#3 Blog Post – My Personal Development & Project Outcomes
The main idea behind the ‘Fashion Illustration’ unit was to create a series of fashion illustrations inspired by a broadly defined sustainable and diverse artistic practice. I have always enjoyed drawing and as a makeup student, I felt this course would help me understand the dynamics of the human body, both as a finished composition and a naked base, which is really important when designing a makeup look.
Done on the back of a drawing pad.
Reference photo available at:
https://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/people/culture/bazaar-101-diana-vreeland
I found as a pleasant surprise the fact that apart from the apparent practical side of the unit, we had an opportunity to learn about many artists and organisations whose actions highlighted the Better Lives key terms. During this particular session we were meant to present briefly a chosen individual to the rest of the class. What really struck me was the feeling of power. I was oblivious to the fact how many people try to include such noble values in their artistic visions and seeing a huge scope of them during these three hours left me very motivated and consolidated in my beliefs.
I have chosen the abstract works by an activist and environmentalist John Sabraw which were created with self-made acrylic paints whose pigments are formed in the process of separating the metals oxidize from the waters of heavily polluted Ohio’s streams. Apart from the eye-catching and energetic compositions, I liked the sense of irony in them: that such lively images could exist because of toxicity – a factor that is meant to kill.
CHROMA S5 HUDSON RIVER, 36X36 INCHES, HUDSON VALLEY BRICK DUST, 24K GOLD LEAF, ACRYLIC RESIN, ACRYLIC PAINT WITH AMD IRON OXIDES ON ALUMINUM COMPOSITE PANEL, 2019
by John Sabraw
source: https://www.johnsabraw.com/studio
Another influential factor on the final project outcomes was of course the outbreak of the Covid-19. It partially deprived us of the material resources as well as an opportunity to draw from life or gain feedback from the tutor first-hand.
For me it meant I would not be able to fully follow my first vision of the project outcome. I was forced to use very specific media (certain colours of paint, crayons etc.) but ironically, due to the materials constraint, I felt more focused on using the whole potential of the artistic resources I had. I recycled some old packages (see the previous post) and the backs of some drawing pads and produced illustrations on them.
FKA Twigs has been associated with the ‘Dazed & Confused’ magazine – a diversity and sustainability related formation.
Reference photo available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LP1_(FKA_Twigs_album)#/media/File:FKA_twigs_-_LP1.png
There is something very liberating in reusing items artistically as they are not as intimidating as a blank sheet of paper. I found myself more careless about the splashes of colour or accidental lines what corresponded really well with the free-flowing style of the Sabraw’s artworks. I love an expressive style of drawing/painting and what sometimes prevents me from pursuing such style is this fear of doing something ‘wrong’, even though it is very hard to specify what may be considered ‘wrong’ in art. When using already exploited surfaces, I feel like I have nothing to lose.
I have never thought that employing sustainable practices will free me artistically in some way. It has been a very powerful experience and I just hope that such eco-friendly values as recycling or refraining from buying unnecessary products positively manifest in the other people’s lives as well.
References:
- John Sabraw (2020) Art + Science. Available at:
https://www.johnsabraw.com/ (Accessed: 1 May 2020).
8th May 2020 @ 10:21 pm
BLOG #4 – Reflections on your peers’ work using the Better Lives themes as a framework for analysis (see Moodle for framework).
https://1920betterlivessmc.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2020/05/05/3-blog-post-my-personal-development-project-outcomes/
For my final blog post i shall be reflecting on the work of one of my peers whilst using the Better Lives themes as a framework for analysis, thus evaluating how well they have considered their brief in relation to diversity, social responsibility and sustainability. The blog post I have chosen to evaluate is “#3 Blog Post – My Personal Development & Project Outcomes” by Julia Bialy. Bialy outlines the project brief in the introduction of her third blog post, which was to create multiple fashion illustrations that had been influenced by sustainable and diverse artistic practices. Bialy had chosen to join the fashion illustration project with her core study being hair and makeup.
The first paragraph exclaims her interest in the research sector within the project, in which she had “an opportunity to learn about many artists and organisations whose actions highlighted the Better Lives key terms.” She then unpacks this statement by stating how she had left feeling inspired after learning how many artists “include such noble values in their artistic visions”. This quotation demonstrates the ways in which the project may positively impact Bialy’s work in the future by influencing her values and priorities.
The second illustration Bialy had created, Illustartion II, demonstrates a sustainable method of creation as she chose to use pre-used materials. Reusing materials is one of the most effective ways of reducing waste – turning someone else’s trash into another persons treasure. Therefore, Bialy has demonstrated great consideration towards the sustainability theme in the Better Lives project throughout her selective creative process.
The theme of diversity has been reflected within Bialy’s artwork through her expansive use of media and different artistic methods. Looking at the images included in her biog post we can see she has used a mixture of coloured pencil, paint, pen and possibly crayon – which had been distributed across her three outcomes. As well as this, she has also experimented with different artistic styles, such as her second illustration which demonstrated a more expressive style. This varied use of materials and techniques provides a sense of diversity, as we can see she has explored and represented different forms and types of fashion illustration. Lastly, to improve this blog entry Bialy may consider mentioning the third Better Lives theme, social responsibility. In the blog, Bialy suggests she is keen to reflect her beliefs within her artwork as she felt inspired by other artists doing the same. One artist that she had mentioned was John Sabraw, who also works as an activist and environmentalist. This choice of artist research displays Bialys curiosity for art which reflects a greater social and political meaning. Therefore, if Bialy were to incorporate the theme of Social Responsibility within her own work she could reflect upon environmental and/or other social crises, in order to bring awareness to these issues and possibly suggest ways in which us as creatives can help – similar to how she had reused materials in second illustration.
11th May 2020 @ 9:07 am
Thanks for Julia Bialy’s blog, she share many meaningful opinions about the three aspects of better lives，and it makes me feel more about how to make better lives for the world.
In her first blog post, she addressed the issue of cultural consensus.This is one aspect of cultural and social sustainability, as the fashion industry has grown, the problem of cultural appropriation has become more apparent.Everyone deserves respect for their culture as well, it is also extremely important in a world of cultural diversity.But many designers may inadvertently ignore this point, resulting in cultural erosion.Julia realized that, it is important to respect other cultures while focusing on the diversity of fashion innovations, and make every effort to create more socially empathetic projects, bring consumers together to create more new possibilities.This is our younger generation of designers to pay attention to the problem,Julia pointed this out very pointedly in her blog.This is a good solution to the problem of cultural diversity, teaches us to bring cultural concepts into our works and to integrate consciousness.
Environmental sustainability is essential to the good life.Waste materials, such as cardboard and old newspapers, can be recycled for secondary creation, which is a good way to reduce material waste.Julia also mentioned this aspect, it is reflected in our course.However, for anyone, material waste is inevitable.Fashion plays a very important role in representing one’s identity. So it is inevitable that some old clothes will be discarded.Waste is also a problem in the cosmetics and skincare industries,Julia mentions that, overconsumption is prevalent in these industries, this means a lot of waste packaging.So what we should do is to avoid excessive waste and make our beauty routine as simple as possible while protecting our skin.
Each person is unique, which is most reflected in the diversity of each person’s thinking, Julia’s words are very inspirational.As a designer, we should put ourselves in others’ shoes, so that we can create more satisfying works, this is the essence of diversity.It is the uniqueness of each person that leads to the diversity of the work, we should bring ourselves and others into the work.This is not only what Julia wants to achieve, but also what I have been working on.
In your third blog, you mentioned one of your artistic creation processes, which enlightening to me.It is difficult to judge the criterion of right and wrong, good and bad in artistic creation, artistic freedom can have unexpected effects on every designer.