Ellie Spiers

Graphic Art student from Cornwall, based in High Wycombe

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Two recent collages made based on feminism and gender equality using images inspired by Guerrilla Girls and Linder Sterling. 

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Back to some recent digital work in collaboration with my university. My partner and I are currently in the process of rebranding the Sexual Harassment campaign #NeverOk! Its been a fun challenge so far, and a huge learning curve into the works of industry collaborations.

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Some watercolour illustrations i then developed to create a festival poster.  I’ve been trying to steer away from purely digital design and try out a few hands on materials such as watercolour and letterpress and i forgot how much fun it was! 

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It’s been a while since I picked up a paint brush,but practice makes perfect! So I decided to paint one of my favourite places back at home, Mevagissey

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In my personal journal, I add in any doodles that come to my head whilst travelling. I’ve also added items that I’ve collected on my adventures such as tickets from my trip to Amsterdam and from the Harry Potter Studio Tour. Still a lot more adventures to add!

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Behind the mask, another mask.

Recently i visited the the National Portrait Gallery to view their latest exhibition ‘Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun: Behind the mask, another mask’. The exhibition felt very personal as the photographs displayed went from early self-portrait polaroids all the way to Wearing experimenting with how she would appear in 70 years time.  The parallel between Wearing in Cahun’s work was very clear, even so that i got confused who’s work i was looking at! They were both influenced by masquerade and performance as well as both being into self-portraiture. The main concept behind their work is experimenting with gender and identity.

I highly recommend this exhibition to all ages as i found there methods of expressing identity and gender very refreshing and intriguing.

Discover more here: http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/wearing-cahun/home/

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Harriet Barber

The works of art above were created by a close friend of family, Harriet Barber. Breast Cancer LIFE is a project which grew out of Harriet’s collaboration with Art@Plush organiser Dot Browning, and a number of other women who had undergone treatment for breast cancer, following Harriet’s own diagnosis in 2008. Breast Cancer LIFE explores beauty, femininity and self-image – which are often deeply affected by the treatment women receive for breast cancer. The women who participated have all given their time freely for the project. For most it was their first experience of sitting for an artist. I find Harriet’s work to be inspiring as well as empowering as she doesn’t cover up any of the models flaws yet instead highlights them with her energetic style that reflects the confidence of the models drawn. Harriet lost her fight to cancer in 2014, she will always remain an inspiration to me.

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A quick sketch of my very fidgety pup. Using graphite pencils.

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My own painting in the style of Roy Lichtenstein who was known for his american pop art. Created with acrylic paint and fineliner

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One of my favourite pieces i have drawn. The image is representing metamorphism - human transforming into wolf. The drawing to me also represents the relationship between human and their dogs. My pets are all members of my family and are very close to my heart.

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Experimentation with using colour and line to create abstract texture, it’s constructed from lots of quick movements, also not taking to long to think about what i was doing. Sometimes when it comes to colouring in an area i become a perfectionist, but this was just a matter of filling in the blank spaces!

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Practicing drawing using a grid. This was a challenge for me as im not used to small details, i usually draw very minimalist designs. However i was very pleased with the outcome of this piece. (I dont not own the photograph that i was drawing from)

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Exploring digital collage by using stock images of similar colour to fill in an image. The original outline is from the artist Gomez Maestre. His work is composed with simple line drawings of people filled with bold colour.

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My love for photography has been merged with my love for Graphic Design! so here i created a mixed media collage of my own photography and cut out shapes in my sketchbook. This piece was inspired by the Monty Python as i feel their use of abstract illustrations very intriguing and effective.

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I find manipulating images to be a very fun process so when i discovered this app i was thrilled to experiment with it! This 360 image was produced from a panoramic shot of Hayle, Cornwall and i find it mesmerizing! 

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A selection of images captured on 35ml film, exposed and developed myself. These images focused on the urban surrounds in Penzance, Cornwall and the textures of each building on the local industrial estate created appealing images especially with the black and white contrast i managed to produce in the dark room.

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Two photographs of a few buildings i discovered in Falmouth, Cornwall, taken on my Nikon D3100. I found the composition, lines and textures of these buildings to be very interesting and appealing to the eye.