What my tutor saw

My initial submission was based on some ideas and half-completed ideas. I had two concepts that I was playing with one was based on a woman surrounded by fairies, and the other was based on a floating head in the style of Michael Cheval. I went into the submission somewhat doubting the fairy image and liking the head.

It turns out that Andrea had the same feelings and recommended that I continue with the head and drop the fairies. My A5 assignment was locked at making work that bears homage to the work and style of Micael Cheval.

My inspiration as I stated was to work on a homage to the work of Michael Cheval. I do not wish to create the same thing but to create work that nod towards the style of his work and maybe acknowledges the existence of the surreal. I don’t intend to produce melted clocks as I feel that would be cliché. I just want the work to be strange.

This said my first attempt was based far too tightly in the realm of my fantasy work. It simply did not have the abstract feel of the work I was studying. I started looking closely at the head and hands pictures of Michael Cheval for inspiration the one shown here was the main inspiration for my first image and the one that Andrea liked.

I created this through an experiment in turning off the visibility of parts of the body in Daz Studio, leaving only the head and hands. The limitation in this was that you cant turn off half a forearm. This lead me to include the forearms and mask them back to the desired length as you will see in assignment 5.

Below are the two renders I did experimenting with this. I also discovered that by creating an entire scene and switching off the visibility of parts then rendering it in layers, I was able to exert far more control over the final image.

Inspiration and Michael Cheval

For assignment 4 – 5, I am looking at the idea of homage. In addition to homage, I want to bring together all the elements I have been studying.

I looked at the work of Emily Alchurch in my landscape module, though I did not have the time to use the ideas during that module her style of photomontage to recreate great works of art still intrigues me.

The idea of homage came to me by looking at Derek Galon’s work and Kirsty Mitchell, Derek made images that were a homage to the Dutch masters, Kirsty Mitchell made the wonderland series where every image looks like something from Alice in Wonderland, but none of them actually are they are all her own creation.

I want to combine all of that so that the driving inspiration is creating work in the style of a famous artist where they are not direct copies work that is a homage to that artist. The plan is to create all the people and props in digital 3D using Daz Studio, take faces from my photos and finish the work in photoshop to create the final photomontage.

I Will be drawing on the work of a new artist (to me) that I have discovered called Michael Cheval a contemporary artist known for his “Absurdist” paintings, drawings, and portraits that capture the imagination by turning reality on its head.

This gallery is placed here for reference I just discovered a surrealist painter whos work I adore, I am exploing the idea of using him as the focus of the Homage I am preparing

A BBC video about Homage saved here as a reference

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-28089571/in-homage-the-art-that-influences-artists

Assignment four

Digital Identities 1

Develop a project around the theme of identity within the current digital climate. This could be an autobiographical exploration examining how you relate to digital culture, or it could be a more critical examination of an aspect of digital culture.

You should develop your project over the course of Part Four. This is your chance to find and articulate your personal voice in relation to digital culture.

Start by listing or making a brainstorm diagram/mind map of possible ideas and starting points. Put this in your learning log. Expand your list or develop your diagram as you work through Part Four. Try out a few of these ideas, and develop further those that seem to be the most effective
or interesting.

When you have developed at least one idea to a point where you would like to receive feedback from your tutor, submit it to them by whatever means you both agree.

Assignment Four is your digital identities project ‘in progress’. It is not expected to be a fully resolved, visually coherent or clearly contextualised submission. As well as visual material (contact sheets, work prints, etc. depending on the nature of your practice and your project) you should include a short text (around 500 words) setting out:

•  the specific themes your work is addressing or what your work is attempting to communicate
•  a list of the practitioners you’ve looked at in relation to this assignment
•  a bibliography
•  a brief self-evaluation.

You may wish to consider requesting an audio/visual tutorial for feedback on this assignment. Your tutor will give you guidance on how to develop and/or resolve and most appropriately present your project.