"No Rest For The Wicked"

     No rest for the wicked is a song by Lykke Li. When doing nothing but listening closely to the sounds and voice created by this artist i pictured a sky blue colour with layers of white lines coming from one corner. In the corner the wiggled lines would be close and have a dense impact and as it comes out would become looser and each line would be more isolated. Then the white lines would look like waves in the blue background. To me this recreation did not turn out how i pictured as the lines are not thin and well layered. I also forgot in the moment to start from the top right corner. If i did this again i would improve it by taking the time to focus on painting the white lines thinly and layering them right to create the dense impact.
    As this was inspired by the song i listened to i decided to draw headphones using fineliner. I did one headphone using loose, continuous lines and the other short straight lines. This straight lines drawing appears more rigid so i don't particularly like it for this drawing. However, i do like the contrast between the two headphones techniques as it is subtle from a distance. Just like no one knows what is going on in someone's life but there could be some tells to how they look, like if they are tired or acting really down. These would only be noticed once looked at closely. If i was to improve this i would add more time to improve the quality of detail to the headphones, more shading so it had a stronger impact on the page as the headphones look lost on the page. If i did these improvements the composition would help bring the piece together properly.

Playing

    This piece i simply did by cutting up an old t shirt and dipping it in a mix of blue and pink paint. Then i pressed and pulled it across the page, improvised, to create a mess. I then stuck another piece of the t shirt to the page after letting it get marked by the paint. This was inspired by kids at a young age playing with paints or playing outside and getting all muddy. I enjoyed doing this piece as it was an idea i got in the moment so the feeling of pure, messy, freedom like a child exploring paints or the garden was similar at least. The mix of the colours blue and pink, creating purple worked perfectly as i view the colour purple as creative. Only when you try something and explore it alone can you discover your own technique in art or story in books, much like how the purple is the idea that was discovered when playing.
    As this was an on the spot experiment about creating a mess i like how it originally is as it is genuine and not artificially made. However, to develop this further i would create a bigger piece where i could throw paint and spray it freely. Dipping pieces of clothes into paint and throwing them at the sheet to create a mark. Or do this on a sheet of different shades of grey clothing, sewed together to make one sheet. It could include foot and hand prints as children always make dirty marks with those.

Music Shield

    Using just charcoal and graphite i drew one side of the guitar across the page. I focused on the main body of the guitar as when held it covers the majority of the stomach like armour. With the charcoal i just did a mix of squiggles and spirals, using a cotton ball to smudge it out. When doing this on the outside area of the guitar i wiped the cotton ball in straight lines. I like the change in shades when i did this as all the lines individually all reach out to a different length. To me this shadow of blackness represents all the bad thoughts or bad happenings. As they reach the guitar they stop as if a shield is protecting the person. Music has always been used to bring people together and share emotions, or can just be personal to the guitar player as they use their music to express their experiences, reaching out to others, and therefore aiding themselves. The guitar was also smudged and grey as music can be used to spread messages to bring awareness to certain issues, making some music quite dark as it can cause the listener to feel the bad emotions again. I used the graphite to add little lines of detail to the guitar like the edges, so it appeared sharp and strong. The edges are very roughly drawn so the guitar looks jagged and brutal like collapsed brick wall. However on other details like the strings of the guitar were kept faint as to not distract the eye from the front of the shield. To improve this i would want to add more detail using shading pencils and white chalk/rubber to create shadows and make the entire piece darker to really emphasise the power music has over the soul and how certain songs reach into it to bring light to the darker areas of our emotions.

Escape

    For this piece i focused on the way people use books to escape into another story. This was inspired by a photo i took of a lady reading on the bus. This photo interested me as we were both going on the same bus journey yet she was somewhere completely different through her book. I also focused on layers and use of a certain colour pallette using: brown, white, black and green. These colours are very basic when alone but are also strong in comparison to one another.
   I began with sticking ripped pieces of newspaper texts to the page, and using charcoal, covered them by smudging the charcoal with a cotton ball. I did add more charcoal after to make the creases more dense to highlight how they are in pieces. Next i glued the brown piece of paper on top; lightly stroking the charcoal over it to pick up the ridges in the lined paper. The texture of this paper really interested me as it was subtle until the charcoal exposed it. The charcoal made it look worn and dirty, this showing how dirty the world is with how it really beats people down with high expectations. Also instead of approaching and dealing with huge issues like homelessness and mental health, it is covered up and shunned, blaming the victim instead of helping them. Much like the words on the ripped pieces of newspaper are unreadable.
   With the final layer of white newspaper, with tattered edges, i glued it into the centre. Then glued down the corners of the brown paper to reveal the edges, showing the truth that was hidden deep down. Another way to look at this is how people discover themselves when reading. It can be a comfort, a journey of discovery as they connect to a character. I added some string to act as rope around the edges showing how she is escaping from her boundaries. Using fineliner and charcoal i drew the girl from the picture reading and with a green ink pen i drew the book and small figures running. I like this illustration but feel it needs a lot of improvement in quality of drawing. Maybe crosshatching style of the fineliner drawing but i feel it looks more cartoon than realistic unfortunately. Also the figure behind the folded piece of paper is hard to see when it is key to be the storyteller inviting the reader on their journey. I especially like the composition of this piece and layering using the colours as the green is subtle due to being small but catches the attention of the viewer making them look to the centre then to the edges. Therefore reflect on the world they live in as they can not see under the folded areas to where she has escaped, making them feel left behind and missing out.

On Hit List

    Focusing on experimenting with fabric on this piece, i glued the entire page and stuck down ripped pieces of newspaper images. I primarily focused on the images instead of words from the articles as our brains remember images better. However, i found the words "on hit list" interesting so i added that in the bottom right corner. Each little piece of paper looks to have deteriorated from the main one as if there sense of reality is breaking apart or they are trying to connect to create and achieve what they dreamed to be impossible. The newspaper was also sprayed with a glittery pink paint that made it look metallic, i feel this added a sense of invincibility as there is no limit to what our minds can come up with.
   Using strings of thread i glued them to the page. The thread could be trying to connect all the pieces or represent electrical impulses in the brain like a neuron. These electrical impulses are sparks of ideas happening that can then grow and become an important part of a goal to a person. This is why i used some purple wool and a mass of tangled blue threads to be the growing centre of the brain. This is all their achievements and ideas woven and tangled together as it is not simple to achieve our dreams. The ideas begin as a tangled dream that can then be spread out into a life plan. The fuschia colour is very warm and inviting, its very powerful over the metallic pink paint. As it is a matte colour it appears very solid yet is so soft to the touch creating a satisfying feeling.
  To improve this i would paint the background roughly black and dark blue, creating a rough texture like Russel Mills artwork so it would feel cold and bare. This would help the metallic pink and fuschia colour stand out more warm and bright. The bold contrast in colours would show a conflict in the mind on how hard it is to make time to achieve dreams when you have to deal with other things to cope with living. I would also use images that are about their dream instead of ripped newspaper images that don't compliment the message of the piece.

Artist:

Russel Mills:
    Does album and book covers. He also does set design and lighting. His lighting is very abstract using lines and shapes with deep backgrounds of colours like blue or black creating a solemn atmosphere. His individual artwork really looks into texture. His work looks rusty and old as if he painted on the side of an old metal boat.
   




 Max Gaspirini:
    Mundane work capturing deep emotion in faces. His style caught my eye instantly with his rough technique creating a cracked, pale complexion. Dripping technique in some areas which creates a feel of confusion, questioning if they are really there at all.







 Carol Wilson:
   Mixed Media, oil and acrylic paints. Abstract and realism. Inspiring use of rich colours, her work really reaches out to me. Her style and mixed media also captures a look that i would like to achieve when exploring my own style of art.









 Ian Murphy:
    Fine art and goes into great detail on his drawings of architecture. His work looks rough with his way of bringing in mixed media backgrounds. Architecture in old buildings have always interested me as i have visited many old castles and ruins growing up. The use of pages in his backgrounds make it look as if the words are telling the story of the buildings.



Kerry Buck:
    Collagraph artist, acrylic painter and illustrator who focuses on landscapes and nature. Her acrylic paintings are quite bright and cartoon like due to the block/straight lines style she does. Whilst the rest of her work is quite dark and sharp. I like this contrast as it shows two viewpoints, the cartoon style could be a false reality compared to the darker style that is the harsh reality. Or how stories can create a pretty, picket fence world but when you grow up you see the bare truth of the dirt that lies beneath in.










Cas Holmes:
   Mixed media collages using fabrics and illustrations of flowers, insects and birds. Her work is very softly light, innocent and aged with the rough edges and used looking fabrics. I like the way she layers her materials as it is very faint and hazy. This style could work when recreating the feeling of having a hazy dream as certain details are missing and eventually all fade out from memory to indescribable.






Anne Moore:
    Mixed media work with printmaking using etching, monoprints and linocuts. Her style looks similar to Russel Mills, using colours that appear rustic but adds more layers. This particular piece caught my interest with the figures dancing in that haze as it looks unusual but intriguing and very much like a strange dream. The change from dim to light also interest me as it creates focus on the figures and adding a mist of magical suspicion.





Sue Brown:
   Sue begins with a gum arabic transfer and using acrylic, ink and pencil adds layers of detail. Her work usually focus on nature and birds. The vicious markings add a sense of risk and fast movements with the delicate insects flying. The subtle glistening pink markings add to that delicacy, standing out from the mix of bold black, white and grey. Her artwork style interest me as it is elegant but also convolunt.

Sculpture Park

   I found the sculpture park very intriguing with the vast different types of art works they had on display. Each one was unique in style, material and meaning. Unfortunately, i was not able to see every single one and feel i have missed out on inspiring work that could tie in to my journey like the Garden of Good and Evil. I especially liked how the artwork was displayed outside in the countryside as nature itself adds a natural piece to the work. I have always been mesmerised by nature and how it changes the way we view certain places. Light naturally changes our emotions as a sunny lit street will seem playful and warm but at night it would be dangerous. The way the light changes a certain space would be interesting to bring into my work and explore on open rooms where the use of light could bring the viewer into the fantasy world created before them.

      For instance, Ed Kluz: Fanciful Buildings of Britain is beautifully put together using prints, paper collages and scraper boards. His work is dark and edges onto scarily fantasy like, with his use of shadows and trees. The buildings look to be apart of a world that was left behind and rotten into a darkly lit part of the mind where you would hide all your fears. Some of his work contain rich colours of red and blue, making it look more inviting. This changes the emotion instantly to power and curiosity. The contrast between these two styles remind me of Coraline and how at first the other world seemed rich and beautiful but quickly turned dark and full of monsters.



    This sculpture was particularly interesting as it looked so realistic but the tree was actually made of metal and screws. This made me think of how we are destroying nature but also our own mental healths. People force a pretence of being okay when around others or create a false reality in order to cope with the one they live in. The screws and obvious parts of the sculpture that don't connect show the gaps in their realitys where they have tried to cover it up and hold themselves together to cope.

   At first i didn't really like this sculpture as it didn't look like much but as i looked closer i saw faces merging together. My first thoughts were that the way it overlaps appears like it was melting but the material looks incredibly heavy so i thought of molten lava turning into rock. The faces trapped within the piece made me think of suffocating relationships but when thinking of my own journey i thought about how intoxicating a fantasy world can be. From a young age we are told stories that make the world appear magical creating expectations for children that won't hold out. But these stories sometimes really hold people who want to live those lives, this causing unfortunate damage to their lives going to extreme measures like plastic surgery to be something they are not. their mind distorts their reality just like this sculpture is distorted. An idea for my own art piece was to use some broken glass in front of another piece of work to distort the image when viewed. 

      Zak Ove: Black and Blue - The invisible Men and the Masque of Blackness is inspired by african culture. The name interest me more than the sculpture itself. Its very mysterious and sounds like a nightmare, if not a very dark tale. This sculpture reminds me of a song by Two Door Cinema Club called "Sleep Alone", the lyrics speak about falling asleep and going into a dream. The lyrics alone create an atmosphere of unknown danger like the title of the sculpture. It sounds soft but is dark when you listen to the meaning of the words.
The chorus: "He sleeps alone
                      He needs no army where he's headed
                     'Cause he knows
                      That they're just ghosts
                       And they can't hurt him if he can't see them, oh
                       And I may go
                      To places I have never been to
                      Just to find
                      The deepest desires in my mind "

 I find many songs by Two Door Cinema Club, instrumentally and lyrically, dream like and feel very connected when putting maladaptive daydreaming into context.

   These two pictures were taken of the surrounding countryside. The picture on the right reminded me of an album cover of  'Walking On Cars' where a tree stands alone with a grey, foggy background and coloured balloons drifted above. The album cover perfectly captures the image and sound of the irish band with the beautiful creative melodies exploring deep emotions, while bringing in feelings of peaceful nature within their songs. Their songs are deep and dramatic but also relaxing and able to transfer their listener. From the very beginning i was obsessed with their sound and style. When first viewing their simple but enchanting album cover i felt very inspired with their use of nature. The picture on the left is interesting to me as the layers within it constantly change. The trees in the horizon bring a mix of autumn shades that make them tower tall despite being in the distance. The rest is a mix of  vertical layers; the bridge with the tree next to it lead away from the initial viewpoint, instead of reaching out to the viewer it leads them into the picture. Lastly the ivory and style of the bridge appear princess/castle like adding a sense of mystical ageing as the ivory takes over.