Kingston University: Print Project, Power of 3

For this semester, our rotation of Print, Photo and Collage projects are based around the theme 'Power of 3', which we can interpret in any way we like.

I chose to use religion as my starting point, where the number 3 crops up in many different religions. One of the things I found very interesting is a procedure in Islamic faith called Wudu, where you would wash your hands, arms, face and feet 3 times each, in preparation for formal prayer. I also love the pattern found in Islamic architecture and textiles, which I used as inspiration to start this project.

I decided to use lino-cut this time for my process. I've never used it before, and I was really keen to try it out. It's so incredibly versatile, and I have already bought two other sheets to continue within my own work! I also mixed it with monoprint, layering different colours and splashing white spirit onto the plate to get a texture that might say water or purity. Then I cut out three different stencil designs to print through!

This time, presentation was also very important, and so I decided to lay my final prints on the floor in the direction of Mecca (approximately... my compass on my phone was a little suspicious...). The critique went well, although I am going to change the pattern, because displayed like this, they look too much like tyre tracks! Overall, extremely happy with the outcome of this project, am really looking forward to the next ones!

Kingston University: Drawing Day 15, Location Drawing, Fashion and Textiles Museum

I was initially going to go to the Sewing Machine Museum, but in finding out it was only open on Saturdays, I decided to go to the Fashion and Textiles Museum last minute. It was a really great decision, and I'm really happy with the drawings that came out of it. I have a lot of plans for drawing about fashion, which I will be keeping you posted about soon, I promise!

Kingston University: The Extraordinary Book Club.

We were given a list of books to bring in for an unknown purpose. We were welcomed to the Extraordinary Book Club, and challenged to make an extraordinary book. We were teamed up in pairs, and I was lucky enough to be paired with Linnea! We discussed the nature of our books, and decided to make our books come alive with papercuts and shadows. 

We were really pleased with how they turned out, and we want to continue through the book and hopefully animate it! We shall keep you posted.

Kingston University: Drawing Crowds

We had a short two day project with Ben Newman as a visiting tutor. We were challenged to build a location and put a crowd within it. I found this project really difficult, as it requires such planning that I personally find so difficult to visualise in a small version... it's such an important thing to conquer though! I think that's why the animatic project didn't work out perfectly, having that distinction between a rough and a final thing, and how many times do you plan in between?? Don't underestimate it, it's very hard, and crucial! So in the struggle, I'd started the second day with very little, and so my piece was whipped out in about 3 hours! Mine is the second down, with roller skaters in the supermarket.

Kingston University: Drawing Day 14, Kensington Gardens and Science Museum

Our second location drawing took us through Kensington Gardens and then through to the Science Museum. I think I put myself through a bit of a hard time, and I didn't get the drawings I wanted out of it... Sometimes too much pressure on yourself is just too much! Drawing crazy kids running around is pretty difficult, but one must persist! Hopefully I can get some practice in somewhere for drawing moving people.

Kingston University: Drawing Day 13, Grant's Museum of Zoology

Our first stop for this term's location drawing was Grant's Museum of Zoology, which is a part of UCL. Although everything inside is alot like the Huntarian Museum, the way everything is placed in this museum is totally different, and I feel like it makes for a much more interesting place.

I got some new colour pencils for Christmas, so I decided to see what I could do with them! I'm not sure how happy I am with this set of drawings, I feel like I only like the last one. But I'm challenging myself to create something at a higher level, and from my assessment, I lacked context... So I'm trying, I promise! 

Foxcroft and Ginger: Cafe Crowds.

In an attempt to improve my drawings of people in 'real life', I popped into a cafe on Berwick Street for a good few hours. A lot of them started to get suspicious, but I don't think I caused any offence, I hope!