Another Day, Trekking On...

Last night, I had some friends who were kind enough to pose for me so that I could get some references for my art. I was able to get a couple women and men of different body types so that I can match a body to a writer. Today, I will probably put the images on my computer and begin to mix and match them to get the results I desire. The hardest part of taking these images is that it's taboo according to Western culture. Even though I can look at it from the point of view as an artist, I still can't deviate my mind from the fact that I just took seductive images of my friends and I plan to keep them on my computer. Perhaps in a sense this illustrates my twisted mind. It definitely pushes me from my comfort zone, which makes me believe that this project is even better for me to do.

Steven, who graduated two years ago, came in today to present his own art capstone. He has a degree in Graphic Design, so the actual project did not entirely pertain to me. I listened more to the process and how he talked about managing his time. I think I should have a few of the pieces done by Winter Break, so that I have less to do in the spring. I'm thinking by the end of Winter Break (so about January) I should have four if not five of the images finished. This is about half, since I've decided to do nine portraits of the following people:

William Shakespeare
Emily Dickinson
Lord Byron (sexiest man alive in the 19th c.)
Jane Austen
Edgar Allen Poe
Aphra Behn (one of the first female writers in the 16th c.)
Charles Dickens
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (wrote Frankenstein)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (He wrote Rime of the Ancient Mariner and is a part of my English capstone)



Most people recognize these names, except for perhaps Behn and Coleridge, but don't know their faces. I feel it's necessary to do a few people don't know not only to illustrate my own knowledge and understanding of literature, but to also inspire them to read one of their pieces. Behn wrote Ooronoko, which was about slavery. It was extremely controversial at the time because it involved issues that weren't even considered at the end of the 16th century. Coleridge has written many journals on writing and the use of imagination in literature, delving into the issues of the mind.

Handsome folks, aren't they? This is only the beginning! I'm extremely excited to start working on this project, and feel the mix of literature, fire, and fighting against the taboo makes everything about this my sort of style.

A Quick Note...

I just remembered this and felt I should put it up. I've already asked a few handsome young men to pose to be the bodies of William Shakespeare and Lord Byron, but will also have to find some lovely ladies to be models. It's a little odd to ask such a thing, but I've gotten excited responses so far.

Men seem prepared to strip at any time, their eyes twinkling at the idea. I asked my friend Jim, who had been kind enough to pose as a model in my Life Drawing class, and he actually looked disappointed when I informed him he should wear just a pair of jeans. My other male friends immediately fall into seductive poses and if I ever turn around for even a second, their shirts come off. Although I have drawn nudes, this does create a lot of blushing and stammering on my part as they simply smile mischievously. I may put a few of these images up after I have taken them, but only to the consent of the models. I don't want to make any of them uncomfortable for being so helpful to me.

I may have some female friends who may as well pose for me. They will be wearing more than the men, but I will still need to be able to see a lot of skin to make sure my proportions are accurate. They probably can wear a pair of short shorts and a tank top. I'll be putting the writers in little black dresses for the pieces, but they'll be skin-tight so I can stay accurate. I may practice a few fabric sketches just in case. I like drawing fabric, but I don't want any small mistakes in how it falls to take away from the image.

On My Way

So far, I've been experimenting with a few ideas and working on figuring out the details of my project. When I started, I thought of making long, horizontal panels for my composition, but realized that for the expedition, it would be hard to frame them. 16x20 is one of the largest sizes of standard frames, and after going and pricing a few and seeing if I can find 8 to 10 of them, I may consider using that size. I am aware that this is much smaller than what I had originally planned, but at the same time, I really want to make a lot of them so that I can draw a multitude of writers. Since my message is more about the image, by making them slightly smaller will give me more opportunities for connection with my audience. This also gives me the chance to make a few pieces and if some don't work, I an make sure my best art will be shown.

As for other experiments, I tested a few different gluing solutions to figure out which would work best. Acrylic medium gets rid of the shiny texture of the receipts as well as makes the burned areas (which are black) turn gray. Since Elmer's glue flattens the paper, it too takes away some of the shine, but it stays black. Glue stick seems to be my best choice because not only can the sparkles still be found pretty easily, the crinkled texture stays in tact as well as the boldness of the black. I made some gradients to see how I may use the paper, and found that not only can I use the difference between variations of burned marks, but also using text or not. Many of the receipts use different fonts or thickness of letters, and I can easily use these to my advantage. I feel this would also bring out the issue of materialization and illustrate that what we buy supposedly marks who we are.

So... Much... Research...

So far I've been putting together research material and doing sketches to figure out how my pieces will go. Today, I'll be concentrating on the new information I've collected:

First, I started looking into what other people have done with receipts, and it's pretty obvious none of them have thought of burning them.

People have been pretty creative, and I'm glad I found out what other art has been done. Most just draw on them, but others concentrate on what the receipts say (Link). Another artist, Ceal Floyer, also concentrates on what the receipts. She actually tells the curators of the museum to buy certain things and hang the receipt on the wall. These can be worth £30,000 for a little piece of paper, especially since they must destroy the receipt when they take down the art. You can see this article here.

Other than looking at the medium, I focused on how I wanted to set up my composition. One artist who has inspired me is Juan Francisco Casas. He uses ball point pens to draw large realistic images. I like this idea of seeing something larger, but also how he uses a very simple medium.

More along the lines of composition, here are some images which will help me figure out how I wish to pose my sexy writers:

I want them to really reach out to the viewer, and I'm hoping to create a more intimate composition to help stress the idea of "sex sells." I've already talked to a few people about it, and not only do people seem to like the idea, but they're excited about literature... at least a little bit. My goal is for other people to see what I see when I read a piece of literature.

I Have a Topic!

Last Wednesday, I finally had my presentation in class. It was the last day, which made me extremely nervous. I probably talked too fast, but fortunately, I had a lot of images to show to help get my point across. It has been decided that I definitely use the receipts as a medium. I really like the idea, and come on, it lets me use fire. What's better than that?

My fellow capstone classmates also helped me decide to mix the receipt idea with the "Sexy Shakespeare" idea. Instead of simply making portraits, I will be making the images of famous literary writers in hot poses. The idea focusing how we sell products today and giving a new light to literature, which has been around for longer than any of us.

My next step is to do some sketches and figure out how I want my composition to be and how many I want to do. I have at least four male and four female writers that I've picked out, but since I want to make them large, I don't know how many I'll make. They will probably be long and hang sort of like tapestries. I may also make more than necessary and simply pick out my favorites, or maybe do some group images.

I also want to experiment with the medium and make sure it will work. I've already burned some receipts, but will have to burn some more. One of my professors kindly gave me some acrylic medium to use as glue and hopefully that should work. I'll be making a small model of my idea, and will put it up here as soon as it's finished.

All in all, I'm on my way. I have a lot of work to do before me, but I'm excited and curious how the project may transform as I work. I really do believe that this will be my best work, and will show in an unique manner what I've learned ere at Marietta College.

BRAIN FART!!

So I just remembered another idea of mine which I like more than Proposal #5. Therefore, I have taken out the one about me being a narcissist and added instead my twisted sense of humor. As an English major, I have read a lot of literature. Also in my free time (since I’m not a fan of romance novels or murder mysteries) I read literature as a way to keep my analysis skills sharp as well as to shed new light on old stories. When I talk to other people about books such as Moby Dick, A Tale of Two Cities, or Treasure Island, people know the stories, but consider them old. I went back and read Treasure Island as well as The Prince and the Pauper, Dracula, and Peter Pan to make my own conclusions. Yes, it’s true they’re written in a different form of English from today, but some of the messages are as contemporary as Harry Potter. Thus, I wish to bring a new life to these old stories. Actually, not only to these old stories, but these old writers as well.

Billy Shakespeare has never looked so awesome.

I call William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, Billy and Charlie to remind me that they once were humans. Sometimes I think we’ve put them on pedestals for so long, that we forget they were once just like us, making mistakes and suffering through life. With my art, I want to enhance this and bring back their characters. I also want to add humor by using the marketing gimmick: “sex sells.” Therefore, (if you haven’t figured it out just yet) I want to put the heads of famous writers on sexy bodies to return them to their former glory, however long ago that was. Perhaps I will only get a giggle or a snort from my audience, but perhaps they will think that writers of the past have lived as well, and that their tales are still read today for a reason; if only you have a guts and the diligence to find out why.

Further Explorations

I’ve done a bit more work towards my project ideas. One involved creating a rough draft of my fire idea. I first took a picture of one of my friends, and with the help of Photoshop, lit her hair on fire. My plan is to then take this idea and simplify it until I can make a collage out of the burned receipt paper.

I'm not the best at Photoshop, but you get the idea...

My other new addition to my projects is a story idea for Proposal #2. I thought of it awhile ago and only now stumbled upon some of my work. Here’s the idea:

The Bat and the Pig

It’s a tale about a pig who wishes to get out of the pig pen and fly like the birds. Unfortunately, he’s a pig, and is expected to simply eat food and stay where he is. One night while Pig is sleeping in the barn, a bat crashes into the hay next to him. The poor bat is blind, and can’t help but run into things all night. Pig then suggests that if the bat can hold him, the pig can be his eyes and the bat can be the pig’s wings. Bat’s talons are strong from hanging upside-down all day, so after a few tries, he lifts the pig from the ground and they soar off into the night.

(This part I’ve added to my proposal, thus it deserves to be italicized)

It’s a cute story I hope will teach about cooperation as well as not giving up on your dreams. It also looks at how even though people may be different, it doesn’t mean either is wrong or bad, but can still coexist together.

So far, that’s what I have. It’s a little challenging to be working on the projects when I’m not sure which one I want to do yet, but since those are my two main ideas, I don’t mind adding a bit more to them. Not to mention, the story will probably be written anyway, if not for my capstone.