it functioning well. HOWEVER I am not confident in how to produce screen prints or that I would get it right the first time and time is incredibly valuable. I would also need to experiment to see what works the best...

Stamps

Here I am quite drawn to the idea of having one image that is chopped into 4 stamps that when they are put together forms a full image. I feel that this is reflective of the different sections of the tape used that individually they are just a pattern but together they are art.

Due to the nature of the continuous line drawing it has become prevalent that I will have to do the line drawing first, as the background and then build up layers of cut outs on top. This is almost a backwards way of working as I am used to using solid colour in the background

Feedback

Feedback

Like: 

• collage the most 
• paper cut-outs with minimal colours and shapes
• continuous line drawings are interesting
• bottles, simple forms work well
• colours!
• patterns exploring line and shape
• expressing her music and passion through colour and shape and her process through line and layers

Advice:

• could I overlay prints
• need to deactivate the content by further layering
• studies need to scream analogue process
• apply her ideology and chose things that are more focussed that make sounds (use her idea)
• look at touching elbows prints (2 practitioners printing on top of each other)
• could translate really well to screen printing

Summatively:

• Need to take apart different pieces and rearrange them
• Collage in an abstract way with drawings and prints
• Deconstruct the image by pulling different motifs together

Cassette Tape

Cassette Tape

What could be better than creating an image with the same method that Delia created her music... 

I went on a hunt for Cassette Tapes...

This was harder than I expected. No charity shops in Leeds sell them anymore, nor HMV. They are a thing of the past now. I ended up going to a record store and there was a lovely guy that told me they had a selection of tapes that had been left for collection but 7 years later were still sitting there. 

He said that I could have a few of the oldest ones. I felt awful explaining my purpose to a guy who is so into his music. He said " you're destroying peoples dreams here" and I totally agree that no music should be destroyed as everything is valuable and crafted. Therefore with my creation I wish to also portray the craftsmanship, time and effort that these musicians and Delia put into constructing their music. I respect her so much!

I had a large struggle trying to take apart the cassette tape. Luckily I had a screw driver however only the one in the middle had screws, meaning that I could only take apart one cassette tape. I also could only get 3/5 screws out because it is such an old tape that they wouldn't come out! I tried for 45 mins!

 I then attempted the tape art. It is incredibly fiddly and as soon as you get glue on your fingers you have no chance. It was also really difficult because the tape is so light and twirly. Also, unlike string, it works with straight lines and I didn't expect creating curves and circles to be so tricky.
I thought I would try to translate the train continuous line drawing because it had some interesting patterns and was complicated enough to compositionally fit a page right.

I managed it though! I then thought it could do with some colour. I was couldn't put coloured paper in the right areas behind because the nature of the line drawing meant that it was going to be quite experimental. I then realised it would be possible to add coloured paper to the big blocks of space.

 I like this with the red contrasting the white and thought I would add a different colour to see what it would look like.

 I realised that I needed to add some colour or do something to pick out the train as at the end of that day, that is the thing that makes a noise. I decided it was too complicated to add paper cutouts to the train though because already the tape is so fragile. I debated for a while over what to do... I didn't want to use a tool that showed texture or had any line quality because it would detract away from the line quality of the tape. I also knew that whatever I did I couldn't change it as it is not like cut out paper that you dont have to stick down straight away. I decided to use my POSCA pens because they have a very opaque quality to them. I also decided to take the purple out as I decided that 2 colours was enough. I am not sure that I am happy with how this turned out with the trains but appreciate that something needed to be done so that the focus of the image wasn't obscure and lost.

Experimental Print Making

Experimental Printmaking

I am quite struggling to order this on my blog because everything is so fluid and one thing builds on another but I feel like this deserves its own post because it would break up the flow...
I feel like this project is naturally developing and evolving itself as everything links to another and its so exciting when a spark happens that I want to explode! I am enjoying this so much.

I was sitting in my room and noticed string. A very functional and long flowing household item! I was having a rubbish day and creating this was the most soothing thing ever and by the end of gluing the string down I was on a roll...
This is a continuous (string) line drawing visualising the flow of the tape on its machine.
ALSO in the Dr.Who theme tune 'The main, pulsing bassline rhythm was created from a recording of a single plucked string, played over and over again'. Here this is a single stuck down string, printed over and over again!

 I started off by doing a graphite rubbing over the string. This wasn't a very defined way of picking up the lines however I feel that motion is captured and because it is black and white it does achieve a retero aesthetic...

Then to printing...

 I thought it was important to capture the actual printing plate as I really love how the ink has left roller marks (with a very gestural and thin quality) which creates the illusion of movement and flow. She also made everything very analogue and I love the texture of the string standing out with ink on it.

After printing on a white piece of paper I thought I would move to coloured paper. This project has somehow incorporated coloured paper in almost everything...  I only had a4 sheets of this paper and I kind of like how the colours clash almost because they are such a stereotypical tone. HOWEVER this meant I needed to crop the image.... She works with segments of tape so here I had to chose segments of my image. This makes the image look more abstract. I started off using it centrally but think it looks quite cool off centre as well. 

 I thought I would try one portrait to see how it would turn out. This is directly in half and I dont feel that this works as well compositionally as the horizontal ones HOWEVER whilst writing this blog it is simple enough to be able to draw over so in the sketchbook it goes...

 I then waited a short while for the red ink to dry before moving to blue.. This is equally as interesting and I wanted to capture this before it dissapeared forever. I have found that I am equally as interested in the process of making as the final result (the is an example but also with the way I work holistically)

 I also printed blue onto a piece of tracing paper and then physically layered up the image. These colours create an almost 3D lense aesthetic.

 I then moved onto a different type of paper... I thought I would try and capture the backstory behind the tape. That it has been carefully crafted through different notes all spliced up with a lot of accuracy and care... Therefore the perfect backgrounds would be sheet music (which visualises precisely the length and pitch of the different notes-although the only sheet music I had was for a breakdown from my bluegrass band so this isnt 100% representative). The other was the grid off my cutting mat which I scanned.

 Then I thought I would move onto a 3rd colour...

 Look at the texture on this! This in itself works on the fact that when she cut up the different tapes she made some sounds more prominent and others more obscure... This is shown here by the red being obscured and the green being the most prominent but there being areas that blue is shown through as well. LAYERS, SOUND

It is noticeable that by this stage a lot of ink had built up as there are bold patches around the string but I really like this as it adds depth to the images and shows even more motion

  I then tried again with the green layered on tracing paper on top of the blue paper print. This has come across quite blurry...

 I then printed the green directly on top of the red print. I like that it is slightly dis-alligned.