week three.

After my tutorial it was decided that the work I had was heavily focused on colour and it was hard with the images I had (and drawings) to truly isolate shape and form within them. For myself I could see where I was heading in relation to the project but for someone looking through the work this element wasn't as coherent as everything else.

Selecting some of my most important images I started by editing them into black and white. A simple process, yet it changed the whole form of the photograph with the shape instantly taking precedence over colour. This made photographs which, at first, had looked purely useful for colour analysis suddenly become vitally informative for my shape and silhouette development. I began to draw from these producing sketches that were more focused on three-dimensional shape rather than the graffiti art itself. I also used some smaller sculptures made from referencing Dahlem to draw from and create a more developed understanding of the forms I wanted to create. 

Using the black and white photography I began to just play about with them in photoshop making new forms, again referencing my artists- but also just to quickly develop new forms both in the positive and negative.(Examples above) This medium is really useful as I can produce a high volume of work in a shorter amount of time- meaning I can explore more ideas and find the one I like. 

I'm still unsure whether I want to commit to an sole idea at the moment- and have two strong themes through the drawing so far- developing each further will hopefully illustrate to me which one will be potentially more successful to take forward as the basis for my collection. 

week two. part two.

Further than this the graffiti style and 'street-art' was incredibly useful- but limiting in its aesthetic. It will be a strong theme in my work but I needed something more than this to work with- especially in regards to three-dimensional work and proportion. Using artists I had seen in passing before and also new works I'm beginning to look at the work of Bjorn Dahlem and Pedro Cabrita Reis. These works were more structural and industrial yet referenced the work I had been previously looking at. With this I am thinking that my drawing will develop into the three-dimensional references I need.

week two. part one.

Grace Jones progressively used artists and stylists throughout her career for collaborative effect. Especially in relation to her album artwork and covers. Most of the iconic imagery surrounding her work was created through partnership with Jean-Paul Goude for this purpose. I thought it would be an interesting angle if I took this principle and used art to inspire the collection and work to be placed back onto Jones. This will allow me to create both a developed and individual project- also giving me form and colour reference. Looking into urban and underground art seemed naturally more appealing- and also subtly reference Jones' work as for much of her career she was at the forefront of smaller sub-sections of the music industry. Aesthetically this art gave a more graphic, colourful style that suited both her skin-tone and her sense of style. It also was interesting to me. That undoubtedly is important in the earlier stages of the project. 

A selection of two images illustrating my research into graffiti and urban 'street-art'. On a first response these images look useful purely as a colour reference. However I want to develop these images further by isolation shape and form from within them and using that as a basis to move forward in three-dimensional development. 

week one.

Initially I wasn't too sure how to approach the project- in terms of selecting an idol. Knowing that for the next couple of months my work would be focused around them meant that I needed to be sure in myself that they would be both interesting, sustainable and relatable to the project brief. Grace Jones was an initial thought as I looked over the brief- after looking through other options to work with she became the one that I came back too each time. In terms of the All Walks specifications she embodied a new angle of age, culture and body proportion whilst simultaneously being diverse enough to allow creativity and a new point of view to be formed. 

I wanted to look at Grace Jones both in primary aesthetic sense and then secondly her contextual surrounding. Using both her body and style initially as a reference point but then developing a concept from this using her career and life making the outcome potentially more interesting. Working with her as an idol has so far been productive and from the surrounding context the information i've managed to gather the project is moving forward.