Fine Art Environment-

When thinking about what I wanted to include in my manmade environment I knew that it needed to be things that both interest me and that are things I have a connection with . For me this was some decorations from my room, my fox skull and some patterned fabrics and things that I found interesting in both texture and colour. I used a feather wreath as a center piece as I enjoyed the contrast between the dark oil like feathers and the bright and garish colours of the wall hangings. I also wanted something with a highly textured surface to combat the smoothness of the glass and the skull. I wanted to challenge the difference between naturality and man-made fabrics and materials. The skull and flowers are the examples of natural features within the environment and the embroidered fabric and card packaging are directly contrasting with that natural element. I like the contrasting colour palette that a chose also, I think that the crowded scene is something that I was more interested in rather than having a more simplistic grouping.

The first image is my initial idea but after doing a few drawings I knew that I wanted to replace the floral material and furry rug with more simple fabrics to dilute the amount of visible texture and pattern. I think that this worked really well and the second scenery is a lot easier to look at and the colour palette is a little more balanced.

Charcoal/ Mixed Media Drawings-

These are my initial drawings to see if I needed to change the environment or adjust any of the items within it. I used charcoal in all of the drawings however the three drawings at the end are mixed media. I used a water soluble marker to add a bluish purple tone to the paper and establish a base tone all over. I then added some Indian ink for harsh shadows and some mid tones and finished it with biro pen and compressed charcoal. I really love how these mixed media pieces turned out as the cool tone adds emotion to the image and makes the environment almost abandoned and have a lost in time feel.

I enjoy the turnout of these studies a lot, even though it is the same environment that I was drawing from I think that each has their own look and standout as different pieces. I cut the environment down in some and only focused on a small portion of it to try and capture more detail in that one small part rather than suggesting details in a larger piece.

Acrylic Paintings-

I made two paintings with two different approaches. The first one I did I focused on detail and trying to recreate the textures and tones of the environment whereas the second one i wanted to be a lot more free with it and take much more of a creative liberty and focused more on shape and shadow. I used a range of brushes and some palette knives to make a more textured look to the pieces and to create two different pieces. I think both turned out very effective and look quite different, There are elements in both that I really enjoy such as the sheer scarf and the glass. For the second piece I cut the image in half and focuses on my favorite side rathe than doing another full scale piece.