Warped Reflection Photography
Planning a digital outcome
During my research I found an artist who stood out to me called Tina Louise Hunderup. Her work focuses on landscapes which she then over layers with a variety of mediums to create interesting designs. I have always enjoyed using layers in my art work as I feel it adds more depth whilst making it look more visually pleasing.
I decided to create two A5 designs during my experimentation with mixed media. I chose to use magazine pieces, newspaper, acrylic paint and my original photographs to create a mixed media piece. The aim of this style of work is to create the illusion that the building is being distorted; the collage pieces represent the tiny pieces which make up a building. Although I liked being free with this method as it allowed me to be more exploration rather than perfect, I don’t think the overall look has the same feeling which Hunderup portrays in her work. I do think the idea of my work is a good starting point however I don’t feel the mediums which I used gave it enough credit. First I attempted to draw from the photographs I took however with this not being one of my stronger qualities I felt a more accurate approach was needed for this style of work. I do think these two samples are useful to me as initial starting points and I will be attempting to create a similar styled pieces in relation to Hunderup’s work.
One of my goals I set myself for this project was to try think about digitalise my artwork because of my desired specialism – graphic design. Although I won’t be dedicating my entire project to graphic design, I do feel it will benefit me to start thinking about a digital approach as I might find myself to enjoy this style of work.
One problem which I considered while thinking about digital artwork was that I’m not entirely familiar with Photoshop and felt I was benefit from a less complicated soft ware as a starting point. After having a discussion with a peer, they showed me how I can manipulate photographs by using ‘word’ which is a software I am far more confident with. Whilst exploring how I can do this, I found an effect which stripped all colour from my photographs. This appealed to me especially because it made my photos look more like a drawing which was my original idea. Thinking back into Hunderup’s designs I began manipulating with shapes, colour and text and I was more than impressed with the outcome. With this being my first try with digital artwork I loved the results. I feel the way I have considered shape and space within the photograph works well, especially by using different depths with the shapes – filling some shapes in contrast to just having the outline. The combination of shapes displayed on the page creates an interesting strong illusion which I feel is eye catching.
My first experimentation with the trinity Leeds design I feel the grey and black tones contrast well with the pale yellow. I decided to use a tint of yellow as I feel the pale colour compliments the greys. I was inspired to use this colour as on the original photograph the sun is shining through the building slightly therefor I wanted to include a similar colour to have a similar feel. With the original photograph I chose to not zoom completely into the photo however looking back, I feel I shouldn’t have made the photograph full page just so the transition from the photographs and the shapes would possibly work better. This is something I can re arrange and play with.
For the john Lewis building I wanted to exaggerate the distortion of the image therefore I used text to do so. I randomly placed the lettering over the page to get a more distorted look, I feel this works well as you can still see the original ‘John Lewis’ wrote on the building and the random lettering gives the effect that the writing is coming away from the building – which is the same effect as the shapes. Looking back, I am unsure weather I used the right font to give off this certain effect however with the combination of layers I do think overall the piece look playful.
My final design turned out to be my most successful design in my opinion. I feel after taking time playing with arrangement, text and shapes this made me have more of an idea as to how I wanted my work to look. I chose to continue with the pale yellow colour as I feel this contrasts beautiful with the darker grays/ blacks. Also, I decided to have my image full screen as I feel this made more sense from an audiences point of view. The arrangement of the shapes are positioned perfectly on my final design and overall feel satisfied with this style of work. I would like to see this design on a larger scale such as A1 with detail added within the shapes using mixed medias. This could be a potential route for a final piece. However, now I have explored a digital way of working I will be thinking about other ways to manipulate work such as printing, disperse dyes etc which could lead me to an alternative route for a final piece.
Screen Printing Experiment
As a part of my experimentation’s within this project I decided to experiment with screen printing. Screen printing has always intrigued me especially how the results are clean and defined if the process is carried out properly. I wanted to create a simple print to start with therefore I recreated the town hall which I photographed in Leeds. I decided to recreate my building by using shapes, I chose to use shapes as this resembles the “distortion” topic which I am following alongside the topic “surroundings.” One problem which I faced was that I used cartridge paper instead of newsprint which resulted in my edges not being as clean when I pushed the inc through the mesh and template. I chose to use pastel colours for the background of my prints as I feel this compliment the incs rather than it being cartridge paper which I feel would have appeared quite plain and bare. I like how when you look through the gaps of the shapes, the background colour shines through, creating a more interesting appearance which is similar to the works of by Andy Warhol – his work portrays vibrancy using a combination of colours which is the vibe I was hoping for in my work.
Although I liked how these three prints stand together – they appear quite bold – I did wan’t to attempt over layer the prints using another colour however this resulted in me ruining my print as I didn’t wait for the inc to be completely dry which resulted in it appearing smudged. I was not too hardhearted by this as I was only experimenting at this stage and testing the process of screen printing,
Overall, I do like the idea of the design however I think the results could have been more strong if I had been patient. I feel this process would have worked better if I had thought out the process as I felt I rushed this slightly. I will be attempting these prints again and will allow myself to be more patient for them to look as strong and bold as I hoped. This is something I will learn from and use for my mindset on every design I create.
Further development with screen printing…
Whilst looking through Andy Warhol’s designs I admired his use of collage which overlay his screen prints. With me thinking my previous screen prints appeared quite basic I decided collage would be a perfect way to begin to add in small amounts of detail. I collaged A5 sized paper using newspaper, magazine and coloured paper which I then planned to screen print over the top of. The transformation from my first set of prints to my collaged ones amazed me. I feel the prints now look much more exciting and interesting to look at. The prints which worked the best in my opinion were the ones which had parts of text displayed on them, I could progress these even further by using text which somehow relates to the designs rather than text from a newspaper. One formal element which I took into consideration while creating these designs was colour. I thought through carefully how I wanted to use colour to create a certain emotion. I created a series of prints focusing on a cold colour scheme which included icy blues which I feel create a complete different emotion in comparison to my warm colour scheme. The cool colours create a busy affect, almost uneasy to settle onto a specific section of the prints however my warmer colour schemes appear more settling, you can separate the colours and feel a much more calming emotion.
Due to the high quality results of my prints I was able to mount them up to include in my portfolio. This excited me as I will be able to speak about my current ideas during any university interviews.
Photoshop Experiment
Personally, I find Photoshop a fairly difficult software. In previous works I have used ‘word’ in alternative to Photoshop however, I found word is a much slower software and is limited on how much I can play around with it. I decided to have a go on Photoshop by simply overlaying photos to openly see what results I could get. This was a hard process at first however whilst having multiple discussions with peers this enabled me to become more familiar and used to the soft ware. Once I knew the basics I began putting together a series of my own photographs and using layers to add more depth. I decided to completely change the colour scheme and follow a complimentary colour scheme which looking back, I am not entirely keen with. Photoshop allowed me to play with the composition of photographs such as stretching the photographs with the text “leed” making it appear that is it becoming bigger at one side. This just adds small levels of detail. If the statement “leeds” was to be straight across the other pictures, this would look more simple and basic. One positive with Photoshop is that I can edit at my own pleasure and adapt at any point. With a few adjustments – such as thinking about a different colour scheme – this reminds me for a backdrop for a leaflet/ poster which relates to my desired career pathway. I enjoyed the freedom of using Photoshop and I will be weekly trying to enhance my skills to start to create some really interesting designs.
Further Photoshop development
Enjoying the freedom of using photoshop I decided to further develop my designs. I began to manipulate my photographs using photoshop. One quality I enjoy using on photoshop is the ‘blending options’ tool, which allows me to blend photographs together creating a whole new appearance.
Previously being inspired by the works of Nikola Olij, I decided I wanted to link her works with my photoshop experiment therefore i began using formal elements such as shape to interperate this into my work. Instantly this creates an exciting look, it creates questions from viewers as to what the shapes represent. Nikola uses shapes to create the illusion that the buildings she focuses on are becoming distorted, I am following a similar pathway by distorting my own photographs. As seen in the text – “LEEDS” – in the picture, I have included my prints in the letters. I decided to do this as I want to practise linking my work together. By linking my work together this could help me think about ideas for a final piece.
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