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