This exercise reminds me of a psychologist's test of associations. In fact I had to try and keep away from psychoanalysing myself. Other thing I found myself doing was to wear my 'graphic designer' hat and looking for marks that 'read' the different concepts. What I did instead was to intuitively feel the different concepts and make the marks that came with them.
I feel very comfortable with the use of colour, and being restricted to pencil only was an interesting exercise - I took it as read and didn't experiment with it by using graphite and scrape bits of lead to rub with cotton wool over stencils or any other 'cheating' ways I thought of. This was just pencil, the real thing!
I've now started on the colour version of the exercise. This presents an unlimited range of possibilities. So far I've made marks in watercolour, pastels, coloured pencil, cutting bits of different types of paper, using nail varnish to get a drip, shine texture, bump textures with acrylics... I haven't started yet to print, rub, bleach, but I'll get there in my next session.
I've observed the colour associations, eg: soft and delicate tend to inspire warm pastel colours. I purposefully introduced a cool deep violet into 'soft' just to experiment with the idea. 'Sad' is associated with grieving and black in our Western culture, whilst the colour of death in the East is white - however I couldn't find 'sadness' in light colours. What came to me were low saturation dark colours. Other thing I found interesting to observe was that the use of vertical marks to show sadness, whilst 'sensuous' is almost exclusively curvy. On reflection this is a common visual vocabulary in our culture, for example, in car design, a traditional curvy Jaguar or Audy TT looks more sensuous than a boxy Volvo or a functional commercial van. One could go further and come to the conclusion that the association of curves with sensuality can relate to the female body in the eyes of male designers...
I found some concepts easier to express than others. Other thing is that I came up with more homogeneous marks for some of the concepts whilst others brought more different visual imaginery.
I decided to give it a rest for a couple of days and have a second attempt to the mixed media exercise to see what I come up with after reflecting on Saturday/Sunday's work.
Last weekend I threw away all the bits and pieces I decided not to 'show' for the exercise but now I wonder if I shouldn't include them in some way. A bit like in maths homework: do we want to show the workings or just the solution in a neat little box?
... to be continued.
Monday 22 February 2010
The parcel arrives - a list of events.
Thursday pm - I arrive from work: my parcel arrivesd today! I couldn't wait to open it and open it I did, before I got changed into my 'home' clothes.
First thing, of course, look through the folder - the welcome letter can wait. First impressions: nice colour photos, exciting table of contents. I'm really looking forward to get going. I guess I rather have a look at the information about the course too... direct debit forms to send back, intro to write and send to my tutor, etc...
Children wanted my attention so I put the materials down reluctantly and get on with my 'motherly' activities.
In the night I have dreams about fabrics, yarns, shapes and colours...
Friday - busy, busy as usual - I take my OCA folder to work with me. Fill in and send the official 'bits' - introduce myself to Sarah, my tutor. ...and find out about the APEL system. As I already have a graphic design/illustration qualification and I have been painting for a lifetime I might be eligible for a few extra points/credits to propel me into my BA in Creative Arts.
I surf the web to find out possible study paths - I didn't know one could get a PhD in Textiles! well, that's something to aim for. I go to Amazon to look for New Textiles and go a little mad with the one click, result: about 6 lovely books moving in with me. (I already have art/knitting/textile books all over the house - yes, including the smaller rooms.)
Saturday I finally get to have some 'proper' time: first thing I need to gather all my books to see what I already have on the way of resources. I also need to create a space where I can work comfortably... the office/conservatory has great light but it's far too cold. We're not using the dining room lately...
We go to Ikea, got a new bookcase and build it up. Got three wicker baskets for 'bits'. I didn't realise I had so many books until I notice I've almost filled in the new bookcase... still, nice to re-visit some of my old friends... look through lovely books, but must focus on the task in hand!
Materials sorted, books in place, table cleared, papers and 'bits' gathered. I can now get on with first exercise... interesting observations about the way my mind works... but that's another chapter.
First thing, of course, look through the folder - the welcome letter can wait. First impressions: nice colour photos, exciting table of contents. I'm really looking forward to get going. I guess I rather have a look at the information about the course too... direct debit forms to send back, intro to write and send to my tutor, etc...
Children wanted my attention so I put the materials down reluctantly and get on with my 'motherly' activities.
In the night I have dreams about fabrics, yarns, shapes and colours...
Friday - busy, busy as usual - I take my OCA folder to work with me. Fill in and send the official 'bits' - introduce myself to Sarah, my tutor. ...and find out about the APEL system. As I already have a graphic design/illustration qualification and I have been painting for a lifetime I might be eligible for a few extra points/credits to propel me into my BA in Creative Arts.
I surf the web to find out possible study paths - I didn't know one could get a PhD in Textiles! well, that's something to aim for. I go to Amazon to look for New Textiles and go a little mad with the one click, result: about 6 lovely books moving in with me. (I already have art/knitting/textile books all over the house - yes, including the smaller rooms.)
Saturday I finally get to have some 'proper' time: first thing I need to gather all my books to see what I already have on the way of resources. I also need to create a space where I can work comfortably... the office/conservatory has great light but it's far too cold. We're not using the dining room lately...
We go to Ikea, got a new bookcase and build it up. Got three wicker baskets for 'bits'. I didn't realise I had so many books until I notice I've almost filled in the new bookcase... still, nice to re-visit some of my old friends... look through lovely books, but must focus on the task in hand!
Materials sorted, books in place, table cleared, papers and 'bits' gathered. I can now get on with first exercise... interesting observations about the way my mind works... but that's another chapter.
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