Tuesday 28 March 2017
OUIL406 - Final poster/postcards/stamps
Final poster - Martha Graham
Postcards
Stamps
What worked?
There is a successful harmony between the different media used in all the designs.
Balanced use of colour and a coherent aesthetic link between all the images.
The gritty, defiant tone captures Graham's philosophy and attitude.
The tone is bold and dark like her dancing style but also celebrates her influence on dance.
The brush strokes create the sense of energy in her dance.
A textured background creates the atmospheric backdrop for the content within the frame.
What didn't?
A comment in the final crit suggested the paint strokes could of been more angular like Graham's dance movements which makes good sense - maybe the brush strokes are too fluid.
Simple things like organising the layers in Photoshop - it's easy to lose track of all the layers if you don't keep grouping and labeling them.
Flattening layers and checking the right canvas size is simple but vital stuff to get right.
Friday 24 March 2017
OUIL406: Northern Ballet - Company Chameleon 'Witness'
Witness
I'm glad I went to see this dance even if it is late in the project, because I was able to see and feel the physical movement of the dancers up close. It was an intense dance about coping with mental health. The emotional investment was immense - it was the Martha Graham philosophy of using dance to express raw emotion.
It was very inspirational for the project in the sense that I have a much better understanding of the movement. It was a more brutal and raw movement than graceful and it will help me finalise my illustrations with a more accurate tone.
I can see how it requires the constant, disciplined conditioning that Graham demanded as some of the interactions and movements of the dancers would simply break a normal person physically. The strain must be horrendous on the body. Definitely a lot of respect for the dancers.
Monday 20 March 2017
Friday 17 March 2017
406 - Martha Graham
Layer, repetition, movement
The drawings I started with below I'm scrapping after my tutorial because they don't capture the movement of Graham's dancing or any of the aspects like repetition or the violence she had in her movements.
I've decided to try new things and be out of my comfort zone. It's really been beneficial. I'm getting results I've never had before and like it - I'm definitely enjoying the freedom using big brush strokes gives me. Working at a bigger scale the brush strokes create much more movement and action that drawings ever could. Black ink is perfect for the jarring violence of Graham's choreography. The red paint also works for her exploration of deep inner human emotions and sexual expression.
Digital
I've tried a few digital experiments which allows me to use textures from landscapes that are appropriate for her style of dance. Rocky landscape photos of the coast line I took recently are symbolically powerful of her uncompromising attitude and philosophy towards her dancing. Photoshop is useful too for repeating images and creating transparent layering for her ideas on practice and discipline.
Chosen direction
Using black ink and found image is the method I'm going to refine and eventually adjust digitally.
I may need to keep the ink marks and collages separate and layer on top of each other digitally
I want the ink marks to create movement and the collages of body parts can merge into the ink markings and with help with composition and act as lines of sight.
Ink markings are more fluid and expressive - collage body parts are rigid and recreate her contract and release movements which were more jarring and aggressive.
Thursday 9 March 2017
406 - Person of note - research
BBC - Behind the scenes at the ballet
I'm going to get some tickets for next week's Casanova ballet. I'm hoping this will get me closer to the emotional side that Graham thought was so important to her choreography.
Wednesday 8 March 2017
406 - Initial Task 1 - Illustrator using shape - Noma Bar
Noma Bar
Noma Bar uses vectors to create illustrations that have both positive and negative images within them. He has a minimal colour palette. They're often charming and funny once your brain adjusts to his clever manipulation of shapes.
He always has a defined solid shape that is instantly recognisable before you notice the more subtle negative shape. Bar shows how it is possible to create these using as few as two colours.
The egg astronaut below is just two shapes but I know it's an astronaut and I know it's an egg. Neither is weaker than the other in terms of being recognisable but the main thing I enjoy is that each illustration makes you smile.
406 - Martha Graham
Martha Graham
I've chosen Martha Graham because there is so much to go on visually and conceptually. Her legacy is immense and really interesting and I can't wait to start exploring her work visually. Her dancing is honest and from the core of what she believes in - it's been quite inspiring reading about her attitude to making art. I hope to learn from her philosophy.
Picasso of dance - abstract, mono prints, shapes
Total discipline - applying her idea of disciplined training to mark making
Monochrome - Vintage/found images, black/white tones
I'm going to look at aspects of her dance and her philosophy such as violence, power, gravity, human's inner-emotion. She was totally dedicated to her craft until the day she died - this needs to be reflected in the illustrations - it's the power and innovation she had that made her so influential.
Research
The Northern Ballet in Leeds
406 - Persons of note
Brian Eno, Martha Graham, Miriam Makeba
I had a Brian Eno song for the I See Faces brief so decided to chose between Martha Graham and Miriam Makeba. Both were massive in their respective art forms and had huge influence on culture, politics, art and music. The similarity between them is that they both brought their art forms to international attention, revitalising and popularising each respectively.
I was attracted to Makeba's fight against apartheid in South Africa. She was known as 'Queen of Africa' in the West and brought African music into the West's mainstream music industry. Graham was known as 'The Picasso of Dance' for her revolutionary revitalisation of dance and as known as the 'inventor of modern dance' as we know it today.
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