Creative Project Matthew Lowth

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Final 10 Images

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BA3 : Evaluation

BA3: EVALUATION Creative Project Matthew Lowth 

As a part of the Creative Project, I wanted to explore Watercolour paintings. I wanted to see the progression of historical art and how watercolour has stuck and evolved to become modern art, as well as how watercolour was recognised before any other media did back in 1400–1500 and to show how in present times less and less artists use this media. I wanted to research more into watercolours and the techniques the artists used. I have worked with watercolours many of times, and I wanted to explore it even further and mix other medias with watercolours to see the difference it can make to a painting. I wanted to think of current ideas for the Creative Project and to see what other medias work well with watercolours. 

Firstly, I wanted to start with the basics and become familiar again with watercolours, as well as looking at different artists like Georgia O'Keeffe and Cecily Brown. I wanted to look at the distinctive styles of paintings as well as the methods used. I took a liking towards Brown’s visible brushstrokes due to them helping her tell a story within the paintings. I liked how O'Keefe's artworks were tranquil due to the softness of the colours, but also how they had a mystery element to it due to the folds of the flowers and the subtle dark colours creating focal points to her paintings which made me wonder what the darkness represents. 

Next, I gained experience from going to art galleries such as the RSW Annual Show exhibition for watercolours, I learnt about new artists and the different methods they used with watercolours. Seeing many forms of mixed media gave me plenty of innovative ideas for the route I wanted to take. Hayley Tompkins’s triptych painting at the Fruit market caught my eye due to the number of unusual colours and how they were all layered, showing different emotions. This gave me an idea to create a painting using watercolours, whilst also writing down my key memories and using those memories within my painting, as well as associating specific colours with specific emotions. 

Thirdly, I decided to work with watercolours whilst combining other medias, for example I used pen and wash for most of my paintings as that helped me to add more depth and really bring the viewer into my painting. I went out of my comfort zone with trying to paint in a contemporary style and I really enjoyed creating using this method, I would like to continue to develop this even further. If I had more time with this module, I would like to use unusual materials such as clothing with the watercolours to give the artworks more meaning and difference. 

Overall, I am pleased with the outcome of this module and how my artworks have developed. My knowledge and understanding of watercolours have expanded and I have thoroughly enjoyed trying out new methods such as leaving my comfort zone to create meaningful pieces. I would like to take watercolour even further in my next steps.    

Words- 508 

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From my triptych watercolour I wanted to take it into digital media and to combined the triptych into one piece by layering them as well as blending and changing the colour, the vibrance, as well as the levels to help lead your eyes around the artwork and to give it great visual impact.

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Memory watercolour - Triptych

I wanted to create a piece that was significant to me and had a deeper meaning and putting emotion into the work. With every different colour showing a different memory and making it pleasing to the eyes. I did three different paintings but having the same style. With the first I looking through my memories and painted accordingly and layering on colours. The second painting is more in detail and was not as washed out as the other 2 paintings as I want this painting to be the focal point and the other 2 to help hone into different parts of my life. Third painting was wet on wet and gave the colours more freedom but still using the colours associated with the memory, other colours are more faded than others to show different memories to be more strong and others to be more hazy.

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Watercolour With Bleach & Quink Ink

For this painting I used the wet on wet technique to give the paint control and to see the tranquil effect it can have with the softness of the colour. From this I highlighted the marks from the watercolour with Quink Ink and looking at the piece is about perspective and what you can see from the watercolours. After this I added bleach to help bring another element making it more interesting and bringing it more life helping to show movement within the painting.

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Memories - Watercolour

Firstly the process of this painting was far out of my comfort zone and was really enjoyable to create, At the start of the process it looked very odd but the more memories I added it started to come alive and fit into place which I am very pleased with. The greens were resembling the runs I went on for charity as well as nominations. The red was to resemble power and or an injury. Purple was fear. Dark Grey - (brown and blue) was to resembling sad times and bad memories. I purposely took a photo that was blurry to add mystery to the artwork and I really like the effect it gave. I am wanting to create a triptych using a more wet on wet technique to resemble blurriness and uncertainty due to memories can sometimes feel fuzzy overtime.

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Memories

I started writing down memories that came to me through my years started from my youngest memories and writing down key memories or memories that stuck out that might not feel significant but have still remembered from when I was young. From writing down these memories I am wanting to create a watercolour painting from reading the memories and thinking of the colour that best goes to describe the memories and from this to keep layering the memories on, to show a pocket of my life in a painting.

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Claude Monet

Claude Monet was a French painter and was the founder of the impressionists. Monet loved to paint nature and show their perspective of nature using a large scale. Monet had painted many watercolours of nature and specialised in water lilies.

Garden Watercolour 56 x 38 cm

This painted of Monet's caught my eye due to the softness of the colours giving it a tranquil atmosphere. The warm tones of the tree to the left of the painting helped to bring a welcoming feeling inviting you in. The way Monet paints this makes you feel like you are then and feeling the sun on your face and seeing the wind due to the movements of the painting helping you to experience what Monet saw.

Claude Monet, Path in the Wheat Fields at Pourville, 1882. Oil on canvas; 23 x 30-1/2 in (58.4 x 77.5 cm)

Monet loved to paint with bright vibrant colours helping the viewer feel peaceful and looking at the painting Monet helps to capture the details of the wheat field showing the wind blowing the wheat and seeing the clouds in the sky showing that it was windy.

San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk, 1908 - 65.2cm x 92.4cm (Sunset in Venice)

This is one of Monet's most known paintings found in the national art gallery of Wales In this oil painting Monet used vibrant colours to portray the famous sunset in Venice. I like how symmetrical this painting is due to the top and bottom both having blow then moving through the sunset to the red. This painting shows passion and happiness showing the beauty of sunsets.

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Cecily Brown

Cecily Brown is a British painter (1969) who is known for producing huge canvases covered with pigment and incorporating sexually explicit themes. Brown’s work has a abstract approach to it. Brown's artwork stands out to me due to the variety of colours that are used and I am also wanted to create artwork that uses many different colours to show different memories of emotions.

This painting of Brown’s looks very dark and mysterious and is difficult to figure out what is going on in the painting. The painting looks like there is some sort of battle going on giving it a sense of violence, Brown also uses a lot of flesh colours suggesting that they may be nude.  Brown uses quite a bit of warm tones giving her painting a hostile atmosphere and seeing a lot of greys and blues giving her painting more chaos.  We can see how loosely Brown paints due to the loose brushstrokes.  The way Brown uses the colour blue in this painting suggests sadness by the coarse brushstrokes she uses. Each colour gives off a different feeling almost showing different memories and the more you look the more you can understand and start seeing different images of figures and objects.

This painting of Brown’s looks like a racetrack for the Olympics due to the horizonal redlines but once again looks like a fight and near the bottom almost resembles an animal of some sort on the floor which looks to be blood around it symbiosing death.  The painting is very fast paste and shows a lot of movement due to the rushed brushstrokes she has used.  The background to he painting looks a lot more peaceful and has a tranquil atmosphere to it almost like you would rather be over where the background is instead of here which resembles anger due to all the chaos. I feel as this painting is very impactful due to the shock value this painting has due to the violent image it gives off.

In this painting we see a abstracted tree with what looks to be a girl wearing white swinging on a makeshift swing by using rope and wrapping it around the tree and using a wooden plank to sit on.  We can also see a silhouette of a man on the left which he looks to be fishing or perhaps raising his hand adding mystery to Brown’s painting.  Brown uses a lot of warm tones in this painting helping to portray excitement and happiness, which can also be found within the girl swinging.

When looking at this painting we can see the concentration that went into this painting due to see all the small details that Brown has captured. Brown has a lot going on in each painting she does helping her art to be talked about. This painting seems to be of some sort of street due to seeing maybe different poses of people, some people sitting down and enjoying the sun which can be seen due to all the warm colours that Brown has used.  Brown’s work looks very similar Jackson Pollock in the way they both use many different colours within their paintings and both have an abstract approach and both put a lot of concentration into their paintings. I took would like to have this style of work however having it more soft and using watercolours to give off a completely different atmosphere.

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Mixed Media - Watercolour, Pen & Wash & Quink Ink

I really enjoyed exploring with this artwork and taking it step by step and seeing what works. I could have took it a step further and used bleach with the quink ink but I felt as this would make it too chaotic and I want to cool It cool colours and the bleach would to too over powering. I love the calming affect this painting gives off and having them look out in the distance almost making you feel like them looking out and feeling what they are feeling.

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Hot Glue with Watercolour

I started this artwork by using a glue stick and placing it where the water and sky is as I felt as that would give off the best atmosphere however once I started adding watercolour It did not seem to give the effect I was wanting to give off so I opting in for hot glue as once that dried I was able to go with watercolour and having the hot glue to show through which I really like.

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Pen & Wash with watercolour

I have now decided to opt in for some watercolour paper due to the thickness of the paper and helping to keep it more4 controlled and not have any ripples of water and or crinkled paper. This has helped to make the artwork feel more relaxed. This painting shows a large pond that is far away as well as a small village surrounded by trees in the background. I would like to work more with Indian ink as I feel that helps to create more depth to the painting as well as use more pigment with the watercolour to deepen the artwork and more it more alive.

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Georgia O'Keeffe

The artist that I am going to be analysing is Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) who painted flowers many of times. O’Keeffe was an American artist who painted the human figure hidden within flowers. O’Keeffe was known as the  "Mother of American modernism". I feel as this relates to my work due to the calm atmosphere O'Keeffe's artworks gives off as well as relating to nature.

In this artwork the dark colours create dread and of how abstract it is, makes this painting intense.  The subtle maroon to the painting creates a focal point and helps to lead your eyes around this painting adding visual interest. O’Keeffe also creates depth to the painting with the ripple shapes with neutral colours like white and greys.

This painting is well thought out due to the composition, having many layers creating depth helping the viewer to look into the painting.  O’Keeffe uses a lot of red, making this artwork very powerful, then linked with the orange making it feel warm and approachable.  The yellow helps to create a cheerful atmosphere and by using all these warm tones helps to portray joy and happiness.

This painting was well done by the use of the black stripes with the harsh outline of yellow, doing this makes it stand out due to the black resembling darkness and fear and yellow resembling joy and happiness and it makes you wonder what to feel.  having the red with the black shows anger within this painting and then the yellow at the edge shows you joy and happiness reaching down resembling someone reaches out and helping someone who is going through a hard time.

This painting brings joy and has a happy atmosphere and by having the hidden greens makes you feel relaxed and calm.  The painting is super successful by how tranquil it is by the use of colour and composition.  The folds help create leading lines and helps to lead you around the painting you can almost see movement in this artwork due to the folds and can picture it on a windy day and having the flower move.

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Watercolour with Indian Ink

For this artwork I wanted to start with the basics and do a simple landscape watercolour and from their I would analyse It and decided what I feel is missing form the artwork, and for me it felt as it was too 2D and wanting to add an extra media to help give the artwork more depth and make it more visually interesting due to the expressive lines I created. I am pleased with hoe the Indian ink helped to bring this artwork to life and give it character and helps to create a story due to the visuals and depth as well as making you feel welcome due to the colours inviting you in.

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These artworks are held at the RSA, the artworks that stood out to me the most was the watercolour ones as well as mixed media with watercolour and from being able to view them in person really inspired me to return to watercolours as I have not done much watercolour this year and would like to bring that back with mixed media as well as trying to create interesting textures within my work.

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For this artwork I really enjoyed the interaction it has, as you were able to take a book look at it, read it and even take it home with you and it felt wrong doing so. Even touching the books felt incorrect however in the books they have images of different uneasy pictures almost looking like clues to a bigger story. This also let me to wonder how many books were originally here as anybody is allowed to take one, was it filled with books? was there originally open spaces on the shelf?

I too would like to create something that is interactive and able to but others people opinions and feelings into my own work.

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This was an exhibition held at the Fruitmarket - Gallery for local & global modern art. The painted cardboard box 2017 really stuck out to me due to the vibrance of the green drawing me in and when viewing the artwork there was a lot of empty space making you focus more on the sculptures. The biggest cardboard box is facing away from the viewer making it more mysterious and the more I looked at it I realised that the box was open resembling insecurities and/or wanting to open up but isn't confident.

On the upper floor the acrylic on panels caught my attention to the the chaotic atmosphere it gave off and by having so many different colours and tones makes the viewer analyse it more and wonder why there is so much going on almost resembling someone's brain and showing the process and how chaotic a brain can be or showing the struggles in someone's life and each section showing a memory of their life and the darker colours being more negative memory that you cannot escape and would forever be there however brighter colours sometimes overlap with the darker colours showing that good memory's will still come around however the bad memories will never be forgotten but the more good memories help to control them.

I would like to attempt this in my own work and create artworks showing my memories through colour and having the more dark tones resembling darker moments in my life. Starting with the earliest moments to more recent memories on the top layer.