Freedom

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Today we got out freedom project which consists of our interpretation of freedom and how we want to present it at our exhibition at the church. so that it fits in with the Magna Carta, our sketch book will be 63 pages long just like the Magna Carta, and will be 10cm by 10cm, our final piece will come from this sketch book. we started by making a mind map of what freedom is and what we are free from today. things such as the freedom to vote, free education, marriage, race, gender an a freedom to think our own thoughts.

 

today we went to the church to see where we was going to have our work commissioned and exhibited, we also had a talk about the Magna Carta. we then went to the civic to ;look at the propaganda and protest art work exhibition. it was really inspiring to look at as even though there all about different things you can see he story behind them and some of them had a really large effect and were hard hitting. I think that most of the artwork in the exhibition were really clear as to what they were protesting against and all really eye catching which is good as propaganda should be eye catching and abstract.

we then had a talk about the holocaust as the people in the holocaust were not free as they were discriminated and killed because of there religion, race, gender, age and disability as well as health. we had to do and exercise about our thoughts and our initial reaction to some of the artwork about the holocaust. we then had to do a group activity which involved rolling newsprint out along our table and we had to draw some thing that represents that the holocaust was not free and our thoughts on the holocaust. we had to do this in mixed media so I did my part in watercolours and I painted a synagogue on fire as this was the Jewish place of prayer and the Nazi burnt them down. we then joined everyone's art together by drawing barbed wire as this is what the concentration camps restricted people getting out.

  This week I started my 63 sheets of paper as well as planned it out and got a final idea planned out. I started by doing a front cover and the started with sheets on the Magna Carta and king John of England as he is the one who originally signed the declaration. for this subject I used pencils, mono printing and water colours of tracing paper so that it wrinkled and looked old, I then wrote out a segment of the Magna Carta.

I them moved on to slavery and the freedom of slaves. for this I did Abraham Lincoln and a quote, as well as an image of slaves doing work on tissue paper for this I used gouache paints, so that it wouldn't rip the paper. I also took a picture from a propaganda poster of a lock that is also a fist and cut it out so that its added a nice effect. I then did some collaging and some quotes. I did slavery because its a huge part of life as now coloured people are no longer slaves and have the same rights as everyone else.

The second subject I did was women's right as I feel as though it is a huge moment in history women getting rights as many women campaigned and fought to get the rights that we have today. for this and to represent the women I drew Emily Davison, the women who threw her self under the king horse and got fatally injured doing so. this was a huge moment in history so I drew her as well as using a fine liner to do a memorial poster that was used after the incident. I also did the classic poster of a women showing her muscles, for this I used coloured pencils. finally I cut the female symbol out of the paper with a fist, but them I diced I didn't like it so I stuck it on a black piece of paper to layer and add effect. I then used fine liner and water on graph paper to do another poster of a wife, mother and voter. I think that when you use water to make it ink bleed I think that I leaves a really good and finishing effect.

I then moved on to the freedom of speech, I chose to do this because everyone has the freedom to speak what they think and now we have the freedom to do it, where as in the past its wasn't allowed. so for this I did Nelson Mandela because he was imprisoned for speaking his thoughts and it is because of him tat people have the freedom to speak freely. for Nelson Mandela I used water colours in blues, reds, yellows and black as I think that they contrast each other well and have a really good effect. I also did some propaganda posters using pencil to draw a girl with tape over her mouth and well as coloured pens to do a poster. I also used cotton so sew into the sheet to sew a microphone with a bird in it to represent freedom of speech.

For my artist research I did roger Simpson who isn't a well known artist and I found him on the internet, but when I found his work I really liked it because I like how his watercolour painting have a really messy look and the paint is almost blobbed on the paper which I think looks really effective. I tried to interpate his technique into my Nelson Mandela.

the second artist I chose to look at was Marion Bolognesi, she is an expressionist and illustrative water colour painter as well as an accessories designer, she also receive a BFA in 2003 for her expressionist art, I chose her because she is another water colour painter that I really like because of the colours she uses, I think that she uses bright yellows but then uses dull blues, reds and black, I just think that it looks really effective and the colours contrast each other really well which makes it look I think better then it should. I just think that the colours shouldn't go but they do. I also like how it give quite a sombre look while not looking to dark. I also like how she only does some of the face and not all of it, I think its mysterious as you don't know what the rest of the person looks like and its leaves you questioning, I find it really interesting and clever.

The third artist I looked at was Hannah Hoch who is a German dada expressionist artist who does a lot of collaging I really like her collaging as they are all disfigured and surreal looking which I find interesting because its like a story behind each one. she used old magazines, illustrated journals and fashion publications to create collages about society at the time a lot of which were fro Weimar Germany in 1919. I think that her collages are really creative and effective. for my interpretation for her collages to represent freedom of speech I cut Nelson Mandela in to two and stuck the centre of a propaganda picture behind it so I looked and had the idea of hers.

 

Evaluation: I was please with what I finished this week as I finished all the subjects I want to do and I am also happy of the different amount of techniques I managed to fit into the ones so for, as well as the amount of sheets I have don't. if I was to do any of these again I would do the hand sewing one again on my freedom of speech as you can really see the bird as it blends in too much. I also think that I need to start shaping my paper differently as they are all squares at the moment and I think that some need to be different shapes.

 

This week I decided to start with the freedom to donate organs, I chose to do this because I have strong feeling about this as people now have the freedom to donate organs to help save peoples lives that need them and there's not many people doing it. so for this I stated off by collaging a heart and then I decided to do some posters, I started with acrylic paint to paint a picture of a woman with a jigsaw piece missing and some one giving her a piece. I then used gouache paint on tissue piece to paint a hand taking someone's heart, I then drew some lungs, one healthy and the unhealthy one dropping off. I then moved on to the donation of bodily fluids like sperm and blood because again people need them. I started by doing a cartoon of a sperm bank and a NHS poster of  blood drop with a mother and a baby in it.

This week I started by doing the freedom to be a soldier, I chose this because in the past men didn't have a choice to go to war and women weren't allowed whereas now both men and women have a choice. for this subject to started by linking both my soldier freedom and my blood donation freedom by doing a propaganda poster of a wounded soldier saying 'your blood could save him'. I then moved on to draw some soldiers as well as some female soldiers showing that both genders can be soldiers. for this I used coloured pencils to get the right colour greens for the camouflage as wll as doing some rough sketches.

 I then chose to do some artist research on Vincent Van Gogh, as I drew a soldier writing a  letter home in the drawing style of Van Gogh, because I am a fan of how he draws his pictures but then really presses on so that you get a big bold block of colour. I think that It adds really good effect and I think that it makes the image look rough and unattended which I like. Vincent Van Gogh is a Netherlands drawing and painter in the post impressionism movement. Gogh used oil paints to paint with but I like his drawing better than his painting as I think that his drawing are really detailed and rough looking but elegant at the same time.

I then moved on to do the freedom of travel. I chose to do this one because technology has changed so much through the years and not only do we have better transportation like planes, boats and trains to get places we also have the transportation of space travel as well which is something we didn't have the freedom to do in the past as we couldn't. I also chose it because certain people didn't have the freedom to travel and move but now they do. for this I painted some landscapes for places I had taken photos of and used water colours for them as well as acrylics. I also did the Hollywood sign which represents the freedom to move and follow your dreams as LA is where 'dreams come true'.

 

the next subject I did was the freedom to gay marriage. I did this because in the past and even now in some countries its illegal to marry the same sex which I think is wrong as its irrelevant what gender they are, as long as your in love. for this I cut into the paper 2 men holding hands in tuxedos and I cut out 2 women and stuck them on to another piece of paper I like this because I think that it explains it really well, just two people holding hands...of the same gender. I also used coloured pencil to colour in the gay pride flag with two wedding rings on it. I used a black biro to draw interlocking female symbols as will as interlocking male symbols.

 The next subject I did was the holocaust because this took everyone's freedom from race, gender, age, disability and religion, I think that its a huge subject and that a lot of people died for the freedom we have today. for this I did some propaganda posters as well as drawing Anne Frank as she is a really influential person and she was very brave for what she did. I used water colours to paint barbed wire which turned into a flower as well as a concentration camp road. I then used gouache paint on tissue paper to paint the Jude sign.

My final subject was the freedom to have a dream. I chose this because every body has the freedom to have a dream and have an aspiration no matter how big or small it is and for this I did the two people that I think had dreams and did something big to prove that they are there. I used brightly coloured water colours to paint Martin Luther King Jr for his dream for equal rights and I used white pencil on black paper to draw Rosa Parks who was imprisoned for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person. her dream was to be treated equally and she did something to prove it, and now we have equal rights.

 

Evaluation: I am really pleased with what I have achieve as I have finished my 63 pages and now I can focus on my final piece. I think that if I was able to do it again I would have spent more time on certain squares but other that that I a happy with my out come.

today I sewed my 63 squares together to make a bunting so that I can present it at my exhibition. I used black cotton to sew it together so that the cotton wouldn't stand out too much.

 I made my canvas today. I started by giving my measurements to the wood work tutor so he could make the frame. my frame is 122cm by 85cm I then went down to textiles to get some canvas for the canvas and I stretched the canvas, I had to get help as I wasn't able to pull and stretch the canvas as well as staple it was well. when It was stretched I used white emulsion to coat the canvas giving it a better texture however when it dried I decided to add an extra coat as it dried patchy.

This week I started my final piece I started by using a soft pastel to draw my deign on to the canvas however I did it a bit wrong so I used a darker pastel to go over the lighter one. my final design is a human x ray of the skeleton of the neck to the pelvis but with the organs in it, to represent the freedom to donate organs. I decided to do my bones cold colours like white and blue and my organs warm colours like reds and oranges. I stared by painting the organs when doing it I found that its easier to blend and make the colours on the canvas instead of in the palette. I was happy with how my organs turned out as I think that they are all bright enough with out being so similar that they are all the same colour. I also find that if you wipe the excess paint off your brush on to the canvas when hers barley and paint on it, it adds a really nice effect.

I then moved on to the bones, the original idea was to have an x ray like picture however when I started the bones I found that the look quite boring so I decided to add more blue into it, and by the end it didn't really look like an x ray, however I don't think that's bad as I think that the bones look better blue, as the organs are hot colours and the bones are cold colours. I found that it was easier to add the white last as it blends the different shades of blue together aswel as adds the hollow effect.

 

 

for the background I did a colours chart of different colours that I had made, including my own black and asked for peoples votes on it. in the end it was a decision between dark grey and a dark burgundy. I chose the do the grey that way if I don't like it I could have gone in with the burgundy. I chose to stick with the grey.

when It came to doing my background I found the grey was to dark so I added where paint streaks into it and I really like the effect that it gave of the different streaks of white, grey and black.

however when it was finished I found that the background was very distracting, as you looked at the background more that the actually skeleton and organs, so I went back in with the dark grey and just did random large patches with it as I still really liked the scribbly background so I didn't want to get rid of it completely.

Evaluation: by the end of this week I was very pleased as I managed to finish my final piece and my 63 squares before the dead line. I am pleased with the turn out of my bunting however I am still not sure that I like the background of my final piece as the background at the moment I still think is too busy but I think that a plain background will be too boring.

 

I chose to do organ donation because it is a subject I feel strongly about as it is something that is needed greatly in the world but very few people are donating, even though we have to freedom to. I feel strongly as I has a family member who had failed organs and I feel as though his life would have had a better quality with new organs. I like the idea that even though your life is over you can still create a new life by giving someone a life with our organs.

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/med/study/ugr/mbchb/societies/medsin/archive/organdonation/ (organ donation card picture).

to be an organ donor all you have to do is fill out a form on paper or online, and chose which organ you would like to donate if not all of them. the process is simple once you've died and the doctors have properly checked you and done a brain stem check or organs will them be checked to see if they are compatible with any person in waiting, and if so your family is notified to see if they are still ok and if so an operation takes place. however you can not donate if you have had cancer that has spread in the least 12 months. got an untreated infection, or got a condition that effects the nervous system and can cause brain damage.

 

 

Final major project Evaluation.

For my final major project I decided to do the freedom to donate organs, I chose this as It is something I feel strongly about as lots of countries don’t have that freedom and even though this country does have the freedom not many people are doing it. For my research I found it hard to find primary research as I don’t have accesses to x rays or organs. However for secondary research I mostly used the internet to get my information and pictures. I found it easier to find propaganda pictures than real pictures as some of the real pictures were a bit gruesome for my project. For my artist research I looked at Van Gogh, Hannah Hoch and Marion Bolognesi for these I used their own websites, I chose these people because there work interests me, I like Hoch’s collages as they are surreal but look really effective and unnatural which interests me. I chose Bolognesi because I really like her work as it is colorful and abstract but I really like have she old draws some of the face and not all of it, I think that it looks really mysterious as though there’s something else to the person. Finally I chose Van Gogh because I really like how he uses his pencil really dark on his drawings. I like the heavy look of the pencil.

I think that I managed my time wisely as I managed to get my 63 pages done in a suitable amount of time as I did it a category at a time. The content of my 63 pages include: slavery, female rights, freedom to be a soldier, to travel, to speak, same sex marriage, donate organs, bodily fluids and blood. I chose these because I thought that these are the main points of freedom that needed to be explored because it is something that we used in our everyday lives, I then used cotton to sew them together to make them in to a bunting, for these 63 pages I used a wide range of media, things such as acrylic paint, water colours, hand sewing, pencil, colored pencil and collaging. I also managed to finish my final piece in time as it only took me a few lessons, my final piece is a ‘x ray’ of a skeleton in blue and white paint and then the organs in hot colours, I did all of my canvas in acrylic and I decided to do it large scale as it was 122cm x 85cm. I then moved on to development sheets I started by doing a colours chart of different back ground colours that I could have potentially used, as well as drawing and painting some hearts so that I had a rough idea of what they are like and the colours. I then did some of my final idea designs in different Medias as well as using tracing paper to add effect of drawing organs on the tracing paper so that the skeleton underneath looks like t had organs in it. I chose to focus on fine art for my final piece as I wanted to do a canvas and use acrylics so that I could do my bones and organs properly. I found that I enjoyed painting on the canvas and that I prefer fine art over the other workshops.  

I am happy with the outcome of all of my final project as I think that I have got my point across about organ donation and all of the other subjects in my pages, however if I was to do it again I would have taken more time to put more details on the organs such as the lungs and heart I would also have added more intestines. I think that the background would have been better off plain but then I think that it would have looked boring so I am happy with my half plain half scribbled background.