Using our memories!

 As mentioned previously, the summer gave a nice window of time to go out, have fun and then look back on the times longingly as we pack our bags the night before- fortunately I returned to some exciting stuff involving what I had collected over the summer- the journal and the box both had a role and will continue to have a roll throughout the project. Firstly the box, we videod ourselves explaining the meaning to some of the more important items in the box, how they link to artists we have already explored (particularly Warhol) and where the could possibly take us in our project, I was very particular about which items I chose to discuss as I have already thought about which ones could have more potential outcomes and exciting properties than others.

 We then wanted to do a more practical exercise involving our work from the boxes. We 'unboxed' them and set them out onto a table in a way similar to a still life.

 I was not overly impressed with the way my items looked when laid out, I had experimented with various compositions and this was probably the best formation I could create. Having realised that my items aren't particularly exciting looking from such a camera angle I wanted to experiment with that as well, I decided to take a few more pictures from angles which made my items look more dynamic. 

 From these angles I found a much more refreshing view of my items, I was able to appreciate them for their photographic potential and wanted to work on this further. I was fiddling around with focus and perspective trying to find the ultimate composition and angle was no easy task.

Eventually I came to a conclusion about a photograph, boom- that was sent off, printed and put on a light board. We then traced it with fine liner and the results from that alone were quite interesting let alone what we planned next.

Having fully traced it with fine liner the possibility of a hyper-realist photograph were looking plausible, we decided upon it and got painting right away....

Started blocking out and adding slight details/tones

I was finding the idea of a hyper realistic piece even with the trace a difficult task to achieve in paint as I had a lot of small

text in my photo which was very difficult to paint regardless of the size of the brush, the details were simply too intricuit. I used a fine liner to capture some of the more fine details, (including objects in the photo, which are drawings in fine-liner) 

The finer liner along side the acrylic helped achieve an acceptable level of accuracy on my behalf.

I had difficulty with the sudden change in tones of the spray can when I was blocking out so I just decided to try and paint it there and then. 

 By which point the prospect of photo-realism was looking unlikely however the idea of representing my holiday, my summer, in an almost narrative way reminded me of a very ronowned artist who works in a similar way. 

 Audrey Flack, pioneer to photo-realism and a main inspiration for this work, her idea of creating a visual embodiment of a specific period in her life within a painting was very similar to what we were trying to achieve. They were similar in the varying degrees of objects and meanings as well, from fruit, to candles and photographs, flack makes no massive or obvious effort to only include things which would be obvious symbols, but instead bases her judgement on her personal experience involving certain objects, and we tried to approach that the same way, looking at something symbolically, rather than physically allowing my objects to range from glow in the dark tatoos, to notes from my mum about how much trouble I'm in! 

               One of Flacks creations;

 I have noticed however, a difference in the painting angle that Flack and I have approached this. Browsing through her work I can see a recurring pattern of this aerial view angle, which is probably very useful in being able to capture everything she wants without unnecessary levels or complexity as well as being successfully able to record a narrative story. I on the other hand found myself (as mentioned previously) quite unamused by my objects from above therefore started experimenting with various angles until I could find one which would do my objects some justice.