Project Perfection: Part Twelve

Practise and Final Pieces - Hooray!

 Well, here we go guys, Finale! I can't express how happy I am with my prints. Obviously, as practises, they're not all great, but some are truly wonderful outcomes! 

I managed to create quite a bundle of practise pieces for my project on 'perfection'. This excited me as I'm glad I had a good run through with the screen printing and experimenting with different colours to know which goes best with what.



I've managed to fit in a double page spread of some of my practise pieces (the best, I think) which show the effectiveness of screen printing most suitably. I've enjoyed doing this so much, even though it is time consuming to say the least, and not to mention the lectures I have missed to try and get the most out of it. Towards the end, I have to admit I was getting tired of washing the screen every time I needed to change a colour to print with, but that's part and parcel of screen printing.

For my finale, I decided to include Pistoletto's idea of tissue paper on stainless steel, so therefore, I have included his brilliant artwork into mine by using faces of 'Emily' I printed onto tissue paper, cutting them up and then placing the onto 4 round, plain, small mirrors. I decided to go with the blue paint, as it was the clearest. The facts were next: with this I chose the Gold colour I experimented with as it definitely shows over the blue and has a lovely shine to it. Also, it looks all blitz and glamour-like, which fits in perfectly!

I realise now, doing a personal issue for a project takes great guts and perseverance as well as hard work! However, with all of that, I'm so glad I chose to do this issue.

That's it over and done, thanks!

Liv xo

Project Perfection: Part Eleven

Emily+Facts - Warhol Style Preparation!

My previous post was about Warhol's Marilyn Monroe and how I was going to use it for inspiration for my finale! Well, now I can say I'm in the motion of doing just that, by taking one of my 'Emily' photos from my first photoshoot, then editing it on photoshop to nine faces and furthermore printing them onto acetate to then be put onto a screen for me to hand print with different colours.

I've also been looking at statistics and facts during my project about size and young girls in particular. I think if i included these into my prints by printing on top of the nine faces, it would add extra seriousness to the topic and oomph to the prints!

I've been gathering facts and statistics relating to size and models from different websites, in which I've copied onto word, to then print onto acetate and put onto a screen, like the nine faces I've done. With this, I can experiment with contrasting colours to the nine faces and see how well the text goes onto the faces and which colours and mediums to use.

This seems like such an easy yet complicated process but I think it'll be work it, as I've always wanted to know how to do at least one type of print, so I can use this again in future projects. I just wish I had discovered it last year, but It's come in great use with this project as it kind of reflects the whole idea of 'making up a face' as it would be.

Liv xo

Project Perfection: Part Ten

Andy Warhol vs. Andy Warhol 

 Andy Warhol's work has such amazing qualities, I want to take some of his ideas and use them in my work to lead towards my final idea. I love 'Marilyn Diptych', to the left, as one side shows her bright, alive and a vibrant iconic figure whereas the other side is black and white showing her demise, and the fact she's still a well-known figure but has faded through the years.

The image to the right, Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe, is going to be, I've decided, my inspiration for my basis of my final idea. I'm going to use the idea of the nine faces in one picture and instead of copying Marilyn's faces, I'll be adding in my chosen face, from within my photoshoots of this project.

Hopefully, I'll put the nine faces onto a screen, in order for me to print in lots of cool, different colours. I'd like to try a metallic colour. Maybe some blue's and golds. Colours which can stand out and also be mysterious. I want to have fun with experimenting this part of my project because it as a whole is quite a serious problem in today's life.



Liv xo

Project Perfection: Part Nine

Review Pages!

What I have enjoyed & Ideas of my own

Well, I have plenty of pages throughout my book that I can officially say I love, like and dislike. The collage, distortion and ink/print work I absolutely loved and thought was cool. I didn't quite enjoy the drawing side of things (as you can probably tell by lack of) or the composition. My review page, however, includes (can't remember right now)

My set of favourite photo's of Alice

 What I'm going to do.

I'm planning on basing the start of my final idea on Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe work as it fits in and works wonders.Then I'd like to add in Pistoletto's idea of tissue paper onto stainless steel and print. I think I could make something very powerful with print to top the project off.

Warhol

Pistoletto

Liv xo

Project Perfection: Part Eight

Can't Have Enough Contextuals...

At the last minute, I decided to add in three more relative contextuals which could be a big influence toward my final piece and also crucial to portray woman's posture, gaze and appearance - reflecting body image.

                      

Sarah Jones - The Sitting Room

 This is a large, square photograph portraying a young woman gazing off into oblivion about something 'disturbing and unhappy', slouched over with her hands in her lap. I found this photograph showing several emotions, including sadness, loneliness and emptiness.

                         

Michelangelo Pistoletto - Mirror Paintings 

Three Girls on a Balcony, 1962-1964

 Woman Lying Down, 1962-1967

These two mirror paintings caught my eye, not just for composition/position/subject etc, but because of the mediums used and what way they are used to create this divine effect. Three Girls on a Balcony is the main piece that attracted my attention, due to the left bottom hand corner where you can see the photographer so you realise then that it's actually in fact not a straight photo; it's tissue paper which is painted then placed on stainless steel. It's such an unusual, imaginative method of art.

               

         

 
   
Sarah Lucas - Self Portrait with a Mug of Tea 1993

This self portrait is demonstrating the opposite to the stereotypical women. Her positioning of how she is sat and the way she is holding her mug along with the cigarette in her left hand, which isn't a 'ladylike' thing, all suggests a rebellious woman, a man's profile. I wanted to include her and this exact piece of artwork as it has great meaning to my project through a women's stereotypical style.





All three artists have produced some beautiful pieces, I've just picked the pieces which most relate to my theme and project.

Liv xo

Project Perfection: Part Seven

Alice...

Photo shoot number three is up and ready to roll! My friend Alice volunteered to be my personal model for a few hours so I could take a few photos for me to work with.

With iPhoto and Photoshop, I've been able to create certain styles like vintage and old Victorian, along with changing adjustments like saturation, tint, hue, contrast, shadow/highlight and size. I feel pleased with the outcome of the two contact sheets I've produced and am going to enlarge some to stick separately in my book, along with other enlarged photos of Alice; one which is an image overlayed with another produced by my camera (Nikon D5100) which gives great effect.

Monochrome with Pink other half

 Also, I have created my own (kinda) editing process by covering half of a monochrome print of Alice with half of a pink print of the same image! With this, I managed to produce two, both of good standard but with different adhesives so they're both different outcomes.



 


 I've added in a few drawings of Alice (as my drawing recording (which I hate) has been on the down low recently) in numerous mediums such as ink, white pen and pencil or just pencil on brown/white/silver and black paper/card.



  I've produced a double page spread of my other Alice photos which are of my ink/paint screen printing and just normal coloured ink with different utensils and mark-making. This is in the style of one of first contextuals I looked at; Richter.
Below! 

I really do think some are exquisite, so I'm hoping to expand on them and involve them or something similar further on!

Liv xo

Project Perfection: Part Six

Body Image Dove Campaign and Collage...

Body Image is such a delicate subject for some. For others it's a here nor there matter. I don't know if I've said this yet, but I chose this project because it's a very personal topic to myself, as I have an ongoing problem with my body image and appearance. 

 I know it's become a big issue in the media and that has an effect on the young generations of today. I've decided to add in bits from media sources to show the effect it has on people. 

I've done a double page spread on the Dove Campaign, my own photoshoot showing I understand the Dove Campaigns work and a collage of magazine cut outs of how 'perfection' is portrayed with a special 'body image' report.

 The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty shows a powerful youtube video of reality in the fashion industry and how perfection is achieved. The fact it shows a 'before' and 'after' is a real insight to editing and technology usage for billboards, magazines, fashion shoots, posters etc. Therefore I decided to shoot away and use myself as a model with make-up to produce a similar routine with a beginning and end picture.The video of the little girl and the caption 'talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does' as well as the little girl having the smallest bit of lipstick on, makes such a drastic effect! Click this link to watch the video :) - Beauty Pressure

My magazine collage is mainly capturing phrases and images related to positives and negatives of body image and what beauty has become. I've highlighted/marked the bits that I find are significant to the project. Phrases like 'girl meets boy' can be saying that women are trying to dress/look more like men - a male kinda' style! The picture of Beth Ditto and Kate Moss hugging is a good representation of people's view on 'imperfection' vs 'perfection' as Beth is not the norm for the beauty industry and Kate is a model. I've added in bits and bobs from the Guardian's Body Image Report - 'Uncomfortable in our own skin' including phrases and facts about the industry and the effects it has.

  Dove Evolution - Click this link to see 'perfection' in the making!

Have we created an unattainable image of perfection?

P.S. This is a little video showing photoshop.

The photoshop effect 

Liv xo

Project Perfection: Part Five

Woodman's work

Emin's work

      

Emin and Woodman Style...

Okay, so Tracey Emin and Francesca Woodman are officially inspirational individuals! I found them so peculiar yet so fascinating to look at, as they're completely different artists but give a great presence through their work.

Emin's work is based on part autobiography, part creative expression. I love the fact she has based her ideas on reality and some of the events she's been though have been reflected in her work. 'My Bed' is just one big portrayal of life through Tracey Emin's eyes. 'Everyone I Have Ever Slept With' 1963-1995 is a very bizarre yet courageous piece as she is displaying her sex life to the world to interpret without any proper explanation. It's just wow!

 Francesca Woodman is a black and white photographer, mainly featuring herself, portraying young women who are naked, blurred, merged within their surroundings or whose faces are obscured. Her photographs exhibit many influences from symbolism and surrealism to fashion photography and Baroque painting. 

They're fabulous, each to their own.

Liv xo

Project Perfection: Part Four

My next decision is to look at Deborah Turbeville as a contextual, seeing as her work is very black and white, empowering and classic. I like everything to do with the way she creates composition with her models, the expressionism of the sensuality and sophistication. It's liberating! 

 Her work fluctuated between fashion magazine and art gallery, never staying with just one or the other. Her photo's either blurry, grainy, scratched, marked or sellotaped with pure intent to look at them in a non- American way. It's not obvious fashion photography!

My Cousin

I've used my cousin as my example to play around with, in the style of Turbeville's work. I've selected parts of her face to work with, mainly her eyes, and over layed a coloured print of her just her eyes onto a monotone print of her face. I've done 3 of these, each with a different type of adhesive/sealant - masking tape, behind the monotone print with glue/double sided sticky tape. I then decided to cut out the eyes altogether and write in the word 'eyes' to show what would be there. This is an example of what someone wouldn't like about themselves, so an easy way of showing that idea is to just write the aspect which is hidden.

'She captures the sensuality and sophistication of a woman as only another woman can'
- Donna Karen

Liv xo

Project Perfection: Part Three

It's safe to say I'm enjoying the project more as I go along, whether it's because it's a personal choice of topic for me I do not know! I've finally finished photo-shoot number two! (along with my edits and the awful mugshots of myself) I've also added a page on composition as I find this section hard and thought it would go perfectly as the images related to the shoot.

You can't probably see as well, but the above image is the original and the image to the right is the edited image I did on iPhoto.

This is just a taster of what I have managed to do with the resources I've been able to get my hands on. I hope to develop my editing further, throughout my project.

'Til next time!

Liv xo

Project Perfection: Part Two

My drawing of my cousin

Well, so far, my project isn't going too badly, but I need something which will give it a bit of oomph! I've compared both Arnulf Rainer and Gerhard Richter and done my first photo-shoot, which was of close family members, along with observational drawings.

My collage based on Kruger's work

To bring the book to life, I've just finished my comparison of Barbara Kruger against John Stezaker as I love both of their work. I can't put my finger on what I exactly love about Kruger's work, it may be the trademark red border, the meaningful captions she adds to her images or the messages each piece of art creates. 

Stezaker's work has more of a dreamlike effect as he uses two unrelated images to re-discover the meaning of its original state. I did a few interpretations of my own, but haven't quite finished, as I want to create something powerful!

I'll leave you with a quote about one of the artists I've looked at so far...

'With John's work people spend up to five minutes on one piece, looking and looking again'

Liv xo