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For this piece I wanted to clearly show the similarities/differences between Celtic/British and Indian culture so I used the photos from my Boudica photoshoot and from the Gulabi Gang photoshoot. I liked that although they were different poses they were both the same face, showing how we are all a part of the human race but just choose to express ourselves differently culturally. I decided to further highlight this with the use of pencil drawn faces and blank hair inspired by Sofia Bonati’s work. Not only does this help to lift the figures apart from the background and into the foreground but also furthers the idea of a similar base of identity across both cultures and I am really happy with the smooth shading. I drew these out freehand so there are some small proportional errors but overall I think I managed to capture the expressions really well. For the clothing on both I decided to use the modern day military camo pattern to indicate the subtle ideas of feminism since both figures from the Gulabi Gang and Boudica are strong visions of female empowerment. I chose the green colours for the Celtic figure to link in with the military uniform but for the Indian figure I used pink watercolour to mimic the Gulabi Gang’s uniform of the pink sari which helps to distinguish the differences in the figures with the contrast of colour and therefore culture although overall the other contrasts such as in the background designs and faces are much more subtle.

For the background I decided to draw in ink patterns from Celtic designs and Indian Henna to highlight the different cultures and show the similarities in their merging, inspired by Ole Aakjær’s tattoo designs in his work. For the Celtic border around the Celtic side of the piece I used a zoomorphic pattern from Courtney Davis’ book of ‘Celtic Designs and Motifs’. I chose one with hares because they were a symbol of strength and respect for the Celts that I thought linked in well with the figure of the warrior Boudica and feminism. For the Indian side of the border I used a Henna lotus blossom motif which is a symbol of the light within and femininity that I chose because I thought it went well with the Gulabi Gang’s beliegs and hope in women—therefore both sides choose natural imagery to express these ideas but in different styles: the Celtic being more complex in the weaving of lines and the Indian more complex in the intricate detailing. For the main body of the background I found a Celtic spiral design in the same book that I thought mirrored the woad tattoos on the Celtic figure’s face and highlighted the warrior aspect as well as feminine beauty. To match this I found a Henna hand design on Pinterest which had the same central ‘cross’-like motif and square repeated pattern, showing the similarities in culture but again was more intricately detailed and so allowed to show the subtle differences between Indian and Celtic culture in terms of pattern. To highlight this subtlety I decided to leave the designs in black and white and also so they didn’t draw away too much from the figures and overall I am very happy with the outcome although perhaps the last column of Indian pattern on the right should have been Celtic instead for a more even, central merge.

#art #alevelart #a level art #drawing #watercolour #portraiture #india #celtic #celtic patterns #indian patterns #culture #sketchbook #Boudica #Gulabi Gang

After looking at feminism in Britain/Western world in my last piece, I decided to look at activist feminism in India with the Gulabi Gang. The Gulabi Gang keep watch on all community activities, protest injustices such as child-marriages, train women to enhance their skills in order to become economically secure and defend themselves against abuse. The members wear pink saris as their uniform to symbolise womanhood as well as understated strength, alongside their bamboo sticks. For this piece I had to take some more photos of myself wearing a pink sari. To do this I borrowed my mother’s pink sari along with my grandmother’s (and then my aunt’s) blouse. Through this I felt it really embodied some of the sentiments of the Gulabi Gangs - the movement as a generational thing for female empowerment, empowering and protecting sisters and daughters just as the women in my family have fought to protect me. I chose the irregular shape of the cardboard to mirror the way the Gulabi Gang doesn’t conform to societal ideas of women and rebel against the societal Patriarchal structure as well as the cardboard resonating the the idea of the poor who the Gang protect. The background is simple to highlight the simplicity of what the Gang strive for and the idea of helping the ‘ordinary’. I decided to just use a simple bit of text: the Gulabi Gang’s mantra which is ‘Protect the Powerless’ which I translated into Bengali and painted in the colours of the Indian flag to further imply the fact that they are an Indian organisation.

#gulabi gang #painting #art #a level art #sketchbook #cardboard #acrylic paint #paint #india #feminism #protest #a level

This is a piece inspired by my Boudica photoshoot. The face is made up a pencil drawing with the hair left blank, taking inspiration from Sofia Bonati in order to distinguish between the background and face more easily. For the clothing I chose to add in a camo pattern from the military, adding to the idea of Boudica as a modern day feminist warrior in today’s society. I used watercolour to create the pattern on the clothes and I like the idea behind it but in reality the covering of colour is too varied and could have been better using a screen print. I was unsure what to do for the background but I was inspired by International Women’s Day this week and by the protests online about the death of Sarah Everard to create a collage background using the posts people put on Instagram to raise awareness. I thought the messages and ideas behind the posts worked really well to demonstrate the problems faced by women in today’s society as well as resonating with the figure of Boudica who also suffered from male harassment and rape.

#a level art #art #pencil drawing #warrior #feminism #collage #boudica #sarah everard

Some more sketchbook pages from the Celtic culture inspired part of my portraiture project :)

#a level art #art #sketchbook #celtic patterns #pop art #photo shoot

This is the piece I created from the art mock. During the mock I drew out and shaded the face from a grid using pencils. Afterwards I then outlined the hat in ink pen, created trials the celtic patterns to understand how they worked and then drew them on in pencil followed by ink. I decided to use bright primary colours for the zoomorphic pattern in the traditional colours they would have been in but the key pattern behind uses some more eccentric colours. I used the same colouring pencils fro the scarf as the hat, finally collaging in the coat with coloured paper.

I couldn’t decide what colour to do the background so I used my computer to trial the colours, taking them directly from colours I had already used in the hat. In the end I decided that they looked better together as a series in an Andy Warhol style. When we go back to college I intend to photocopy the piece onto different coloured backgrounds to mount in a series like the digital trial above.

#a level art #art #drawing #pencil sketch #collage #celtic patterns #bright colours #andy warhol

Acrylic painting on cardboard with ink pen drawings in the background. Looking at celtic patterns, I decided to create this piece inspired by a modern day Boudicca which is why I chose the writing of ‘Watling Street’ (the famous battle). Alongside the Celtic ink pen patterns I also cut roman designs into the cardboard to emphasise the celtic influence of Boudicca which fought against the Romans.