The Material Practise Consolidation Project provided me with really useful skills that I decided to develop for my final independent pieces. Sketches from this project made me decide to expand my drawings to a larger scale and try to create new big wooden boards, based on a combination of skills that I’ve developed through the first year. The big scale paintings are something that I am interested in producing, and thus, I managed to find three bigger boards, than I normally use, for my final pieces. A quick drawing of my ideas and the approximate sizes of my boards were the start of the creation.
The oblong board was from the beginning the one that I wanted to use for the development of my previous project as a final piece of the project. Firstly I wanted to maintain my palet colours into only the use of black, white and one single colour that I would decide throughout the process. Printmaking medium was something that I extremely enjoyed doing with another project, thus, to illustrate the three-dimensional shapes, screenprinting was the method that I wanted to use. During the screen printing proses, I faced various of difficulties with my screens. Compulsory were the changes to my first drawings that I exposed onto my screens as well as the use of three different screens with different shapes to result to the decent outcome.
I printed on paper with all the three screens using acrylic to experiment with, for my board. The printed outcome was not what I needed for my oblong board, although, some of my prints were happy accidents that I liked.
The size of my screens was not proper for my board as well as the shapes, that needed to be longer. A fourth screen was an essential development and turned out to be the final one. A watercolour purple ink also alternated my first idea for the background and emerged to a colourfull result. The texture of the watercolour creates a depth to the background and in combination with the printed moving three-dimensional lines, the outcome is pleasing.
A second board, the square one was influenced by the Op Art movement, which emerged in the 60s and used geometric forms to create optical effects. In addition, natural forms such as the tree trunk influenced the shape of the forms on my painting. A tree trunk is constructed of husk and the inside of it reveals the age of the tree. Shapes oriented into natural forms equip the artwork with peacefull emits emerged from nature and along with the artificial materials that it is built from creates links to the two worlds for the eye.
I also faced technical problems with the square board as regards the plastic film. The use of the plastic film during the screen printing process influenced me with the application of the drawings on the board. I liked the texture of the marker on to the plastic as much as the 3D effect that created. However, the plastic films needed to be stuck on the board, a spray Mount helped me do that. Some trials with the spray also lead to happy accidents which I could further develop in the future.
The final two paintings for the Material Practise Consolidation project are also part of my finals. One painting of the two was already produced during the last term and I chose to display it with no changes. The new one, I created it the last week and it was a result inspired same, as the first one. I have previously said, to a different post for my final orange wooden board with the complimentary blue colour, that it resulted after the exaggeration of forms onto other art pieces that had tired my eye. The simplicity of the two colours and the plane background offered space to the shapes and created an outstanding effect on the viewer. It is almost difficult to keep your eyes focused on one spot, as the complementary colours confuse the eye, with only the use of one shape.
Similarly, the second final painting for the development of the project has a simple but eye-catching appearance. Only two colours are used, red as the primary and dark lila for the left upside corner, red has an orange fading that changes gradually to a dark red on the opposite corner. In the middle of the painting, the pure form of the shape is made by thick application of red ink which gives the impression of a 3D effect. The frame of the drawing has a solid cool purple colour, giving prominence to the primary warm red contrasting with the fading of the front painting. The purple dot on the top holds the painting together and creates a calming effect, almost like the moon between the sky and the clouds. This one is the only one that I have named: ”No fear”
Regarding my last and bigger board, I chose to experiment with simple material and use pencil for the whole artwork. My influence for this piece emanated from my Tutor’s artwork. At the Material Practise Consolidation, my Tutor James Green introduced us to some of his work, one specific painting made me think of portraits from a different aspect. His painting depicted one of his family members in an abstract way, almost not visible that there was a person portrait onto the painting.
For the big board, I decided to try to illustrate my portrait in an abstract way in combination with the figurative technique. I want to cast aside the intense, fancy colours and materials and just with a pencil to achieve the depiction of feelings that I am dealing with during my first year. I believe that the first year at the university can be very stressful likewise chaotic for students, therefore drawings regarding my inner self unwittingly are developed during my process. After a quick research, I encountered that a lot of well-known artists are influenced by their difficult moments of life and I desire to make a further research to it in the future.
This board I also wanted to include in my final pieces as a conclusion of the first year, due to lack of space and time I was unable to finish it on time for the exhibition. I want the lines to be carefully drawn just as the outcome to be precise to what I what to show. Therefore, I chose to present this board as an unfinished one, with the intention of finishing it closely in the future.
Maria Paraschidou 