Gregs Art Blog

Recently we started looking at Ceramics, which is a subject that interests me quite a bit. I love the feel of clay and the process of creating a finished piece. I have some experience with clay but I am mainly self taught. clay can be very unpredictable at times, mainly during the firing process. I've had many sculptures fall apart on me after this process. This is possibly due to air bubbles in the clay So I went online to find out some examples of ceramics and I came across these eye catching pieces by Elisabeth Kley. She creates these fantastic vases with brightly coloured designs. I would like to give one a go in this style. I'm not sure how easy it'll be to create a vase but shouldn't be that difficult. Elisabeth's sculptures feature colourful peacock designs and birdcages which make for good opportunities to incorporate a vivid colour pallet. I might go on a similar route with my designs. Id like to incorporate as much colour as possible. I would love ...

For our photography unit we are to research different techniques of taking a photograph. Ive decided to focus on Ansel Adams for my first report. His work impresses me with the detail and the sense of scale he translates to his imagery. Technique and Equipment Adams was well known for his work in the darkroom in which in produced every image by himself. So to better understand this technique I looked up the process from start to finish. Like the name suggests the photographer would work in a dark room because the photographic paper could easily be ruined when exposed to light. This techniques sound slightly tricky to me and the risk of ruining the image is quite high. The waiting period to see the results of the photograph would be quite stressful for me. Possibly because I'm so used to seeing my results instantly which allows me to retake the image if I need to adjust the angle. This technique is still used today but it isn't as popular due to the rise of the more instan...

For our photography unit we are to write about the different techniques of capturing a photograph. I figured that the best place to start would be the first reported evidence of photography, and take it from there. I did research and found out that a man by the name of Joseph Nicephore Niepce, produced what is believed to be the first ever photo from a window of his estate in France. He used a technique called Heliography First recorded photograph by Joseph Nicephore Niepce I read that the process involved using a naturally occurring asphalt, as a coating on glass and sometimes metal. It hardened when exposed to light. When the plate was washed with oil of lavender, only the hardened areas remained. This sounds like a very clever way of create an image but its not one I feel I can fully review as I wont be able to try this myself. This technique sounds more like a science experiment than photography, but come to think of it, chemistry and photography are closely relat...

For this report we were to look into two male artist and focus on what their interpretation of beauty in the male or female body is. We are to write about how their different views of beauty make their work different from other artists. What's todays definition of beauty? Ive decided to find out what todays definition of beauty is and what effect it has on us. Confucius who is a Philosopher and teacher described beauty like this "everyone has beauty but not everyone sees it". I find this quote quite enlightening as I do believe this myself. We spend everyday looking at the same face in the mirror and whenever a flaw appears we obsess over it, and find ways to correct it in order to achieve the perfect "beautiful" look. But these flaws are what make us beautiful.      I believe the media plays a huge part in convincing us what is beautiful and what's not. But the thing is, the majority of these "beautiful" people have their looks alte...

So today the class set out to Hawick, my hometown, to view a series of works by Onyeka Igwe. We were directed into a room surrounded by 3 screens, and in the center were 3 projectors on a very meticulously thought out apparatus. When Onyeka started to describe her work I realised that she has a very different outlook of art and visuals to what I'm used to. She went on to describe here process and the stages leading up to the first film. She mentioned that she looked into Colonial Archives which is where the idea for this project was created. First film   When the first film started to roll, it at first looked like nonsense, but I then began to tune into the idea behind the film. I got the feeling the artist is trying to trigger a reaction from the viewer because their didnt seem to be much context to the imagery. As I continued to watch, I noticed interesting uses of the camera, She would zoom into the worn corner of the book emphasizing the age of the book. then ...

So I woke up today far too early (especially for a sunday) and had the urge to visit an exhibition as I'm wanting to keep my motivation up and keep finding new inspirations. I remember my lecturer mentioned that a great exhibition is showing at the Hawick Museum, so off I went. Apon arriving to the museum I realised that I had an hour to spare before it opens. So I decided to wander around the park and take pictures, thinking about perspective. These are some of the results.. I then decided to play around with them and add some different effects. I wasn't going for a specific look, I was just going through different filters until the image took on a new look and feel. The Surge Exhibition So I made my way back to the museum and I finally started the tour of the exhibit. there was some great work and techniques on display. I have taken photographs but I wont post them on here as they wouldn't do them justice. its very much ...

This week we started one of our units which I'm really excited about. And that's of course observational drawing. I did this unit in the BTEC course quite a few years ago now and it was one of my stronger units. now that I'm doing it at HNC level I'm expecting more of a challenge  So we came in on Thursday morning and sat down ready to start. we didn't know what to expect. just that we would be drawing. we are then instructed to bring the extra chairs from the second room through which was odd as we had plenty for the students. We then moved all the tables back to make way for all the chairs we brought through. We then we witnessed the creation of a mountain of chairs for us to draw.   This was the first task we were set out to do which was on yesterday. We were to draw using only line work which was an interesting challenge. it made us think more about the definite shapes of the objects and we had to work out perspective. We were given ...

For our first assignment we were told to choose two painting from a Presentation, which we went through in class. The subject of these paintings was aimed at the female body. It was interesting to see the different approaches the artists took and the different techniques to achieve these great pieces of work. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, La Grande Odalisque , 1814, Oil on canvas, 36" x 63" (91 x 162 cm),   I've chosen to review this painting done by Jean Auguste-Dominique Ingres. I've chosen this painting because it stood out for me amongst the rest that were shown. The main reason is because of the way the subject is positioned so discreetly from the rest. I first thought that most of the work was focused on the background. I thought this while observing the silk curtain, its one of the most realistic parts of the painting. I got a very orental feel about this painting while looking at it. The anatomy of the lady is all over the place, her sp...

 The Imagination of Stan Lee Acrylic on Canvas bigger than A3 (Sorry about the crappy photo quality)  This is a painting I did a while ago as a tribute to Stan Lees comic book creations. I am a big fan a comic books espeicially Marvel so I thought I should include him in one of my 'painting the famous' portraits. I tried to make it look as though his charectors were bursting out of his imagination. My original Idea was to do silhouettes of the charectors but it looked rubbish so I decided to paint them.  After I painted the charectors I put paper over them and splattering the canvas with paint. I then paint Stan Lee over the top of it (which isnt quite finished). I have a few other paintings which I will be putting on here as soon as they are finshed