Painting Artist Statment

The inspiration to my works originated from the links between mental illness and creativity and the outcomes of the links between them. It was a subject that I found really interesting and wanted to bring it into my work. I started to develop the theme of obsession and the compulsion to make or control something by creating repetitive and very obsessive circle drawings with biro, on reflecting on these I decided that without realising I was controlling a situation that was developing within the drawing until I felt comfortable with it. I wanted to develop this idea and concept so I started using ink to create unpredictable shape that I could then control with the obsessive circles. I felt these worked very well, but I wanted to introduce paint and came up with the idea of provoking unpredictable marks by folding the canvas material up and then painting a series of circles on it before opening it up and controlling it with the circles.

For my final body of work I decided to build the paint circles up until they covered the whole background before making the decision on adding the circles, however the amount of circles on there balanced out the uncontrolled and I felt comfortable leaving it without adding any more to it. The terms work as all about making the work comfortable and controlled enough to leave it with me feeling confident about it. The paint allowed me to become more controlled than the ink did with my mark making which to me allowed me to take my work to the next level of development and it became a lot more successful to me.

Throughout this work I have been heavily influenced by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama who now lives and works in Japan with a mental illness and her use of repetitive marks was a great influence on my work. Her mental Illness makes her see Hallucinations that she then reflects in her work to ease her mind. I have looked at a great breath of artists to make sure that I get a good diversity in me work such as Kara Black, Niki de Sant Phalle and Agnes martin. My work this term has been constant developments of the last one, the each lead onto each other some didn't work as well as I hoped, but they lead me onto the next development.

When I developed my concept I wanted to create something that completely gave me peace of mind that was balanced and controlled to the point where it need to be, by creating this work it has actually made me realise how controlling I am in everyday life and what my response is when something isn't how I want it to be.

Drawing Artist Statment

The inspiration for my drawing project this term started with looking at people's movement in different situation that they didn't realise that they are being watched and photographed. I started by taking a series of photograph in busy places at the same position to track peoples movements. From these I did very quick drawings keeping something's constant in the pictures and the movement in the figures. I did these on a small scale but kept the figures constant, the drawings had a ghostly feel to them as I have drawn them on tracing paper and have then layered them on top of each other.

I have then developed and experimented with the different media such as charcoal and inks to see what worked best and to give me a spring board on what way to take my project.  I decided to go with a simple figure that always worked on the same scale in relation to the paper it because it looked quite powerful and bold, but it had no sole and feelings to it. This was something that occurred to me when I was taking the photographs even though all these people look normal, but very different I knew nothing about their lives or how they were feeling. Everyone in the photographs had a generic walking face.

This was something that I wanted to show in my work so I started shading in the figure that I had developed several times a day depending how I was feeling. This worked well so I decided to do some large scale works. For my final development I have drawn out fifty figures and have passed them around different places such as my flat, studio, work and home to get people to shade them in depending how they are feeling. The drawings that I received back where all really interesting and varied and truly reflects what people are feeling. Throughout the project I have been heavily influenced by Henri Michaux and Ellen Gallagher because of their use of tone and shape, but also the ideas behind them

Evaluation of Work and Assessment Presentstion

Assessment Presentation

I am going to present my fifty pictures on the wall because I think that is my most effective piece and it sums up my project. I am then going to present my video on a disc because i don't want to project and enlarge the image because I think that increasing the size will distort it I like the scale of it on the computer screen.

As the drawings are on the wall the rest of the work will be in piles on the floor and the disc will also be on the floor.

This is how I will present my figures

Evaluation of my work

I think that my Drawing project this term has flown quite well in terms one thing lead to another development and then the next. I think that I have managed to keep a good concept and to put it into context quite well compared to last term. I really like the way that my work looks this term and I really like my final piece because I think that the audience will find it a challenge to figure out what it happening in it.

I think that I have managed to produce a reasonable amount of work and have enjoyed doing something that I wouldn't usually do. There were many different routes that I could have taken this project, but I think that I chose the most interesting one. I have enjoyed trying out different materials to draw with and being really lose with the drawings and not having to think about it much and being really expressive with my marks. 

I liked experimenting with different people's drawings and identity, I find it really interesting subject and I would like to do more work on it next year in my main projects. This term even though I have explored quite a few different artists I think that I could have gone into more depth with my research, but at the time I preferred doing more artists and less depth, but I think that next year I should try and find a happy medium between the two as I don't feel that I have the balance quite right.

My Final work

The fifty drawings on the wall

After last week I have come up with the idea of drawing loads of figures then handing them out to people with the instruction to shade them in however they wish with Biro, marker, pencil, graphite or charcoal. So this is what I have been doing this week, I have collected all the drawing up there is 50 in total and put them up on the wall.

The idea is that every person who shaded a figure in gives the figure an identity weather they realise or not. The idea was that I wouldn't realise who had drawn each one and it would be anonymous, I have collected the drawings from different places; in the studio, at work, my family and flatmates. This was so I got a varied response from people and even if people where together when they drew them they would still be slightly different.

I think the experiment worked well and when you see them all up on the wall together you can see that there are some similarities with some of the drawing, but everyone is different in some way. I find them really interesting because it's hard to see what people where thinking when they were doing it and if they realised what they were doing. I have been looking at Ancient Egypt art and Atsushi Tawa to help me create this last part of my project and my film.

I have then made a stop motion film of all the drawings which worked really well. I think that I am happy with my project now and I just need to decide what I'm going to present for my final assessment.

my stopmotion film can be found at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVYjIjkS4Wo

Evaluation of my work and Assesment Plan

How I plan to present my work

Presentation for assessment

I have been looking at how I'm going to present my work for assessment, I have selected the works that I like best and I am conscious of overcrowding the walls which is what I have been known to do, but I don't want to go to much the other way and have not enough on there. I have practised this in the space that I am having for assessment the only difference is that the walls will be 8ft rather that 6ft tall so I will just have to re centre what I am presenting so it's at eye level and in the middle.

I have selected these works for two reasons the first is there my most recent, but the second is I feel they are my most successful as well. I think they all look good together and work as a series that they were made in. Obviously they two large canvases are a pair and they will be in one section and then the paint sculpture will be spilt over two boards and then the last board will be the three small paintings that run in a column downwards in series. I think by presenting these three you can see the development, but also you can clearly see which one is the final piece.

Evaluation of my work

I think that my work this term has flowed quite well and you can see quite clearly where it has come from, it has come a long way from my initial research on different types of mental illness and the links between mental illness and creativity. I have developed my work a lot and have pushed it to go further, I have created several bodies of work that you can clearly see the developments from.

I think that I have done well to try out different ways of working and different methods in my experimenting. My work had got progressively better throughout the project. I have done a substantial amount of artist research to help both support my work and to further develop my ideas throughout my project.

However I think that I could have maybe done a bit more in depth artist research, the research that I have done it just a summary of the parts of that artist that I am initially interested in. I think that also in the start of my project my ideas where a bit ropey and I could have used the three weeks at the start of term in a better way than I did and then I would have been more on my way when teaching started. I think I have learnt a lot this term about putting my work into context because I didn't do that last term and I got marked down for it so hopefully that is something that I have defiantly improved on this term.

What has been important to me this term is realising what my work is about and playing around with it and finding different ways that I can put my ideas across through different methods and ways. I have developed a process which my work is made in and have kept it consistent. It is exciting that I still have many ideas and I can take them forward into next year.

My Final Body of Work

Gloss on Netting- 60 X 50 X 20 Cm

This week I have also been looking that the artist Karla Black who uses material and everyday objects to create these really interesting sculptures, I find them interesting because of their simplicity and they look really elegant as well. As my paintings I did last week are just on material I thought that I might as well have a go at controlling the use of line and shape by taking it back to how the painting began with the folding. I have just taken some of the visible creases and refolded them while they are fixed to the wall. It creates a really pleasing effect and I really like the way it comes off the wall, it takes it back to the uncontrolled process, but with the lines painted on it balances out.

Acrylic on canvas- 100 X 50 X 30 Cm

Acrylic on canvas- 150 X 100 X 30 Cm

I really liked this idea and thought that it worked really well with my project and I think that if I present these pieces for assessment I will present them like this. However this week I have created two more canvas' that are very large as a pair in the same way that I have been starting all my work with the folding process. I'm have to stuck to colours that will complement each other but have one light canvas and one dark so when they are sat next to each other they should balance against each other.

After I got to the point where the paint was ready to be controlled I stepped back from them and looked at them as a pair and I decided that the lines wouldn't really bring what I wanted them to bring to it and I looked back at my research into Dadaism and Fauvism and decided that the way that I was going to get it looking like how I want it to look is if I just added in small patched of colour in areas where it need to be controlled with a brush.

 I started to do this and it all started to fall into place how I wanted it and when they are placed together they balance each other out.

Acrylic on Canvas- Both 210 X 120 Cm

Karla Black

Karla Black

I wanted to look at Karla Blacks work because I have been thinking about turning my paintings into sculptures and I have been looking at the ways that I can present my work. Black uses everyday materials in her work, but also keeps traditional methods and values in the work. These are paints and natural forms that are created with the rest of the sculptures. The work has a great amount of aethstetic appeal to them.

The materials that she uses because they are things that are used in everyday life they are scented which when viewing the sculptures promotes certain feelings that occur in a normal day. These can trigger emotions and past experiences that the viewer has felt. Black wants the viewer to consider what the sculpture triggers make the view reflect on their past and how this has impacted them and how it continues to change their lives.

Her approach is said to be very holistic, the way the sculptures are put together is a very physical and expressive way. She has been very much influenced but the artist Josef Beuys which is very clear in her work. I'm very glad that I have looked at her work and I think that I will experiment with my painted material sheets to create forms to control the paint in a much more controlled way.

http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/karla_black.htm?section_name=new_britannia

Developing my Final Body of work

Acrylic on Un-stretched Canvas 140 X 115 Cm

This week I have been developing just using paint on canvas. I have been following the same method of folding it up painting a circle and then unfolding it. I is now a more controlled method that I'm using which I am happier about but there are some elements that I can't control because I'm never sure exactly where the paint is going to go when I open it up. I have been using different colours and layering up the folds to create more interesting shapes.

Acrylic on Un-stretched canvas 140 X 95

I felt that this was working better than just a few of these shapes over the whole area. However I want to keep the uncontrolled element to it so I have been continuing with these shapes. I decided that I didn't want to bring back in the circles because they took the attention away from the shapes and I want the uncontrolled element to be the focus of my work. This is why I have decided to layer the shapes, but it didn't seem to all work together so I thought about introducing line into my work. I decided to do some artist research on Fritz Glarner who is inspired by Mondrian and uses line in a very similar way and to highlight key parts.

Set of three Initial experiments 40 X 30 Cm

It gave me an idea of controlling the areas that I don't like with the line and then linking them all together to create a path over the work. I when I introduced this it pulled all the work together and made it all work together as a hole rather than just the shapes.

Atsushi Tawa and Ancient Egyptian art

Ancient Egyptian Art

an example of an Egyptian mural

I wanted to look at Egyptian art because when I have seen it before I remember the figures that are used in the work to be very flat bold images something that I have in my work. The work is very old; it was thought to start being produced about 1000BC. The work ranges from sculpture, paintings and architecture, all of the work was all in the same style, highly stylised and very symbolic.

This was because all of the work was often to decorate something that was being transported to the afterlife something that was really important to the Egyptian people. The believed that there was a hole other life after death and the change from one to the other had a process this was often symbolised in a lot of work. The work was very respectful to the Egyptian gods they didn't want to offend then before they were taken into the good afterlife.

The size of the figure in the art was due to the importance of them in society the Pharaoh was always the biggest because he was the leader and the most important. He was often drawn bigger than life sized to make out he had superhuman powers. All the art work is placed in places of respect to the gods such as temple and tombs. The method that they used to paint the walls and paper was unknown they, but it is something really strong to have with stood for all this time with almost no signs of aging. I think that this has given me a clear idea of why they produced their work which doesn't have any relation to mine, however I have learnt that the figure that I have been repeatedly drawing has a power stance which is something I find really interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_ancient_Egypt

Atsushi Tawa

Ramigold 2011 72 X 32 X 25 Cm

I wanted to look at Tawa's work because of his use of figure in her sculpture and it is clear that his work is about identity which my work does so I thought that it would help me develop my work into the final stages. Tawa works in most videos continuing on the same theme of identity and individuality throughout his work. He wants her work to readdress society, but in a way that doesn't use politics.

His figures have a feeling of emptiness within them which is something that Tawa was trying to achieve, he doesn't want to give them an identity he wants them to become anyone they viewer wishes them to be. This is in terms of his sculpture; they have crystal like forms over their faces so you can't see what they look like or make eye contact with them, but the crystals suggest beauty and money.

This is the point that Tawa is trying to get across without taking a political view. I like the work because of the simplistic of it, but I also like the videos and instillations that have been created. I think that I would like to experiment with video in this way with my figures in my own work.

http://www.atsushitawa.org/statement.html

Development For final work

A1 drawings using Pencil and Charcoal

This week I have made larger pieces first on A1 paper then larger, but I have scaled the figure up so it's almost life size. I have followed the rules of drawing on the large pieces once every hour for 24 hours to track feelings and emotions and the A1 pieces I have drawn on them 5 dimes a day.

I really liked these and the larger pieces, they were really interesting, but I'm not sure if I prefer these or the book I did last week.

Life sized drawing with Charcoal and Pencil

I think that the method works well in the respect that you have an interesting outcome, but I now where the feelings have come from where as I think it would work well if I got other people involved in the drawing, if they where to fill in the figures for me it would make it harder for me to understand it and maybe show me where I can create my final outcomes. I think this is something that I need to try out next week for definite.

Lorna Simpson and Ellen Gallagher

Lorna Simpson- Five day Forecast

Five day forecast

I wanted to do more research into identity so I have decided to look at his specific work by Lorna Simpson. It consists of five large images of black women who are wearing white shirts; the days are placed above the images. There is then the following word printed below ‘Misdescription’, ‘Misinformation’, ‘Misidentify’, ‘Misdiagnose’, ‘Misfunction’, ‘Mistranscribe’, ‘Misremember’, ‘Misgauge’, ‘Misconstrue’ and ‘Mistranslate’. All of these words have negative meaning and suggest that there is some sort of personal breakdown from within the person.

The work questions race and identity two very controversial subjects, the women in the photograph has her arms crossed tightly across her chest, this suggests some tension and looks defiant against doing something. Simpson also suggests with the use if "mis" at the beginning of every word that she is looking at identity in particular with women and the stereotypes that people have to live with. This sort of work is very typical of Simpson and she often plays on identity with a lot of her work, its something that she is really interested in.

I think that personally that the work is really interesting and the body language of the person is enough for you to realise that it is about identity and this is something that I really want to become obvious in my work. I think I will introduce the use of body language into my work so it is more obvious what my work is about.

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/simpson-five-day-forecast-t13335/text-summary

Ellen Gallagher 

a section of DeLux 2004

 Gallagher is an artist that has become very popular in the the last twenty years, as an artist she creates sculpture, photography, painting and drawing. She brings together images from myths, history and present crisis to create her work. Her recent exhibition at the Tate revealed that there was many recurring themes within her work race being one of them. She creates her work as an ongoing response to things that are happening in her life and as a constant documentation that things are changing for the better.

Her work is made up of many different images usually as a collage, these are the particular artworks that i am interested in. All the images when placed together are really interesting, but also the fact that the create a larger image or a complex pattern in the way they are placed is also really interesting. Her one influences are said to be  Agnes Martin because of her use of repetition. Galllagher has exhibited across the world. I personally find that some of her work is quite creepy a lot of the figure have had there eyes cut out this makes them look like they have know soul, this is how Gallagher might have felt at the time in her early work. 

There is a awful lot of work that go into her pieces there can be up to 60 processes in each piece, which suggests that the actual process is quite painful, but also that the art is more about the process than the actual work. This is something in common with mine, I am really focusing on the process before looking at the finished product, to me in my work it is more important collecting the figures that other people have drawn.

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/ellen-gallagher-9553

Developing my Final work

an example of the drawings in my book

Like I said last week I'm developing my work with my concept and I have realised that the figure that I'm drawing represents a person, but has now identity attached to it or feelings. Because of this I have decided to go back to my sketchbook and fill it with the same figure throughout the book, but then to go back every 3 hours and shade in the figure depending how I am feeling at that time.

an example of the drawings in my book

The finished book is quite effective and almost looks like a flick book when you look through it which I quite like. The drawings look quite dark and I think it's because I used a graphite stick, but I liked using that because it was able to give me quick expressive drawings so I think that I would continue to use it. The book has made me realise how quickly a mood can change and how it reflects my day.

I have also been looking at identity and how that is given to you so have been looking at Manet's Olympia and Titan's Venus of Urbino because they are looked at in different ways even though the paintings are very similar because of the objects that are placed around them. I think that next week I will be looking at how I can manipulate how my work is seen,but also I think that my next step would be to start working bigger and to work on the same figure to not moving onto the next one to see how the layers build up.

First year Digital Portfolio

Untitled-Lino Cut- 2013- 60 X 85 Cm

Untitled-Lino Cut- 2013- 60 X 85 Cm

Untitled- Acrylic on Canvas- 2013 76 X 61 Cm

Untitled- Acrylic on paper- 2013- 150 X 100 Cm

Untitled- Acrylic on Board- 2013- 15 X 30 Cm

Untitled- Biro on tracing paper- 2014- 15 X 10.5 Cm

Untitled- Pencil on paper- 2014- 30 X 21 Cm

Untitled- Mixed media on paper- 2014- 160 X 230 Cm

Untitled- Ink and Biro on paper- 2014- 150 X 105 Cm

Untitled- Ink and Pen on Paper- 2014 - both 150 X 70 Cm

Untitled- close up photograph of Ink and Pen piece- 2014- 21 X 30 Cm

Untitled- Mixed Media on paper- 2014- 150 X 350 Cm

Untitled- Mixed Media on netting- 2014- 51 X 40 Cm

Untitled- Ink and Biro on canvas- 2014- 76 X 61 Cm

Untitled- Paint and Biro on canvas- 2014- 120 X 40 Cm

Untitled- Acrylic on canvas- 2014- 40 X 30 Cm

Untitled- Netting and gloss paint- 2014- 60 X 50 X 20 Cm

Untitled- Acrylic on canvas material- 2014- 100 X 60 X 30 Cm

Untitled- Acrylic on canvas material- 2014- 100 X 150 X 30 Cm

Untitled- Acrylic on canvas- 210 X 120 Cm

Manet's Olympia and Titans Venus of Urbino

Manet's Olympia

Manet's Olympia 1863 oil on canvas

I wanted to look at this painting because I'm starting to look at Identity in my work and I thought that I would look at the past to help me inspire my work, this particular painting is because of the figure involved and the things that are also in the picture that represent things that create the figures identity. When this painting was first shown it caused quite a lot of shock because of the elements in the painting such as the confrontational stare, she is looking right at you in a way that you can't avoid not making eye contact with her.

The objects that surround her where another thing that shocked people, the show of wealth; having a maid, flowers, jewellery and the shawl that she laid on. Also the two people at the time the obvious signs that she was a prostitute because of the flower in her hair, the black ribbon around her neck and the Black cat. I find it really interesting that the only reason that people were offended by the painting was because of these objects, these objects crated an identity for the subject even if it wasn't a true one.

Manet obviously wanted to provoke this reaction by or else he wouldn't have put the objects in the painting and by calling the painting Olympia a name that was commonly used as a prostitutes name in Paris at this time.  People create an identity for someone so easily and I and hoping to be able to reflect this in my work, however in a different way to Manet I'm hoping to do it through shading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia_(painting)

Venus of Urbino

Venus of Urbino 1538 oil on canvas Titan

I have decided to look at this painting because it inspired the painting Olympia so I can compare the differences between them. Venus is lying in a very similar position and looking straight at you again, however it doesn't feel controversial it isn't a hard stare she is just looking at you in a very seductive way. The whole feeling in the painting is very seductive, it brings the viewer in. Venus doesn't seem at all bothered about her nudity in the painting; she is lying there in a very erotic pose which makes the whole painting turn into this way.

The maids in the background are searching for Venus' clothes as they don't seem to be found anywhere.  There is also a small dog asleep on the bed which is said to be a sign for fidelity. This painting was commissioned by a Duke for his wedding present to his young wife, Venus us supposed to represent her. I find it really interesting that even though the paintings are of the same subject by changing the objects around them it completely changes the identity of the person.

I think that this is something that I want to reflect in my work, just by changing a few factors I want it to completely change the feel of the drawings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_of_Urbino

Fritz Glarner

Fritz Glarner

Glarner is one of the many artists who were inspired by the Bauhaus and followed many of the rules and styles created by the Bauhaus. As you can see in the work has also had a very strong influence of Piet Mondrian, in use of colour and lines. However unlike Mondrian Glarner introduced diagonal lines into the work, which created a symmetrical and structured composition.

The composition is very architectural and structured, but is clearly very abstract from the actual object that it is supposed to be based on. Like Mondrian there is a very limited colour pallet, using only the three primary colours, white and black. However changing Mondrian's black into a range of greys which helped create space within the painting as well as depth into the work. Glarner wanted to take Mondrian's work a step further; he wanted it to achieve more spacial depth.

I wanted to look at his work because I want to introduce lines into my work because I think it will add another dimension into my work and like Glarner hope it will create space and depth to my work. This is where I will progress this week with my work introducing more lines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Glarner

My Third Body of Work

Acrylic and biro on pre-printed fabric both 40 X 120 Cm

I have started several bigger pieces which I have been painting before the ink. I have also chosen to use material that is absorbent, but also already has patterns on which I plan to work with and around. I have been painting larger circles so a larger planes are covered in paint as I think as the size of the canvas increases the paint needs to grow in proportion to stay balanced when I add the circles. This is something that again I'm feeling the need to control.

Ink, Acrylic and Biro on Canvas 81 X 101 Cm

I have decided that the background patterns are enough on some of the pieces and in isn't needed, but I'm not convinced that it works as well as the plain material, I think that the contrast between stripes and circles was too much for this and I think that I will only stick to one at a time in the future. Whereas the spotty material which I did add ink to blend the material pattern into my work which works a lot better because it all bounces off each other. I think that looking at similar colour combinations makes the works all work together as a series.

Acrylic and Biro on material 213 X 122 Cm

 I have been looking at Fauvism and the key artists in that movement this week and I think that next week I will experiment with the thickness of my paint and the way that I apply it. Also I think that it would be interesting if I didn't use any ink and layered the paint circles up and because of their interesting shapes because the material is creased up when they are painted they might look really interesting.

Fauvism and Henry Matisse

Fauvism

An example of Fauvism

This is a twentieth century art movement which had many similarities with impressionism, the movement didn't last long it was over before the first world war and only had three major exhibitions in the time where it was popular. The forms are often simplified and the colours unrealistic. This was because it was painted in the way that the painters pictured the objects, they painted things how they saw it.

The Fauvist movement started from France and some of the key artists where Henry Matisse and André Derain who I will look at in more depth later. This movement even though it was linked with expressionism it was the first to break away from it. The work is very spontaneous it's something that isn't really thought about before doing it. The colours that are used like I've said before are very unrealistic, but they are also very vibrant and usually came straight out of the tube.

The movement was a group of artists but they had no set rules or meetings they simply had similar aims of what they wanted to create with their work. They were all seeking a new way to create space and they found this in the use of the colour. I think like what I said before that I need to look at specific artists that followed this movement, but this research has provided me with a better colour understanding and given me the idea of creating space through colour something that I hope to bring to my work.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/fauv/hd_fauv.htm

Henry Matisse

les toits de collioure 1905

Matisse was one of the most famous and well remembered Fauvist artists; he is thought to have changed the path of modern art. He worked in multi disciplines which he is most famous for his paint and sculpture. He created work on many subjects which included landscapes and figurative works as well as still life. As the Fauvist movement progressed Matisse's style developed and changed; the brushwork became more expressive and the light changed.

The composition also changes allowing him to create his own pictorial language through the composition. His early work showed more traditional values before the Fauvist movement really took off, but was then clearly influenced by the new age of modern art. Matisse also played with texture, he varied it throughout the pieces; there are some areas created with impasto others which are flat planes of colour. These lead to shadows being created on the work making a new dimension and the work more interesting.

The sculptures that Matisse produced where commonly of figures and of the human form, they lacked colour they tended to be simply black with a varnish or sheen to them. I think from looking at Matisse's work and specifically the way that the paint is applied is something that I will take on board and try the different textures and thicknesses to the paint in the week.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mati/hd_mati.htm

André Derain

Henry Matisse 1905 76 X 35 Cm

Derain like Matisse was considered one of the cofounders of the Fauvist movement, again he worked in a large amount of disciplines, but I am most interested in the paintings that he created. In his time as a Fauvist painter he mainly focused on landscapes and portraits, one he even did one of his good friend Henry Matisse. However he moved away from Fauvism in 1911 to cubism something that developed out of Fauvism.

He then joined the military, but when he came out he started painting with a duller pallet maybe due to the things that he saw and experienced as a result of the war. Going back to his Fauvist stage and the way he used colour, he applied the paint in quite a thick painterly way. He also made sure that the brushstrokes appeared separately making a texture which helped create the illusion of light and shade. To help this there was often two different shades of colour used to create a contrast between the two.

Derain and Matisse are two very similar artists and they obviously had quite a strong friendship that made them influence each other easily which is why there work is so similar. I'm going to take both the artists methods on board to influence my work and there use of thickness in paint.

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/derain-henri-matisse-t00165