Category: People

Isaias Afewerki

Posted on Posted in PeopleTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

It’s interesting how we got to know of Kony due to a viral video but do we know truly of the evil that goes on now as we live today. Not to be controversial but Isaias Afewerki has to be one of the most unknown evil dictators that still live today (to the general public anyway). The genius of this man is the fact that he doesn’t allow the press to report anything in Eritrea; and living in a media driven society it only makes sense that it’s not in the public’s interest to know of him. Religious faiths that have not been legalised in Eritrea deem the people who follow them alien, to the point that they are not classified as citizens. Even Christians are put in jail facing torture for their faith, and are forced to denounce their religion; though many refuse and are still tortured. It saddens me when I think of the hardships people face due to what they believe in; I often feel that I take for granted the freedom I have to express my faith without the fear of prosecution when others are tested for what they truly believe. As part of my series in this project I’ve decided to continue painting these evil figures hoping to strike debate and having at least one more person aware of what’s really out there.

Sugar Lift etching

Posted on Posted in PeopleTagged , , , , 6 Comments

Inspired by our visit from Humphrey Ocean our guest lecturer Gwen decided to show us one of his etching techniques which we tried for ourselves later on. I chose to use my recent painting of my grandma as a source of inspiration for my composition. I really like the effect I got from the process, with sugar lift etching you never really get a perfect image but the outcome is great.

Crowd

Posted on Posted in PeopleTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

I try to stay away from painting more than one person as my perfectionist side would step in and I would end up spending months on one piece, not due to the level of difficulty; simply the fact that I’d hate painting it. So I decided to challenge myself, not only was I to paint a crowd I was to also paint it in oil. I focused on elements that I found easier to paint and for some reason I find it easier to paint hair, which most actually find harder to paint. From my study I found that I don’t need to paint a perfect portrait have the characteristics of the subject I’m painting, from the hair alone most of my uni friends were able to spot the characters with ease.

Joseph Kony

Posted on Posted in PeopleTagged , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

It’s a topic I feel very passionate about. It also demonstrates the power persuasion can have on people. It’s sad to know that people like Kony exist; what’s even more sickening is the fact that he claims to do what he does in the pursuit of christianity. As a christian myself it’s interesting to see how far the truth could be bent, causing mass propaganda. This portrait reinforces my argument for my final major project at whether faith is relevant in the 21st century, it definitely shows the cons as idiots like Kony put their own twist to faith creating something completely evil; and it’s so scary as looking at his image I didn’t really get the sense of an evil war lord. It’s the story that follows the portrait that showcases his wickedness. To test this out I’m going to set the image somewhere in my university asking for 1 word responses to what the public experience looking at his face. Though to be honest I’d be more than happy if they ripped it off the wall.

This was my first proper attempt at using oils all through the painting and I must say I won’t be using acrylics anytime soon.

Painting Royalty

Posted on Posted in PeopleTagged , , , , Leave a comment

On one of my random painting moods I decided to paint a royal, I didn’t want to paint the obvious so I decided to paint Prince Philip. The guy is so funny and incredibly ignorant at times, but hey even the royals have their moments of humor.

I never add much detail on a study but I liked this portrait so much I’m considering painting another on a larger scale with more wrinkles, LOVE PAINTING WRINKLES…….. death to smooth skin so boring.

Grandma

Posted on Posted in PeopleTagged , , , , , 4 Comments

I felt liked painting a topic and for some reason death came instantly. Last year had to be the worst year for my family, we lost 5 members in a single year, all of whom I was really close to. I took into consideration the family members who have suffered the most from their loss and my grandma came into the centre of my thoughts. Not only has she lost her husband but in the same year she lost a son and a sister. My mother made a trip to support her during the memorial, she took lots of pictures and in every single picture she had this low sinking facial expression. She looked like she had a lot of emotions going at once. I feel that my FMP (final major project) will consist a lot of portraits of her and somehow the bubbles managed to slip into this painting too.

Back to work

Posted on Posted in PeopleTagged , , , Leave a comment

Well it’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog. I go through periods of not doing anything and then suddenly producing masses of work. I will add more material as I go along hopefully on a daily base but I’m not promising anything. This was a project I had long set myself to do. I was commissioned to paint my friend’s baby; it started off well until I got the image he wanted me to paint, it was then I realised how much I hate too much shadow in my work, especially if the shadow is not subtle. I gave it my best shot and the end result wasn’t too bad. It’s funny because I tend to put back work I don’t want to do, this piece is evident to that as it took me 3 months to finish, not due to the length I take to paint but the fact that I hated painting it. As soon as I was done with the face I was surprised at the rate it took me to finish the rest, I guess my fabric studies are finally paying off.

Past Alevel experience :D

Posted on Posted in PeopleTagged , , , , Leave a comment

I’m not going to lie I HATED!!! Alevel with a passion; I felt that it was 2 years of my life I will never get back. Yet it’s thanks to A level that I’m in this position right now 😀 anyway I FINALLY have all my art work from the years and was amazed at the systematic way in which I work. It seems like I go in and out of themes. The following work is from my A level exam.

The Final Outcome (8hours O_O”)

When Boredom Strikes

Posted on Posted in PeopleTagged , , , , Leave a comment

Like I said in an earlier post I became a bit lazy mid-way in the pathway and felt very unmotivated. My solution is always to start doing something random; so I got my images from Amsterdam and began painting in a style I’m not used to the outcome was this…

I worked once again with acrylic paint but watered it down to get this loose effect. I remembered that most of the paintings in the Rijks Museum, of fabric, where often made up of marks of paint which if view together created the final article. From this painting, I took a glimpse of my photos and noticed a postcard I’ve always had but never paid attention to. It showcases the painting by Philippe de Champaigne entitled ‘Cardinal Richelieu’

For the first time I noticed the dramatic nature in which the fabric is painted and got more and more interested the more my eyes worked round the postcard. I was so inspired that i began to make numerous studies of all shapes and sizes, I even went as far as knitting rope and painting and painting on the knitted fabric to see what effect I would get from it. Below is a slide show of my moment of crazed obsession.

Amsterdam Cont.

Posted on Posted in Miscellaneous, People, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , Leave a comment

Following my trip to Amsterdam we were given a brief to create a mind map to best express, or at least summarise my trip to Amsterdam using various mediums and techniques. My end outcome was this….

I tried to ‘Summarise’ my experience on my 1m x 1m mood board. The red fabric on the bottom left represents my experience of the red light district, I found it funny how such a tiny portion of Amsterdam was highly amplified by everyone here in the UK when in actual fact it was pathetically short and uninteresting. My experience was all about the cultural side of Amsterdam, most importantly the Rijks Museum and the Van Gogh; which I must say is a DEFINITE MUST GO when your over there.  To represent this I made the most influential image Vermeer’s ‘The Milk Made’ take centre stage of my mood board as I really loved the Dutch Master’s work. But even more amazing was seeing a Van Gogh so close up, represented by the sun flowers painted on the right. The cropped map on the top right shows the path we took on the bike ride (7 HOURS!!!!!) but still it was amazing. We did visit the sculpture museum which wasn’t impressive for its sculpture garden (well for me anyway) but more so the Kroller Muller gallery (AMAZING) which showcases an impressive collection of art many of which I recognised as there are artists I always referred to in GCSE art. I also got the sence of consumerism as the branded shops we have here in the were everywhere in Amsterdam which corrupted my tourist view of Amsterdam, however i did get a bargain in H&M for two pairs of gloves. Below are some close up images of the mood board 😀

UCA Carousel: Lens Based Media

Posted on Posted in People, PhotographyLeave a comment

This being the final project I did feel a bit lazy and my usual work ethic was lacking however it was during the later stages of the project that  began developing my ideas. Looking at one of the new artists whom I found interesting I wanted to create an installation based on early memories of me from a young age to the stage in at now. The project brief was I am Here, and I thought that having various images of my development would show the gradual progression of my life’s journey to where I am now. The earlier pictures of me were to be distorted and blury as these were memories that i wasn’t so sure of, yet as you progressed further to my later life the images would get clearer and cleaner until you reach the point were you just have a clear representation of ME as I am today. Sadly I didn’t have enough time to do so, yet it’s an idea I hope carry on this idea to my Fine Art project as that’s the pathway i would most likely enjoy. the images below however are images I took during the pathway exploring different photographic concepts.