Studio Brief 1 - Your Initial Brief

Further Development of Ideas

This week I have been further developing my initial ideas and creating more rough ideas for the final piece of work. Generating ideas in this way is starting to become easier but I am having to learn to not let a concept become too precious. I need to focus on thinking of as many ideas as possible without the distraction of a possible final piece lingering on my mind which I feel has hindered the progression and quality of my work in the past.

I have been experimenting with different ways to apply ink onto a page and the ways in which I can use negative space or white on black to create a visually striking image. I have realised that the simplest ideas are the ones that communicate best and for this reason I am trying not to over complicate my drawings. I'm finding it difficult to try and incorporate the letter forms into my pictures, I think it may be best for me to look at adding the actual initials in afterwards as text. Trying to focus on the letter forms has resulted in the illustrations becoming creatively weak and I want free reign to create an image without being confined within a set of lines.

Scaling up to A5 - Five Best Ideas

My first image of two dismembered fingers relates to Aaron's hate for bad manners, the second is an all encompassing illustration of his likes and interests where I have created a small world containing things like a trampoline and a family home. The third is in my opinion the weakest and I feel that I could have been more creative with the way in which the noodles form the letter 'h'. My favourite is the dead hamster which is supposed to illustrate the sadness Aaron still feels about the death of his pet. 

After a group crit I have realised that I may have invested too much time in this idea and not enough exploring the other ways in which I can communicate sadness and the relationship between a human being and an animal. The drawing of someone being gifted a packet of crisps could also so with more development, my group advised me to add some kind detail that lets the viewer know they are a present, which in turn reiterates Aaron's love for crisps. I need to look further into the concept of people and food and how to communicate a 'love' for it whilst being more creative in my use of imagery.

The media I have been using is very limited and this was highlighted when I was shown the rest of my groups work. I need to think about the paper I am using and the types of ink I could use, for example I have never worked with Indian ink and now is a time I could be experimenting with new media. I definitely want to include collage in some way and make use of different types of paper I have been collecting. Scaling up these images has shown me I will need to adapt my process of working and the materials I use in order to retain their visual impact.