Penny

Our first task was to bring in 5 personal objects, the objects I brought in include a key necklace, which I received for my 16th birthday present and a purse with dalmatians on it. We each used our objects to come up with ideas for 6 characters. We then made up three unique stories with one main character and a plot, following the theories of Aristotle. This theory exclaims that there is an introduction/ exposition, a complication rising action during the middle of the story, a climax, then a peripety/turning point, falling action, and at the very end; new stability. We followed these rules to come up with a story of our own. 

Penny the Purse

We came up with the idea of a purse, named penny. The character needed to have mental pain in her life, so we wanted to chose something that would give her immediate sympathy from the viewer so we decided that she was depressed from the fact that she is a purse and doesn't have legs. The first picture (above) was supposed to she her, quite lonely and depressed, on her first step as she is unable to climb any higher as she is limbless. To gain more sympathy from the viewer, we said that she had attempted suicide, this explains the second picture in the image above, the jumps from the first step. Unfortunately for her, as she wasn't able to climb high enough for the suicide to kill her, so she gets back on her feet, and tries to see the bright side of things. The third picture shows her 'seeing the light' as she decides she wants to do something about her depression. She then uses her savings to buy legs for an operation she had been dreaming about. She buys the legs cheaply from a black market, this is why they appear different in the 4th picture. She is given them and, to her, they appear to be given to her by the hand of god (metaphorically). The 5th picture shows her on a higher step as she has the legs to be able to climb higher, which makes us feel happy as the viewer because she has got what she has always dreamed of. The last picture shows her feeling adventurous and wanted to explore the outside world. This story has a happy ending and we wanted to make the plot so that the viewer would feel a range of different emotions in only 6 photos. 

I enjoyed this task as we discovered what makes a good movie from Aristotle's theory. In some ways I thought our story was successful, in the way that it makes the viewer feel different emotions, but it is only set in one area. It is also not very colourful and it doesn't show penny as a hero because we feel as if she didn't earn the legs, but only received them from the hand of god. We could've improved this by adding another picture showing how she could've earned the money for the legs, this makes us feel as if she earned them more and worked hard for them. 

Cropping and Fall, Crush, Echo, Happy, Jump and Sad

Over the weekend, our task was to take 20 photo graphs of our surrounding environment. I took a photo of cranes Lewisham because this area is newly developing and I like to draw cranes as they bring hope to the public and show that that area is improving and things are getting better. I am also intrigued by their skeletal, linear design and I like the way they penetrate the more pure blue and white colours of the sky. I made the photo black and white so it was purely tonal, and then created this drawing using charcoal and acrylic paint and black marker. Once we had covered the whole A1 sheet, our task was to crop the drawing using another piece of paper, to get rid of all narrative and to create a new narrative by simply cropping the picture. Below are a selection of images to show how cropping can change a narrative and how the viewer may question what they are seeing.

This picture created by the cropping process becomes more abstract, and we are unable to be sure of what we are looking at. The cranes also appear to be coming from nowhere as we can't see the ground, the foliage is also unclear what it is. This shows that all narrative has been removed from the picture and we are questioning what we are seeing which creates more interesting photography as we are lingering on the idea of the meaning of the picture.

I also cropped the picture into a triangle to create more questions. I did this as it went against the linear directions of the cranes structure and counterbalances the vertical lines, creating a new narrative. I have also made the picture 95% sky and the picture has become completely abstract as I have removed the base of the crane and therefore we are unclear as to what it is, it simply becomes geometric shapes.

I then cropped the bottom half of the picture, removing the main subject matter and the sky. We can only see the beginnings of a building and scaffolding, and there is a fear of the unknown as we cannot see above this section, we question what is being built, how it is being built and what the scale is as there is nothing to compare it to. It also becomes very linear and messier than the simplicity of the cranes. 

I enjoyed this task as it was interesting to see how a simple, unquestionable picture could have a changed narrative by simply cropping the image. It was also interesting to see what kind of questions arose from each cropped section and how some of them became completely abstract.

Our next task was to take photos and produce images that would make the viewer think of particular words that we were given. We were given the words: fall, crush, echo, happy, jump and sad. Above is the image I took for 'fall'. I took this image because I thought it could make the viewer feel suspense and feel as if they were falling from this height, I also thought it could make the viewer feel almost panicked and invigorated. 

This is the image I took for 'crush'. I found a crushed wrapper on the floor, which had been trodden on by everyone walking up the stairs. I thought it was interesting because the wrapper is very small in comparison to the whole picture and shows that it is quite insignificant. I also lined up the edge of the stairs with the picture plane to create a more balanced composition. 

This is the image I took for 'echo'. I found this word more difficult as an echo is something unseen by the human eye, but I wanted to convey 'echo' by showing the size of the building and also an echo of numbers that seem to be lingering next to the pillar. Similarly to the previous picture, I lined up the pillar with the picture plane to balance the composition and also create a counterbalancing vertical to the diagonals of the wallpaper.

This picture represents 'happy'. I thought this picture was happy because I feel that 'happy' images have high saturation and are bright and cause excitement within the viewer. I thought this bright orange light was a happy colour an it interested me that the source of the colour is lights under the table, which could represent the growth of happiness and a smiles affect on other people and how it is contagious. 

This picture shows 'jump' as it doesn't stop on the 6th and 8th floor and has 'jumped' these floors.

I thought this image represented 'sad' because it shows fire extinguishers and a list of instructions on what to do when there is a fire. I thought this was sad because I feel that fire is associated with burning, death and sadness.

I enjoyed this task because it challenged me in the way that it made me look at taking photos in a different way, and not simply because I like the way they look but I want to represent something and create a narrative in one single image.

My Personality in Pictures

Our task was to create 6 boxes to reflect ourselves. I chose the theme of 'split' because I have quite a split personality. The box above is 'obsessive' to convey that I get obsessed quite easily with people. I have censored out the eyes because the obsessions change frequently. Below is 'What We Don't See'. This box conveys what meets the eye can be very different to the reality. The thriving big city life is very appealing to people and is a perfect lifestyle, but some people aren't as lucky and are left homeless down ally ways and areas unseen to the uninterrupted city life. The left picture is a picture I took in waterloo of people going to work and going about their daily duties, the picture on the right is of a homeless man.

I then wanted to incorporate my name into one box so I combined my surname Eastwell with my love of travelling to different continents. Therefore I got a picture of an old map and placed a compass over it to convey my love for adventure as well as my own name.

In the forth box, I wanted to show more of my personality so I split two pictures of a woman crying and a woman smiling and then joined them in the centre. Again, this idea was to portray my split personality and sometimes I don't convey how I really feel, and my appearance is different to what I'm thinking. I did something similar in the fifth box using pictures of New York City in day and night and how the same place can look so different.

I wanted to carry on with the split theme in this box, and black and white are my favourite colours although they're not technically colours, so the two ideas contrast each other. I also like the simplicity of the design.

This was the first box I made to begin the theme of 'split'. This was an artists work, in a hotel called 'Art Hotel Au Viex Panier'. I liked how one side is completely covered in graffiti and mess and the other side is pure white, split but one perfectly straight line in the centre. In a way I think it conveys the brain and how one side is creative and the other is more academic. This also shows my creative side and how it is part of my personality. 

I displayed each of the boxes (I ended up making 7) on sheets of paper which I taped together which made it foldable. I arranged them so they would appear balanced. In the last square I simply wrote my own name in scribbly writing to show my messy side and how there is mess in order. I also drew over the face to make it look more cartoon-like.

I enjoyed this task very much because it was challenging because it was more difficult than I thought to be able to convey my own personality through pictures and one word. I think my result is quite successful and I am happy with it.

Photoshop

Our inspiration for this task was our own identity. Our task was to portray ourselves through a poster. We began with writing our full name onto Ai and making it curved shaped and experimenting with different fonts, sizes and colours. Once we had chosen our design, we zoomed into each letter and were able to change the format and shape of each letter using the tools down the left hand side. I wanted mine to reflect me so I chose my favourite colour (pink) and a bold font.

Then we chose a photo of ourselves, and separated it from its background so we were able to place it on another image. I chose a photo from the day time, where the sun was shining on one side of my face. I wanted the image to look realistic so I chose a sunset as my background and edited the picture of myself to become darker and the light side of my face to become more orange to mimic the colour of the sunset, I also darkened the tone so it looked more realistic and like it was an actual sunset. When I chose the position of the photoshopped picture onto the background, I made more extra adjustments to add to the realism. Once we had finished this section of the task, we then wrote 200 words reflecting us and our personality, our likes and dislike, whats unique about us and where we aspire to be in the future. This was to form this identity theme of the poster. When we had written it out, we then photoshopped the original full name we wrote out at the beginning, onto the picture, to label it as our own. 

Here is my end result. I enjoyed this task because I have never used photoshop before and it was interesting to see what the program is capable of. I enjoyed edited each picture so that they would appear more realistic and it was interesting to see the development and how a photo of me in daylight in a built up area can be completely transformed into me on a beach at dark. I think the poster was successful as I thought about the light on one side of my face and I made sure I found a picture where the sun would appear slightly to the left so I could place the next layer to the right as this was originally a corner picture. When we had finished our posters, we presented them to the class. This was useful as I am not very good at speaking in front of larger groups of people and it is one of my weaknesses, therefore it is something I need to work on more in the future. I also enjoyed seeing what other people had come up with and what backgrounds they had chosen to be their ideal place. Many people chose large cities such as New York.

Liquid

We were separated into 8 groups and each group was given a word. With this word we wrote down ideas in our mind about how we could turn this word into a service, product, charity etc. We looked at each of these sub-sections with our word 'Liquid'. Our idea for a service was a drinks shop named LiQuid, because we thought it would be clever to sell water and flavoured mineral water for 'one quid'. We thought this was a good idea because it would be appealing as it is cheap and people need drinks when they are out, therefore it satisfies peoples basic needs as well as being affordable. We also looked at a charity with the same ideas that it would be called LiQuid, because it would provide water to poorer countries with low sanitation and no easy access to water. This charity would ask for £1 from people and would supply water to the poor, but we then realised this idea is similar to WaterAid. We then thought about water parties, which involve a large venue and showers from the ceiling, like a foam party but with a rain-like atmosphere. We ventured into this idea more and thought of pool parties are venues around London and £1 for entry. We also thought of an underwater club in hot countries such as the Caribbean where the water is clear and there are tropical fish, and there would be an elevator leading underground and to the sea. We then decided this wouldn't work because building an underwater venue would be expensive and £1 entry wouldn't pay this off. We eventually came up with an idea that we all agreed on: a spa-type service that would provide square pools/hottubs of mineral water from the mineral springs in St Lucia that are good for your skin. We then thought about the design of the building and we thought it could be similar to the Greek baths, so we decided to make it Greek themed with Ionic columns and a statue of Poseidon in the centre to go with the water theme as well.

We began by drawing on the cardboard the pools and making the statue for the centre. We then decided we wanted it to be on a platform so the pools would be more obvious, so we made 4 Ionic columns from cardboard and slotted them through holes in each corner so that the base would be slightly elevated.

Here is a zoom in of one of the Ionic columns we made and how it slots into the hole.

 

We then designed a logo, which was inspired by the film logo Hercules (shown at the bottom). This logo would be outside the building but in the picture is shown hanging from white ribbon, directly above the Poseidon statue. At the top of this page is a sketch of the building, with a pathway and changing rooms either side, as well as showers you have to use before using the mineral water springs. We thought that the room could have marble decorations and be playing calming music and the centre statue could have fountains underneath it to give a soothing waterfall sound. We also drew in small streams around each pool with bridges over them, so the room would look more celestial and remind visitors of the gods and goddesses of Olympia.

Be Auto

Our first exercise was to create a selection of portrait drawings of the person in front of us. My first sketch was the one on the bottom right, this picture was made with my eyes closed and was made in 2 minutes. I found this task difficult as it tests your memory and it is difficult to remember which areas you haven't sketched in etc. The second sketch we made was on the bottom right. This was made using our alternate hand, I found this task difficult as my left hand is very weak and it took a long time to fill in very little. Although I found it difficult, I was quite pleased with the result. The next task was to create a drawing with the pencil in our mouth. This task was incredibly difficult and took a long time even though we only had 5 minutes for this drawing. The line came out very wobbly and I wasn't very pleased with the result. The last task was to draw ourselves, without looking at a mirror, only from memory. Again, I found this task difficult as I had to work from memory, although I was quite pleased with the result except it doesn't look like me. Overall I found this task interesting as it challenges you and makes you experiment new ways of drawing. I liked that I could see how each drawing differed from each other and how you can change the way in which you draw simply by not using your right hand or drawing from memory only.

Our next task was to draw our partners ear. We used an A1 sized piece of paper. Again, I found this task difficult in the way in which we had to draw something that was so small and make it huge to fill the page. In some ways it was easier than the previous tasks as  we were able to look at our subject as well as using our preferred hand. I used charcoal in this drawing as it is my preferred choice of media because you can use it for shading as well as sketching.

We were asked to bring in a photo of ourselves. I chose a picture of myself with tiger face paint as I thought it would look more interesting (pictured below). We cut our pictures into 4 pieces and swapped with the people on our table to create a new face. Once we had done this, we found words which best described ourselves and our interests. My main artistic interests include the industrial revolution and the machine age, therefore I changed the word 'beauty' from a regular magazine, to become 'be auto' as I felt it reflected the idea of human and machine working side by side in this day and age. I surrounded the face with various photos I had taken of cranes, building sites, scaffolding and robots, as well as my own added sketches. One I had done this, I used charcoal to create a polluted-like atmosphere, and orange paint to reflect graffiti. 

Once I had finished my college, I then photocopied it and put it in black and white so that it would further reflect this idea of the industrial revolution and the invention of machines from the olden day. I then went over the 'O' in fluorescent orange paint. 

Once we had finished this task, we made a view finder and used it to find a section of the painting that we found interesting. I chose a simplified section of the painting, which included scaffolding, which, again I thought reflected the idea of the industrial revolution. I then sketched this section using charcoal to carry on the idea of pollution and give it a dirty, dusty appearance. The sketch is pictured below.

I enjoyed this task and it tested us out of our comfort zones, and gave us new ideas on how to draw. It was interesting to see how a simple picture of a person could become an abstract face and have a meaning and statement behind it, as well as leading to a completely abstract drawing from the view finder. 

Coding

During this day, we learnt how to program information into a computer in code form to create websites. We began by designing comics on paper and sketching ideas, we were then instructed on how to design the site using a variety of different codes. These codes would move the pictures and text around each section of the comic, it also enables you to change the background colour of your site. The coding section was on the left of the screen and the result of the website was on the right so whenever you changed a section of it, it would immediately appear on the right so we could see what effect it had on the comic. Firstly we made the comic that Matteo had shown us on the board, using the same pictures but with our own text and positioning, allowing us to play around with the design. We also put the text in a bubble using more coding, and this also meant that we were able to change the colour of the bubble to match the background colour of the comic. When we had done the first section, it was easier to do the rest because we could just copy and paste the first section and simply change the text and the picture URL which made the whole process much easier and quicker. 

When we had finished the comic, we then changed the pictures to ones we could either draw ourselves, or get from the internet. I chose pictures from the internet because I wanted to use reaction gifs to reflect the emotions of the characters in the comics better. We also added more sections to make the comic longer as well as changing the text and the font of the text to match the comic. I enjoyed this task as it was very new to me and was also very useful as I am now able to use coding to make the appearance of my personal blog more appealing. I feel that the whole task was very successful and I didn't have any problems with the codes we were given. When we first began, it was difficult to get the hang of it, but after a while, it came quite naturally. What I disliked about it was the fact that it took a very long time to make one comic and the coding looks very complicated at first, and one slight spelling mistake or mistype could change the whole setup of the design or it wont work all together. Overall I found this task interesting and useful to my every day life, I also thought my comic was quite successful and the moving gifs added effect to the comic as a whole