Painting and Sculpture Soutine Piece

I wanted to create more texture, so applied the paint thickly to build up layers.
The 'copy' of Soutine built-on. I still feel it is extremely FLAT! I need to change my painting method! I want to capture the turbulent strokes like the original artist did. The actual piece is titled Side of Beef and Calf's Head. When it comes to meat paintings, I prefer the style of Jenny Saville, such as in this particular piece:


Chaim Soutine: Side of Beef and Calf's Head

I like the brush marks in Saville's because it gives a 'crisp', clean style which I really admire. But that's not to say that I don't feel Soutine's piece to be strong; with Saville's, it is quite clear that the thing being painted is dead - the pale colours indicate the coldness of death, but the vivid yellows and reds in Soutine's give off a great vibrancy and movement through the use of such 'active' brushstrokes.

Eventhough I find it difficult to copy Soutine's painting (most notably the liveliness of it) in response to really looking hard at it, it makes me see what I'm not doing right and lets me know what I can improve on just by attempting to do the same thing. In terms of where my main interest lies most between formal properties of painting, I think composition and line first, and colour second. I'm most interested, firstly, in how the image is arranged on the canvas, etc and in what style the image is constructed through looking at the lines and brushmarks made.


A second copy, trying to get the shape more accurate to the original but I prefer the tones on the first one, even if both have only just one 'base' layer each at the moment.


Copying in acrylics, with just a flat 'base' which could be built on.


A quick copy with colour wax crayons.


A pencil sketch copy.


The actual painting by Soutine.


A photocopy of the original image we had to copy.

Painting and Sculpture Object Painting

Object Painting
I took the oil painting home to build on because I felt the original wasn't exploring tone effectively. I found it difficult to capture all the different tones, and had simplified the shape into sections of colours. Instead of putting much thought into how the structure would relate to the background, I simply used a dark tone overall to make the lighter form stand out. However, the second time I came back to it, I tried to do something more interesting - tried to soften the edges of the object by applying some white to the background on its right. I forgot to take a photo of how it was before, to compare, but basically it was very stylised - too stylised - I think. It was more or less just chunks of colour without any sense of smoothness/merging of the tones. I am a bit more pleased with it now that I have built on top of it, but I can't bring myself to finish it off completely.. I am contemplative over the very bottom - where the object rests. I want to leave it as it seems to give the image a more three-dimensional feel, but to others it may just seem unresolved.

This task especially agrees with the idea in John Berger's essay, that you can only capture your own 'forseen ideal moment' when the object being looked at is always changing, in the sense that paintings of the same thing still end up turning out completely dissimilar to one another, due to the alternating perspectives. It was interesting to see how different everyone's was.



Scanned photos of the structure we did the oil paintings on.

Painting and Sculpture research

Right! As soon as I am able to get my hands on a digital camera, I shall be putting up photos of the life drawing and oil painting. Bear with me! Meanwhile, here's some artists which have interested me.



The Musicians and St John the Baptist with a Ram, both by Caravaggio. I love the artist's use of tone; the contrast between light and dark especially, which makes the figure/s stand out vividly.


A portrait of Mrs. Henrietta Morris and her Son, by George Romney. Again I am taken by the luminosity of the skintones and the use of a solid black in part of the background.


The same sort of thing in this Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci by Botticelli. I like the use of a solid colour in the background to enhance the figure.


Whilst browsing artwork by various artists of the Renaissance period, I came across one particular piece which perspective I found, to be instantly different to the others and interesting to look at. I've always found foreshortening to be tricky..This one's The Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Andrea Mantegna.


This might be the sketch for a painting, or just a sketch on its own..either way, I like the lines and that subtle use of the orangey-red. It depicts the fall of Phaeton by John Runciman.


For this piece, titled Thieves' Punishment by Henry Fuseli, I especially love the variation in tone, the way white is used to highlight and black, to add 'weight' to the figures to the left, giving that look of solidity.


Again, I like the variation in tone for this one, Milo of Crotona, by James Barry. The use of earthly tones gives it a warmer appearance as opposed to the grey/black, and I think the classic, central positioning of everything to be very pleasing to the eye.


A 'cooler' choice of tones this time, in The Blashphemer by William Blake. The lack of 'warmth' in the colours, plus the context of the image, seems to spell DOOM!


Originally, I didn't think much of this image, created with a use of graphite, ink and wash onto paper. The tones in the background are nice, but I thought the figures weren't defined enough. They seemed too 'light' to me, ready to fade away. But then I saw this version:


And whilst the lines are definately more stark, there is a loss of that lovely background from before. Maybe I should attempt a combination of the two! Both pieces are titled Prometheus Bound.

The final video.



The original video which I rejected due to worries of it being confusing.

Went along to the art block after creative writing class, and experimented projecting onto water. Instead of using the white fix tray, there was a transparent one, and Rob suggested we used that, sliding a sheet of white paper underneath. I have to admit, that originally my ideas for projecting onto water, weren't that creative. Basically my tick boxes were i) tray of water ii) good angle from projector iii) ripple effect for the scene link. But Rob gave me lots of good ideas, trying things out with canvas and mirrors, and coming up with interesting reflections. After adjusting the focus on the projector, it turns out that the quality of the video is fine. The sound was good, too, so I'm really pleased with how the film's turned out.

Deciding on how the installation was going to be, took a while. I realised that projecting downwards would be almost impossible, unless you have someone stand and hold the projector at that particular downwards angle. In the end, the tray of water sat upon two stands/benches, and we carried on seeing what other ways we could come up with. To be honest, mostly it was Rob whom came up with the variating ideas. I was content with just having the boxes ticked, but when we tried something, and it seemed to look amazing, I was really inspired to try and find the best way to get that ripple effect. There was the idea of projecting from underneath the tray, and Rob put a sheet of photographic (we think?) paper/plastic into the water, to see what effect it'd make. The film came through but it was a bit too dark, and I think there was a strange greenish tinge to it.

So the sheet went, and I got back to projecting onto canvas, only this time, with the projector pointing from under the tray. That way, we could see the ripples in the water with the movie, which was perfect. The only things left I had to adjust, was the positioning of the structure (had to watch out since some people had already marked out where they want everything to be) and the angle of the projection. I kept using blocks of wood to try and get the projector resting at the perfect slot, since one of the problems, was with the grooves in the tray itself. They form a large cross, which cuts up my movie, so I end up losing the impact at key points of the film. I kept trying to position the projector just right, so the footage would be shown closer in, and between the grooves, avoiding the distraction.

After a lot of chair-to-stool swapping, and fumbling with chunks of wood later, I managed to get a good angle. The only thing I regret, is not being able to project the movie bigger, as I feel impact would increase along with the size. I liked the idea of projecting onto the ceiling, but since it's a very uneven surface, the footage would end up really broken up, although, that also created an interesting effect, if not relating very much to my theme. Another experiment I liked, was to simply project the film at an angle against the white wall, creating a long, skewered picture, which seemed rather dramatic, but there'd be no ripple effect, which is too important to ommit.

In the end, I found an unoccupied space and Rob helped to put up a clean, blank board onto which I could project, resting against the wall, with the tray of water infront, and the projector underneath. There was actually one last question, and that was how I was going to create the ripples. Messing around with the water gave the idea of simply flicking droplets onto the surface, though I'd have to watch the projector. Another thought was to 'have a leak', as suggested by Rob, from above, so that there'd be occasional droplets into the tray. I thought about filling up a balloon with water, and pricking it to make that 'leak', but I'm too scared of the thought of it coming undone, and falling down, splashing and getting the projector wet. Wouldn't be wanting that! I picked up that see-through sheet of card/plastic, and just wafted it gently at one end of the tray to create small waves. It looks pretty good like that, I think. And since I'll be standing there, I might as well dabble my fingers in the water at the appropriate times to create alternating ripples. After all, you can't time and control a leak!

After some consideration over the sequence I had put together for the final film, I realised I had to make changes, despite having already burnt copies onto DVD. I had to re-think the actual sequence, since I noticed that combined with the poor quality already, the jumpy scenes will cause too much confusion as to what is going on. And since I want to show how this virtual reality can be an impressive, convincing immitation of nature, and natural emotions, I decided I would have to select two key footages, where there is time given to the viewer to absorb what is actually happening; enabling them to follow a hint of a storyline containing emotions they can relate to more easily. Therefore, I have chosen to feature two parts, evolving around two pairs of important characters; the first pair are the parents of the last, creating a link. I chose not to use any visual editing to join the two sequences, using sound as the key in bridging the relationship. In fact, the whole thing is dependant on the sounds edited, to reinforce emotives. Watching a 3D animation alone may not trigger emotional reactions from the observer, since to them, it may only be a load of polygons. But when it's done well, and combined with an evocative soundtrack, it should create an impact and get more of a reaction. I hope to show my peers at the projection, that digital reality can be just as touching as real life, despite it being an echo of realism.

Okay, now that I've burnt my new film onto DVD, I need to grab lunch, and then squeeze in another experiment with the projection installation at the art block. Last time, we tried projecting onto water in a smallish blue tray, which wasn't very effective, since the test image couldn't show up clearly (probably because it was blue, but Magaret slipped in some white paper though it didn't really help). I spotted a big, white tray in the back where they make prints at the end of class, in which they keep the fix. I asked and so long as I don't break anything, I should be able to borrow it for projecting onto. I think I still want to use a ripple, and that is to link the two scenes, expressing the idea that the parents' lives 'rippled' out, influencing their children's. For the rest of the time, the footage will be on still water, which ties in with the whole idea of a virtual reality, I believe.

Reality is solid, therefore, land. Water is not solid, and yet reflects what is real. Therefore, water can be seen as a metaphor for the virtual world.

To create that ripple, I think I'll put the tray into that trolley on wheels I spotted in the studio..if it's still there, that is.. and just move the trolley by its handle gently. I need to see if the ripple will bounce and carry on, though.. I can't have it distorting what happens! Okay, got to go now or I'll never have the time to test, with creative writing class at 2pm.

"Skies provides viewers with an interactive experience of the environments of nature. Visitors encounter a large dark room containing two video projections of a night sky, one on the floor and one on the back wall. Visitors can walk around the imagery or directly onto it."

I like the game-like element to this installation, and also the many different types of weather captured onto video; weather indoors!


"As the 5 hidden paths are discovered by multiple viewers, the imagery and sound transform according to the specific paths discovered. Depending on which paths are found, the environment projected will be a night sky, day sky, water, land, or a sunny sky.When visitors walk onto the video projection, black paths appear under their feet at specific locations."

I like the idea of all these natural elementals, being captured to project into a manmade environment.

This projection makes it seem like there really is water, and fish..
The enlarged projection of an eye creates a really eerie image, where you feel like you're being watched, and cannot escape its scrutiny. I love how the projection of the moon is not crystal clear, and wavering, creating a dream-like effect.
ii) The use of water screens as medium onto which you project the footage, is really impressive.. but I think for my own installation, I will project into a tray or some such of water, and somehow use movement/vibrations to create gentle ripples now and again.. I wonder if I will be able to time the ripple with the screen changes in the video..but that will be tricky..I have to figure out how I'm going to cause the ripples first. If by hand, I might get in the way of the installation.. Also, I still need to see what the footage will look like in water to start off with, since I know it will be more pixelated and reduced in clarity and quality if it's going to be projected big.. maybe I can get away with having a small projection. I already have a degree of distortion in the filming of the existing video (I literally sat before the video and filmed it with my digital camera since I wanted a 'shaky' feel to it, as if I was there, filming in that particular 'world') so I don't want there to be too much, in case people can't see what is going on completely..

i) After seeing this piece by Michael Pinsky, I am fascinated by the idea of projecting onto water since the surface is always shifting..further giving the projection this illusion that it's very much alive and also swimming like some organic matter. If I could somehow do the same for my video that would be fantastic..though I would have to think about the scale of the surface I'll be projecting onto. Since it's all going to take place in the studio, I doubt I'll be using as much space as a full swimming pool! Though, I've noticed how the resolution of my video put together, isn't really perfect.. it's not as crystal clear as I'd hoped it to be, so I was thinking of projecting it onto a small flat screen..

An example of 'land and water' projections.