Project 1: Developing Visual Research

This project requires me to choose one of the three options given to me.

Option 1: Strengthening a Theme

You should refer back to the work you created for Part One: Introductory Project. In this early stage, you explored a theme by putting together a still life set up and observed and recorded aspects of it through drawing and mark-making. You could go back and do more drawing to build on that theme.

Option 2: Back to the Archive

You should refer back to the work created in Part One, Project 2: Recording and Capturing. You selected archive textiles and recorded them through various means of mark making. You can either work from these archive pieces or your own personal archive and decide on a focus for your observation.

Option 3: Floral Compositions

Refer back to the work created in Part One, Project 3: Picking and Portraying. In this project, you sought to capture flowers, leaves and plants through your observation, drawing and mark-making. You should now plan a new still life to work from with flowers and foliage as its focus.

As soon as I read option 3, it was a no brainer for me. I wanted to create something new rather than go back to what I’ve already done. I also love working with flowers because there is a wide range of colours to work from and they’re beautiful to look at. I gathered some plants around my house and took them outside to place with the flowers in my garden. I set the still life up and took photos from different angles to see what worked the best. I had to consider the composition carefully as well as how you can work to capture the colour palette effectively.

Following this, the next task was to create 8 to 10 drawings using any media and in any size I’d like. I started with coloured pens and trying to translate the main features from the still life. I felt like I’ve picked the colours out well.

The next drawing I made was a simple one. I focused on the spider plant and drew a sketch of the leaves. I like this because it is minimal yet you can see clearly what it is.

The next drawing I did was focusing on the spider again but this time with pen. I drew with the pen and then decided to go over with watercolour. I mixed dark green with light green and painted over the top but the pen started to run as soon as the water touched it. It was an unexpected surprise but I liked how it turned out.

Carrying on with the watercolour, I wanted to make something that I had more marks to work from as I struggled with that in previous exercises. I painted a light green background with darker green marks on top. I then mixed colours matching the flowers and foliage on the still life image. I made some more marks in the shapes of those flowers and leaves.

Using watercolour again, I focused on the pink flowers this time. I mixed the paint to match the pink but it was hard to get a hot pink with watercolour. I painted the pink flower petals on first and then went around with a dark green colour. I then added darker green marks around the pink flowers.

Moving onto gouache paint, I wanted to create a pop art style painting relating to the still life. It was even harder to make a hot pink colour with gouache than it was with watercolour so I made the closest colour I could. I just painted block colours of each flower and foliage and the outcome was great.

Using gouache again, I focused on the succulent in the back right corner of the still life. I mixed the main colour which came out really well and then added the pink tips.

The final drawing I made was a simple petal design. I went a bit mad with the colours but the design turned out exactly how I imagined it.

I really enjoyed this exercise as I explored colour a lot more and I love working with flowers. I feel like I have produced a wide range of drawings and paintings that I can work from.