The final Project!

Positive Ireland

After reasurching what Ireland is well known for, and Irelands popularity around the world i chose the angle of suggesting that Ireland is a nice place to visit for a holiday.
I wanted to use photography and illustration combined to exacute the final images. The brief asked us to not only create a design for a billboard, but also a T- Shirt and a free give away item.

This is how it looks :)

 T- Shirts :

And the give away item is a design made to cover a take away cup of Tea or Coffee.

The above image is the Tea - Tag for the Tea Bag :)
The images below were made for an actual print to iron on a T- Shirt - I tryed to print on the transfer paper but the printer didnt print the image well. however, what i learnt about T-Shirt printing is that the image has to be backwards . I added these images to the blogg as although they wernt applyed to a t- shirt, i did spend time trying to do it. All the best for the summer months and ill be back to update this blogg as a second year student (!!!!)  in September - All the best :)

Yes this is the DOOR!

THe final book

In the making

The covers

Ranking Week 2

On Monday we had to choose three ideas from the thumb nails. The text i made from a ribon - photographed and uploaded onto photoshop. I had two definite choices however the third idea was still in sketch form as i wanted to do an illustration. I wanted to create an image of Alice and her dreamy state. I was either going to create a sketch of Alice next to the rabbit hole with the fantasy's loosely around and coming from the tree. However i thought the illustration its self was too large and intricate for a book cover. .I really wanted to at least try to get away from the story, so that i wasn't "just" illustrating the story. I wanted to demonstrate a concept. The second execution of this concept became an illustration of Alice in a sleeping position with her dreamy fantasy's coming from her hair as her hair was communicating what was going on inside her mind as she slept. When i was happy with the outline of the final illustration  then uploaded it to photoshop. I added colour with fabric texture as in my minds eye i saw the final image as a collage. I did try out actual collage but as i was cutting and sticking the picture was ending up a bit tacky.  Although i like the final illustration i also liked the graphics piece and as the teacher preferred it i presented it for assessment. - The graphics piece was a reconstruction of the room in which Alice finds the small door. I had used a door that i found on Google images but i was advised to photograph and edit an actual door - which i did. I found the perfect door in Adare :) the perfect door waiting in Adare, who knew! Once printed it was cut and stuck to a block of polystyrene to look like a real book for assessment.
    The second part of the project was to design and produce a 3D book relating to Alice in wonderland and incorporating the essence of the theme. I had a curiosity shelf ( that was my jewelery box : ?) so i thought this was a brilliant thing to start with. I designed the book as if it had been found in the garden where Alice was at the beginning of the story. I also wanted it to be old looking and overly embellished as the book was set in the 19th century - Victorian decoration. I filled the compartments with small ornaments that related to the characters in the book. I made an Alice doll also, so if a child was to interact with the book they could play with the doll, open the small books, read the labels, "drink me", "eat me"etc. ( if it didn't fall apart - not for toddlers lol) I created the cover and a frame for the compartment area in paper mashe, cut the Ace cards to make several doors and made some ornaments from air drying clay. I'm delighted with it although there were a few problems along the way. (as there always is) Creative solutions had to be found quickly as time was of the essence - just like the rabbit in the story. :)

Ranking week one

Using all the reasurch we all began the week drawing out thum nail illustrations of various ideas for the book cover. There are so many styles to go for with Alice in wonderland ie the vintage look, just a elaberate border, illustration, collage etc. im am still pulling some ideas together, although what I have ready to show monday afternoon is still in sketch form. Im putting together a doodle type illustration that i think grasps the concept of Alice's dreamy world of Wonderland. This is only one of the ideas i am still working on,  3 ideas will be shown and disgussed tomorrow, and then we have the week to finnish with the final idea choice. Also we have to make a book relating to and incorperation the essance of our chosen book. I have been working on the idea of  curosity and how i may also be able to tie in the surreality of the book. |Content wise, I think the best thing to include would be poems from the book itself. I have a lot to do.:) but at least i have the plan.

Reasurch Week.

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Well ranking has begun, and as we set off to the libary we have a wee and a cup of coffee to get things going. The brief is, in a nut shell to design a book cover. My book is Alice in Wonderland. To then take all the reasurch found  about this book and put it into a 10 page power point presentation within the week.
:)

Elective - Vis-Com

The teachers brought, pulled and pushed loads out of their students - far more then we thought we could give. I was very impressed with the way of teaching and i felt the teachers were very supportive. Although i was overwhelmed in the first week i finished the two weeks in good form and was happy with the results. Being shy is a pressure and it holds you back so a competitive vibe in the classroom is too much for me. Yes there is much to learn, and at ground zero i achieved 60% and although  I don't really like the competitive feel in Vis-com i will like to head in this direction for the next 3 years. I believe that the benefits of  mutual support in a learning environment are invaluable, as apposed to a competitive environment - i hope that a competitive atmosphere will not be encouraged in the years ahead. I am very excited to learn more in this area, animation and other programs- To add onto the clumsily self taught information i have and very importantly the structure in which we process our information ideas and in the presentation also. Although i don't really see myself going into the cooperate identity  or advertising perhaps not even product design i know that they are valuable tools for bread and butter in this field, and tools id like to acquire. I love animation and graphic art this is totally my cup of tea!!!!  

Eective - Print

Oh how excited i was to do print and how disappointed i was. Unfortunately i wasn't at all well in the second week which was a pain in the arse. I have  to be honest that the environment of the print room was not for me at all. Although i was unwell the fumes in the studio kicked my ass and every day i was driving my hour long journey home sick sick sick. Also when it came to ideas in which to print, i had only a few as i had no experience in this medium and had to learn whilst another 25 people were in the same room with about the same amount of experience trying to learn. Lol - Any way with me missing about a week i only just passed and learnt that .... well ..... print is dirty smelly and well..... not my cup of tea although, i love the style it produces.

Elective - Painting

Painting was a blast, totally full on but i loved it. I had never taken part in a life drawing class before, so this was not only a challange but was a brilliant experience and i found the teachers very helpfull. They taught us how to SEE tones firstly in the shadows and then in colours. After setting up instillations where we couls choose an interesting part and paint what we saw in colour and in tone. How to mix the colours and  the colour wheel - was all very intresting although i didn't really see the point in their brief ? I  think the two weeks of learning took us all of the subject of the brief, however this happend almost organicaly so i cant say anything bad about it :)  65% for this elective.... however i have no idea how the marking seems to work - it makes no sence to me at all. Any way learning is why we are all here so as long as im in the game im a happy woman and im happy very happy for the mark but have no idea how i earned it lol :) x

To Conclude- The end of the Urban Project and the First semester

This winter was the worst winter in the history of my life so far, and to make it funny, I, the princess is living in a mobile home (i had no choice) with no water from the mains - which doesn't matter as all the pipes and the water its self had frozen, no wood burner and very little insulation! How did i do in my urban project - Seriously... my son and i are  lucky to be alive.I'm now on the other side of the winter to tell you what amazing things i did in the urban project but i can only tell you that i did my best, and i think the concept was fab! However the reality is that i am one very small woman who is living in a very big world with many heavy things that i seem to have to lift and carie by myself. And without gas for heating and cooking, and without the water or a functioning bathroom situation as everything had frozen  - for 3 months (as the pump broke, yes it too had frozen)  i didn't have time to unleash an amazing way to finish the 3D model of  the "metropolis" Urrrrmmmm "Sorry?" .
OK so what i did do, i finished building the ladies as i like to call them. I had  designed the front of the construction and had been told to then build 6 - which i did in the 7 days  they asked me to do it in. However that was all well and good, but the back of the construction still had to be designed and put together to complete the figure and then the remaining 5 models had to also be built from the templates  of  the first. This took allot of time as the design had to continue the figure shape but also in the form of buildings whilst being able to stand and not be to top heavy. Now once the design was complete templates had been made and i got to work completing the remaining 5. I had started to cut out the templates in clay as really i wanted to make a finished model in clay perhaps raku.( Clay cut outs froze and fell apart)  After researching different firing methods and glazes, metallic colours i decided how i wanted to finish the piece, however i also thought that building the model out of different metals would look good, but the practical side of doing this was week.Due to the weather and not being able to even get into the collage, i decided to practice a few experiments with the models. Covering them in plaster, for a heaver look and feel to the piece and trying different textures. I also experimented with different colours - metallic - to get a feel of what the model would look like if the piece was brought to the next level which would be building in clay and finishing the in a metallic glaze.  In conclusion the concept was good the model was well  designed as it looked how i wanted it to but really to push it that bit further i would have required more time and experience in materials. I feel my lack of knowledge and experience in building in 3d held the concept back.
60 odd percent in the first semester is good and under the pressures of my personal life, i am satisfied - cant wait to learn more so i can expand in confidence. Mr freeze can kiss my ass because after having no water or cooking or heating for 3 months i have sorted the situation and i will never be so venerable again. G.I Barbe can not be beaten only slowed down - lol x

After the reviews, i have continued by cutting one of my designs into a wood block. I wanted to use lino as i had a go at wood block before and it was a disaster, however i gave it another go and found that the tools are really important as they have to be sharp or the whole thing turns out terrible. Wood block is quite fluffy as it is but if the tools aren't sharp the fluffiness is out of control :)
I also have built the 2d drawing of the woman building design. It was a challenge but the result is fab. Delighted with the result and would like to take it further, however  there are many options either painting the design on canvas, or perhaps casting it. I could just plaster on top of the card model, or make it out of different metals using rivets to bind it. I'll talk to a tutor to be advised.
i went to check on the bowl i glazed, hoping that it had been fired, but its not ..... yet. Ill check again next week.

Returning to reasurch

I didn't  complete the 3d prototype because after i wrote the previous blog i had a discussion with a tutor and they advised more research, and that it was too early to be working on a final. I understand that i need to produce and explore other mediums. They suggested that i do more line drawings of buildings etc. So i went to several places to do some on sight sketches. I took some of these sketches and had a go at water colour.
   Limerick city is contained by a ring road around the edge of it this i thought could be represented in a bowl shape. I used wire to create a skeleton  and using fabric i weaved  it all into a bowl shape. I liked the weaving as it had a similar texture and pattern of bricks, which i think is relevant. I also made another few things, as experiments to see how the materials may be put together and how they looked if used in a few different ways. They are experiments using different methods of weaving, meshed metal and wire.
I loved the bowl concept so i sketched a design that i would like to put onto a bowl. I began with design of houses, and i had an image in my mind of how i wanted it to look so i made a few exsamples before making a prototype bowl out of newspaper. I left the edges rough as i wanted it to look like a pile of news papers and really our urban society is captured nicely in the print - the news of our local environment, adverts to indulge our consumer appetite, gossip, politics and news on our financial situation with the falling economy.
I then painted my design within it. I love the effect.
I am working on a lino print at the moment, i tryd  the board but i felt it was terrible as it is very difficult to keep it tidy and precise, i don't like the board. However there seems to be some issues with the printing dept. as they have their press ready for board prints only so i may have to try to print it by hand ???? Geeesssszzzz
Ah well.
I also have a design  i want to complete as a graphic image. ( and also in lino)
However i still haven't produced anything 3d!!!  - Well other then a bowl. So once i get on top of the other bits ill go back to the design i started with and id like to see how it can be made. i was thinking that i loved the affect of the news paper affect so perhaps that would be an option however id i also love to try to make an actual bowl in ceramics with the design i have already.- Also using the same design perhaps there is a chance i can also make it in felt :) That would be fantastic!
Photos??  ok ill put some up ;)

Artistic content is based on presuppositions and philosophy, which comprise a artist/designer’s premise or point of view

Did some serious thinking based on the " Idea development " check list P. Green sent to my email the other day. It  helped  my understanding of how I am going to develop my idea into a visual response that the viewer would understand. - how to put my work into context.
Although I could be doing more research at this point I'm going to hold off on that for a bit, and build a prototype in card of my 2d sketch. This requires me to think and sketch how I'm going to make this shape into boxed shapes.The shape is awkward, so ill  divide up the drawing into sections. Once I have an idea of how it works I'll flatten it, to make a pattern of each of the components. Ill be able to use this pattern at a later date either rescaled.
 Once i have an idea of the shape, shadow scale and depth I'll continue researching the city, deciding on colour texture etc - to  represent the building shapes of the structure.

Week three Urban project.

Started the week with bits and pieces all over the place, so I began by organising my work journal. I think that although I have done the research and have a few ideas to work on I believe I was a little nervous to pick up a pencil or whatever and really get down to doing some  practical work -I feel a little out of practice. So i had to get down to it :) I wanted to do a few different styled picks in a few different mediums to give me more scope  when it comes to ideas and therefor developing  these ideas.
With all this in mind, I began Monday doing a city street/ night/ wet - in oil pastel. I then followed this by creating a messy ink city scape image. I  had an idea of how I wanted it to look so I just needed to experiment with the inks to see how they move etc. All went well, I left them to dry and luckily I took photos before I went home. When I returned to the studio on Tuesday morning they were stuck to the floor - hope I don't get into trouble  : /