24/01/12 - Collage drawing of objects

Today, we created a collage of drawings from objects on the table before us, using mixed media. At first, we created small sketches of what we planned on drawing from the objects around us and stuck them in our sketchbooks. I used charcoal, chalk and pencil to create the images. When I used chalk, I drew on black tissue paper so it stood out.

We took inspiration from the artist Ben Nicholson, a lot of his work is flat still life with bold colour and shapes. There isn't so much detail in his work in comparison to other artists, however it is just as effective. I like his use of colour, they're not the exact set colour of the object, they are different and stand out. It showed me that I do not need to be precious with my work, and that sometimes mistakes can have a positive outcome in my work as his work shows that perfection is not needed to create a quality piece of work.

Ben Nicholson was a British painter of abstract compositions of landscape and still-life. He had a gift of incorporating European trends into a new style that was recognizably his own, from the likes of Picasso who used cubism. His first notable work was following a meeting with the playwright J. M. Barrie on holiday, Barrie used Nicholson's drawing as a base for a poster for the play, Peter Pan. He was a great traveler and ventured to many places such as America, Paris and Switzerland. He believed that abstract art should be enjoyed by the general public so he created a mural for the garden of Sutton Place in Surrey. Some of his artwork can be seen at the Tate St Ives gallery, Kettle's Yard Art Gallery in Cambridge, and The Hepworth Wakefield.

In my A1 piece, I took into consideration his work and also from another artist, Rosie James. For her work, she uses sewing to outline things and fabrics. For the umbrella, I used a sewing machine to outline it, leaving pieces of the end of the string attached to give it texture and difference. I made the insides using newspaper and PVA to give it a shine, as this gives it a layering looks and to make it more interesting. For the two skulls, I used black and white tissue paper, chalk and charcoal, I then glued these down and plan on using PVA over the top when the entire piece of work is finished. I need to further develop this piece as it is a bit plain and needs more textured layers, colour and drawings. I need to develop other techniques into my work and work faster in order to get a better outcome than what I produced here.

Improvements:

I used a teabag to stain the page and make it look more interesting and less plain than having a white background.I also went over the skulls with chalk and charcoal again to make them bold and stand out more.

These are the objects I drew my sketches from and used to create the large final piece: