People and Places - photographs

As part of a project investigating 'People and Places' I wanted to look at people where I live in Wales.  I took these photographs in Cardiff to illustrate the myriad of people who live and work in a large city.  Some of the photographs, especially those taken where the individuals are not looking into the camera remind of the artwork of Edward Hopper, his painting were almost voyeuristic, depicting people during everyday life, observing them at a distance.

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Telescope Hat Design

This image illustrates numerous ideas for a final design, a hat based on a telescope.  This was very theatrical and as part of my work to explore contemporary, historical and theatrical hat design I visited the British Design (1948-2012) exhibition at the V&A museum.  I particularly enjoy the theatrical hat designs of British designer Stephen Jones and visited the Holburne Museum in Bath where he was exhibiting his work.  Part of my initial investigations looked at design, for instance architecture and product design but I also wanted to look at how throw away objects can be used to create new and interesting creations such as Weee Man in Cornwall, a robotic creation made entirely of scrap.

Pre-Raphaelite - sketchbook frontsheet

This is an excerpt from my investigative sketchbook, it represents the frontsheet of my investigation into Pre-Raphaelite work and how the ideas I have gleaned from their work have been incorporated into my final illustration piece.  The sketch on the right is based on a painting by Rossetti.  The image has been completed using acrylic paints, oil pastels and pencil.

Wuthering Heights - illustration

This painting illustrates a scene from one of my favourite books, Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights', where Heathcliff driven mad from the loss of Catherine Earnshaw digs her grave to exhume her body.  He sees her as she was in life, vibrant and full of life, however in reality she is a corpse.  I painted this in acrylics based on photographs that I took.

Pandora's Box - Illustration

This image is an illustration of Pandora's Box from Greek mythology just as Pandora is contemplating opening the box.   I wanted to create a simple, elegant pen drawing of Pandora, my inspiration taken from the illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley.  I love the perfection in Aubrey Beardsley's compositions, which have a beauty and strangeness.  

People and places - Painting

This painting formed part of my investigations into the links between people and the places where they live, as part of this investigation I looked at the photography of Timothy Allen, who produced photographs as part of the BBC production, 'Human Planet'.  This image forms part of a sketch book of investigation in order to produce my own image of an elderly lady in her own garden, which forms part of this portfolio.  This painting has been completed in acrylic paints.

African culture - portrait

Whilst exploring the tribal artwork from around the world I came across the work of contemporary nigerian painter, photographer and designer,Tunde Owolabi.  He uses natural earthy colours contrasting with vibrant colours to depict the ethereal elegance of african culture.  In this painting I have mimicked some of the techniques he has used to create this portrait in order to develop my skills. 

Figure drawing - charcoal and paint

I really enjoy figure drawing and have had the opportunity to do this in college where I have experimented using a multitude of techniques, having to get used to sketching very quickly in order to depict form and movement.  I particularly like this image, mainly because it is very different to other sketches I have produced where I have had plenty of time, this sketch was completed very quickly using a number of mediums such as charcoal and white paint to add to the contrast, the bold strokes also add to a feeling of heaviness to the drawing.

Modern fairytale - fashion design

 

 

This picture formed part of previous investigations into fashion design and artistry, however I also wanted to create a character that was almost theatrical, fairytale in nature.  I was particularly interested in the fashion design of Roberto Cavalli, he is often inspired by nature, using designs taken from animal furs, reptilian skin and plumage.  I used different mediums to create this image such as paint, pen and inks.

Fashion portraits - multi-media

 

As part of a project into the art of fashion I wanted to experiment with different media to create images, a mixture of traditional and digital.  These images have been created by sketching portraits using pen, pencil, inks and watercolour.  I have then photographed each sketch and used digital software to alter the pictures, for instance by playing around with contrast and colour to create more vibrant, edgy images. 

Portrait of a garden - drawing

Here I have done a detailed sketch of my Nan in her garden using pencil. This piece was part of a wider project where i explored the link between people and places, and how they interact with each other to either tell a story or create atmosphere. This drawing has a personal touch because i wanted the landscape and person to have an intimate link, my Nan spends much of her time pottering about in her garden and it is her favorite place to be.

Titania - illustration

Here I have illustrated a scene from one of my favourite Shakespeare plays 'A Midsummer Nights dream'. I experimented with ink which was new for me, and difficult, however after completing the image I feel more confident using this medium. I took my own photographs of the figure, also trees and foliage to use as reference and also practiced drawing trees and flowers using pencil then creating the same image using ink.

The Bridesmaid - pencil sketch

This is a sketch I made based on the painting 'The Bridesmaid' by John Everett Millais (1851).  This is such a striking image, full of symbolism and illustrates an old tradition of passing a piece of wedding cake through the wedding ring seven times to have a vision of her future husband.  This formed part of my investigations into Pre-Raphaelite art in order to produce my own illustration of a myth or legend.

The Lady of Shalott - pen drawing

 

I am particularly drawn to Pre-Raphaelite paintings, last year visiting Manchester Art Gallery to view the works of Waterhouse, Millais, Rossetti and Burne-Jones but particularly to view an exhibition of Ford Maddox Brown's work.  I particularly enjoy the lines and form of this image based on the painting 'The Lady of Shalott' by William Holman Hunt.  I explored the use of pen and ink to recreate the figure in his painting.   This image formed part of my investigations around the use of fine art to depict myths, legends and stories.

Abergavenny - Fauvist Landscape

I really enjoy the colour and texture of fauvist art, using completely unrealistic colours to reshape a landscape.  My home town Abergavenny is a beautiful market town nestled beneath mountains on the banks of the River Usk and in this image I wanted to reflect this beauty.  I have taken photographs and using oil pastels have created a completely different image.  I have used different techniques to add texture to the image by mixing different colours or scraping away a surface colour to reveal a differing base colour.