This is the final stages of my blue/sorrow painting. I added extra layers of light blue oil paint over the top of the layer - the ones I had covered in sand grains - so the levels showed up and the CD fragments that were attached to my piece. I also carved a few fragments of my creative writing into the piece, only a few bits though because it was already a busy - plus I didn't think there was much to say about it. It was self-explanatory, at least to me. It has an element of winter about it, it is appropriate as it reflects moments of sadness in my unconscious mind and memory but also in a rather beautiful way I think. Meloncholy but quite peaceful somehow. I always feel silenced after I have been very upset and I think this piece reflects that. 

 

 

 

 

Projecting Images

I managed to get hold of a projector today so I decided to see how my acetate images would look when projected over my paintings. I tried out my images on my red painting first, using images I thought would look best then I tried them on the blue one. Some of them worked very well and the colours/lines were very defined yet other did not stand out as clearly. I was really pleased with the result of the butterfly images and some of the landscape pieces when projected on the painting - also the figure image was interesting too as it added to the theme of being within the unconscious. The use of colours in my paintings and the writing carved into them worked well when combined with projected images - they looked like a collection of thoughts/images and depths of the unconscious. The works were used to show elements of my unconscious as I wanted the project to be personal as a way of expressing myself yet I think that all the aspects of the installation I was trying out, create an atmosphere of the unconscious, or thoughts/images from the brain. I think because of the projection of images, the audience can connect with the work better as it takes something personsal to me and creates an atmospheric area with the use of lighting, inviting the audience to step into the work, step into the mind. I am hoping some of this is relatable. Even if it is not then I will work on so my pieces can be connected with. The projected images also show an element of memory and fading images...? I want to express the idea of the fragility of the mind, the delicate element of images and fading moments - nothing is completely containable but some elements can leave imprints. - words/images/colours etc.
I did try layering the images as well but it didn't work very well as the images were not defined and didn't show up as individual or combined images like they did when I layered the acetate - I had an idea, if I wanted to use layering, I could layer up the acetate and spotlight the pieces so that the layers would show up or even use a light-box that I could probably get some Argos or Hobbycraft. I like the use of layering and it was unfortunate that the acetate layers didn't show up when projecting - but the use of the projections on the paintings works as layering in itself and I want to show levels of the unconscious using this technique.
Quite pleased today :) :)

Tomorrow

I plan to go to gosta green to get some more tracing paper prints - images I previously editted. I want to get some more acetate prints too, I want some in A4 and A5. The A4 pieces I will use to paste down over mirrors I have to see how the images will look over reflective surfaces. I am quite excited to see how the pieces will look over mirrors and over paintings I've done.
Hopefully it will all go good.

Last few days

I had tutorial which, although I was dreading it, turned out very useful. Despite the fact the comments confused me some what, I feel some of the suggestions helped me think about my work in different ways. When looking at my work people questioned why I had used photography - I didn't bother saying that it had been previously suggested to me - and I said that it was to create different illusionistic effects to portray the theme of images/thoughts of the mind. That was actually the reason and not just made up to sound good in the tutorial, it was also to try out something different. I felt last year I wanted to explore photography a little more but I was too shy or worried or something because I was concerned the images were inadequate.

Anyway, the group made suggestions such as trying to paint onto acetate as, although I am mix-media, I have always been drawn to painting. They were saying that I would need to find a way to make my painting and photography link together - they suggested projecting the images onto the work (which was one of my earlier ideas), they suggested I could try and print images onto my work. I had an idea of using mirrors/reflective surfaces - I thought about reflecting one of my paintings in a giant mirror(s) that could be placed in certain places around a space. I am excited about that idea as then my work could become more of an installation :)


IDEAS:
I need to think of ways my painting and photography can connect -

Projecting images
Acetate over paintings
Tracing paper over paintings
Hanging images infront of paintings
Collages
Reflecting paintings/images

I'll add to the list when I can think of more.

10/12

Today I am doing some editting of the images I want to print onto acetate/tracing paper and ones I want to project onto the walls/floor.

I want the images to be more defined and the colours to be brighter - it is important that the images are clear enough to create a successsful transfer onto the acetate or the tracing paper.

07/12

This time I am not writing at 1 in the morning.

Today I went back to gosta to print off some more images on acetate - some of them worked really well but some of them were less successful. I think the images of figures did not work so well, landscape seems to work better as it expresses a dream-like quality and an unknown location which is intriguing. Also the more abstract and organic the image, the more interesting as these pictures can be layered on top of each other to create new images - layering acetate on acetate.
I will work on editting some more images over the weekend to get the colours and sharpness just right so that when I print again on acetate or tracing paper the images will be more successful.

Right now I am working on my sketchbook and journals as I want my documentation up to date - but as usual the printer is playing up a little.

07/12

I finally managed to get some prints done! It was a real effort to run around trying to find people to help me at gosta but finally I got it done :)
I did several large prints (A1) onto tracing paper and two smaller prints (A3) onto acetate.

I used these images for my prints - I am really pleased with how they came out, especially the ones on acetate. The final image out of the images above really worked very well because of the depth of perspective as the image seems to look 3D at some angles. I am also interested in layering the image together as the transparency of the levels will create mixtures of images and a sense of depth through the layers (levels of the unconscious through imagery - is the intention of the work).

When printing the images onto tracing paper, the technician offered me a lot of advice regarding the editting of the images as well as different types of paper and techniques to use. He suggested that I obtain a roll of tracing paper rather than using separate sheets - this would be really interesting and useful as I can then create really long prints that could stretch up the entirity of a wall space in my studio. I could create giant layered pieces! :)  He also told me the best tracing paper to use for large prints would be the thicker density stuff, preferably 160 in density - much less than that would cause the paper to ripple with the amount of ink used.
The technician helped me with the ink levels used - we first tried less ink so that the paper would not ripple or curl up but the image was rather faint so we then used the recommended amount of ink to see how it would turn out - it was all a lot of experimentation. The image was a lot clearer and worked much better when held up to the light as the colours did not fade as much - the sheets of tracing paper I used were of 160 density so it was fine to use more colours, even if some of the images did curl up it was easy enough to flatten them out.

He also suggested ways I could sharpen the images - as the images will come out fainter on tracing paper as it is grey-coloured - methods such as altering the noise distortion on the images. The noise distortion is basically what makes the image less clear, he told me that often JPEG images are fainter than raw images as the program document merges similar colours together, therefore "blanding" the colours. The main colour to try and reduce is yellow as it creates a blur - he suggested looking at "unsharp mask," "smart blur" and general noise distortion on Photoshop - of course focusing on reducing the yellow. The most subtle changes often produce the best results so I will be doing some experimentation to make the images sharper and more defined. I will check out online tutorials and youtube instructual videos for using photoshop and altering distortion.
By the time all the images were printed that I wanted I was exhausted - after rushing around and waiting in so many queues I was ready to die! But I wanted to get the prints done on the acetate I had with me. I was told to go to the Student Guild where I found out I could print on acetate there - thank god! The acetate I had, however, was not suitable for the printers there as I was told that it can only be used by ink jet printers but fortunately they provided acetate for me. I got two images printed off in A3 - the top image and the bottom image of the ones above. I was thrilled by the result, it looked so proffessional and really beautiful with the transparency of the colours - exactly what I wanted. The top image worked the most effectively because of the organic elements to the image/also it looked very dream like and mysterious. I think I will need to edit some of the butterfly images I have to make the images more defined so they show more contrast on acetate.

I plan to go to the Student Guild tomorrow to print off a few more images on acetate - as it took me all week to figure out where to go, I want to make the most of it! Also the more images, the more experimentation! I also want to find out if I can print on a larger scale - I could only print up to A3 from a USB file but I wonder if I had a printed image then I might be able to get a bigger image. I will find out tomorrow...
Despite the fact I feel awfully drained I am very happy that I managed to get some of the work printed - running around like an insane person does pay off!