Drawing

I've had a bit of a rough go with my drawing class. I was a little disappointed in the content of the course. I don't have any pictures of my major assignments because one of them my professor misplaced, another I don't like, and the last one I haven't finished. So instead, I'm sharing a bit of what the sketchbook work is like. We are required to keep an ongoing sketchbook for most of our classes. The drawing sketchbook has specific requirements for what we have to include, so these are a few pages out of it.

Ongoing facial features studies

Our drawing class has visited the Allan Gardens in Toronto twice this term to study plants in different media. We have been working with water based materials quite a bit. This one is ink and ink washes.

This one is not from Allan Gardens, but it is also water based. I bought water soluble oil pastels and graphite, and have had a lot of fun experimenting with all of the water based media available. 

Water based media

Along with the facial features, we also have to complete ongoing studies of hands and feet.

We have done way too many plant studies.

This is actually one of my major assignments. It isn't finished yet. It's supposed to be a foliage canopy with shaded textures in the negative space. I am not a fan of shading. EVER. 

Water based media

OCAD comes with a membership to the AGO, and the professors take advantage of it as much as they can. One of our sketchbook exercises was to study the Henry Moore sculpture collection at the AGO. I really enjoyed it, it was nice to sit in a gallery where it's quiet and draw these beautiful sculptures.

Photography Final: The Sun Beard.

The Sun Beard

For my piece I used the box from a barber's set to take my images. The inside has a section that fits a length of film perfectly. I taped the film down while sitting under a pile of blankets. After shooting my images, I kept the exposed images inside a camera to keep them from being exposed again.

My first try gave me no images because my hole was actually too small. After I made the hole larger, it worked much better. 

I used Kentmore 400 B&W film. Because the film is so close to the hole, and the film strip is so long it gives the images a wide angle view. 

We had access to the OCADU darkroom to develop our images. 4/6 of my images turned out.

Our assignment required our images to have something to do with what our cameras were made out of. Since mine was made from a barber's set box, I took pictures of Andrew...who has a beard. However, without a viewfinder on my camera I had no idea where I was aiming at. So my final product actually does not feature any of his facial hair, just the hair on top of his head. 

I exposed 6 shots all together. The first set of Andrew facing forwards at three different exposure times. The second set was in profile, again for three different exposure times. I did this to ensure I would get an image because I was a little concerned I didn't have the physics right and was pressed for time.

For this reason, none of the images on my final image are the same. They are gradations of one another because they were all exposed for different times.

I chose the box at first because it was convenient, but after shooting I realized that my concept was kind of stupid and really cliche. For some reason there's an ongoing facial hair mania. I have socks even that have mustaches on them. They've become a really over-marketed image. For me, it was a happy accident that Andrew's beard didn't end up in the image. Though I like facial hair (a lot)... I didn't want my project to be part of the obsession.

I was pleased with the result, and that I managed to make my own camera and have discernible images turn out. 

I call it 'the Sun Beard' because when I was discussing my title options with Andrew I said:

"well, it could have something to do with Movember, or Decembeard..."
and he said, 
"I like that- the sun beard!" so that's what it is, because I think that's pretty funny.

xo
Hayley 

Time Based Media (Film) Final

Time Based Media (Film & Video) class has not been easy for me. I have issues with the technological side of things, and when I went to school for Drawing & Painting, I did not think I would have to take a video course. I appreciate the course a lot more now that it's over. The course exposed me to performance and video art which I never would have stumbled onto otherwise. My videos aren't that good, or exciting. But I've posted my final if you're interested. It's 8 minutes long, and it's an exploration of two abandoned houses just outside of Alliston/ Tottenham. 

One of my other videos is in the process of being viewed for a juried show at the university, so you can wish me luck with that one!

I decided to share a few of my favourite performance pieces & videos that I saw while in that class.

1. Yoko Ono's 'Cut Piece' 

2. Lisa Steele's 'Birthday Suit: with scars and defects'

This video is not on Youtube, so I can only share a link for this one. 

There is nudity in this film. 

http://vk.com/video14378603_163477177?hash=ab8b0b7fc09bb153

3. Martha Rosler's 'Semiotics of the Kitchen'

3. George Melies' 'A Trip to the Moon'

I haven't watched the full thing, it's just interesting to skip through and look at all the different scenes. 

4. Edwearde Muybridge's works

 

And finally, here's my video... 

Shapeshifter.

It's finals week and for my mid-term painting project (painting class goes through the whole year, so it's midterms for this class) was to cut up the 10 panels from the semester which I shared before, and create something new. The theme was shapeshifters. Take that how you want to. It was very open ended, and she recommended doing a self portrait. This was the result of mine.

My concept was paint-by-number style. Because we were required to show which project each piece came from, it was easy just to number them.

We have a class of critiques for all of our major projects and the process is this:
1. Concept
2. Major Snag- which for me was that I ran out of the right colour on my past paintings by the time I did the nose, so it's rather white. I also wanted my nose ring to stand out more. Oh well.
3. Major Triumph- I like the way it looks from far away, it blends better and looks a lot more like me. And after staring at it up close for so long, taping each little piece on (that's a lot of little tape rolls to make!), I appreciate it a lot more from a distance.

It's a mix of acrylic and oil, on acetate mounted on foam board. It's 20X20". I used a gloss gel medium on top to unify it and keep some of the tricky pieces stuck down.

Shortly, I'll be sharing my drawing portfolio so check up here in a few days.

xo
Hayley 

Painting

Aj's dad came over recently and I realized how little work I had to show anyone from my university career so far. So I rounded all my work up from my classes and over the next few days/weeks depending on my work load, will share from each class. Most of it is really boring looking. But I'm learning a lot of interesting stuff. 

Right now I'm taking Art History: Up to the 1800s, Painting, Drawing, Photography, and Time Based Media (Video). I showed a photography piece I did last, and this post will be dedicated to my Painting class. 

Video is not my strongest point. And I don't like it much either. Just not my forte. I like watching the performance pieces, and video art we're exposed to in that class, but for me- trying to make it is tricky. I just can't manipulate the media to create whatever I had in mind which is disheartening. I will not be showing any of this work - maybe my final, but nothing else. 

I'll rant about Drawing another time. I got a should-be-retiree, plant loving old lady.

Anywho. Painting.

A lot of what we've done is colour theory and mixing. I love it. It's so neat to understand exactly what paints make what colours. 

Recently we were given a chip to match. I had so much fun with this. I still chew my nails, just don't look at it.

Colour wheels. This one was not as fun. Bla.

This was my first piece I handed in. It's achromatic (no colour- black and white and in between). It's acrylic. All of these are 16X20"

The thing about these is that they're not meant to be good paintings. So don't judge. They're geared so that we learn about paint, colour, and technique. Not so much making good paintings. I'm sure we'll get there sometime in the next 4 years.

The class is 3 hours long. Most of the pieces are set up in class, and that's how long we have to do it. This is in oil. It's a mannequin- not a person, we'll be doing figure painting next semester. 

This piece is also achromatic using a black that I mixed with primaries.

This isn't a great picture. Photography wise and painting wise. It's a high key (whiter), achromatic. Acrylic.

Again, it was about an hour and a half we had for this one. I enjoy painting within the given colour schemes, it makes it interesting.

This piece was supposed to be monochrome, but ended up being analagous. Meaning, rather than being strictly blue, it ended up being in the blue family. So I had to redo it. The result was this piece. A little smaller and nicer.

This one is oil. I feel comfier in oil. And every assignment I leave it too late to have time to use oil and then I hate it because it's in acrylics. 

This piece had to be mixed secondaries, aka tertiaries. Paper bags are not fun to look at for 3 hours. But whatever. I guess I was learning!

There are a few more that I'm not posting because my prof still has them. So for now, this is all I've done. I don't know how I feel about them yet. We'll see. I'll get Aj to post his, his projects are much more interesting & they generally look nicer than mine. 

xx

Thanks for checking up on me <3

H

Pecha Kucha

Latest photography assignment// 3 images in 3 minutes relating to your influences in your practice.

As you may have guessed after my first presentation, I'm not really sure what my practice will look like in the future, and it doesn't really look like anything right now. I don't know where I want to go with my art, and to be truthful I don't think I want to be a practicing artist. Actually, if I'm more honest, I think I am afraid of trying to be an artist for a long time and nothing ever coming of it, or not being that great but thinking that I am. Who knows what my influence will be by the time I reach fourth year, and who knows what my practice will look like at that point in my life. Right now I'm influenced by many things- everything is new. The city is overwhelming and hectic and there's so much to explore and experience, I don't know where to start or what my taste is for life here.

The first photo I chose is of Alice Glass from the group Crystal Castles. This isn't really like a One Direction crush I have, but I would call it a bit of a crush. I really appreciate their music but also the look and art made by them. Their videos, music, and Alice's style do inspire much of the way I aim to look but to an extreme. I like the way they're kind of screw the world . Alice Glass ran away from home at 14. I moved away at 17 which at that point isn't really running away, but I'm still young, and I sometimes feel too young to live on my own. I always go to say Alice Glass is my role model, but if you read up on her, I wouldn't want her life. They're pretty famous for having secret lives and nobody really knows much about them. I like her attitude. As I said, it's not just a crush, it actually does influence my work. I guess what I've gotten from Alice Glass is that I can make whatever the heck I want, and I don't owe anybody an explanation, and somebody out there will appreciate it for what it is.

The second image I chose is one taken by Richard Avedon. As you probably know, Avedon is a renowned photographer, and is well known for his portraits. You've probably seen his image of Marilyn Monroe, the one she isn't glamourous in. I didn't choose this image for a particular reason, simply that I find it beautiful and I was drawn to it immediately. I chose Richard Avedon because I am so drawn to portraits. I could see myself focusing on portraits for a time in my practice. Humans are so fascinating, and different. In a series of 7 billion portraits of different people, not a single one will be identical to another. This sort of leads into my next image.

This is a painting by painter Cecily Brown. I had the privelege of hearing her speak at a conference and have been so inspired by her work. I am so drawn to the human body, the figure. There's a limit to nudity in the real world. But there shouldn't be one in art. I've always been a subtle exhibitionist, and I suppose as many people are when they're viewing art with the naked human figure, a voyeur. I think anybody who argues otherwise is lying. There's something so beautiful and powerful in our own bodies, and the bodies of other humans. Nothing else in the world does what seeing naked bodies does to people. Bodies are so beautiful, so repulsive, so raw, and so human. I find it the most beautiful and intimate expression of humanity, and you can paint it, so in the future I would love to focus my practice on the figure.

Nuit Blanche and some thoughts on T.O.

So we went to Nuit Blanche last week, and I feel pretty lame that it was the first event we've really been to. We went to the Jazz festival & Casa Loma in the summer. As artists though, we've been encouraged to see gallery openings, and visit the ROM + AGO (to which we have free entrance). And I haven't yet! The school also has many guest artists and speakers, and I haven't gone to a single thing.

I haven't been involved in anything at all. And that's my new goal- to check stuff out, and start doing fun things. Otherwise, what's the point in living here anyway?


Last night I saw my cousin play at the Hard Luck Bar in a band called Signifier. It was a good time, and good music. I have to do this kind of stuff way more.


Also- I'm taking photography + video right now and we're encouraged to always have cameras on us and to record/photograph whatever we like. So: on the way home from Nuit Blanche, I noticed how loud the subway was. Usually people, even if it's only standing room, never say a word. I'll get on the subway in the morning and I'm squished up against like 60 other people trying to hold onto something. AND IT'S SILENT. But the energy of Nuit Blanche, and some kind of sports match, seemed to spread into the subway and it was noisy!

Living Room

So, I got around to cleaning my living room finally. It was awful.

This is our couch. We got it for free, it's a pullout. The pullout isn't bad, but it's been gouging into our nice floor every time we put it away. Whoops...

The couch was THE WORST material to sit on during the summer. It was so sweaty. We kept it covered with blankets all summer.

We've stained it with oil paint already. But I don't think we'll be keeping longer than this apartment.

To get it in the apartment, we (as in the guys) had to carry it up the fire escape and we had to squish it into our living room. It took a long time, a lot of work and one of the guys puked afterwards. When we take it out, my vote will be to chop it up into firewood first.

This is our coffee table. We were warned before hand, that it would be too tall for putting our feet on. It's true, and mostly we just use it for storing all of our blankets and throwing stuff onto.

Aj has a big teacher's desk. It takes up the most space in the room, but it's perfect. & it's always covered in stuff. This is the cleanest I've seen it since we moved probably. He built the bookshelf that sits on top of it with his dad. It's pretty full, I have no idea where we'd put our books without it...

This is our sexy lamp.

I can't stop posting pictures of the sea critters. They're just so cute. Here's some shrimp on Scoob.

We always have paintings on the go, and as you can see, there's not much room for two easels. My poor piano has a drop sheet on it. It's hiding. I haven't played in too long. I don't have time, and can never find it anyway. One day I'll uncover it.

I used to have a desk where my piano was, and I had my little inspiration strings up. I never took them down, I love em.

There's the sea critters again! & our artsy shelf. + board games. It's funny. Most of our games require more than two people so we don't play many of them. We just got Dutch Blitz & Bananagrams.

I love our windows. They face East, and the sun is a lovely thing. It keeps our place nice and bright. We have some cutsie plants and an elephant parade in the window. I'm looking forward to needing the rads on. It'll be so cozy.

So now you've seen almost everything!

Nuit Blanche is tomorrow, and I'm pretty pumped!

xoxo

H

My Bedroom

So, I'm sort of avoiding doing our living room. It will probably be the last one I do. And that's because we're in there the most. And it's so messy. We have a lot of painting and art projects going on since school started. And the room is covered in stuff. So, when I get around to cleaning it, then I'll show you it :)

So keep that in mind- what you're seeing is as clean as it gets ! It's usually much messier, but I have 4 day weekends, so I've had a bit of time to clean up.

Aj made me this for my jewellery a long time ago. it's perfect. 

this is my wardrobe. my favourite piece of furniture that I own. it was my great grandmothers, and is made from ration crates during WWII. how cool is that. we put it at the end of our bed to make a dressing area since we don't get up at the same times for school. the table beside it, we found in an abandoned house and i fell in love with it. 

it took a while, but i finally got my sewing machine here, this is my sewing table. not used much at this point, but it definitely comes in handy ! The sheet on the wall is a beaut, it has tiny mirrors on it too. we bought that in kensington sometime before we moved. Aj plays saxophone, so there it is.

no matter how old i get, i will always have pillow bunny on my bed. i like the windows in our room. its a nice light. 

we have two turntables, but this is the one in our room. it sits on the radiator for now. not sure what we'll do once we have the rads on. i listen to more vinyl than i listen to an ipod. 

bathroom will be next, then living room :)

miss you alliston, look forward to the weekend home.

h