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Painting Term 1

Painting Week 8 – Crit

Full view of studio

During week 8 I was supposed to have my crit but due to technological difficulties on Blackboard Collaborate, I wasn’t able to attend the meeting for very long. This was a shame and so I made sure to talk to my tutor Tom so I knew if I was heading in the right direction. During my conversation with Tom, he said that he felt I was heading in the right direction and gave me some artists that he felt would be relevant to my work which I appreciated. He said that he liked my small board paintings and wanted to see me work outside of the typical A paper sizes as he felt this could be limiting for me.

I am going to take his points on board and make sure that I get it all updated in the correct manner.

My Statement draft:

For my project I am focusing on architecture in rural areas and exploring the ways that different uses of colour, detail and textures can affect imagery. I have taken different approaches to this project by working on a range of surfaces including paper, mdf board, card, and cardboard. I have also worked at a range of scales to see how this changes the outcome. I have enjoyed looking at a range of artists, both contemporary and traditional whose approaches to the way they work with materials has led me to make many informed decisions. Frank Auerbach’s work was helpful in allowing me to expand my uses of abstract colour and work that is based on uses of line. Amy Shackleton is a contemporary artist who focuses on the combinations of nature and architecture which has a lot of detail in areas yet is simple in other areas which I feel I have incorporated into my work in interesting ways. I particularly enjoyed the collage workshop as this allowed me to be abstract in a simplistic way which seemed more advanced than it was. I decided to make more collages going forward to generate ideas and approach collage using different techniques. I felt that my board paintings were becoming too limiting as I was being very precise working at such a small scale and so making larger paintings allowed me to make use of my studio space and have more freedom. I especially like the uses of mark makings and textures on the larger pieces and this is something I would like to continue in this project. I have worked in both an A4 sketchbook and an A3 sketchbook during this project to explore scale and how much detail is necessary in my work. A key aspect of my project is using colours other than blue for the sky which I feel is important as most people just associate blue with the sky even though there is a lot more to that if you take the time to look. I would like to combine some collages with painting to take it further and show how I have experimented to reach a conclusion. I feel like I need to get the right balance between detailed areas and simplicity and would like to continue my uses of subtleties such as washes of colour in areas that add contrast. 

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Artist Talks CPS

Artist Talk – Sam Francis Read

Sam Francis Read decides to include his middle name when talking about himself as there are a lot of Sam Read’s in the world and so he wanted his name to be more distinguished and unique. During the artist talk, he mentioned that he isn’t in touch with anyone from his BA degree. He is currently doing a masters course at Leeds. He liked the fact that if you search up your name into google and add artist to it, you usually find a landscape artist.

Sam Francis Read is an artist who enjoys working with memory and animated elements. His focus is on drawing and digital compositions that extend to print, sculpture and moving image. He likes to use imagery to show him new possibilities of collections of the rehabilitation of cultural detritus trivia and phantasmagoria, as these categories really resonate with him.

After he graduated from DMU, he went to Two Queens which is one of the best studios and artist led galleries in Leicester. He joined the summer school program and they helped him identify his unique voice. He got to exhibit his work in a small space which involved contemporary ideas of collected mythology. This is where his love of fantasy and niche media began. He made a woodcut which he explored a catastrophe of a post apocalyptic situation which was the reason for the inclusion of steel girders and everything being in black and white. He decided to branch out by including primary colours (blue, red and yellow). The use of primary colours in his work was evident in his solo exhibition at Collective in Nottingham. Since then, this has been renamed. There is a space called IK Sheds in which you are able to wear party hats whilst walking around the gallery, these hats also had a sculptural function. The hats had interesting pop colours and shapes.

Sam Francis Read Work

Sam Francis Read had an exhibition in Flat 5 which is another artist led space based in their front room. This isn’t very well known as they don’t publicize events a lot and so it is based heavily on social networks. You can apply for a residency there and it is known as the sofa residency as you are based on the sofa for most of your time there. Sam had a dual exhibition with Craig Parr focused on Blue Monday which is an allegedly depressing day of the year. During this time, companies try to sell package holidays to cheer people up. He wanted to turn this idea on its head and create an alternative to the holiday, getting away from the idea of what an holiday is. They called it Red Monday so instead if it being sad/miserable, they had a party in the space and the windows/signs were inspired by January sales due to the time of the exhibition, with everything closing down. They decided to use vinyl as this is usually the material in shop windows and formed machines for that. There were drawings and paintings on the wall and moving image which was the reason for projections. He enjoyed working with Craig as it was funny and an unsubtle piece of advertising.

Sam Francis Read Work

He did a project where he worked with found objects and took them apart and changed them. After he had changed the object, he then photographed it and uploaded it to google images which gave a different image result. He then edited the image in photoshop and made it so you couldn’t tell what the original object was anymore. He then drew from these images. This process was very creative and shows how you can look at one object in a range of ways.

Sam Read made clear the importance of working with other people in collaborations which is something I would like to do to better myself and have a lot of connections in the art world.

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Painting Term 1

Painting week 7 – Cardboard paintings and collages

In week 7, I decided to work onto cardboard to expand the materials I was working with and to see if I could incorporate more textures into my work as there are lots of textures in different environments and I feel that this is what my work is lacking. I also did more collages using the left over paper from the workshop in week 2 as I really liked the outcome of that collage and it could help me to try out more collage techniques such as ripping instead of cutting and different scales.

Cardboard puzzle painting:

Card board section painting

I took cardboard of different sizes that weren’t completely straight and applied a base coat of white onto them. I then started to paint a whole painting onto them so each section fitted together nicely. I took inspiration from the wood paintings that I did in the second workshop as they looked like they fitted together in areas even though they weren’t of the same perspective as each other. I liked the uses of different colours of each wooden board so I did the same for these cardboard paintings but made sure each one flowed into the next by having a small amount of the other colours from surrounding panels onto them. I added lots of detail to certain areas but then made other areas simple as this is an element I really enjoyed in my other work and I wanted to show a connection to help me create a body of work which I have clearly made informed decisions about. I feel the overall pieces are effective individually and work really well as a collection.

Progress picture

This is a photo of the piece as I was over half way done. I didn’t take a photo at the beginning unfortunately, but I feel that this demonstrates my thought process and how I was making sure to do pieces of card board that fitted together in a precise order to ensure they flowed together nicely. I made the top piece purely sky as I felt this would create a nice contrast and bring the piece together. I combined the different colours of the sky on this piece to again show the flow.

Zoom in 1

I decided to make the end piece mostly black and white to provide a contrast and add an area of simplicity to contrast with the brickwork that was added. Though the bricks aren’t uniform and perfect, I feel that this portrays how materials in environments, particularly man made ones can become worn over time.

Zoom in 2

This is a zoomed in image of the card board puzzle piece to show the details and the textures of the pieces. Though these took me a quite long time, I did paint them standing up using Ruth’s feedback from my tutorial which allowed some of my brushstrokes to be quite loose and add a sketchy element that I really liked.

Zoom in 3

I like the blue piece a lot as it is quite eye catching but I also like the bottom piece which is a lot more realistic. The brickwork on this piece took a long time but I feel it paid off and it isn’t too overpowering, more subtle which I like.

Zoom in 4

I felt this side of the piece were more abstract than the others and I didn’t add a lot of detail which I feel paid off, though maybe adding a bit more detail would help with the flow of things. I feel that I relied too much on black lines which I am going to try and avoid in the future as this could be seen as too overpowering.

Zoom in 5

The red section is definitely the most sketchy but I feel that this adds another texture which works well overall. I like that the texture of the cardboard shows through the paint as this adds another element that is very effective. I like that I added a bright yellow section and a pastel colour section as the different tones/colour palettes combine nicely so the work is abstract yet still quite realistic. Deciding not to add blue for the sky was an important decision as I am trying to capture the idea that the sky isn’t always blue.

Collages:

I decided to do more collages like the one I made in the first workshop as I feel that this piece was really interesting and allowed me to create layers and uses of line that were effective. I wanted to explore making smaller collages to see the way that scale could affect the process or the final outcome. I also wanted to use different techniques in these collages than I did for the first collage, such as ripping the papers instead of cutting them and using 3d effects possibly to experiment fully.

Collage 1

This is the first collage I did which is approximately A3 sized. I used the same technique as my first collage by cutting the coloured paper but I made it a lot more simple. I like the way the colours and shapes work together to create really interesting pieces.

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CPS

CPS Week 6 – Planning

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Painting Term 1

Painting Week 6 – Sketchbook work and preparation

During enhancement week I took the opportunity to continue to build up work in my sketchbook with different compositions and proportions. I tried to capture different effects by using a range of colour combinations and uses of line/detail. I tried to make some more simple than others to see the ways that it could impact on my work, which also related to the artists I researched at the beginning of this project. I also decided to start working onto an A3 sketchbook rather than the A4 I had been working on to push my work and not limit myself.

Pink sketchbook painting

This is one of the first paintings I did in my sketchbook during week 2 which I decided to build up on more using a pink colour palette. I especially like the atmosphere of this piece and the way that it is still a captivating image with a pink sky rather than a blue sky. I again like how areas of the painting are really detailed while the other areas are fairly simple as it creates a nice balance.

Simple sketchbook painting

This is another painting I did but I decided to go for a more realistic colour scheme to see the ways that it impacted on the overall effect. I feel that I could work onto the sand area more to make it more realistic but I like the simplicity of this painting.

Bendy road painting

I decided to work on another previous painting to build up areas and add important details to make the painting look more effective overall. I like the way the yellow lines on the road contrast with the greys. This painting is simple yet intricate which I really like.

Beach painting

This is one of my favourite paintings as it has a lot of detail and is very realistic. I like the fact that the blue sky isn’t fully blue, it has a wash of another colour over the top which adds more to the painting. The individual brick marks took a long time but I feel they really work with the overall composition. I would like to make more paintings like this but on a larger scale so that I don’t limit myself. Doing it on a larger scale will also require less precision so I can be free with my application.

Boat view painting

This is a painting I did of boats in the sea with a view of buildings in the background. I really like the way the sea has a lot of movement and texture compared to the other areas. I decided to make this painting quite realistic as I didn’t want to push myself too soon. Again this painting is quite simple in most areas yet looks more complex overall when all the elements combine.

Town painting

This is a painting I did of a view of a town in St Ives which has a lot of detail and weird angles of buildings. I like that I did this painting quite detailed in comparison to the other paintings as this was important to do to generate a range of work. I like that the blue sky isn’t a typical blue and the fact that it has other tones in it to build up layers which I really enjoy in my project.

I also got told that I will be having a crit on the 27th November which I need to display my work in my studio and take a maximum of 8 pictures and make them into a blog post to do an online crit with three students from the class. I also have to write a 400 word statement about my work to give people an insight into my practise.

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CPS Professional Development

CPS – Professional Development Post – Teaching

I have always been unsure of what I want to do after University but I have considered becoming a teacher afterwards, most likely at GCSE level or higher but I’m not entirely sure. I decided to do some research into what becoming a teacher involves and research into some educational courses which could benefit me in the future.

https://www.planitplus.net/JobProfiles/View/431/121#:~:text=To%20become%20a%20secondary%20teacher,Diploma%20in%20Education%20(PGDE).

Responsibilities of an Art Teacher:

  • Encourage children to develop their skills and express themselves
  • Teach lessons, write projects, demonstrations, discussions, workshops
  • Involve the uses of different mediums
  • Prepare assignments, exams, continuous assessment plans, marking work, creating reports
  • Keep good order and deal with misbehaviour/handle discipline
  • Administrative work such as conducting registers of pupils
  • Prepare for and attend parent-teacher meetings, staff meetings
  • Supervising out of hour events or outings
  • Meeting with other departments to plan interdisciplinary projects

Conditions:

  • Working in a classroom, workshop or studio
  • Average working hours are 35 per week, working within the classroom from 9-3.30 and then making up the rest of the hours with planning and marking
  • Preparation and planning may be necessary to do in the evenings or weekends
  • 13 weeks holiday each year but a lot of this would involve planning for next term
  • Work evenings to attend parents evenings, staff meetings and extracurricular activity
  • Teaching is mentally and physically demanding.

You need to have:

  • An interest in how children learn and child development
  • Patience and adaptability
  • Confidence and enthusiasm
  • An assertive approach when necessary
  • Good organisation
  • Positive outlook and a sense of humour

You need to be able to:

  • Encourage students and hold their attention
  • Be independent and work as a team
  • Stay calm under pressure
  • Get on well with others

To become an Art Teacher you need a degree in Art and Design based subject, GCSE grade C/4 in English, Maths and a science based subject, and a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE).

I decided to apply to a teaching advice service that gives me advice about becoming a teacher and teacher training as I felt this could provide me with more information regarding teaching and possibly reinforce in my mind that it is what I want.

Update on the phone call – During the call I was given some advice as to what courses to look into for when I finish my degree and encouraged to email if I had any questions or needed any help. They even gave some interesting tips as to what to write on my application form and in my personal statement to demonstrate my passion in helping others as well as my passion for the subject. As I’m not too close to applying yet, I wasn’t assigned a Teacher Training Advisor but I was encouraged to call again nearer the time so I could have more tailored advice.

https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/lp/crm-prepare

https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/explore-my-options/postgraduate-teacher-training-courses/teacher-training-courses

Teacher training courses will offer:

  • Qualified Teacher Status that is needed to teach as a qualified teacher
  • Classroom experience in at least two schools, 24 weeks of school experience
  • Training to meet the Teachers Standards, including classroom management and make your subject accessible to students
  • Expert academic and practical guidance from mentors/tutors

To fund teacher training I could receive a tax free bursary of £26,000, tuition/maintenance loans and could also earn a salary whilst training.

For Art and Design teaching, the bursary isn’t available but I will still be able to get the tuition and maintenance loans to cover the costs.

To find the right teacher training course:

Tips on choosing the teacher training course:

  • Do your research – once you have an idea of the courses available, you can start researching individual providers in more detail via their websites or by attending a teacher training event. 
  • You can also find out more about individual schools using Ofsted’s inspection reports, compare and contrast official university undergraduate teacher training course data at Unistats.com, and get greater insight into completion and employability rates from different training providers in the initial teacher training performance profiles report.
  • Use your school experience – gaining school experience will help you develop a better understanding of the different options that are available, and the teachers you meet may be able to tell you about other training providers in your area.
  • Remember, if you need to commute or relocate to be able to undertake your training, it’s important to consider the logistical and financial implications. For example:
  • the cost of public transport and length of commute; do you know where your chosen providers’ placement schools are?
  • what are your accommodation options if you need to relocate, and are they within your budget?

Since signing up to the Get into Teaching website, I get regular emails inviting me to attend Virtual Teacher Training events which I feel is really helpful as it will allow me to have more understanding of what is expected of me if I do become a teacher and hearing other people’s experiences will be beneficial.

Within the process of applying for a Teacher Training course, I will have to write a personal statement and arrange references which I will ask the helpline for advice about if I do decide to take the teaching route. I feel that this research has been really helpful as it has opened my eyes to the different routes I can take, and as I have always been uncertain about the future, this helps to settle my nerves. I am hoping to get a job doing art as it has always been something that I have loved.

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CPS Professional Development

CPS – Exhibition update

In an email I got informed that the exhibition which I applied to starts from the 2nd of December and features my work on the website. I made the prices of the work fairly low as they are small pieces and didn’t take much time. Since I haven’t sold my work to people who aren’t family or friends before, I was unfamiliar with the process. I am not too fussed about if they get sold or not, I am just happy that my work is included in this exhibition as it feels good to have my work out there in some form.

My work in the exhibition

Seeing my work on the website is a really thrilling experience and I look forward to searching for more opportunities in the future. I am glad that I have more experience I can put on my CV as it was quite bare before.

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Painting Term 1

Painting Week 5 – Large Scale Developments and Artist talk

From the feedback I got from Ruth last week, I decided to make some large scale pieces where I was free to use my whole body and didn’t limit myself by sketching things out in pen first but instead used the paint itself to plot in what I wanted to do and get my proportions right. I feel like it will be a good idea to explore both black and white pieces as well as colour to inform my work and make sure it is as interesting as possible. This will also help me create a body of work and show how I have developed my ideas by making informed decisions.

Large scale bubble wrap piece

This is a large scale bubble wrap painting I did to explore incorporating more textures into my work. I began with an A1 piece of paper which I decided to add sections of various sized bubble wrap to. I then used a palette knife and applied paint over the top. I like that I was quite free with the way I applied the paint and how it picked up on the textures of the bubble wrap. I wish I would have added more detail to certain areas but I feel the limited colour palette worked quite well.

Palette knife large painting

This is another painting I did using a purple and pink colour palette as an experiment with palette knives and a drippy background. I liked using bright colours for this piece as I feel that it relates nicely to the artists I researched during the first couple of weeks of this project. Using palette knives in different ways allowed me to create interesting layers and textures which was effective.

Oil pastel painting

This is another painting I did where I randomly applied autumnal colours of paint onto a sheet of A1 paper and then used white oil pastel over the top. I like how simple this one is and how the white lines are only clear in some areas as it means people take more time to look at it. I feel that I could continue to work into this with layers to create more contrast and areas of interest.

I also looked at my board paintings collectively and took photos of them in different arrangements where each painting linked to others in some way. I felt that the paintings looked really good together and gave me ideas of how to develop my work.

Arrangement of board paintings

This is one of the arrangements I came up with. I especially like the ways that some of the paintings seem to link up in terms of imagery slotting together at the right points as it makes it seem like it is a complex puzzle of the same area. I also like how certain paintings relate in terms of colour and technique. This also makes me consider how the different paintings are of different perspectives/angles of the same place and how they work together.