Self Directed Statement (so far...)

I have decided to develop my previous project but look at using different painting styles such as oil paints. The topic of my project is blank expression, within this I will look at using light in my work to create depth and seriousness. The main media I want to work in is oil paints. I want to capture people of guard and then turn these photographs into paintings. Creating sketches and experimenting with different materials I hope that these will inspire my paintings. I want to experiment different back grounds using oils, such as dripping like some of my previous water colour work. I previously looked at Sally Manns ‘face’s series, which inspired me to photograph people off guard. Some artists I have also looked at are Andrew Salgado and Dan O’connor. To develop my work from here I want to experiment more with oils, working on a larger scale and loosening  up more with my technique. 

Drawing Statement (so far…)

Continuing on from the ‘journey’ project, I wanted to look at making things appear different to the viewer. I started looking at disjointed art work, and it inspired me to cut up my own drawings and then use them to create other paintings. I started looking at artists such as Eric Olsen, who did a series on paintings on a block coloured background and then painted the faces in separate thick strokes. Sometimes you couldn’t make out the face, but by the shape you could tell it’s a portrait. I want to be able to create something similar with my own work. Another artist I also looked at is Andy Denzler, he’s paintings are almost like distorted photographs, he uses different textures and blurs to do this. To progress I want to take more photographs to draw from and paint/draw from the experiments I have created so far. 

Drawing Presentation

Nick Rain

My drawing presentation is not on an artist that draws, I struggled to find an artist/drawings which linked well with what my journey project already consisted of, also not being able to go on the London trip or visit galleries I started searching the internet. I came across a photographer, who may not be a drawing artist, but his images were really thought provoking and had a real meaning, not something that could be made up. Each photograph had a disturbing story behind it, and you could see this from the expressions on the girls faces, the pain that they were hiding. They made me instantly want to look further into the images and find out more about the subject. Many of the images were from over 10 years ago, but it doesn’t stop the emotion from the portraits.

Nick Rain did a series of images from different parts of the world; they were an assignment and part of a project to Combat Trafficking in children and women. The photographs are all in black and white, and are portraits of young girls/women who are trafficked by ‘pimps’ for prostitution, some of the girls look younger than 10 years of age. Not all of the photos are about the prostitution; some are about children who are trafficked for other reasons, such as begging. Some of the photographs are also just about poverty in men and women, the jobs they have to do to get buy, the places they have to live in and the things they have to see and live with for the rest of their lives.

The fact that these images are in black and white makes them even more effective, they make you focus on the person and nothing else around them, and it makes the photographs look darker and more depressing. The images draw you into the girls eyes, and makes you question about their life, and it’s even quite hard to believe. The photos show a scary real life.

After finding these images I researched into the photographer more, he has been on many journeys, and travels, including some of the places that I have included in my work. Although as a photographer of his travels, I didn’t find the rest of his work anywhere near as interesting as the project he was involved with. Art is supposed to draw in an audience, make them think and question, his series of images for the project definitely do this even if they were for something completely un-related to art.