Large scale

I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to try working on a larger scale to loosen up my drawing style, so this week I bought a roll of wallpaper and some tester pots, and spread myself out on the studio floor. I carried on with the theme of repetition I have been playing with recently to force myself to paint the same thing over and over, which was very freeing as it made me focus on the medium rather that being precious about the visual. I think I will try to work on a large scale more frequently as I like that although the images look messy, once they are scaled down and put into prints they will retain their interesting texture and details. 

I used the leftover paint to create coloured sheets to collage with, in the style of Mark Hearld. I find I often limit myself to working with just watercolour paints as they are always to hand, but I have enjoyed trying out other paint techniques as I have discovered a different way to incorporate texture into my work, which will bring some much needed life into my otherwise often flat, boring imagery. 

Left: Mark Hearld collage, Right: own collage

Repetitive photography

As part of my attempt to push my use of techniques, I decided to play around with photographing objects in different patterns. I have found physically playing with elements has been a good way to think about my print layouts in a more inventive way. I also think I have been limiting myself to just old objects, whereas collections of mundane objects are just as intriguing, and may be a good way to bring a different angle to my work in the future. 

Narrative

Left: drawing, Right: Plate from Preston Museum

Narrative is something that has been mentioned a lot in my tutorials but I have really been struggling to work out how to incorporate story telling into my designs. I was inspired by some antique plates to tell a story through portraits combined with images, so I drew a few of my friends and their belongings in the style of the plates I was inspired by. I think these were successful as they give you an insight into the person in the centre of the image, but the limited colours prevents it from looking too confusingly busy. 

Left: Plate from Bowes Museum, Right: plate design.

Organising by type

In the project so far I have just been drawing which ever objects take my fancy, but I wanted to try picking motifs specifically for a print, rather than just hoping that they would go together as an after thought. I carried on my watercolour/collage technique here to give myself a limited colour palette, and found organising objects by type (such as animals) a good way to create a coherent set of objects, which gelled together well when I dropped them into a practice print layout.