William Kentridge style animation. Basically the process is: draw -> photograph -> rub it out -> draw again -> photograph it again -> rub it out etc, etc. It was a very, very long drawn out process. But I do quite like the results. This drawing looks good and the actual animation I now have is pretty interesting.

Took a clock apart in the Easter holidays and here's what I got out of it! I'm thinking about using the pieces in the actual collage I'll make... Well possibly. I assume I'll need to use super-glue to get it to stick down, ahaha. 

Julia advised that I take photos of people I know to work onto. I assume she meant I'll collage on top of the actual face. I can see why that would be effective - actually having the form and shape of the face to work with and it'll be a lot, lot easier. Well, if that's what she meant. That's what I've envisaged anyway... 

This is the first still from my new animation. It took only one day and was done in 6 frames. I'm pretty sure the first animation took (about) three days and was made from 20+ drawings/frames. So I think I've learnt a lot from the first time around! I also think it's a pretty big improvement. I've cut it down and made it a lot simpler, but I think it's still effective.

Yesterday I decided I should probably see what my animations look like when they're projected - since that is sort of the plan! I really, really like the bottom one... But my teacher prefers the top one. Typical! Pretty much everyone else agrees with me though, so I'm pretty sure I'll go with that. Haha.

So my plans right now are to get a couple of those portraits blown up to a really huge size. Then I'll have to position those up on the wall and see where the animation could work on the face. Once that's decided, I'll mark out where on the portrait the animation will be. THEN I CAN START COLLAGING. WOO. Ahaha. Hopefully this all goes to plan, otherwise I'll go mad!

I let this slip a lot. I'm going to continue to blame it on portfolio and interview preparation - ahem - and maybe disorganisation. Or maybe it's just simple forgetfulness...

Relief printing is fun! Julia really liked this piece of work when I showed it to her. I'm really glad because I'm sure it'd just become a big ole' mess hahaha.

 

I've developed my print work a little bit... I haven't done a lot more actually. I think I might!

For the most part I've been making an animation in a William Kentridge style. I decided to try and capture the movement of Harrison's timepiece moving. Basically I drew each movement, photographed it, changed the image and then photographed it and so on. Now I have a complete animation which worked pretty well. I might make more and develop them further!

(I don't know why it's the wrong way around?!)
What I did think about for the last couple of days was about my animation, and how to incorporate it into my work. There is the idea of a projection... but I've also thought about a screen behind an image. So I made this little head and shoulders collage with a little space in the centre for a screen. Maybe my phone or something?

Now it's the Easter holidays! Hoorah. Who knows when I'll update next, eh?

I'm just gonna put this idea down, so I don't forget! While I was on the train earlier, I was listening to Pink Floyd and that bit just before Time comes on is actually really cool. All clocks ticking and going off and stuff! I really want to put sounds into my project now. I mean I could use that snippet and repeat it or find a sound clip or ... something! I also really want to make an animation, after looking at Harrison's first timepiece that he made. There were two parts connected with a spring that met together and moved apart - it was reaallyy cool. I totally want to make something with that idea. So little time! Aah!

I knew there would come a point where I fail at updating.

(I have been ill though!)

Tuesday 22nd March: Jenny took apart her TV. It was a goldmine of wires and crazy things to photograph. I love her project! I don't think she knows what the hell she wants to make, but it's gonna be good!

 

I did some collage, as Julia suggested (since my tissue paper components had dried) and it's coming along nicely. I also made some backgrounds to work on.

I also spoke to Nicky who suggested I look at auras. I think she thought one of my pieces showed that idea in some way... I wasn't so sure, but I'll still think about it! Although she did also get me thinking about nerves and electricity. And maybe even thinking about what happens when something in the body doesn't work... Interesting stuff!

Wednesday 23rd March: Nicky had given me some wire to work with (I wasn't entirely sure why) so I decided to make a sort of brain shape out of it. I've been looking into emotions and I found out a lot of science-y stuff recently. Been drawing a lot of diagrams... So yeah, I made a (very basic) little brain and Limbic System wire-y thing. I did some relief prints over the top and they came out alright I think!

Thursday 24th March: Went to the Science Museum and I tried to do some drawing, but I didn't get much done... Oops. So I took some photographs to work on later, haha. Since the weather was so nice, we decided to go to the park nearby instead, bahaha.

Friday 25th March (today!) : I made up for yesterday by going to the Maritime Museum & The Royal Observatory in Greenwich. I studied some of Harrison's clocks and did some proper drawings! It was really interesting in there, (admittedly I didn't get much time to read all the information) but the movement and seeing all the parts were fantastic!

Also, I find whenever I draw in museums, kids love to watch you! It's hilarious. It started out with just two boys quizzing me;

"Are you trying to draw that?"
"Wow, I bet that's hard!"
"What are you using? Aren't you going to get all messy?"
"Where'd you get that book you're drawing in?"

Then I found myself surrounded by kids, and even a teacher!

"What's your name?"
"I really like your drawing."
"So, you're looking at that, and then drawing it down there?"
"Wow, that's amazing."

Seriously, can I just illustrate books for kids? At least they'd appreciate it!

I didn't get to take any pictures actually inside, but I did get a few around the Observatory and such!

Started off the day by taking Julia's advice. She suggested I print onto tissue paper using the actual components and then using them for collage! So I spent all morning printing away. I ended up using 'yellow ochre' simply because I couldn't get the lid off the black ink! But I like it anyway.

So after lunch, these prints were still wet and Dave was looming. Eventually he caught up with me and said he liked what I'd done so far. He asked what I was gonna do next and I kinda shrugged and mumbled. He nodded and told me to keep printing and that he'd had an idea. He went off into the cupboard, grabbed some stuff and then took me to the skip to find ... well, anything. We picked up an old floppy disk but not much else.

He then showed me how to do a relief print (really easy, but so effective in my opinion!) You basically stick something under this brown paper and roll over the top with an inked-up roller. Lovely.

This is evidently Dave's favourite process, since he did about five before he let me even have a go. I kept on going until he left, and when he came back, I'd done at least 20 prints! I started using my own shapes and components and it's all starting to look pretty cool. Especially on the aluminium foil!

So hopefully all this stuff will be (vaguely) dry tomorrow so I can work with it.

Otherwise, I'm gonna be b o r e d.

The drawing on the back of my print...

Day Three didn't go according to plan. I was supposed to go to the Science Museum, but felt ill so didn't go. Same as today actually, I had been meaning to go to the Maritime Museum, but both me and mum felt it was too long a journey if we didn't feel 100%.

Nevertheless, Day Four did go to plan! I decided to get out of the studio and work in the print room which was cool and pretty quiet. I didn't feel too well still, but I decided to do something fairly simplistic. The photo above and below show what I worked on the whole day.

I used one of my small silhouette templates to draw three heads, and using the components and bits me and Ashley gathered the other day, I drew around those too. I tried out random pieces first, then all circular pieces and then a negative/positive combination of nuts and washers.

Here's the actual print when turned over;

I love mono-printing so much! You don't have to do very much to get a good result! Haha. My teachers said they liked it too which was cool.

So for the rest of the weekend I think I'll be planning for next week, getting my proposal right and maybe I'll start looking at that Wimbledon portfolio...

Day Two: I started with trying to find a working OHP, which took me long enough. I then was able to start drawing silhouettes, and do it fairly large scale. So that felt pretty good. Although by the time I'd done a few, I wasn't so sure if it was such a good idea anymore. It's so annoying, it's all I've thought about recently and now I'm starting to doubt whether I can make this into 'the best project I've ever done'...

SIGH.

I saw Ashley later on walking around with a box of screws, bolts and metal and instantly asked her what she was up to. Turns out she plans on making a Steampunk type thing too. Whether I inspired her, I sincerely doubt but I was interested anyway. She said I should come along with her to the skip and see if we could find anything and we found tonnes of stuff. We even nagged the engineering guys for stuff and they didn't disappoint!

Wandering around the skip we found a migwelder (I had no idea. I had to be told several times what it was because I kept forgetting the name of it) and apparently we could take it as it was broken. We hauled it down to Sarah's workshop and asked if we could take it apart. I think she was even more excited than we were to get stuck in. So with her (and Jenny decided to come along too...) help, we took it apart and found the most amazing and intriguing machine parts. By the end, we had tonnes of stuff to work with!

I had great fun taking it all apart and collecting all this stuff... my only worry now is what the hell will I do with it? How can I actually put it into my work? I have all these ideas but I'm worried they won't work and... oh. I don't know. I worry the teachers have high expectations of me and I won't or can't fulfill them. I'm taking on all their suggestions and ideas I just.... ugh. This is supposed to be fun, not stressful!

I had another chat with Nicky which was pretty interesting. I don't think she (or any of the teachers in fact) had noticed my life-size painting on the wall. I pointed at it while we were talking and she seemed surprised almost... Eh. She suggested I think about processes in the body or something; trying to show the nervous system, emotion or even thought as it goes through the brain. I liked that idea a lot! At the end she said, "Well, that's the most positive feedback I've ever had."

I try and stay positive, even if worry and negativity are creeping up on me...