Panic! ... about the dissertation

Dissertation over... !!

And on with the part everybody loves... the art work.

'Panic! 2'

Acrylic Paint on Canvas

Because of the restrictions on the sizes of the ppsheet I have been using, I am starting to explore other materials and other sizes. Starting with the obvious (canvas) to view my work on a larger scale.

Red Gate Gallery - April Fools Show Opening Tonight...

Only have 1 piece in the exhibition tonight. The show runs till 14th April so don't miss out, works by students of University of Westminster and Wimbledon College of Art. Take a look on the Red Gate Gallery website for more info.

A few more pieces I have been working on...

BlockHead

Not too great a picture as it was taken on my not so good, smaller camera. However I love this piece... a tribute to Elizabeth Peyton I suppose.

236U

When I Grow Up

Don't like the painting in this image however I love the idea of splitting the images and putting them together in this way. The plastic was really hard to paint realistically on so this work took longer than I wanted and I grew frustrated with it so... it's probably my least favorite.

Rock Hard Die Hard

I love this image. I love the simplicity of it. The skull at the front is in 2 layers. and the girl in the back ground in 1. The use of ink with pen seems really satisfying to me, in the way in that it confuses the eye into which material is behind or infront of the other.

Currently making spacers to go between the bulldog clips and the layers so that the layers of work are more obvious. I feel I don't need to do this to the tracing paper works as the ghostly effect is achieved without this.

Finally... a body of work that I am happy with

So here's what I will be showing at the Fine Art show tomorrow night.

I wanted to move away from my designs for typical tattoos and take this to another level. Looking back through my experimentations, I found that the most successful experiments were the laser jet works with pen and ink. Still being influenced by the history of tattooing, I decided to create images out of work that was also linked with the history of art. For example I began splicing and changing the compositions of works of art to make something new and unfamiliar yet interesting and sometimes humorous to look at. The work hopefully now makes the viewer think more about where the images I have used have derived from and what meanings are behind each collage.

Skulls play a huge part in the history of art, representing mortality of a human being and memento mori, also a subject used by many artists, such as Cezanne and Picasso.

I decided to work on semi-translucent plastic because of its reference to skin. This material is also very fascinating to work on and provides two views of the work from both the front and back of the composition, therefore I hung the pieces on 10 inch nails so that they would stick out from the wall and show off the aesthetic qualities of the material.

I think the show starts at about 4:00 tomorrow (14th Dec) till aboutt 9:00ish i reckon. J

At westminster Uni (Harrow) in the Fine Art bit of the tent.

Feel free to come and have a look around.

Loads of cool work there.

Less than 3 weeks to go...

Here's what I plan to do for my final assessment.

Painting in acrylic on PPsheet.

PPSheet I think stands for Polypropylene sheet.

The type I'm using is a clear, frosted plastic to symbolise and look like skin.

I'm getting the effect I want using very thick paint and brush strokes and having my collages as the subject matter. Bit worried because the material I used was hard to get hold of so the plastic I've now got is slightly different AND this painting is actually my fave one out of all the collages.

I want to do about 4 or 5 paintings so can't really use this in the set...

Also done a few more collage experimentations.

Thinking of just using skulls to collage with because this is such a huge subject matter in fine art. Been looking a lot into gothic as an image as well. The idea that my piece is no longer 'Tattoo Art' but art inspired by tattoo artists.

Afew of my favourites...

Some of what I've already been doing. Making tattoo designs through collage, using popular fine art images. These are a few of my favourites. Thinking of painting some designs today at Uni on transparent plastic using acrylic paint.

 Elizabeth Peyton and Paul Cezanne

Mike Nelson and David Shrigley

Designs using pencil

 Glenn Brown

Here's one of my designs on Vellum Paper. Experimenting with a frame. I think the frame will help finish the design off as tattoo art. Might put a funny little line on the 'plaque' of the frame, Just to make it a little more interesting and humourous.

Martin...

Painting with acrylic on scrap wood.

Unfinished. Still to add an ‘Oxford University’ coat of arms on the side of his cheek, to give reference to that part of his past.

I have also been researching the types/ages of people who have tattoos and although the man in the picture would never have a tattoo on his cheek, it’s not something that is too unusual.

I feel that tattoos to many people are seen as rebellious and are mostly covered up for ‘important’ occasions such as interviews. I wanted the piece to look rugged, to match the aura of the painting. I plan to display the painting screwed to the wall with large, industrial screws.

Finished these today (27.10.10) ... Not sure I am entirely happy with how the tattoo turned out. Would rather it be a little lighter maybe. May alter this if I have enough studio time. The Tattoo is an Oxford University tattoo, distorted to give a wrapped effect around the cheek.

A New Year Begins...

Start of year 2 and I have begun by basing my work around something that I find interesting. I love tattoos and I love art by tattoo artists. I therefore wanted to create something new and exciting based on tattoo art.

I started by looking at many tattoo art books and different friends ink. Picking out my favourite imagery and sketching my own new ideas and thoughts to develop.

Here are two paintings, painted in acrylic on canvas. I have chosen to work from two images that I particularly liked. I wanted the painting to show the personality of the individual in both the tattoo that they were wearing and the way in which they are positioned. The tats I did in colour to stand out from the body and the figure I chose to paint in black and white, to act as a kind of after thought to my audience. I like the rough edges of the paint. They link in well with the persona of what a tattoo might mean, in a generalised opinion.

I am working on a lot of different routes from these paintings. Looking at what makes a tattoo, why people have tattoos, meanings of different imagery etc.  I’m in the process of tattooing family and friend’s photographs using pencil, with images that I feel represent their personalities and interests. I am also finishing an acrylic painting of this, of which I shall show on a later blog. I want the painting to look figurative, using a different style of painting and a different style of support.