Recovering from Forever Exhibition & pandkg magazine.

After such a fantastic night at the Forever Exhibition at Custard Factory, Birmingham. A good sleep and deep breath was definitely needed.

My website views have gone up by a couple of hundred so hopefully many more people will become more aware of my work and name!

Upon arriving back at my uni flat in Southampton, I checked my emails to discover that pandkg (pinstriping and kustom graphics) magazine  had saw my work at the exhibition in Birmingham and want to show my work in their magazine! - Talk about being stoked!!
It took me several days for this information to sink in. The magazine sent me a copy of their magazine so I could get a feel for it and must say it's a pretty nice magazine!


To be continued...


Peace. Stoked!!

28/3 - 03/4 :: Week summary.★

★ Recovering from the Forever Exhibition & pandkg magazine
★ A journey back to uni and catolgue images

Forever Exhibition - Art inspired by Ink.

The night was upon us fairly quickly, after weeks of advertising and anticipation.
After catching a delayed train to The Custard Factory, Birmingham so I could check out my hung paintings, meet a few of the artist taking part and see if anything needed to be done in preparation for this evening events.

... Wow, what a night! While eating my tea at TGI Fridays down the road from The Custard Factory, I received a text from my friends saying they had already arrived at the exhibition half an hour early and that it was already busy - so a gentle flow of people, well so I thought.

Upon arriving at The Custard Factory, I was welcomed by drowns of people, and by drowns I mean drowns, lots, loads, it was heaving (rammed) with bodies! Do you get the point!?

Once I had managed to make in through the entrance after seeing my friends just outside, I was surrounded by people. Unable to make my own path through the exhibition I just had to follow the crowds, catching a glimpse of the art hanging upon on the surrounding walls. Working our way towards the back of the room, being greeted by a few familiar faces and meeting more arriving friends; we found a little space surrounded by many.

I spent the night catching up with friends, meeting new ones, pushing my way to the free bar and getting a constant commentary from my mom; of how someone was looking at my painting and how someone else had just took yet another business card.

A couple of hours went by and the crowds were not easing up, so I shuffled my way towards the stalls near the front of the exhibition. I found great jewelery, by both Bow and Crossbones jewellery, Maria Junko Jewellery and Magnus & Bella Jewellery.

I also spent the evening eye up the most gorgeous looking cup cakes, all with tattoo inspired decoration. At the end of the evening my mom decided to buy four of these cupcakes, 'Alex Cartlidge Cakes'; to which I ate mine with a mug of tea, once I got home that night at around 1 o'clock in the morning. To say that it was delicious would be an under statement. The only way you can appreciate these cakes is try one for yourself!

There were many fantastic artists who have taken part in tonight's exhibition; making it the success it was! Hopefully there will be many more great exhibitions to come.
The following artists took part in;
(By clicking on the following names you will we be redirected to that artist website).
Dawnii Fantana
Claire-Louise Hearne
Matt Hunt
Glenn Patrick
Andrew
Tasha Lock
Kerry Evans
Rich Pearson
Helen Brown
Lewis Davies
Craven
Lee Pound
Jonathan Peeler 
Laura Spencer 
Martin Rimmer  
Anne Notghi
Lee Finnigan  
Goldilox 
Evelyn Lindsay  
Kurt Marlow  
Jemima Mantle  
Ben Rollz  
Dionne Clarke 
Jessica Gough  
Chris Seers  
Vicky Morgan  
Lee  
Justin Burnout 
Cesar  
Brad Edwards  
Ruth Burke (1) 
Ruth Burke (2) 
Aidan Bones  
Lianne Moule  
Leah Moule  
Sarah Tracey  
Sofie Simpson  
Sally Rose Photography  
James Hastings  
Becca Protheroe
Mike Williams
Jo Harrison  
Jay Vandeluxe  

 There was also fab burlesque dancers; Dutchess La-roux, Felicia Noir and Miss Von Vamp, hoop from Evelyn Lindsay who performed through-out the night who grabbed everyone's attention. There was also a great acoustic performance by The Toy Hearts! (Click the name to watch their video on you tube).


To some up it was a awesome night to be apart of!!
  

Another look ...

After I got my head around the saga I mentioned in my previous blog, I decided to give the transfer idea another shot. I took a bigger section of my first illustration and the whole of my section illustration but made it smaller; transferred onto my friends fore arm and the other onto my friends upper arm, and photographed them.
I transferred the pictures to my mac, so I could edit them slightly. - Boost colour fade colour change to black and white etc
This is how my favourites turned out.

I believe these turned out well, the carbon transferr transferred onto the skin pretty well, yes there are parts that didn't transfer perfectly but that's the fun of using carbon transfer - it is never perfect!

London Bound and back again.

Had a free coach ride to London courtesy of uni. The aim of the day was to check out the Pick me Up art fair in London, and to check out some of the cool cheaper art shops where we could select our portfolios from.

Upon arriving in London, we went straight to checking out the Pick me Up art fair, which was better than I expected; definitely more up my street than other 'educational' places uni, college and school have dragged us off to - not that we were made to go on this London trip.
There were some cool pieces of work in the Pick me Up fair. (See images below) Some were definitely inspiring and I felt the place had a good vibe, the artists didn't appear to be doing it to get rich or make money but I sensed they were doing it because they loved doing it, and that's what I loved! I think it is such a shame when artist, or anyone for that matter looses their true reason for doing what they do. They loose their passion and they forget why they fell in love with it in the first place.

Definately one of my favourites

Another favourite

Also when I told a friend I was off to London for the day he started having a rant about there being no bins in London; so for him personally and prove me right and him wrong. Please see images below! :)

After I had proved my point we headed off towards Brick Lane (for obvious reasons) but also to check out the gallery space we had hired for our exhibition in July. In all honesty upon reaching the gallery, I was impressed with it's location, being close to Brick Lane is fantastic, however there are 31 of us exhibiting and the gallery space isn't massive. I am sure it will all work out, but it is a little worrying.
During our walk to and from Brick Lane, some of the graffiti around the street caught my eye and many of my fellow pupils (see below).

A giant bird on the side of a building - it doesn't get much sweeter than that!!

We also successfully found a massive art shop - filled with treats. It was like B & Q for artists. Many of us found suitable portfolios, plus an array of pens, sketch pads, paints, brushes and other marvelous treats that us creative types get excited about!

All in all it was a very successful and fun day in London.

Right, I'm knackered so Peace I'm out!

21/3 - 27/3 :: Week summary.

★Trip to London .
★Change in process confirmed.
★Forever exhibition.

Artist to look at.

Also during my tutorial, Derek wrote down a couple of artist images to look at:

 

Hieronymus Bosch - The Garden of Earthy Delights.

"Without a doubt, The Garden of Earthly Delight is one of the strangest paintings in the long history of art. Hieronymus Bosch, who executed this enigmatic work in the early 16'th century, has been acclaimed as an early explorer of the unconscious mind, praised as a forerunner of the 20'th century Surrealists, and also condemned as a madman. 

    Hieronymus Bosch (1450?--1516) was born in the town of 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, and although he spent most of his life in this provincial environment, his fame as a painter of obsessively detailed and disturbing religious works spread throughout the late Medieval world. His paintings are filled with apocalyptic images of hellfire and damnation, and seem to hint at other, incomprehensible terrors that burrow far beneath their overt eschatological  concerns into the subterranean depths of the subconscious. You may view one of his best known paintings, The Garden of Earthly Delight, by clicking on the thumbnails at left. (Downloads are a little slow, but the images are large and of good quality.)
        The symbolism of this remarkable triptych appears to be right out of a nightmare. A multitude of figures intertwine in such fantastic and intricate patterns that the eye becomes easily confused by the complex imagery. People mingle deliriously with plants, animals and monsters, and all are leaping, dancing, running, copulating, defecating, and tormenting each other with an almost convulsive frenzy. 
    The three panels of The Garden of Earthly Delight depict man's fall from the Garden of Eden and illustrate the hellish fate which awaits those who succumb to sensual temptations. The right panel shows Adam and Eve standing with Christ in the primordial paradise, but even here the modern interpreter encounters disturbing elements. The strange landscape in the distance and the odd behavior and appearance of some of the animals indicate that all is not quite what it seems even in Eden. The central panel illustrates all the carnal pleasures of worldly existence. Humans frolic with animals and other hybrid creatures in a frantic debauch of nightmarish intensity. The third panel shows us the torments of Hell, and here Bosch demonstrates his dark genius for devising instruments of torture. People are being cut, sliced, burned, skewered, and devoured by a horde of demonic monstrosities while the eternal fires of  the pit rage undyingly in the background.    Theories regarding the deeper meaning of this startling imagery abound. In 1947, German art historian Wilhelm Fraenger argued that Bosch belonged to an heretical sect called the Adamites which performed secret, orgiastic rituals. These clandestine rites, according to Fraenger, were portrayed in some of Bosch's paintings. Another opinion claims that Bosch was an alchemist, and that he incorporated alchemical allegories and symbolism into his works. Carl Jung viewed Bosch's startling symbolism as ultimately deriving from the collective unconscious. Dirk Bax and Walter Bosing  forgo psychoanalytical interpretation, and contend that the bizarre imagery used by the Netherlandish painter only seems mysterious because it is all based on parables, puns, and folk tales that are obscure or totally forgotten by us today, but which were commonplace and easily understood by 15'th century viewers. The most recent theory, propounded by Lynda Harris, claims that Bosch was influenced by the doctrines of the Cathars, another Medieval heretical movement.     Today, our initial reaction to this lurid triptych is typically one of revulsion. Both its subject matter and its obsessively detailed composition make it repellant to contemporary tastes. But there is also an undeniable fascination. The painting seems to challenge the viewer's ability to visually comprehend all its confusing intricacies. Most people are left with the impression that they have missed certain details, and typically remark, after subsequent viewings, that they see something different each time they examine this work. An acquaintance of mine actually developed the irrational conviction that the figures in the central and right panels had moved to different positions every time he studied the painting, and swore that new figures appeared from time to time. Although this type of delusion is rare, it helps illustrate the impact which Bosch's work can have on the imagination.     The Garden of Earthly Delight, now displayed in the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, Spain, is undoubtedly a disturbing thing to behold, but this has not prevented it from being widely reproduced and successfully marketed. It continues to exert a powerful fascination even though the worldview which inspired its creation lay 600 years in the past. "  Miller, W. M. Unknown. Online. [Available: http://hassan331.tripod.com/Bosch/Garden.htm ] 

Richard Dadd - The Fairy Feller's Master stroke (1855-64)

"Richard Dadd painted this work in the Bethlem Hospital where he was sent after murdering his father and being declared insane. The scene was drawn from his imagination. It shows the ‘fairy-feller’ poised to split a large chestnut which will be used to construct Queen Mab’s new fairy carriage. The style, subject and shifting scale of the painting all contribute to a sense of the fantastic that fits the critic Herbert Read’s idea of an imaginative tradition running through to Surrealism in the early twentieth century." - Tate collection [Available: http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=2979&tabview=text ]

While looking at this piece I found this link , revealing a poem that was written by Clare Pollard. Clare Pollard has published three collections of poetry, the latest is titled 'Look, Clare! Look! (2005). Her first play was performed at the Royal Court in 2004 and she is currently writing her first novel. 


I think Derek got me too look at these paintings because of their pure bazarness. They are both very busy, full of colour, drama and weirdness. Which I think links to my book in many ways; in 'The Demon Girl' the demons don't see the forest where they live in a normal way. Like how me and you see a forest. They see it through colours of purple and blue, not your average browns and greens which we would see. 

"Confuzzled" i.e Confussed!

Well, where to start after the whole fruit tattoo embargo, which in all honesty I don’t believe will work; because the images I have come up with so far are quite detailed and are A3 size which is bigger than the surface of a standard fruit (ie orange, grapefruit etc). Trying to tattoo one of my illustrations onto a fruit would be like trying to put a full sleeve tattoo onto half an arm.

Throughout my tutorials the one thing that as been mentioned thought out them all except my tutorial with Johnny, is that the tutors have not been fans of my painting style. Even though I’ve doing it for year, got commissions and never had any complaints. Yes, this is my first time using acrylic inks so It as taken some adjusting, to create the effects I wanted. So my first few illustration (from previous blogs) and the one that follows below was not has good as they could of been.

After Pete stated that he did not like the painting style and we came up with the tattooed fruit idea, I have been left feeling frustrated. Even though I loved the idea of tattooing for a project, after thinking about how it could work more in detail, it wont! The only way it could work is if I selected small sections form each illustration to tattoo onto a piece of fruit. My only reservation with this is that you would not be seeing a full illustration just a character or  a small part of the background; so would this really be illustrating the book?

The following painting style came about when I was chopping up my illustration to see if just seeing certain sections would work. Around this time I had a visit from the parents. My mom was looking at my work and suggested me just painting the outline of my illustrations. (See below image).

 

I know it is not just the outline I’ve painted. I did to start with but I felt like it wasn’t enough. The forest didn’t appear heavy/solid enough.

I really like how this style turned out so I went on to re do one of my other illustrations. Before I completed that illustration I had another tutorial with Derek.

Tutorial with Derek - Well this was frustrating. I had not seen Derek during this project so he had know idea what I was doing with this project. I proceeded to tell him, how I got started and what had happened. Before I  could get half way through what I was saying Derek interrupted, to go on for over an hour, with a few moments of me trying to explain. A few ideas got thrown about about doing more in photoshop to create the images. He wasn’t keen on the painted images either (He said I’ve never done any painting before so why know?, well yes I have just not for uni! Even had commissions and had my paintings displayed in a couple of exhibitions outside of uni. I haven’t done any photoshop stuff either but it's ago to do images that way!!)
Another idea, because Derek liked my illustrations as line drawings. I came up with the idea of having the line drawn illustrations and transferring those drawings onto the body with carbon paper (like you would before you tattooed an image) and photographing them. 

I came away more frustrated and more confused than I was before having the tutorial.

After a day of not knowing where to go next, I decided to try the transferring onto skin and photographing them. The below images are the results of this experiment.

I only transferred Rae’s wings, because they are quite detailed so it would give a good indication of how much of the detail would show up once transferred to skin (and not touched up) and then photographed.

I have mixed thoughts with this, I like it because it looks like a tattoo (which is my obsession) but does it work as an illustration? Would this work in a book, and could it be sold or published as the illustrated version of The Demon Girl? I am not sure.

I really am unsure on where go from here. There are a few different processes and ideas, but with me having mixed opinions and thoughts on all of them, I don’t know which one would be the best one to use. I am also not completely ready to give up on the painted illustrations idea.

I have also just been informed by my housemates Becca (who is also on my course) that her tutorial this week was not about her FMP but about which pieces of work would be good to use for the degree show catalogue. We have a double page spread each to show several pieces of our work, which all have to be flattened and CYMK set. Derek did not discuss this at all during my tutorial, so I only know what Becca as told me. Luckily I know how to flatten images and set them to CYMK. I’ll have a play around, select a few pieces of my work and then try a speak to a tutor during next week to sort it out.

Let the stress continue! 

14/3 - 20/3 :: Week summary.

★ Fighting with paint.
★ Confussed - Tutorial with Derek.
★ Artist to look at.
★ Change in process.

Forever exhibition

Just thought I would drop a line to let you all know about an exhibition that I am taking part in, back in my homeland.
It will be at the custard factory in Birmingham. It's an exhibition that as been organised by Dawnii Fantana, Claire 'Lulu LaRocca' hearne and Jo Farn! (You can find them on Facebook).
The exhibition is made up of many artists who are influenced and inspired by the art of tattoo - many of the artists who are featuring are tattooist however there is also photographers, illustrious, street artist, jewellery designers and more.

The exhibition is for one night only - 27th March. Make sure your there to enjoy the art, live bands, burlesque dancers, hula-hoop performer, and cake!

Please check out the Facebook link below check out the artists and their work!

FOREVER EXHIBTION

Hope to see you all there on the night let's make it a good one!!! :)


Even though this exhibition is not a direct link/influence to my uni work, it does play apart because the work shown in this exhibition was created by me, just like uni work is; and they both inspire each other. I am my work and my work is me.

My illustrations posted...

The author of The Demon Girl - Penelope Fletcher as posted my illustrations on her blog!
How fab is that!  She's genuinely a nice person.

Check it out by clicking on the following link.

FICTION FIERCE BY PENELOPE FLETCHER


What else is there to say - just AWESOME!!!

Peace.

Brain truly frazzled….

If I wasn’t stressed enough I defiantly am now. Saw Peter today for a tutorial  about my FMP. He didn’t like the process (painting with acrylic inks) I was using to create my images. He wants me to find a process I’m more familiar with.
After a long discussion, we came up with tattooing fruit. Obviously tattooing is my obsession (as Pete so put it), so I am familiar with the process - I’ve been doing it on people for a year and 4 months now.
What has fruit and tattooing got to do with The Demon Girl. As I have stated in previous entries, The Demon girl has strong tattoo influences throughout the book; mainly through the characters, with details of their tattooed/marked bodies.
I now plan to take my previously done illustrations, chop them up to create smaller illustrations that will fit onto a piece of fruit, so it will allow me to tattoo it permanently onto the fruits skin.
What relevance does fruit have to the book; well there aren’t any fruit trees in the grounds of the temple (human territory), so fruit is seen as a luxury and impossible to get. There is a moment in the book where one of the cleric’s comes into the classroom eating an apple and you zone into Rae’s thoughts, about how did the cleric get hold of such a rare item; a piece of fruit and that he must of done something or known someone to be able get hold of it. I do think you can tell from her thought’s how she envies the cleric, not because she wants to be a cleric (in fact she seems to be developing having little respect for clerics) but because she desires that piece of fruit.

I spent the afternoon after my tutorial researching typical meanings/symbols that fruit can represent, in order to create links between those meanings/symbols and the story.

Fruit and there common meaning/symbol.

Apple:
Temptation, Forbidden fruit/love
China: Peace, women's beauty, joy, fertility & youthfulness.
Greek: Magical, golden, believed to taste like honey.
Mythology: Eternal youth, gluttony & immortality.

Fig:
Greek: God of Wine, Drunkenness and sexual desire.
Buddhist: Enlightenment.

Pear:
China: Avoid separation, friends/lovers (Should not be divided and pears should not be divided them.)


Plum:
Chinese: Early beauty.
Buddhist: Enlightenment, absence of desire & suffering.
Asia: Young women, abundance & earth bounty.

Oranges: 
Love & marriage, “golden apple” , Strong fragrance.

Blood Oranges: 
 Death.

07/3 - 13/3 :: Week summary.

★Tutorial with Pete.
★New process?
★Author of The Deomn GIrl posts my illustrations.
★My paintings in 'Forever' Exhibition!

Next stage…

The following images are of drawings with the tattoo inspiration worked in. 

You can notice the simple little tattoo machines, the more modern tattoos on Breadan’s torso and the tattoo embedded into Rae’s wings. I decided to put tattoos on Rae’s wings because in her human form she does not have any tattoos, not because she doesn’t desire them but because she can not stand others making physical contact with her, apart from Breadan. Breadan is supposed to belong to Rae in the book, they are bonded together. Rae does not ‘freak out’ or squirm when Breadan touches her, in fact she likes it, she gets a warm feeling and even thinks about touching Breadan or Breadan touching her when they are apart.
When Rae turns into her demon form (fairy), because she can not bare to be touched other than by Breadan, I thought it would be a nice touch to embellish her fairy wings with tattoos, to resemble her tolerance to be touched by Breadan - her demon fairy soul mate.

I am really liking how this is working out, I think it adds an added extra to the images; an added 'Dionne-ness'.

Close up of Breadan.

Close up of Rae's wings.

Close up of the trees with tattoo machine's growing out of the branches.

The next set of images (below) are of the next illustration for chapter two of the book, the moment Rae meets the vampire (Tomas). Just as Rae is about to go back through the wall that parts the forest (Demon territory) and the temple (human world). Tomas has to quickly jump through the gap in the wall before it closes. It’s the gap that as been made by Breadan to allow Rae to get back to the temple. Tomas has to get through that quickly, that he sends Rae flying onto the floor, and she lies there for a moment while trying to decide how to except her fate..

I have gone for a more minimalist look with this illustration. I wanted to show Tomas's mouth and tattooed fang up close, because to me the mouth and fangs are the key parts to a vampire. Another reason why I chose to do this illustration in a more minimalist way was because this scene in the book is set on the boarder between the temple and the forest. The land around the temple is described as being minimalist with an array of flat green fields stretching from the temple up to the dividing wall.  I wanted to show the contrast between the two worlds.