Mural is no more

Well, the folio gallery mural is now no more, the walls have been all painted over, back to their original colours. The mural served its purpose, and attracted the attention of the press, visitors, and more importantly, allowed myself and my group to gain experience in creating an actual live, running galley from scratch.

We worked well under high pressure, as well as workload, and we met the deadline for completion no problem. It was a really memorable, and enjoyable experience, and now every time that I peer to the folio gallery space, I will think of the time when I worked inside a collaborative group, to create something wonderful for the eyes.

Here is another reminder of what the exhibition space looked like, at several intervals during creation. (Below)

Before work was laid down.

The addition of the fisherman, which I think is great.

The first day of painting.

The second day of painting.

Completion.

I am glad to have been a part of this exciting unit. :)



Thomas.

Exhibition Aftermath

Well, the folio gallery exhibition is over, visitors have come and went. It all began at around 7:00pm, a few people turned up to look at our artwork, and I did overhear many compliments coming from them.

About 20 minutes after, the area was packed, there were at least 35 people in the folio, and it was so pleasing to see a great turnout.

About 40 minutes after, the crowd started to dissipate, and the exhibition was beginning to be over.

A very good showing, it wasn't my first exhibition, but it was definitely one of my best, something that I am grateful to have been a part of.

Thomas.

Jo Davies

Jo Davies is a freelance people and character illustrator and writer, who creates many illustrations commercially for children's books. (I can tie this in as part of my professional studies research because of this).

http://www.jodaviesillustration.com/page5.htm < Reference to image.

This link highlights her work in the children's market sector > http://www.jodaviesillustration.com/page4.htm

She works as an author and illustrator for such children's book companies as Barefoot Books, and Scholastic Books. She also produces educational work for such companies as Macmillans, Fabri and Chalkface.




Thomas.

Unit Recap

For the people and characters project, all other work aside (painting etc), my main section with the character element, was that I created several draft pencil characters, which turned into final charcoal characters, to fit inside ink printed bottles, that hung on the end of the fisherman's pier. I chose to use charcoal for the final characters, because it felt that by using this medium, it sort of reflected Hartlepool's past, in terms of its industry, which was all powered by the fuel of coal, a dusty, and black substance.

Charcoal is a substance that looks a lot like coal, however comes out on materials so much better. So it worked just perfectly. As a side bonus, it gave the piece the impression of industrial pollution. ( example, a smog dust atmosphere)

My idea was to create alternate people, user a unified theme. One of the characters was of a working teenager, living back in the industrial period timeframe, and the other was of a much more relaxed teenager in today's period in history. A stereotypical teenager, with a skateboard, and long hair.

An additional character, was of a 50's female, wearing 50's style fashion and clothing, to represent the middle period in Hartlepool's history.


Thomas.

Exhibition day

Today is the day of the big folio gallery exhibition. All is set for the press, and for the viewers to come in and to take a look at our hard work.

Very excited for today, can't wait until 6:00pm tonight, as that is when the exhibition begins. I will post an update to the blog, after the exhibition, detailing what happened.

-----------------------

Brief Update: The event is about to begin, in a mere 20 minutes, about to go down to the folio, and begin showcasing mine and my groups very hard work.

Thomas

Gallery Project Complete

Yesterday, the people and character mural in the folio art gallery space, that myself and my group have worked on for two weeks, was finally completed.

As a recap to what the mural consists of, the piece contains various elements of hartlepool's culture, and maritime history, as well as environment. It has a number of different people and characters inside the ink-printed bottles, which are situated on the wall. The fisherman on the pier, who is 'fishing the bottles out', is Sophie's character, and I really love what she has done. Her style is rough, but fits the aggressive brush strokes of the sea.

The gallery exhibition is on november the 18th, and I will be attending, with two guests. I can't wait to see what they, and the press think of our accomplished hard work. I am very excited.

(Example of one of the characters in a bottle)

(Modern, and old fashioned teenage comparison sketches)

(The piece as of last thursday, unfinished)

(The finished piece)

(The bottles close up)

Thomas.

Lucia Emanuela Curzi

Lucia Emanuela Curzi is a talented people and character illustrator, who graduated from an art school in Milan, Italy. She creates work using a wide assortment of colours and techniques. Her work also has a very unique textured style toward it, in my opinion, as she uses water and various types of inks to her advantage.

http://www.illustrationweb.com/artists/LuciaEmanuelaCurzi/view < image reference at this link.

Her favourite types of art equipment to use on her pieces, as said so on her site include, watercolours, and Windsor and newton inks. I think these two types of equipment work very well together, as I like using these myself.

Some of her clients include InStyle, Estée Lauder, Selfridges and Glow magazine.

http://www.illustrationweb.com/artists/LuciaEmanuelaCurzi/view < Main site.

http://www.illustrationweb.com/PortfolioScrapbook.aspx?artist_id=3510 < Link to her great scrapbook, with images, and more info about her.

Thomas.

Sharon Tancredi

Sharon Tancredi is an illustrator, who produces work on people and character themes. She works in a pure cartoon style, and uses a broad range of vivid colours, in her work. I love her style, naturally to me, there is something about cartoon stylised artwork, that makes it really interesting to me. An element I tried to add into my character work, in my folio project. I aimed to be semi-realistic in my character design, but with a hint of realism.

http://www.folioart.co.uk/illustration/folio/artists/illustrator/sharon-tancredi < image reference at this link.

http://www.folioart.co.uk/illustration/folio/artists/illustrator/sharon-tancredi

Rodrigo Araya

Rodrigo Araya is a people and character illustrator who is a client of such big companies as O2, Panasonic and Siemens. He creates his images in a slightly cartoon-like style, something that I admire, as it is one of my favourite styles. From this I took inspiration, and I worked it into my mural character figures, to go into the ink bottles on the painting, that hang from the pier, on the far left of the piece.

http://www.illustrationweb.com/artists/RodrigoAraya/view < image reference at this link.

http://www.illustrationweb.com/artists/RodrigoAraya/view

Gallery Viewing Hiccup

Today was the scheduled day, for my class and myself, to attend the gallery viewing, that was being run by the illustrator, Mr Penfold.

I was really looking forward to this, and I even turned up in my halloween costume, but alas, there was a hiccup with the bus, and it never showed up.

So we all sat in the Flix Movie Cafe instead, can't say I'm not disappointed with the bus issue, but at least it has been rescheduled, for a later date, so I will definitely be attending in the near future.

Thomas

Mural Painting, day #2

Today, was the second session day spent painting the large scale mural, on the wall at folio gallery for the November 18th exhibition.

As of today, the large painting is now almost complete, just a few patches now need filling in. Most of the work today was spent on such things as colouring in the sea, and adding to the plume of yellow toxic smoke. (Photos will be added soon).

After a group crit toward the end of the day, we all came to the conclusion, that the piece needs to include some more people and characters in it. So I started developing some more characters to place into real glass bottles, which will now hang from the pier, where Sophie's fisherman is featured.

My idea concept to contribute to the piece, was to use old and new themes. For example, I drew a young man from the 1800's, and a young man from today. One was an industrial worker, and one was a regular stereotypical teenager. I thought it would be notable, to display the extreme differences, between eras. (I will add my character photos soon)

After this section is added to the wall, the piece will be complete.

Thomas.

Mural Painting

Today, the main part of mural development went ahead, After yesterday's initial sketch on the wall.

Me and my group, spent the majority of the day painting the base on the folio wall gallery, after going through a very large amount of paint. I personally think one more day on the paintwork, and the mural will be complete, after buying more paint though of course.

I occupied most of my time spent on the mural, painting the power station, the wall under the landfill heap, and focusing on the tonal sea. 

(Above, photos of yesterday's mural progress, which was the basis for today's work).

A great majority of the piece has now been painted out, after a very busy, and collaborative day, working on the mural for the completion date, which is at the latest Monday the 4th of October.

I will post photos of the mural, as of the date this blog was made, very soon.

Guitarist live session

Today, for our third live session in the people and character project. There was a talented young guitarist, who I, including the class observed to sketch, and get a feel for how to draw a moving performance.

I really enjoyed this session, although like all the others, it was really difficult to sketch moving things, such as animals, people, and performances.

Here are some of the sketches that I created from the live session. (Below)

Upcoming Gallery Viewing

This Thursday, after professional studies with Ben, I will be off to a closed gallery event, in the city of Newcastle Upon Tyne, along with everyone else.

The event will feature an installation by the interesting artist/illustrator, Mr Penfold, who I covered in an earlier blog.

> (Link to blog) http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3058873721480185674#editor/target=post;postID=5393423972819186925;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=1;src=postname

I am very much excited to partake in the event, and it will be an excellent way to see first hand, how a professional installation is ran, and showcased.

Thomas.

Mural start

Today, the first solid work began on the final mural piece.

This involved taking a look at our groups entire collaborative plan, and discussing final options before the gallery production went ahead.

After it was settled by all six of us, that it was the idea we wanted to go with, the production began.

As of today, the outline is complete, after being sketched directly onto the white folio gallery space wall.

Mural as of 28/10/13

Thomas

My Contribution Plan (Updated)

Here is my plan, for tomorrow's busy day, in preparation for the gallery viewing piece.

I will work with Sean, in producing the backdrop, which will most likely consist of a 2d painting, or drawing.

On top of this, I will create large scale sculptures, of items such as cogs, screws, nail, and other industrial elements. I will choose a medium to work with tomorrow.

I will take inspiration from this link, containing various photos on the history of Hartlepool, and it's culture.

> Link http://www.hhtandn.org/hartlepool-trade-and-industry

Jonathan Allardyce

http://www.illustrationweb.com/artists/JonathanAllardyce/view

Jonathan Allardyce is an award winning freelance illustrator, from the UK, with over 20 years of experience. He has been a client to such big companies as Paramount, Virgin and Orange.

http://www.illustrationweb.com/artists/JonathanAllardyce/view < image reference at this link.

He  creates a lot of sketches containing various people and characters.
He does so in a heavily cartoon-like style, and to me, his work is greatly colour exaggerated, to help give his work this kind of style and effect.

In my opinion, his work to me, is positive, and I love his creative style.

Thomas.

Further research, into the history of hartlepool.

http://www.hhtandn.org

This is a good link, offering a wealth of photos, on Hartlepool's history, in the past and present.

It offers a detail on a range of topics such as sports, leisure, transport, health, education, war, and most importantly, industry, trade and shipping.

(Seaton Highlight 1)

http://www.hhtandn.org/hartlepool-trade-and-industry < this is the link I will be mainly focusing on.

http://www.hhtandn.org/relatedimages/2444/seaton-high-light-1 < second image from this link.

This site will be super for reference, and provide inspiration for my gallery project, which will tie in well, as I will be working on the backdrop to the mural, on the industrial side of things.

Thomas

My Contribution Plan

For my contribution to my group's gallery project, (which can be found in depth here at this link). > http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7415695017574371365#editor/target=post;postID=664829834840343855;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=8;src=postname

I have decided to work with Sean Miller, Callum Griffiths, Sophie Babur-Puplett, Emma Nichols and Tom Lewis, where I will be developing on the backdrop to the grand, showcased piece.

Because our piece will be focused on the industrial side to the exhibit, I have brought up the idea, of making it comprised of items, such as pipes, cogs, metal and other related items.

I will be painting the wall, over the next few days, in big scale in the Folio gallery.

I will update this blog, as i go along, so consider this blog, unfinished, but ready to be updated.

Plans, ideas and incorporation

Quick idea, and basic sketchy plan of where, and what can be positioned in the mural.

The metal pipe, could tie in really well with our industrial theme, I'd like to incorporate it into the piece, rather than view it as a negative (getting in the way) kind of object. It could simply be painted, but I'd like to take a more enthusiastic approach.

Another point of interest is the lighting, there are 5 lights position above where the piece will be placed. We could use this lighting to an advantage, and place more light catching elements under them, like metal. That way it would make our piece more visually eye catching, appealing, and because of it, interesting. Such a simple tweak, could make a huge difference to the outcome, and it's something worth trying.

Lights aren't at every group's gallery space in the folio area, so this would genuinely make mine, and my groups project piece, different if done correctly. I wouldn't want it to just be a simple, illuminated piece.

Group progress 24/10/13

Progress as of 24/10/13

Within my group, I have decided to participate in a joint effort, with Sean Miller. 

We will both be working on the backdrop to the mural, and it will most likely be a 2D visual piece, maybe a painting, or stencil sticker. 

This will be likely be of Seaton Carew power station, as well as other elements, including some local steelworks. There are some quite close to the Hartlepool maritime experience, so I may take some photos of the complex from the outside, to use as a reference to the building style.

I will post the photos in an updated version of this blog, and also to google plus, for all my circles, especially the ones in my group.

Thomas.

Blink Art, illustrations in installation

http://www.blinkart.co.uk

This link provides numerous examples of how certain illustrations and sculptures, can be presented in gallery like spaces.

Some of the photos on the site page that I provide link to, are 3D based, so they resemble the idea that I and my group have, which is the imagery, of a figure or character, fishing for bottles in water, that are containing numerous elements of Hartlepool's figures, characters, maritime history, industrial past and current events. This installation will also be in 3D, but maybe with certain 2D elements as well, this will provide depth, and highlight hierarchy, pinpointing the most important areas, and aspects of the piece most.

It will be interesting to see how it pans out, since the wall where the installation will be housed, is long, and high.

Thomas.

History of Hartlepool for project

A great link, discussing hartlepool's cultured history in a few paragraphs.

It is provided by the Hartlepool Maritime Experience museum, which is conveniently located right next to the university. 

This link will be of good help to my project, because in my group, we are collaborating to create an exhibition based around hartlepool's maritime, and industrial history, and future.

http://www.hartlepoolsmaritimeexperience.com/?p=The+Museum+of+Hartlepool&s=A+brief+history+of+Hartlepool

Alongside this link, I will be having an actual look around the museum very soon, taking photos, and also taking notes of key events in Hartlepool's history. I will be reporting my findings, in a new blog, that will contain photos, and a large amount of in depth research.

Gallery advice

This is a nice, straightforward link, to a how to page that is giving tips, and advice, for setting up a gallery exhibition. It's not perfect, but in the good snippets It provides, offers advice such as, how to consider your work, direct viewers through your work, as well as handy warning points.

http://m.wikihow.com/Set-Up-an-Art-Exhibition

Virtual Galleries

A link to a great site, that features virtual 3D galleries.

Could come in really handy, as it could quickly give an idea as to how generic galleries choose to display certain types of work, while sitting at my desk.

> http://mobile.3dstellwerk.com a very good site :)

Thomas.

Damien Hirst

I have had a look at the artist Damien Hirst, and at how he chooses to exhibit, and display his many numerous pieces. I have to say, that in my personal opinion, he really creates beautiful, well presented, clean and stunning gallery exhibitions.

The gallery image that seems to somewhat resemble mine, and my groups own idea, and style most, which I posted in the previous blog, is in the photo example below, and in the link for reference.

http://www.damienhirst.com/exhibitions/solo/2012/pinchuk < reference to image featured

Me and my group for this project used Damien Hirst as an inspiration, and you can see his influences clearly, toward the bottom of the page, where our finished mural pictures are displayed.

This exhibition piece, seems to closely resemble my groups mural, of a figure fishing for miniature ornamental bottles, containing certain elements of imagery, and figures from Hartlepool.

I will continue my research, and add to this blog over time.

You can see, in the two images above this text, that the mural that myself and my group set up and created for our people and characters unit, resembles the example photo, of Damien Hirst's gallery exhibition. Especially around the pier area, on the left hand side.

Link to Damien hirst's interesting full gallery > http://www.damienhirst.com/exhibitions

Group gallery idea progress

For the gallery space in folio, my group and myself, have jointly decided to come up with a maritime/social/industrial idea. Replacing our initial topic, which was surrounding such figures and characters as the unfortunate homeless.

This new idea involves creating an illustration, or piece, of a figure fishing for bottles containing elements of Hartlepool's culture, history, people, or characters. 

< brainstorming on ideas of what the folio gallery exhibition could contain.

The bottles in the piece, will be like the ones used in old ship and bottle ornaments. (Below)

This will tie really well with the maritime theme, which is a big staple in hartlepools history, and perhaps future. For this reason, we all in the group feel like it's something worth taking note of, and addressing it, for use in our folio gallery space project.

I will be posting future blogs on my, and my groups progress.

Ship in bottle image reference > http://www.dorsetgifts.com/shipsinbottles.html

Foilo gallery image taken from ccad website