Dani Collenette Graphic Design Year three

Portraiture My work from the previous semester was based on the theme of colour theory. I considered within this theme, how colour can “Kill” an image, by reducing

its aesthetic appeal, and developed this idea by displaying this metaphor as a physical image,

where the colour was literally killing the subject. I found that I was beginning to hit a dead end with these images, and they were also becoming quite

disturbing to look at, which is not what I was aiming for. I did however find the portraits themselves quite visually appealing, and so that is why I have chosen

.the theme of portraiture for my FMP

Drawing Faces I first began with ‘drawing faces’ – or portraits of

my friends and family. I wanted to get an idea of how well I could create an image that was

a good enough representation of that person, that it was recognisable as them. I have used

coloured and sketching pencils, as it is a medium I feel comfortable with, I created these sketches as an experiment, so the focus was primarily on the

.content, not the medium

Research One of the most helpful books I have come

across so far is “Face; The New Photographic Portrait” by William A.Ewing. It contains many

photographic portraits all of which are so different, showing how much potential there is

within the art of portraiture. One of my favourite images from the book is “Migros Metropole, Renens” by Yves Leresche. It is fairly simple in

composition, it is of an elderly lady shopping in what looks like a supermarket, it is completely

natural, her expression is stunned, her body language un-posed, the bright flash rids her

face of detail and lightens her hair. After seeing

the obvious, the viewer is invited to read further into the image, for instance the fact that she has obviously made an effort with her appearance,

her hair is styled, her nails polished, beads hang around her neck, lipstick graces her lips. We can look even further into the fact that her basket is

empty, has she simply not began shopping yet? Or is it possibly symbolic of emptiness within

her life? It amazes me that what appears to be such a simple image of a lady shopping, in fact

.presents so much to be discovered

Famous Faces Face by Ewing also contained a number of quotes along the

theme of portraiture, one that particularly interested me was “It is our peculiar fascination with celebrity that may be responsible for a culture in which appearance is a shimmering illusion, one

It made me .2005 ,that changes from day to day” Jonathon Lipkin think about celebrity culture, and how a face can become so well

known, how an image of my mother or father, no matter how well it replicates their identity, only has an impact on the people

that know them. A famous face, however, has a much larger audience. With this in mind I began to create portraits of celebrity figures. I have also begun experimenting with different mediums,

from simple line drawings, to wax crayon, lino printing and .watercolour

Research Another book I have found particularly interesting is“ “Painting the Century“ which included one hundred

and one portraits from nineteen hundreds to the year two thousand. It was very interesting to see

how portraiture in general has developed and changed over the years, how it has moved through

art periods, and the influence they have had. An artist who stood out for me was Gerald Scarfe. I have

come across his work before, but this time it really got my attention. I think his ink and watercolour

images are amazing, the combination of the harsh ink lines, and soft watercolour block colour really

.works well

Ink face I found Scarfe’s work so interesting and

inspiring that I began to create my own Ink portraits, I moved back to drawing my friends

and family for the time being as they are the faces I know well, and for improving my illustrative skills I felt they were what I could

work best with. I first began working just with an ink pen alone, and then I moved to

.adding watercolour to the image

Watercolour When experimenting with the celebrity

portraits, one of the mediums I most enjoyed working with, and also one that

I felt worked really well is watercolour. So, I decided to create a portrait of my

cousin, Daniel and my mother, Sue, using this medium. It was while creating these portraits that I began to see a style

emerging, as I look back through my portraits, although they are often created

in different ways, there is a certain look that brings them all together, a certain

something which I think makes them appear to be from one set of images.

The way in which I create portraits I have been told, has a naïvety to it, my images lack detail, they are slightly exaggerated in areas – not to the point of caricature,

but so that they are no longer completely realistic. This simplicity and slight

exaggeration is what I aim to continue with, I realise that if I want to practice as

an illustrator then I need to have my own style, my own niche, which makes my

work stand out from the rest. I know it still needs to be developed further, but I feel I

.now have the foundations to do that

Photography When I graduate from university the two

areas of my work I want to continue to practice are illustration and photography, and so I have looked at portraiture within

both mediums. I really wanted to get beyond just the image of a face, just as

Leresche did in the photo of the lady at the supermarket. I have also looked at the work of Gillian Wearing in which she got people to hold signs, and thought I could practice my portraiture using this concept. So I got

my mother, father and brother to each hold a sign, I asked them to complete the

sentence “I am…“ and to write down the first thing that came into their head. I know

this is not work I can use in my FMP itself, but i have used it to experiment with the

connection between what they wrote and what the viewer can see, I wanted to find a

connection between words, body language .and expression

I feel that in their own way each image was quite successful in what I aimed to achieve.

As I took the photographs I also spoke to my subjects so they did not as, Roland

Barthes says in Camera Lucida, “constitute

[themselves] in the process of posing“ The image that I think was the most successful

from the group is the one of my father, who has written “A twit“ on his board. His

expression for me is perfect, completely caught In the moment, it looks to me as if

he is sighing at what he is written, the way his eyebrows are slightly raised and his eyes

sit just below the top bar of his glasses, his mouth is almost a smile, with the corners

.pointing up ever so slightly

Research I visited the Lucian Freud Exhibition held

by Blain Southern, which contained a large collection of his drawings , paintings

and etchings, including his famous “Startled man Self Portrait“ and also

his last piece of work, “Head of Jeremy King“, an etching that he was working

on when he passed away, which will never be printed as then it will lose the

chalk marks, and so the etching plate itself was on display. I thoroughly enjoyed

the exhibition, something I particularly enjoyed is that Freud experiments with

many different mediums, the variety of work on show was huge. His work varied

from very basic sketches, to oil paintings that were so realistic they could be

photographs. His drawn and ink portraits I could relate to very closely, he seems

to exaggerate parts of the image, use a distinct lack of detail and I also feel they

are fairly naïve in some aspects. Yet, they are so appealing and eye catching. His

work is a real inspiration for my own, his.skill, variety and body of work is amazing

FMP Reflection [ri-flek-shuhn] noun

The throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it:

the reflection of light

An amount of light, heat, or sound that isreflected by a body or surface

An image seen in a mirror or shiny surface

A thing that is a consequence of or arisesdrom something else

A thing bringing discredit to someone orsomething

Serious thought or consideration

)Oxforddictionaries.com(

I thought of a theme that ties together , what I have done in the past, what I would

ideally like to do in the future and what I .am currently practicing

For my final piece I am going to produce a series of images on the theme of reflection,

combining the mediums of photography and illustration. The word reflection can

be applied in many different ways, as the

dictionary definition suggests. I think it is very well fitting as a theme for my final major piece as it works on many levels,

and applies to near all of the definitions .reflection harbours

Metaphorically I will reflect what I have learnt, practiced and developed during

my three years at the UCA. I will also demonstrate what I have to offer to the

design industry, and my skills within the art.of both photography and illustration

Physically I will create a series of images in which I have photographed someone looking at their reflection, the reflection

however will not be in photographic form, .it will be illustrated in some way

A drawn, painted or printed image of someone is exactly that, a reflection of

them, it is not an exact replica of what they look like. A reflection allows for distortion,

may the mirror be bevelled, or if water, rippled, as does the space between what

an artist or illustrator sees and what he/she .puts on canvas or paper

It is said that you never see a true image of yourself in the mirror, because you are

always seeing your face back to front, similarly to in a painted image you are not

seeing a true image of that person – not .like you would in a photograph

I have combined these two mediums as not only do I think they work well together as

a montage, creating a contrast between reality and fiction, but also because they

demonstrate what I feel are the strongest attributes of my skill set – photography and

.illustration

If this work was to be displayed in an exhibition environment, I envisage a zine

or possibly a book containing the series of reflection images, and hung above them on the wall an interactive reflection piece

in which the visitors of the exhibition are invited to reflect their image. I hope to create around twenty images on the

theme, which will be contained within the zine or book, along with the wall hung

.interactive piece

In the coming weeks I will be visiting the National Portrait Gallery, the Gillian

Wearing exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery and both the David Shrigley and JeremyDeller exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery

After Graduation After graduating from university I will be

going travelling for several months, I hope that this will allow me to gain a better

understanding of different cultures and generally broaden my knowledge. I have

only been to Amsterdam, so I think I really need a culture shock to improve both the

quality and conceptual foundations of my work – and so my travelling begins in Thailand. However, while travelling I

will not be resting, I will be visiting places of interest and both photographing and

sketching them, and people of the area. I aim to produce two to three sketches every day, so I can choose the best images to take

.to illustration agency’s on my return

I will also build a large collection of photography works, which I can take

with me to photographers, as although I currently work in a photographers it is a very small business of two shops, and as

much as I have enjoyed my time there and I have learnt so much, I feel there just isn’t.enough potential to consider it as a career

I am very aware at how competitive the illustration industry is, and so it is not really

a consideration as a full time job. Therefore, my plan ideally is to apply to photographers

and photographic studios in the hope of finding a more nine to five, Monday to

Friday job, while )if possible( I freelance.illustration

Whilst working at the photographers I am currently at I have been able to make a

few connections which, although small, could possibly be a gateway to a career.

There is a small art gallery café in the town where I work, which sells original art works,

who have agreed to take a look at my work. A picture framers we use, based in

Purley, who also sell original art works, and.photographs

I understand that freelancing is not only based upon artistic skill, but

also business practicalities and so I have begun to take a look at the business side

of my work I have begun to read “The Professional Practice of Design“ by Dorothy

Goslett and “Graphic Design – A users.Manual“ by Adrian Shaughnessy