Editorial - Aude van Ryn

For this topic, I looked closely at the work of Aude van Ryn who creates her images using a collage style of working. Her landscapes often display an abstract environment recognisable by her use of flowing contour lines  She uses subtle paper textures that come through her painting which gives her illustrations a handmade feel. Often she includes silhouette figures in her work which give a sense of anonymity to all the characters and keep the image very simple (not over complicating it with detailed features.

I chose to do an editorial piece in her style, quite simplified but suitable for a newspaper or magazine. Colour was very important to consider so I chose to follow van Ryn and use slightly desaturated ones which gives the image a softer quality, not too garish.

The content is quite generic, it could go with any article about archaeology involving dinosaurs. Stylistically, I wanted to use the contour lines that van Ryn uses as it gives a simple background, a plane for the characters to be on. The little scientists are just silhouettes so they are gender-neutral, making my image more widely usable in regards to an article.

I am pleased with my image as it is straightforward and clear but still has a good use of colour which is something I am trying hard to improve with my work.


Bibliography

Blogger, Jade They. 2010. Aude van Ryn. [ONLINE] Available at: http://jadeillustration.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/aude-van-ryn.html. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Heart Agency. 2016. Aude van Ryn. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.heartagency.com/artist/AudeVanRyn/gallery/1. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Illustration Age. 2016. Great Editorial work by Aude van Ryn. [ONLINE] Available at: https://illustrationage.com/2012/08/27/great-editorial-work-by-aude-van-ryn/. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Satirical - Caricature

Caricature was very challenging for me as I have difficulty in portraying specific people, they never seem to look like the person they are meant to be. Because of this, I looked at the work of Glen Hanson who creates more graphic, comic book-like caricatures where the facial features are only a little exaggerated. From looking at these images, it was easy to establish what were the defining facial features of each specific person, such as a sharp chin or prominent cheekbones.

From this research, I chose to make my caricature of Donald Trump as his scrunched-up features, saggy neck and orange face were features I could exaggerate.

 Looking back on my image now, I realise it is not as exaggerated as it felt when I was drawing it, however, it is recognisable as Trump which is good. I attempted to make his neck sag over his collar which worked, also his head is larger than it should be but, as this is only a bust portrait, it is not very clear. I made his skin quite orange and added the pale area around his eyes which makes him look like he just got off a tanning bed with the little goggles. Like Hanson, I tried using bright colours to better show the character and it works very well in this case.


Bibliography

Richmond Illustration Inc.. 2016. How to draw caricatures: The 5 Steps. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.tomrichmond.com/2008/02/14/how-to-draw-caricatures-1-the-5-shapes/. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Glen Hanson. 2016. Caricature. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.glenhanson.com/caricature.php. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Satirical - Pastiche

For Pastiche, I looked at existing examples of altering a famous painting or writing such as Gillray's version of the three witches [1] using Lord Dundas, Prime Minister Pitt and Lord Thurlow (all politicians under King George III). The image is intended to show the uneasiness of their relationship under the king.

The image that I decided to parody is 'Mother and Child Gazing at a Hand Mirror' [2] because it is a recognisable image that fits in with the idea I wanted to portray. It is a traditional Japanese painting and so features subtle colours and a very stylised face with small features on a large pale base and, on the mother, red painted lips.

The image I have created mimics the pose of the original and uses the same colour scheme (soft pinks and greens) but I have modernised the content to feature a modern Japanese teenager and her brother. They are watching something on her phone (instead of a mirror) as this would have the same effect on a curious (modern) child and is very interested in what his older sibling is doing.

It makes a statement about how different the children are from traditional ideals, spending time on phones and wearing 'unsuitable' clothes. I also included the plant as a cactus as these are very popular with teenagers at the moment and helps to give context to the teenager's fashion choices.


References
[1] Gillray 1791
[2] Utamaru c.1802

Bibliography

Tate. 2016. Gothic Nightmares. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/gothic-nightmares-fuseli-blake-and-romantic-imagination/gothic-3. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Wikiart. 2016. Mother and child gazing at a Hand Mirror. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/kitagawa-utamaro/mother-and-child-gazing-at-a-hand-mirror-1805. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Wikipedia. 2016. Pastiche. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastiche. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Satirical - Visual Metaphor

For this task, I looked at visual metaphors in general as one cartoonist will not do exclusively metaphors for their work. Examples I found showed 'sales in the toilet' [1] and 'unplugged from reality'. Because of all the political disasters that have happened in 2016, I decided to make my image based on it being a 'trainwreck' of a year and included some of the news items that made this year awful.

I have written each event on a separate carriage for clarity. Labelling items in this way is very important in many political cartoons as it shows what each element represents if it is not clear from the image context. 

References
[1] Sizemore

Bibliography

Cartoon Stock. 2016. Visual Metaphor Cartoons and comics. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/v/visual_metaphor.asp. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Library of Congress. 2016. Cartoon Analysis Guide. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/activities/political-cartoon/cag.html. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

The Top Tens. 2016. Worst Things that happened in 2016. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.thetoptens.com/worst-things-happened-2016/. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Concept - Frottage

For this technique I looked at the art of Max Ernst who first used the technique of frottage [1]. To do this, you lay a piece of paper over a texture such as grained wood then take a rubbing using a soft pencil. Ernst used this to create strange creatures such as  'L'évadé' (The Fugitive) [2] 

To make my piece I used textures from around the studio, the floor, wood cabinets, speaker case and woodcut carvings.

 


From these I made an image of a turkey-like bird, using the gingko leaf as a head and the card-reader embellishment as an eye, the other textures for the body and feathers.

I am pleased with my image and discovered that frottage is an interesting way of using texture and collage in my work so it will be something I experiment with in the future.Using natural shapes works best and looks most appealing (the gingko leaf makes a very good head shape from the way the stem curves into a small beak shape)

Ernst uses pencil to work into his collaged image to create a more comprehensive image that looks like a finished drawing. Although my bird does not need this, it is a useful note to consider for future uses.

References
[1] Ernst 1925
[2] Ernst 1926


Bibliography

MOMA. 2016. Max Ernst, L'evade. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/max-ernst-levade. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Wikipedia. 2016. Frottage (art). [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frottage_(art). [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Concept - Bio-mechanical

Bio-mechanical art was popularized by H.R. Giger in the 1970s during his work on the acclaimed sci-fi film, 'Alien' [1].  It fuses organic and mechanical elements and in Giger's work, he often portrays a very smoothly shaped woman who is connected to machines via wires and other devices so that they become one working organism. Because of this it is very closely linked with cyborg art which tend to add mechanical properties onto humans to improve their qualities such as a camera lens to replace an eye.

I find Giger's work to be very unsettling, possibly because of his overt sexual references such as giving the Xenomorph a penis in some sketches or only seeming to show female bodies naked and connected to machines with tubing and wires. Several of his pieces he names 'Erotomechanics' very clearly. I greatly dislike this aspect of his work which is why I try to avoid him as an artist.

From researching Giger's art and watching the 'Alien' film, I have made a sketch of a possible human-machine hybrid inspired by his workings and sketches. I also tried to incorporate elements of cyborg art such as the cables and wires plugging directly into the organic forearms. I imagine he would act very human like, possibly operating a computer or machine that his fingers are plugged into.

References
[1] Scott 1979

Bibliography

io9. 2014. The Most Unforgettable Creations of H. R. Giger. [ONLINE] Available at: http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-most-unforgettable-creations-of-h-r-giger-1576157799. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Wikipedia. 2016. Biomechanical Art. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomechanical_art. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Wikipedia. 2016. Alien (film). [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film). [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Sara Fanelli - Exquisite Corpse

From looking at Fanelli's use of weird creatures [1], we were given the task of using the game 'Exquisite Corpse' to make our own in pairs or groups. There were similarities between each of the designs created from this game, such as a bird head for three of them even though we did not discuss what we were drawing.

References
[1] Fanelli 2002


Bibliography

Amazon. 2002. Mythological Monsters of Ancient Greece. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mythological-Monsters-Ancient-Greece-Fanelli/dp/0763619078. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Bookish Kids. 2014. Sara Fanelli Archives. [ONLINE] Available at: http://bookishkids.co.uk/tag/sara-fanelli/. [Accessed 12 December 2016].

Wikipedia. 2016. Exquisite corpse. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exquisite_corpse. [Accessed 12 December 2016].