Visual Research Folder

My research during the project was done mainly on the internet but i also found some very interesting artists in galleries and in magazines. Some of the main blogs/ websites i looked at were, Urban Sketchers, (a blog dedicated to reportage with a lot of varied artists) and Juxtapoz (a blog of contemporary artists that show unique and inspiring artwork). Im also an avid reader of the new scientist not only because of its content but the artists employed to create the illustrations. Two of the most recent and inspirational were Sam Chivers and Richard Wilkinson.

San Chivers

His artwork is incredible. His use of colour and shapes creates bold and clean designs that have a natural flow to them. I assume he must use illustrator to create the complex array of shape and lines as i think his art would take forever in photoshop. i also really like his use of negative space. He uses such dramatic shapes and

that empty space makes the design even more prominent.

Richard Wilkinson

He is the other artist i found looking through new scientist. HIs use of soft lines and collage bring his images to life and create realistic cartoons. I really enjoy his work as he draws in such a unique perspective, looking from the point of view of the character. His colours are not overly bold but his choice of contrasting colours helps make the images stand out. When he uses text its simple but effective, being laid out so its easily legible but still works with his image.

Dominic Shephard

I only recently discovered this guys artwork in my university gallery. I really enjoy his pieces as he makes you work to understand them. his use of ridiculously complex colours and lines create a fantasy world that is incredible. I also like how his brushstrokes are very erratic but he still manages to create detailed and interesting images. the scale of his work is also amazing, so big and makes you fall into the fantasy he's created.

Sane

Sane is a graffiti artist i found looking through the 'Graphotsim' gallery. His letter style is big and bold however he creates amazingly colourful fills. I really like his unique style where he uses neat curves and bold colours intwining into each other.

Rafael Santiago.

I found this artist on the 'Juxtapoz' website. I think his use of colour is incredible and It makes his work stand out. i love his blotchy backgrounds because they give the illusion of space and its galaxies. i also think his characters are unique and their facial expressions are very amusing. Like the man below, he seems godlike as he appears through the sky, but has a slight smirk on his face.

Lynne Chapman

I've been fond of lynne's work for a while now and enjoy her simple way of combining word and image. Her realistic reportage sketches are combined with text to help the audience understand her situation when drawing and something comical or informative about the subject. i also like the simple colours she adds to help entwine the words and the image as seen in the images below.

Bibliography

Websites:

http://www.urbansketchers.com/search/label/Lynne%20Chapman

www.samchivers.com

www.juxtapoz.com

http://www.graphotism.com/Gallery.6.0.html

http://www.artnet.com/artist/424119249/dominic-shepherd.html

http://freshnerd.com/2010/03/rafael-santiago-cosmology-a-time-lapse-documentary/

Magazines:

New Scientist

Juxtapoz

Galleries:

Bournemouth Arts University Gallery

FINAL PIECE

This is my piece so far, really like the scale and how its come out so far, but am unsure whether to add colour or not. thinking of just adding some simple grey tones to bring it to life.

Greys Idea

Colour Idea...hmmm

Ideas

One of my ideas. i liked the background mountains and trees but they made the image too wide to fit on the panel i was going to draw on. I also felt the bass hindered the lettering and the hair did not belong in the middle. also i wanted to get a rounded image. so i dismissed this idea.

My final drawn idea: after my first idea i felt that my design needed to flow better. so decided to move the car and bus around to make the equal heights. i wanted them to look as though they were coming out of the picture. The car and bus represent Loretta's travelling during her life.

I added a sad girl at the top middle because i felt that her sad and short childhood was a significant part of her life. the bowed head and shadowed features represent sadness.

i incorporated the horses head because most of the families were she lived used horses to move around and Loretta went on to keeping them at her ranch.

The cowboy hat above the bus is representative of general western life, as she moved up in life the hats got more extravagant and her father wore one at the start of the film.

finally, i drew the guitar and the sun strokes because i wanted to show some sort of brightness within her life. they show her success in music and life. The design moves down in her life. Form childhood to travel then world famous country/ western performer.

added some water colours to see what the image would look like in colour, colours are quite dull but i think i would like to incorporate some sort of colour into the image whether it be just the guitar for instance.

Loretta Life

Although id read about her life on the internet and in books i felt the best way to get an understanding of her life would be to watch the film based on her life. 'Coal Miners Daughter' - Michael Apted. The film was based on her Autobiography and at some point was pretty disturbing. in fact her whole life was pretty weird. On one side she was raped an abused by her much older husband in her teens and taken away from her family, however if it hadn'ta been for her husband she wouldn't be singing or performing, shed still be a coal miners daughter. I generally found the film quite depressing and sad. i want to incorporate this into my work some how.

Loretta with her twins

As i watched the film i screen printed parts that i thought would be handy when makign my design later on.

snazy blue car

Country/ Western LETTERING

Spent a lot of time looking at different type of country/western fonts. first i checked out Lorettas album/ poster covers to see what type of font she used. I found she preferred to use fonts that flowed with each other. using flicks and curves to excentuate the letters. but she did occasionally use the bold thicker western fonts (as seen in the second image)

i felt drawn to the more organic curves and flicks coming off the letters.

I really like the contrast between flowing and block letters here. something to take into account for my final design

Block letters with flicked ends. legible and sophisticated

Went on photoshop to find existing fonts that i could use as a basis for my own font. i wanted to see how the letters joined or didn't in some cases. i also wanted to see how the L was exaggerated at the beginning of her name. i liked the idea of having a bold unique first letter.

sketched out a number of different letters using characteristics of fonts id found but adding my own unique lines.

Really like the flow of this design, letter are bold yet sophisticated with the addition of exaggerated flicks. I think i may have added too many flicks though

upped the scale of the lettering in the corner font to get a better idea of how i could incorporate the letters into my installation and whether to make them 3D or not.

This is my final lettering for the installation. i think the end of the L helps the letters flow and i have reduced the number of flicks to make the letters more legible. i think its thick bold letters will help it stand out on the wall

HAIR

Whilst researching Loretta I found that her hair seemed to change in pretty much every picture, so i thought i could create something out of her hair. either my own font or words added into the hair.

what is that hair cut ^

After drawing out basic ideas i began drawing on cardboard. started with the thick outline then filled the hair in using a thin ballpoint pen. took forever. i left the empty spaces so i could add lettering.

Here are some interesting fonts i found:

Think these are well simple but effective with the hair defining the shape of the head

Don't know who went to the effort of getting these but there pretty neat 'found' letter.

Quite a creepy font but like its use of real hair. the hair looks easily manipulated however i don't think i have enough hair to cut off to make my own