Works in Progress

Just an update of works I'm completing at the moment... two works, portraits as a matter of fact.

The top series is of a woman, which demonstrates illness, self image, self worth and all those lovely things in the disfigured body she possess. It originally started as a very yellow colour and then I did it over, changing the brushstrokes realising that otherwise she'd look like she had scales. It's nowhere near finished, many elements of the face (ie: nose, chin, lips, forehead, the whole other side of the face) need to be completed, in addition to the rest of her abdomen and flailing limbs. I feel it's turning out well and I am having a great time making it :)

I'm undecided as to whether I should alter the background or not. I like that the gray tones add a feeling of isolation and entrapment.

The next two, below, show a portrait I'm working on. Feeling inspired by Tamara de Lempicka's soft cubism, I thought I'd try and adapt it in my style. We'll see how this turns out.

Subliminal (Rauschenberg inspired work)

"Subliminal" - mixed media on canvas, 50 x 60 cm

This is my Rauschenberg-inspired work I've done at school. It's not really Rauschenberg, but I guess you could say I stole some of his practices. Layering paint, etc. While I am fond of Rauschenberg's works and those of people who are able to use this style to their advantage, such as my friend Jacinta :), it's not really a style I would like to utilise. I think it can be very effective when approached correctly. This has turned out far too busy and involved, not to my liking at all. Oh well.

Media involved:

Acrylic paint, oil pastels, shellac, ink pen, impasto, string, and last but not least; anatomical images retrieved from the internet (the head is from Gray's Anatomy which I got off Wikipedia; the other surreal illustration is off Google Images if you search "Dreams", or the singular).

The next topic we'll be covering is Dadaism, much to our teacher's chagrin. I think it will be interesting. We briefly brushed over it two years ago, in year 9, never really to be heard of again until now.
In addition to this we're learning a little about the Heidelberg School of Art, which is a collective of European-trained artists who came to the realisation that in order to capture Australia's unique landscape they'd have to retrain themselves and develop their style once again.

And now I believe I'll post some works in progress :)

Some Ink 'Drawings'

Here are some ink & brush 'drawings' that I've made recently. I absolutely adore the Australian artist Joy Hester (1920 - 1960) who used this medium frequently through out her career. You should check her out. I feel that her style has most definitely influenced how I draw people and my use of line.

Man 1 - ink & brush on paper

Man 2 - ink & brush on paper

Androgynous - ink & brush over graphite drawing on paper