Workshop with India - Screenprint

Our workshop was India was about Screenprinting. I have never screenprinted before so this was totally new for me to try. We firstly picked out a design painted with acrylic on acetate to use and prepared a silk screen for printing. The Silk screen was prepared by dragging emulsion paint over one side and leaving it to dry for awhile. When dry, the acetate piece was placed onto a UV lamp machine with the dried silk screen on top. The UV lamp is turned on for 50 seconds to soften the paint around the design. The screen is then washed down with a hose and water, which then leaves behind just the design on the screen. When printed, the paint will act as a stencil to create the final piece.

The paints used were an acrylic blue and red, mixed with a solution to keep the acrylics from drying quicker than on it's own. This also makes printing much easier.  

The printing progress :

- Make sure printing machine is clean and tape down a sheet of tracing paper like material.

- Put tape along the edges of the silk screen to make sure paint will not bleed unnecessarily over the edges.  Secure silk screen to clamped frame on the printing machine.

-  Apply the paint to the top part of the silk screen and use the squeegee at a 45 degree angle and pull down to make the first print. Printing on the tracing paper like material gives you a starting point for the final print and to make sure the screen will create a clean print.

- Line up a sheet of paper under the screen, using tape to create a guild line for the paper and print again.

- When dry and if applying a second colour, use the tracing paper print to line up the paper underneath, to make sure the final print will line up with the first set of colour(s). Turn on the machines vacuum so that the paper will stay in place, Peel back the tracing paper and press the silk screen down and print.

Our final outcome was really clean and crisp and easy to do. The chosen colours worked well too as the blue was placed ontop of the red, which when overlapped created a dark blue tone for extra depth. I really enjoyed screenprinting and really want to try and create a design from scratch in the future. 

Group Presentation - Group D - Cubism

At the end of last weeks Lecture, We were given a list of art movements alongside groups that our year group has been in since the start of this term. I am in Group D, Who were presented with the movement Cubism. The presentation should be no longer than 10 minutes and everyone in the group should contribute towards it, including an original piece in that style. Firstly I went to look up the origins of Cubism alongside some of the most famous Cubist artists as part of the research, However I knew we'd have to wait and see when we could get the group together so that we can make sure we all do something different to add to the presentation. Within a few days we had made sure to add each other on Facebook, as it has been the easiest way to be in contact with each other. (Left, Group chat on Facebook to plan a get together)  

Here was the information I gathered before the meet up with the group on the 21st.  - 

Origins ~

In fine art, the term Cubism describes the revolutionary style of paint that was invented by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque while they were in Paris during 1907-1912. The Cubist movement is largely influenced by geometric patterns and shapes and is often seen as a type of abstract or Realism art. Many believe Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon - 1907) and Braque’s L'Estaque (1908) to be the first real Cubist pieces. The Cubism movement continued to grow and had many other artists become labelled as ‘Cubists’ such as Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali and Francis Bacon. 

There are a listed four periods of Cubism:

* Early Cubism or  Cézannisme (1908-1910)

* Analytic Cubism (1910-12) - Characterised by multiply viewpoints of an object that overlap

* Synthetic Cubism (1912-14) - Characterized by an overall flatter and more geometrically simplified style.

* Late Cubism (1914 - Present) 

Cubism can also been seen as a movement that started the trend of modern art movements, Inspiring others such as Futurism (1909-1914) and Dada (1916-1924).

Famous Cubist Artworks -

Guernica – Pablo Picasso
Nude Descending a Staircase, No.2 – Marcel Duchamp
The Weeping Woman – Pablo Picasso
Glass of Beer and Playing Cards – Juan Gris
Violin and Candlestick – George Braque

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Most the the group could make it to the meet up that we planned (21st November, 11PM)  where we talked about what people had already done or would prefer to do. We all settled with an idea in mind and where given roles to research each. I chose to research one of the prominent Artists, George Braque. We also decided to research a total of 3 artists, roughly about 100 words per artist, as to keep the information informative and clear, plus to keep in with the 10 minutes we have. We also choose to keep to a Powerpoint presentation and have 4 key sections, Intro - Context - Influences - Legacy. We will also continue to keep in touch through Facebook and e-mail to send through our work and research to each other. 

This was my section of research on the artist Geroges Braque :

Georges Braque ~ 1882 – 1963

Houses at L'Estague - 1908 

Georges Braque’s father owned a decorative painting business, which influenced his interest in art from a young age. He would follow in his father’s footsteps and take up apprenticing as a painter-decorator. However after moving to Paris, his friendships with Raoul Dufy and Friesz inspired him to paint landscapes. He later befriended Pablo Picasso and the two created the movement of Cubism I the years 1908-1914. After he returned home from serving in the Army in World War I, His art focused mainly on a still life subject as he wanted to convey a feeling of be able to move around a painting. Braques will always be remembered as a leader of Cubism, but his works that included the styles of Impressionism and collage leave just as much as an impression on art today.

Some of his most famous works include ‘Violin and Candlestick’ – 1910 and ‘Houses at L’Estague 1908’



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Update 25/11/2014 

Most of the group met up again to go over the presentation now that we had all gathered information over the weekend. We sat down around a computer and doubled checked that we did have all the information that we wanted, ready to then be finalized as a powerpoint for the presentation. Firstly we talked through the order of the slides and settled on a layout as such : 

Intro - Types of Cubism - Context - Artists - Legacy - Our own works 

We managed to get the bulk of the powerpoint done, asides from the final slides of the groups own works, because the paintings are still in progress. However, We were happy with the outcome and it shouldn't need many final touches. We then agreed to all make notes and/or flash cards so that when it will be our time to do the presentation, we will all have a section to talk about. We will also work out who says what slide when we meet again and have the completely final version. 

                                                       Example of the presentation : 

When the day came to present out work, some of our group were away, so we couldn't use the plan of one person per slide. In the end Nate in the group said he would be comfortable reading the slides while someone changed them as he spoke. I believe we did well in gathering all necessary information and presenting it in a clear way that was easy to understand. Our group worked well together and we did manage to get everything done on time. 


The finished version of the powerpoint will be uploaded separately as a viewable powerpoint when compete.

EDIT -
Powerpoint has been uploaded an is viewable on the blog :)
Just search for posts related to BCOP100 for the entitled "Cubism Presentation - BCOP"


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Sources used : 

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/cubism.htm

http://arthistory.about.com/od/modernarthistory/a/cubism_10one.htm

http://www.theartstory.org/artist-braque-georges.htm

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/georges-braque-803

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/braque.html

Reading the Visual

For today's task, we all had to pick out a book from a table. I choose this one as it one of the ones that caught my eye the most. We where then given sheets to complete, filling it with information about the book we chose. The book called The Queen in Hell Close, an extract from The Queen and I by Sue Townsend. 

 DENOTATION - 

The cover features a strong and bold complimenting red and blue amongst a off-white background featuring a black and white portrait of the Queen, most commonly seen on British banknotes worth £20 or £50.  However the extra addition of a tongue and what looks like ears or wings have been pasted over top of the image, giving it a gratified style. The style seems to be a mix between a traditional British piece and Punk-ish inspiration. The image as a whole is completely central on the cover and is pretty much symmetrical asides from the rough, ripped-like edges on the British flag. The line work of the piece is also very strong and clear, which allows the graffiti details to stand out from the protrait of the Queen, but not too much as to look out of place. The Background of the flag also helps bring the piece together and create a eye-catching cover. I also like how the typeface is that of a British banknote, as it brings the cover full circle and matches the portrait used. It's a fair mix of both traditional and contemporary elements. As for the texture of the book, there are no stand out textures, as the book is all a soft, shiny plastic coating, creating a softback. The construction of the piece looks like the was most likely done all through a digital medium, due to the clear lines and bold solid colours.

CONNOTATION  -
The cover was designed by D*Face and the original piece is titled "Dog save the Queen". This version of the book was published in 2005 under the "Pocket Penguin" line and part of the 70 year celebration of Penguin Publishing.  The visual style of the cover is quite punk-esque and rebellious, giving it a modern-ish to 70/80's look. It reminds me alot of the Sex Pistol's God Save The Queen artworks, which may have been an inspiration for this cover? The possible symbolism of this could be to show that the novel is about the Royals or maybe set during a time when punk was the fashion and alive? However, It also could be seen as a image to entice someone with a taste for political humour or those who are more open-minded to slightly more obscure stories that use powerful British people are their characters. 

After studying the cover for this time, I then decided to read the blurb, just so see if the cover image fits with what I think it could be about. This book is an extract from the novel "The Queen and I" in which the Royal Family are sent to live in a counsel estate. The back of the book also says that the writer is well know for her stories that "Satirize British life", which I think the cover fits really well to the story. The function of the piece would be mostly to catch the attention of people and give you a hint about what the book might be about.

I also wanted to find out more about this piece and the artist D*Face, this would also help find out how exactly the image was created and how much it may have cost. 

D*Face (Real name Dean Stockton) is a British Street artist who uses mostly spray paints, stickers and stencils for his works. The 'wing' like design that is seen on the book cover seems almost like a signature of his, as on most of his works there is a character or something with the same design on them. The original print for this cover is titled "Dog Save the Queen" and is actually a Spray paint and screenprinted piece, Sold off as part of a collection, with some pieces having different background colours or some with no background at all. The prices for this print can differ, ranging anyway from £800 - £1,700. The sizing of the pieces are also roughly about 24"x 35". 

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For the lecture part of today, we then had another sheet to fill out, firstly looking at objects and their meanings, how simple signs are universal objects that we can all understand i.e Apple meaning Health, Temptation or how a Rose means romance or love and using the colour red reinforces that meaning. 
The images and meanings from this cover how I see them : 

1. (The Signifier) Image of the Queen - (Signified) Royalty, British/English Culture, Wealth 

2. (The Signifier) Text the same as banknotes - (Signified) Money, Wealth, Worth, Riches

3. (The Signifier) British Flag - (Signified) British Culture, British things, Pride, Unity, Power

What elements of those signs suggest that meaning would need to be leaned and/or basssed on  shared cultural agreements? 

Linking everything back to things used only (or largely) in Britain/British culture i.e - A Royal family, British currency. Also learning through money and know that money is important and often times more money is seen as to be successful. The British flag however could be seen as a bit different, as although most people feel a sense of pride, there are those who would disagree and how their own feelings about it. 

Are there any elements to the design/illustration that look displaced from their original context? 

Yes, The British banknote portraiture of the Queen and the text in the same style that is found on a banknote too. They have been taken and turned into a new image for this cover. 

Can you find evidence of a "tone of voice" within the design/Illustration? 

This cover is very tongue 'n' cheek, a mixture of the British class system - posh and punk. It also has a laid back feeling to it with a humorous boarder-line political change.  

Is there a polysemic quality to the illustration/design where the meanings are open to a 'chain' of possibilities? Or are they close 'texts' where meaning is 'locked down' to limit the range of possible readings? 

I believe this cover is a more closed text piece than anything, because overall it give you the clear image of British-ness, Royalty and wealth, However the punk-ish themes also give you a hint of the novel hiding away a hint of turning all that around.

Finally, based on what you know of the book itself - from experience or from the blurb on the back cover - how successful is communication of the ideas/text within? 

I believe it;s a very successful cover, as it is indeed about the Queen/Royal Family and after reading the blurb, it states that they are living as common people, So the punk style elements help to break down the posh and proper way of life that the Royals would have been used to. Although, I believe the reason why it's such a good cover is because it still hints at things the book could really be about, even though you guess it would be about the Queen or the Royal Family, I don't think anyone would guess it would contain such a story! 

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I also wanted to wrap up the research of this book by looking at past covers. The original cover was designed by English Cartoonist and Illustrator, Martin Honeysett. The first publishing was in 1992 and by the company Methuen. This cover is very different to the D*Face cover in the way this one is much more simple and in my eyes, doesn't really give you any kind of hint as to watch kind of book this maybe. In fact, I actually thing this cover is quite boring and doesn't really make me want to pick up the book to find out what it's about. 

The other version of a cover I found was by artist Stephanie von Reiswitz. This was called the "Jubilee Edition" for the 2012 re-printing. This cover is much more likeable than the original and overall better at conveying the idea that the story is a more laid back, humorous look on the Royals. However, I'm not sure if I'd go as far as to say I like this version more than that D*Face cover.  






Another version of the blurb : 

When a Republican party wins the General Election, their first act in power is to strip the Royal Family of their assets and titles and send them to live on a housing estate in the Midlands. 

Exchanging Buckingham Palace for a two-bedroomed semi in Hell Close (as the locals dub it), caviar for boiled eggs, servants for a social worker named Trish, the Queen and her family learn what it means to be poor among the great unwashed. But is their breeding sufficient to allow them to rise above their changed circumstance or deep down are they really just like everyone else?   

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Sources : 


http://www.artcollectorz.com/artworks/artwork-detail?artwork_id=332&edition_id=437

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/prints-multiples/dface-dog-save-the-queen-5756761-details.aspx

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/121476221895?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&chn=ps&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108

http://www.opus-art.com/the-artists/artist/dface/artwork-1699/dog-save-the-queen-1232

http://soakyourbuns.com/buy-art/dface-dog-save-the-queen.html

David Bowie LP - Final Images and Finished Outcome

 When finishing up the final sleeve designs, I copied the same background for the back of the sleeve, however I wasn't sure if it might look better with inverted colours? The next three pieces were the different ideas I had. The first was just a plain black to match the front cover and inside design.

(Additionally I added the copyright information of the back of the sleeve that was on the original Lost is Love LP for a realistic look) 

I then inverted the colours, turning the black to white. I quite liked this look as it was something different but not so much as to look out of place. However, I then added a boarder as I felt the white seemed to wide and unfitting. The boarder I added was the same thickness as the top black boarder from the front cover of the sleeve. Even after this I still preferred the original just black design so that will be used as my final piece. It was good to see what it looked like inverted, as I did like the look of it, but just overall felt like the black cover looked better than the white. 

The Final inside cover was a simply mirror image of the boarder around the lyrics sheet. This was simple enough as I wanted the hole for the vinyl to be the focus of the right side. The design of the sticker will show through and look much better behind a plain sleeve design.

So the final design is as followed -

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To make the final preparation easier, I then made a new template, one that was 2 by 2 squares, each 18.4 by 18.4 in size. Each section of the sleeve was then dragged on to make the final piece that would then be printed out and folded over. Tabs on the edges of the top side and one closed edge would make gluing the piece together much easier and neater. No tab was needed on the size for the record as to allow the record to slide in and be stored in the sleeve.

( <--- To make sure I knew how the final layout should look, this was the rough copy I had to double check with)

The final image fit comfortably onto an A2 sheet, this also allowed enough room to fit the stickers as well.
All that was left to do was cut out and fold together!

Firstly, using a ruler and a bone file, the folds were scored to allow folding the sleeve to be much easier and accurate for the final outcome.

The best way to then cut the sleeve was to use a ruler and a craft knife. Using the fold lines that I left just around the edges of the design, I could cut a clean straight line that would fit perfectly. Also, not forgetting to cut around the tabs as well! For the circle shapes, this cutting tool was used to get a perfect circle as opposed to using the craft knife by hand. This tool was also much quicker in creating the clean circle cut.

The best way to fix the LP sticker to the vinyl was using stray adhesive. It's easy to apply and sticks to pretty much any surface. Finally, all that was left to do was glue the tabs and fold the sleeve! 

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This was the finished sleeve. Complete with vinyl! 

     


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I was really pleased with the outcome of this. I wasn't sure how happy I would have been with the outcome as I was working on it, mostly because I've never really done a piece so heavily themed with digital work. Even though the digital aspects were a little bit of a challenge and something new for me, I really enjoyed working with photoshop and Paint.NET. 

David Bowie LP - Love is Lost - Planning, Sketches and Edits

 After picking out a song title, the next step was to start planning and/or drawing ideas! First of all I had an idea for the song Dancing In The Street, which I did begin drawing a rough idea before I then found the song Love is Lost, which motivated me much more.

These were the paper pages I started out on. Naturally they were only rough sketches and ideas to get me started or to keep notes I could maybe use in later stages.

The eye sketch was an idea for potentially the LP Sticker or as a design for a side of the sleeve. I also knew quite early on that I wanted to have the majority of this piece done digitally, so that I could have any and all images edited to match and also to practice my digital skills. 

I also wanted to include the David Bowie/Thin White Duke puppet in this piece as the majority of the music video featured the puppet. I wasn't really sure how to go about drawing the puppet or how to get a wood grain effect, So when sketching the puppet, I tried a few things. Using simply just coloured pencils didn't look effective/detailed enough, So I then dragged the side of a fine liner lightly over the the paper. I really liked this look and on the paper I have it came out much more grain-y which was just the effect I wanted.

The black background and waistcoat were painted with poster paint and the blue of the eye was a Duck Egg Copic Marker  

I ended up doing the fine liner side strokes for the outcome. I was really happy with how this looked! Although it did take much longer than I thought it would. Any areas that had a darker or thicker line in the wood, I would either had more pressure with the pen or go over the same lines again, while still dragging just the edge of the pen nib over the paper.

After the face was finished, I didn't like how plain the hair looked, So I added a few strokes to make it a bit more realistic. With the drawing done I then scanned it to change the background black to a solid digital black. I was also unsure as to colour it yet or not, so having a digital scanned version without colour was good as a back up just in case, or to even use if I wanted to add the colour digitally. 


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For an example LP sticker, I googled around for Columbia vinyl records for a realistic base. Columbia records are the company that produced the existing Love is Lost LP. When thinking about the design of the sticker, I had an idea for a heart shape to take up the majority of space, drawing it like I did the puppet's face, but in the music video there was no image of a heart so I felt it would be too out of place, seeing as the music video was my main source of inspiration. I ended up going back to my first idea of using an eye, centre of the sticker. 

 Taking this drawing of David Bowie's left eye, I made a few minor edits until I was happy with the overall look of the eye. I still wanted this to look like a simple drawing and to also keep the paper texture in the whites of the eye. The only edits were removing everything around the eye, changing the brightness and then finally a green layer with the effects of glow and fragment. This just helped the green of the eye look much more solid and stronger. 

The placement of the iris over the middle hole of the record is what I want to achieve, the background behind the eye would then be either the same pattern/style as the back of the sleeve or a similar design. 

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Next was the editing of the cover. I had an idea to have a collage style cover, with both the drawing of the puppet and the photograph itself. Firstly I just tried playing around with the layers of opacity and overlaying the images. I really didn't like the idea of them overlapping so plainly, but it was interesting to see and try. Also, I wouldn't chose to have the final outcome like this because personally I think it looks too busy and starts to do your eyes in after awhile. 

This was a creepy after effect of playing around with the magic wand tool, the tolerance was set higher than usual but it still only seemed to effect the right side of the image. Changing the brightness down gave it a really creepy look. It would have been fun to play around with this some more, but overall a creepy vibe isn't what I was going for. 

I also wanted to see what the image might have looked like when inverted, but it wasn't at all what I was looking for. It was a interesting way to see the drawing though, but I just ended up seeing Christopher Walken as the terminator, Which was really bizarre but funny.

 After all the playing around with effects, I thought it would look best to have the drawing simple but bold. I also wanted to keep the drawing black and white, So that the drawing when mixed with the photo would stand out with no distractions. When thinking of different ways of mixing the two together I thought of having a collage/layered effect. So I started creating lines to divide sections of the face. I really liked the look of having one eye being the drawing and the other from the photo, so this simple framed look was kept throughout each idea. The first time I tried this was with the opacity of the drawing turned down to about 170% of 255 (The maximum limit on Paint.NET) 

 After looking through other LP sleeves/CD cover designs, I looked at Muse's first EP. I liked the simplistic style. I didn't start out with the Muse cover in mind, but it must have been unconsciously in the back of my mind as an idea, but when I found it I was quite surprised that I ended up doing something fairly similar.  The way the Muse cover was made was by drummer Dom Howard, photocopying his face. 


Playing around with the opacity of the photograph as well was something I tired. I wondered what it might look like if the photo was much duller than the drawing on top. It did seem interesting and did allow the drawing to stand out more, but on the other hand the photo seemed to hidden in the background, which I didn't like. I then tried to see what the piece would look like if I really did frame the hole eye area on the drawing. I really didn't like this look as it felt too busy and distracting overall. However, one thing I felt was right as adding back in the right cheek with the drawing.


I then brought the colour and opacity of the photo back to normal and full, and was happier with the over all look. I also had decided at this point that using the whole hair section from the photo would look better than the drawn section or halving the hair between the two.  

The other thing I then tried was removing the drawn section of the shirt, I wasn't sure as to if it might look best to have the majority of the face be the drawing and the rest be mostly the photo. I quite liked this idea and edited out the left collar and side of the shirt.

All in all after all the edits and trying things out, I was most happiest with this look. I liked having the separate areas as it gives the drawing more depth and just makes for a much more interesting image and eye-catching image. Next is to piece it all together and make the final layouts/sleeve! 

This is the finished piece that I will use for the final design of the sleeve's front cover.












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The lyrics sheet I want to use in the final piece. I wanted a simple design but I wanted to get it looking like the projections used in the music video of the song. I first started with a layer to make thick black lines for a boarder or frame that I then joined up with thinner black lines. I really liked the look of it with the thinner lines as it made it look more professional and mysterious. Next I made a layer behind the frame with a dark grey brush stroke around the edges that were then edited with a glow effect, fragment effect and finally a crystallize effect. This helped make the whole sheet look much more interesting. Also, with the background design, I can remove the text and use that for the other parts of the sleeve.  


The text was downloaded from Dafont - http://www.dafont.com/rough-typewriter.font

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I then started to make a rough gatefold sleeve, not to scale to see how I will go about making the final version of the sleeve. The gatefold will open up like a book and have the above lyric sheet as the "inside" on the left, with the right holding the vinyl disk. The most professional and effective way to make this would be by printing each section of the sleeve (front, back and 2 inside piece) as a 4 by 4 square, that can then be folded and glued down with tabs to secure the 'front' while allowing the 'back' to be open and house the vinyl. 

I really like the look of gatefold sleeves and can't wait to print everything out and have the final outcome! 

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