For my final unit, number 13 I bassed my project on "symbolism in lyrics". Through the project i was looking into art based on the image you picture when you read or listened to the lyrics of a song, how the song would make you feel, what certain songs meant to people and how people would interoperate lyrics differently, this i chose as my project as my passion for art is very strong but my passion for music is some what stronger as music helps me feel good and motivates me to get through the day and perform to the best of my abilities. I also wanted to use the 3D workshop in my project to create a final piece in the workshop too, thinking about a guitar body with etched in lyrics or maybe a sculpted body with other 3D elements to the piece as well. Through the project I worked on my sketchbook through the weeks. My sketchbook I wanted to work on every week bit by bit but as the project went on other parts like sheet work and experimentation became more of a priority as these would show how i had progressed through the project and how my theme and work had developed and so my sketchbook was neglected for a while but i made it a priority in the remaining few weeks and made it a good standard showing different techniques and ways i had used media through out the project. If i were to re-do my sketchbook i would spend more time on it through out the project adding it little by little each week making it fuller and filling it with more techniques and experimentation from my project through the weeks.
Through the project i produced primary research from my time at the music event "the carnival of madness" where i took pictures of the crowd, how the atmosphere from the arena made me feel and how it effected the show. Further primary research was asking people what thier favourite songs and lyrics were, songs and lyrics that were special to them that held a memory of a favourite time or place that they are reminded of when they hear the song or lyrics. For my secondary research i looked into different genres of music from which people had given me in my primary research, ranging from heavy metal bands like "slipknot" to dance and club music like songs from the artist "Ella Henderson" and different CD covers from these artists albums, along with typography used in the album covers and how the different fonts represented the different styles of music.
Through my research I developed my painting skills using acrylic and watercolour paints in my critical studiesfollowing the styles of artists such as "Debrah Hurd" an American artist who's work was based around musical artists and instruments shown with vibrant colours to represent the feelings of thier music. For example her piece of "Bob Marley" with vibrant pinks reds and yellows to show the joy expressed in his music, or the artist "Mike Shinoda" who is in the band "Linkin Park" as well as a free lance artist in his spare time creating his own signature guitars and his own graffitti work, this work I chose to do critical studies on in acrylic paint and pencil to show a variation of media as well as using bold lines around each drawing or painting to make the signiture area of the piece stand out and to keep the style of the artist in with my work. Other artists i used pencil and charcoal to do my critical studies with like "Chris Wick" another american artist who's work is based around typography shown through portraits like his piece on "Rocky" the film, his work was done through computer aided design programs such as Photoshop and Illustraitor, seen as though I didn't have time to learn about these I drew them and painted his work in media that looked as close to the designs as posible. Another artist I chose was "Dan Mumford" a british artist who's work was also created via computer aided design programs. His work i chose to use as his designs have been displayed and used for rock music covers and album covers for bands such as "A Day To Remember" and "Miss May I" his work I chose to do in paint and pencil too to show a range of skills i could show and to keep the artist style in would use his bold, jaggard like shapes in his work to make it his individual style.
In my designs I took forward the bold outlines from "Mike Shinoda" to create my portrait/t-shirt desings and i took the idea of "Debra Hurds" bright colours to symbolise the music and feelings i would portray along side "Chris Wicks" typography idea in my portraits to create the ideas that would symbolise the poeple in the protraits and the lyrics they chose. These artists i chose as they influenced my work through looking at thier different styles and how they used music and portraits in thier work and how i could use thier style and incorporate them in my work by adding my own little twist to the styles as well as making the art my own.
In my development the main 2 ideas I developed were my portrait/t-shirt design and my guitar design. My guitar was my main final piece as it was my 3D piece where i would explore different techniques and machinary in the 3D workshop, this was influenced by my love for music and instruments and how i wanted to create something that would look old and rustic, something home made. The constraints for this 3D piece would be the machinery I would be able to use in the workshop and the amount we would be able to do with in the time I had and my t-shirt designs would help me explore more in the textiles workshop, learning about the heat press machine and how it all worked, this was influenced through me wanting to develop my skills in textiles and try out different processes through creating t-shirt designs of me and my friends. The constraints for this would be the amount of tshirts and designs i would be able to print due to the amount of money I could spend.
Through the project I tried a few different techniques through experimentation. In the 3D workshop I tried out 4 different stlys of wood stain to show how it would look and to see wether i would like it and want to use it on my final piece. The wood didnt look old and rustic when stained so i decided to leave this out of the picture but out of the 4 stains i would have chosen Red Mohogany as it looked aged and rusted. Another process I used in experimentation was trying out surface experimentation for my guitar, seeing what effects i could use to make the sides of the guitar when shaped look rustic and old like the rest of the guitar body, for this i used paint and charcoal, paint didnt work as it didnt give the wood an aged look where as charcoal did and didn't ruin the wood as the paint did. In the jewellery workshop i tried out different writting techniques with block out ink but the best technique was the block out pen which wrote on the lyrics out in greater detail than the ink and the pen blocked out the acid better than the ink so when it had been through the acid bath the lyrics could be seen clearer than when i used the ink. As well as the stop out pen i tried out staining the copper and this gave the copper an amazing old rustic look which is what i was looking for to add to my guitar.
Through the project i faced many problems, but most i over came. One problem I faced in the workshop was cutting out the slot for the neck of the guitar for the body where i cut the slot a little too deep and it damaged the wood on top leaving the flaking pieces on the surface. This we then solved by glueing them bakc on and using the router to cut out the neck slot making a clean and smooth cut. Another problem i solved was when in the jewellery workshop and the block out ink spilled on to the cooper in areas i dindnt want it to, so to solve this problem once i had let the ink dry i etched it away using an etching tool to make sure the ink was where i wanted it to be and not blocking out anything else and the image wouldn't be blurred or distorted when taken out of the acid bath. One more problem I have faced would be when putting the guitar together and the strings weren't staying down so to solve this we would take off the strings to drill out a liitle strand where the strings would sit then once we positioned the strings they sat perfectly and were not raised so the strings could be drilled down and the rest off the guitar could be put together leaving it looking like it was playable and ready for the exhibition.
If I had no time constraints on this project I would have made my guitar playable as well as buying the best parts available if i had the money to do so. I would also have put more time into my designs and created more detailed t-shirt designs that would represent the person more and have a different look to the design, maybe a water colour splash effect or some designs in black and white. For the t-shirts i would maybe have done a jumper and for my guitar i would maybe have tried out different types off wood to see which would look better and maybe try out some burning techniques on the wood to make it look in a liitle more of a worn shape.
I decided on my final design through how many techniques and how much experimentation I could do through out my final piece as this would help me to show my knowledge and help me get the best grade possible by documenting every process i would have to go through. Through out the project i used processes such as heat press printing, where you take your design and print it out as a mirror image on to magic touch paper, then you take it and position it onto your fabric face down and once the heat press has reached 180'c close the heat press and wait 17 seconds to then release the press and peal back the paper to reveal the finished product. Another process would be etching. This process is where you would use stop out ink to block out the areas where you want to stay raised and not to be eaten away by the acid, once filled in with block out ink you then heat and place into the acid, as you wait the acid eats away at the areas where the black out ink isn't leaving them slimmer, once taken out and washed in water you then use wire wool to scratch away the block out ink to leave a raised area that has been sanded and cleaned. One more would be sanding down the wood making it smooth and even, ready to be glued down.
Over all everything went well, the process of making my guitar, my sheet work was all to a high level of my ability the only parts that may not have gone so well would be my sketchbook and not having as much detail in it as i would have looked. If i were to change anything on this project it would be the amout of time i had put into my sketchbook and the amount of time i had on my final piece and wishing i could have done so much more on it with a little more time.
Through the project i managed my time quite well in my opinion, the time management sheeets i printed did help as they gave me a chance to write down what i had completed over the day or week and what i needed to do to help me get to the next stage in my project.
In my opinion I used my blog effectively as i uploaded each entry about every stage in my project and linked in artist pages like Debra Hurds website and Dan Mumfords online portfolio of work so people could have a look at the artists i was looking at as well as looking at some videos linking to my work like how Dan Mumford designed his work and the processes he went through in his work, and this i had put onto my blog as well.
Over all i am very pleased with my project, I'm glad I chose this project title as it is something i love and love to learn about snd explore as a subject, i am happy with all my sheeets and the standard i have produced them to be but mostly I am pleased with my final piece as it is something I've wanted to do for a while and have finally had the chance to create this piece. My strengths in this project would have to be my drawing and my 3D workshop skills as they have improved as well as my painting through out the project but I could have spent more time on my sketchbook and added a little mored detail to my time management sheets. Overall I handled the organisation of my FMP rather well with help from tutors where it was needed I gathered all my information and prepared all my work in the time given and handed everything in on time.
If i were to do it all again i would add more time to my sketchbook, adding more techniques and processes into it as well finding some where that offers primary artist research and traveling to these places if I had the funding. Another would be to make my guitar operational given more time and maybe add a little more detail to each sheet where or if needed but overall I wouldn't change anything else about this project.
