Moving into 3D

It has been good to see some of the relief work you have produced this week, many of the grey card constructions are really sophisticated pieces. Strong photos of this work will look great in your portfolios in 12 months time.

The next challenge is moving fully into 3 dimensions to create a free standing sculpture. Obviously what you have learnt from creating the relief work will be vital, but there are a host of new things to consider as well. Here is a brief guide to a few of them:

BALANCE: The visual impression a sculpture gives to the viewer can be altered radically by how the piece is supported, pieces that are balanced on a few small points of contact with the ground tend to look more dynamic (for example the Eduardo Chillida piece below), whilst a sculpture with a large heavy base tends to give a much more stable, secure impression.

Eduardo Chillida

TENSION: Related to balance, this can refer to visual tension created by the impression that a structure is unstable. It can also be a reference to physical tension created by construction techniques, for example in this piece by Naum Gabo where the interconnecting wires are tensioned between the more substantial elements:

Naum Gabo

WEIGHT: This can refer to the physical weight of the sculpture (or elements of it), but more commonly would be used to describe the "visual weight", so a chunky solid volume (see the David Smith piece below) would tend to have more weight than a delicate linear element such as the wires in the Naum Gabo sculpture (above).

SPACE: The elements of a sculpture interact with the space that surrounds them. Space is the unspoken part of any sculpture. Making interesting spaces between the elements of a sculpture is as important as the elements themselves. The way Deacon's open construction below allows your eye to move through the piece above is a good illustration of this.

Richard Deacon

VOLUMES/PLANES: These are elements of several of the sculptures illustrated. Some like the David Smith piece are constructed entirely from Volumes, others such as the head by Gabo or Alexander Calder's "Canine" rely exclusively on planes of material to create the sculpture. Interesting work can be created by combining volumes with planes and even linear elements such as those employed by Gabo.

Alexander Calder

David Smith

Naum Gabo

REPETITION: This is a useful way of making visual connections between different areas of your sculpture or adding visual emphasis and can be seen in the multiple globes in the Anish Kapoor piece below.

Anish Kapoor

CONSTRUCTION: This is vital. Whether sculptures actually stand, connect, balance and stay intact is dependent on how effectively they are constructed. With your own work you will find that measuring, cutting neatly and utilising joining techniques such as slotting and interlocking should minimise the need for glue and help you towards the best possible work.

RHYTHM: In the same way that the abstract paintings we did in the first project had "Visual Rhythm" the same is true of 3 Dimensional Fine Art work. Directional elements can be used to lead the eye and repetition can create visual relationships. The steamed wood sculptures of Richard Deacon are a particularly good example of this.

Richard Deacon

SCALE: How we relate to sculpture is heavily dictated by its scale. Our reaction to a delicate piece we could hold in our palm (such as Tim Hawkinson's bird made of nail clippings) will be very different to how we respond to a piece such as Anthony Gormley's towering "Angel of the North" which is set on a hill top looming over Newcastle.

Anthony Gormley - Angel of the North

Tim Hawkinson

SURFACE: The materials sculptors choose and the textures these give to their work play a major role in how we, as the viewers, respond to 3 Dimensional work. Consider the contrast between the highly polished metallic surfaces in Anish Kapoor's piece compared to the steam treated wood in the second Richard Deacon piece illustrated.

Autumn Term Insight Reflections

To complete your reflections go to your Insight Home Page and open the "student reflections" tab - this will open a box into which you can type your thoughts.

So how am I doing? Let's think...

To kick off the termly review process we ask you to consider how you are progressing, what is going well and what more you can do to improve your performance.

So what things should you consider when you are writing your reflections? Say anything you regard as relevant, but make an effort to cover the following points:

• Reflect on how the start of the course has been for you? Are you enjoying the work? Do you feel settled at College?  
• Think about the work we have done this term (Colour, Tools, Alphasemble) and discuss some aspects of your work that you consider to be successful, explain why.
• Improving is about identifying areas of your work/approach where change is going to be beneficial. Point out at least 2 aspects of your work you will target to work on in forthcoming projects and explain what practical steps you intend to take to address these areas.

These could be things like: Your Attendance/punctuality; Your Observational Drawing; Your willingness to experiment; Your research; Your Focus in the studio; The presentation of your sketchbooks; Your time management skills/meeting deadlines; Your skills with specific techniques (such as PhotoShop).

• What are you looking forward to over the rest of the year? Are there areas of Art and Design we haven't touched on yet that particularly interest you? What are these? 

3D Construction Techniques

Basic cutting is a skill. Get the right tools - cutting mat, metal ruler and a sharp craft knife. The Grey card needs to be cut in layers, cut a light groove as a guide and then follow this with subsequent cuts. Do not press too hard or try to cut through in a single attempt - this leads to shoddy cutting, slips and accidents!
Cutting directly on tables ruins your knife, the tables and again makes slips more likely. Ensure fingers are well away from the blade at all times and not over the edge of the ruler!

Scoring

Partially cutting through the card (scoring) is an essential technique for creating neat bends, folds and curved forms. To create a curve scored lines need to be made at regular intervals and then flexed on the outside of the form.

Scored Arch Form

Tabs are a great way of neatly joining forms without resorting to glue. If you must use glue minimise it and try to keep it hidden.

Tab Insertion

Slotting forms through one another is another effective joining technique, if slots are exact and fit snugly then the need for glue is avoided.

Slotting

Be aware of health and safety issues when using knifes and hot glue guns, injuries from these two items are probably the most common first aid incidents in the department. All avoidable with some care and common sense!

Alphasemble Project Update

PhotoShop Letter Overlays (with inverted sections)

So you have all (nearly) survived your first half term on the Art BTEC at Alton :) Hopefully half term will offer you (and the staff) a chance to recharge your batteries, but you do need to make sure you are up to date with your current Alphasemble project when you return. Mostly this is a case of finishing and presenting the work we have done so far in class effectively, but there is some additional research and photographic tasks we want you to do to. 
So by Monday 30th October the work you should have completed is:

• At least 2 really effective full page linear compositions based on your letterforms - these shouldn't include tone or colour so they can be photocopied and worked into with other media.
• 1 or more carefully built up A3 tonal/pattern based compositions developed from your linear work - use pencil and biro or fineliners.
• Photocopier inverts of your tonal pieces.
• At least 1 colour collage piece created by combining 2 or more "colour conversion" copies of your tonal work.
• 2 pages of well presented thoughtful research into Jasper Johns (number/letter work). Include at least one sensitive visual response. 
• A gold card plate cut and printed with the prints and plate mounted into your sketchbook.
• At least 2 printed out PhotoShop letter compositions, experimenting with layers, opacity, colour etc.
• Several other colour experiments with your letter compositions e.g. Food Dyes and bleach, spray stencilling, paint, cut paper collage.

Optional extra tasks you might include if you want to extend your work:

• An acetate collage, using cut photocopier experiments, along with other papers (newsprint, brown paper etc.) to fill spaces in your compositions.
• 2 pages of research into a second Artist/Designer who works with letterforms in an innovative way (e.g. Michael Craig Martin or David Carson). Analyse some specific works in detail, provide brief background biographical information, quotes from the Artist, a visual response ...you should be getting familiar with the drill!

Half Term Tasks (not optional):

Sample photographic Alphabet

• Complete a photographic Alphabet. Find or create letterforms in the environment around you and record them with the camera. Pay attention to the aesthetic aspects of each of your 26 shots (lighting, composition etc.). Present these effectively in the sketchbook.

Frank Stella, relief sculpture.

• Also in preparation for the 3D phase of the project produce 2 pages of research into the 3D relief work of Frank Stella, the work we will do after half term will form the visual response, but you need to build an awareness of his techniques. You should be getting familiar with the format of research - you'll need brief background information about the Artist for context, good reproductions and analysis of some specific works, offering your own opinions and referring to formal elements such as technique, colour, form etc. 

ALPHASEMBLE - First Tasks

Following the project briefing things you need to do before your first lesson in the new project are:

• Choose 5 letters and 2 numbers (these could be from your name/date of birth or just randomly selected), try to get a range of different characteristics in the letters/numbers - curved, straight, open, contained spaces etc.
• For each of these 7 characters find 5 varied examples (35 characters in total) find your examples from a range of sources - e.g. Font websites (see links in project brief below), magazines, newspapers.
• Cut out/print out all these letterforms and bring them to your next session (a large envelope is a good way to keep them together).

Jasper Johns 

• You should also complete 2 pages of research into the letter/number inspired works of Jasper Johns - try to find a range of his images in this style, so ideally some drawings/prints and some paintings.
• As always with research consider layout carefully, keep pages busy and visually stimulating. The written content is also important, provide a brief section of background information about the Artist, but make sure you go on to analyse individual works in some detail.

You will need an A3 sketchbook for this new project. Either softback stapled @£3 (you might fill 2 of these) or hardback ringbound @£8 (one should do it).

TOOLS PART 2 - Evaluation Guidance and Submission Checklist

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF SKETCHBOOKS is 

4.15pm MONDAY 8th OCTOBER.

In your sketchbooks the following work should be present, please annotate your pages with some brief notes about the techniques you've employed, if you have additional experiments please include them:

• At least 1 sustained pencil drawing of your tool completed from direct observation.
• A series of thoughtfully lit and composed photographs of your tool, include wallet size images  of your whole shoot and print the best shots at A5/A4 and put in sketchbook.
• Other drawings of your tool in your sketchbook, these could be in pencil/biro/fineliner/pencil and tippex pen, 
• At least 1 good monoprint.
• One or more Gold Card plates cut and printed (present plates and prints in your book).
• 2 images produced through creative use of the Photocopier - e.g. Inverts/Colour Overlays/Colour Conversions based on your existing drawings and prints.
• Minimum of 2 good Food Dye and bleach pieces (working into photocopies of existing drawings/prints).
• Several spray stencil experiments, layering and repeating your motif to create interesting compositions.
• Heat Transfer experiments.
• Research into Jim Dine and Florian Nicolle (see earlier post for details).
• 2 Acetate Collages (at least one worked into with sewing machine).
• Spray Paint Artist research (see earlier post for details).
• 400-600 word, word processed evaluation (see guidance below).

• If you had any work that was incomplete from Tools Part 1 then this MUST be finished and included. 

EVALUATION GUIDANCE
In order to pass this project, you will need to write a short evaluation.  This should clearly define the processes and techniques you have investigated, as well as outlining any high moments and low moments.

•    Begin by giving a brief outline of the project – describing what you were being asked to do. Talk about why you selected your particular tool, what design and drawing opportunities did it offer you? What visual qualities appealed about your tool?  - mention specific shapes, colours, textures, surfaces, details etc.
•    Talk through all the different processes you encountered, keeping it brief & informative, which were the most successful in your view, & how have your existing skills been extended in the process. Use the checklist of techniques above to ensure you cover everything.
•     Talk about the artists you researched (Dine, Nicolle, Banksy etc.) why they were relevant and how you used what you learnt about them in your own work.
•    Reflect on how you worked throughout the project, did you manage your time well? 
•      What things might you have improved upon? 
•     What have you learnt about the way you work best and how you approach tasks?
•    To make your thoughts clearer within your evaluation  please include images from your sketchbook that help illustrate your answers

Tools Part 2 - End of Week 1 Update

We are coming to the end of the first week of the Tools Part 2, where we have been concentrating on working through a range of techniques. This weekend you should spend some time presenting and briefly annotating the work you have done so far in your sketchbooks.

A checklist of what you should have for the project so far is included below:

• Well presented research into Florian Nicolle (collages) and Jim Dine (tool drawings), thoughtfully presented over at least 4 sketchbook pages and including sensitive visual responses to each Artist.
• A series of dramatic photos of a single hand tool - print out contact sheet thumbnails of your whole shoot and include some of your best images (4-6) printed at A5 or A4.
• A well finished sustained piece of tonal drawing from your tool (full page).
• One or more good carbon print images based on your tool photos.
• Any quick sketches completed in class (not sure if both groups have done this).
• 2 Acetate collages, at least one of these should be worked into with machine stitching.
• 2 or more layered spray stencil experiments and developments from these using colour inversion on the copier.

As extension work it would be good to add diversity to your drawing by experimenting with other media, e.g. expressive ink work, fine liner or biro sketches.

Next week please bring £2.50 each as a contribution to materials for the project (the Spray Paints are the main specialist resource we need to fund), Thank You.

Techniques we will aim to cover next week are: monoprinting, gold card printing, heat press and PhotoShop image manipulation.

Tools Project - Supporting Research

For homework you need to research the Artist's detailed below, refer back to the post below (on Hockney's Joiners, for tips on structuring the written content and presentation of research). You should complete this work by Monday 1st October  at the latest.

Two pages of research into the Tool drawings of Jim Dine and the same for the mixed media collage work of Florian Nicolle - find good reproductions of their work, give a brief bit of background information about each Artist, provide some analysis and personal opinion on at least 2 specific images by each of them and make at least one visual response of your own to each Artist's work (this should be an interpretation of YOUR TOOL in the style of each Artist, not just a copy of one of their images).

Jim Dine

Florian Nicolle

Homework Drawing Task

To complement the work we are doing in class you should make a sustained full page pencil tonal drawing working from photos taken of the still life arrangement. You should aim to spend 4-5 hours on this drawing and complete it by Wednesday 20th September (it will be assessed as part of your project).
Select a good photographic image that is relatively complex (probably best to get something from a different viewpoint than your chalk and charcoal drawing). Set your composition out carefully with a B/HB pencil in line then add a range of tones using softer pencils (2B - 6B), make sure your darkest tones use the full depth of tone you can achieve (press hard).
This should be a sustained piece that shows off your drawing ability to the full, you might use a rubber to help you pick out the highlights.

Photographic Joiners

Don't forget to bring cameras/cameraphones/card readers/download cables in with you today (Thurs. 14th September).
You will also need to ensure you have some printing credit (or bring money to put some on your student card).

A few tips for when you do your photo joiners:

• It helps to take your photos all from approximately the same position. Move the camera to capture different sections, rather than wandering around - otherwise you may end up with a set of very disjointed images.
• Whilst you are going for a fragmented look if you vary the zoom or viewpoint too much the whole thing quickly becomes incoherent.
• You will be surprised at how many photos you need to make an effective joiner, as there is inevitably some that aren't useful - I'd suggest a minimum of 30 shots.
• I found when working at A3 scale (for final joiner collages) that selecting the "Wallet Prints" option from the printer wizard was the most effective - this gives you 9 images on an A4 printed page.