Reflection

Now that my work is ready and set out, I feel like it’s easier to reflect on my creative practice within the boundaries of this work.

At the start of this academic year I went into the course adamant that painting, and in particularly people, was what I was going to do throughout the year, only painting.; however I was quite mistaken! I ended up still doing painting throughout all my projects, however I was introduced to different mediums such as collage. I found that I really enjoyed doing collage and involving it in my project work, so much so that I included collage in my final pieces! I think that using this mixed media approach was successful as it adds more dimensions than just painting; for example the final piece with the deer and the rubbish, making the rubbish out of collage makes it more interesting than just a standard painting. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed collage, I will definitely go more down the collage route in my second year.

I was really pleased with my final pieces, I think my insect final piece for my time project is my most successful, it links in well to the ideas I had at the beginning of my time project; I like that they look as if they are real bugs, the collage gives realism to them. I think displaying the insects how I did was successful also, presenting them like they are on a taxidermy trophy board. I think that the insects work well because they represent something that would definitely happen in the future.

I think that my final outcomes for the city project both were successful end results for my project. I think this because they both have a clear link to my ideas during the project; I have a good amount of development and idea work which clearly shows the development and progression to my final pieces. I think that my favorite and more successful piece is the deer with the rubbish, this piece was inspired by my group field project as we looked into human consumption on a daily basis, I incorporated it into looking into this effect on animals. You can see a clear link with this final piece and my group field project work, representing our wastefulness and consumption and how it effects the environment and the animals living in it. I really like this piece as it sends a strong message, the rubbish is making the deer look un-regal and it isnt natural. You feel sorry for the deer, it is only an innocent animal and we are destroying its beauty because it is having to migrate into cities as we expend into its environment. Making the rubbish out of real pictures of the rubbish connotes that this is REAL this is a REAL this that is happening in the world today. I think that I could have made my other final piece (the buildings and deer) more successful by layering more buildings, making the city look more congested, in a sense sort of over exaggerating the scene, emphasizing the large scale of the city. However, I think that this piece was successful because in this case less is more in the sense of the detailing of the buildings, the simplicity works, and you feel sorry for the little deer at the bottom of the painting.

I really enjoyed doing the collaborative group work, I was fun to work with people from different courses. The group field opened my eyes to a whole new way of working, looking at the piece we’d created as an image to be used rather than a final piece in itself. As well as thinking about sculpture as a medium to display an idea, an advertisement. I enjoyed learning new things from everyone in my group, I think it was very beneficial to me to get an insight to other mediums of working. For example I was working with a sculpture student and to make our models I had to cut and weld wire which I had never done before! It was a great experience working with new materials. 

Final Piece

So this is my final piece outcome. I really like this piece as it sends a strong message, the rubbish is making the deer look un-regal and it isnt natural. You feel sorry for the deer, it is only an innocent animal and we are destroying its beauty because it is having to migrate into cities as we expend into its environment. Making the rubbish out of real pictures of the rubbish connotes that this is REAL this is a REAL this that is happening in the world today.

Final piece idea

So now I have to think about what my final piece will be for my project. I know that I definitely would like to use mixed media like I have been doing, and I would like to bring humor into the work as well as a strong message.

I think that I would like to use a stag in my final piece, this is because they are such a great, regal animal and are being disturbed and taken over by cities. Deer are having to migrate into cities as cites expend into their natural habitat. Going back to when I took the photos of the deer which live near the city center.  I would also like to use the idea from Martin Wittfooth of combining the animal with the man made features. I think that putting rubbish on the deers antlers will symbolize the problems animals are having.

Fox reading the newspaper

I wanted to make my works give more of a message. I think the animals once migrated into the city, if they spend long enough in the city environment, they get affected by the city. The city manipulating the animals minds, making them more and more urban, even slowly developing more human. This fox has rummaged through bins like foxes do nowadays in the city to find food because they do not have to go out hunting anymore, but it has developed further to the fox reading the newspaper…

Duck in a puddle

Today I painted a duck swimming in a puddle. I like the humor of it, the duck should be swimming in a river or lake, but in the urban environment that it is in, it is swimming in a small rain puddle. The puddle is dirty and surrounded by rubbish, it is quite a contrast having the greens of the duck against the browns of the water and the rubbish around; showing the beauty of the duck against the man made trash.

Owl and mouse

Today I have painted an owl about to strike on a mouse on top of a traffic light. I think incorporating the owl doing its natural instinct of hunting, with the man made traffic  light, represents how animals are having to hunt in the city. Just like how animals would in the wild, once migrated into the city use man made objects to help hunt.

Idea development

I quite like the idea of placing the animals within the city in subtly hinted city scenes, making them part of the city. Bringing or forcing man made objects into their lives. I have had the continuous idea throughout this project of making my works humorous but with a serious message to them, I would quite like this in my works building up to my final piece, even in the final piece itself!

Final piece based on the workshop

Here is my first final piece of my project. One of our final pieces has to be based on our workshop, my workshop was painting, we looked into layering colours. I thought I could incorporate what I learnt into my final piece by painting buildings and layers colours on top to create the look of a packed, cramped city. This final piece is similar to all my development pieces I have with the animal stood in front of the buildings. I think that this was successful because in this case less is more, the simplicity works, and you feel sorry for the little deer at the bottom of the painting.

Slinkachu

Slinkachu is a 33 year old street artist living in the UK

The ‘Little People Project’ started in 2006. It involves the remodelling and painting of miniature model train set characters, which he then places, photographs and leaves on the street.

It is both a street art installation project and a photography project. The street-based side of his work plays with the notion of surprise and he aims to encourage city-dwellers to be more aware of their surroundings.

This piece in particular I think relates to my project. Here he is showing how our cities are damaging wildlife; the deer here are nibbling on a cigarette butt. It shows how our waste effects wildlife and how animals are having to adapt to being in the city. This photo represented how the urban city is the deer’s environment.

Raccoon and buildings blended

I decided to take my pencil drawings and make a painting, I chose to use a raccoon as they are quite a popular animal to find in cities, pretty much completely urbanized and surviving on cities.

I used the same colours of the raccoon’s fur to make it look like it blends into the buildings.