Artist Research: British Landscape

After exploring ideas of creating servants of the queen I looked into a couple of political artists who I think could influence my style and how I design my creatures.

Ralph Heimans

Ralph Heimans is an Australian portrait painter most known for his portraits of high standing individuals such as royalty, politicians and well respected members of several artistic fields. He a few years ago, in 2013, Heimans painted a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II for her Diamond Jubilee. This particular painting of the queen is different from the usual. She is looking down, covering herself with a long cape. This portrayal of the Queen seems very humanising, she looks almost vulnerable. The long cape flows out and around, seeming to come directly under the viewers feet, making the viewer feel like they have just intruded on a private moment. A small time of reflection on her life, and now we’re stepping on her cape and it leaves me in unease. This painting was first displayed in the National Portrait Gallery of Australia and was later moved to Westminster Abbey as a part of their permanent collection. While at the Abbey in June 2013 it was vandalised by a man from an unofficial protest group Fathers 4 Justice. The painting was then restored and back on display in July the same year. I chose this painting to research because of how humanising it is of the Queen, she seems to have flaws, it paints her in a new light, which is what I am going to be doing. Although my portrayal of her will be through her subjects and it is not a pretty picture.

One Day Response: Harris the House Elf + Mindmap

My first idea for this response was going to be Dementors attacking people in London, but I quickly changed my idea to house elves.

My initial sketches of a house elf. I much preferred the one on the right so I chose to develop that for my one day response.  

I spent around 5 hours digitally drawing this house elf and I believe the piece was a success. It's a good one day responce and shows off some of my skill with digital work. 

This was a quick manipulation of my drawing, copying Harris multiple times and changing his colouring and size to make them seem a little more different to each other. This piece is meant to poke fun at the fact that the British are mocked for our obsessions with 'queues'.

My Proposal for the Landscape of Signs And Artist Research

Proposal for Landscape of Signs

In response to the first week I have decided to create a series of artworks depicting various creatures taking on the jobs needed to keep Buckingham Palace functioning. I will be designing the creatures myself, taking inspiration from popular fantasy such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and The Spiderwick Chronicles to create unique and interesting characters who visually suit their role in the palace.

I intend to research the artists, Ralf Steadman, H.M Bateman, Ralph Heimans, Ronald Searle, Jeral Scarfe and Heath Robinson for inspiration on satirical and political artwork of the royal family. I’ll also go to London in search of artists and artworks related to my theme, either the creature side or artworks depicting the monarchy and workers of Buckingham Palace.

I would like to experiment with a few different mediums, such as black pen and white ink on toned paper, watercolour paints, digital drawing and possibly animation. My final outcomes are planned to be digital drawings, perhaps 3-6 in the series or one large image with multiple creatures. I will aim to spend around 6 hours on each final piece, making them as detailed as possible. Even though they will be digital pieces, I’d like to make them look traditionally painted, using visible brushstrokes and textured brushes to get this effect.

A whimsical but dark feel is what I would aim for with my designs, creatures that are borderline monsters, grotesque but oddly cute or interesting to look at, so that you feel your eyes stuck on them. They would ideally suit the role they play, for example something that has to dust the high shelves may have long, reaching arms or legs that allow them to access hard to reach places. In order to ensure that my drawings of the palace are accurate I will use the virtual tour online to take still images of the interior for reference.

Dermot Power

Dermot Power is an Irish digital concept artist born in 1967. He is currently living in London doing freelance work. His most notable works are his concept art for three Harry Potter films and Tim Burtons’ Alice in Wonderland. Dermot has an interesting, messy and rough style which he has commented on when talking about his work with Tim Burton;
 “…cares about the details, know that story counts for everything and understand that designs don't have to be highly rendered to be understood.”

This piece depicts Hagrid and a timid Harry Potter meeting Buckbeak the Hippogriff outside on an overcast day. The colours Dermot used are muted and work well together, except a bright blue breaking through the clouds behind Hagrid and Buckbeak, a pleasant break in the clouds showing a slither of clear sky. The fact that the background does not reach the borders of the image creates an interesting effect with a white surrounding, it makes the drawing look like it was created on this very page, drawn next to my writing, almost interacting with it. Especially with the right side of harry not having any background to it at all, making him seem to be more on the white page than in the drawing, like he could reach and grab my words. The Hippogiffs are described as very proud creatures in the books and films and I think Dermot has portrayed this expertly, Buckbeaks’ head is raised up straight, and he is not bent down or submissive to this large man, whereas Harry is quite visibly a little scared. His messy style is very reminiscent of impressionist paintings, using thick visible brush strokes to indicate shadows and highlights and unimportant details, and changing to small and deliberate marks for the finer points, such as Hagrids’ face and Buckbeaks’ feathers.

Prevent Homework

This piece was drawn to promote British values, focusing on how helpful the British have been to other countries and those in need and that we should not turn our backs on them.

Curate Final Piece: Faith

CLICK HERE FOR BIGGER IMAGE

(This text was written as if by another person, making a small analysis of this piece)

Christall is an English Illustrator born in 1995, he works in various mediums but most notable are his pen drawings and digital illustrations. This piece, titled “Faith” is a digital painting of 2835 by 2061 pixels in size and depicts a blindfolded, nude woman being led by a bipedal blue monster with a couple of bells on the end of its tail. The artist has chosen not to draw a background and instead has the figures on a grey-purple colour which could be to ensure that the viewer is not distracted by anything and is focused on the couple. Since the image is of a large size you can view it quite closely and that is when the detail of the females hair and face becomes apparent, which is an odd contrast from the simple and almost cartoon-like face of the monster. The fact that the woman does not to be in any immediate danger and also how relaxed she looks leads one to believe that she does not know what is leading her, perhaps she believes it is a lover? This then causes one to wonder where she is being led to and why? The title “Faith” could be a prod in the direction of what the artist is trying to depict here, maybe he is portraying his view of modern religion or faith in general. The muted colours used work harmoniously together, however the creatures face does seem out of place, it’s too bright to work well with the rest of the image. The feet of the woman seem to be blurred or unfinished, whether intentional or not it does seem to add the effect that she is in movement, whereas the blue beast is standing still, waiting to lead her further so its feet are stationary and in full focus.