First Year Evaluation

A video to show the sculpture I created for my final product developed from my artist research and experimentation.

Including all of my sketchbook work that I had produced over the time period of the first year of A Level art, puts my final piece into context of where my initial ideas and concepts came from and how over time, with continuous experimenting, I have developed and changed to lead me to end up with a final piece accompanied with the creative decisions I made throughout the years progress.  

Comparing my work ethnic and attitude towards art from GCSE, progressing throughout the year and up to where I am now, I have changed, physically as well as mentally, and  developed a lot as a person which has had an impact on the work I was creating. 

From this, I found it difficult to be satisfied with what I was doing in art and didn't have much patience with what I was working on. A couple times in the year I got lost and needed redirecting from David. The 1 to 1 sessions helped me refocus and encouraged me to question my actions to whether the work I was producing was worth the time or good enough. Initially I think I struggled as art is very different to any other subjects, and being more independent threw me off as I was so familiar to the old exam criteria for GCSE. 

The positive side to starting art in a new college was being with new "like minded people"; sharing ideas and experiences. With everything at the time, I was overwhelmed with my new surroundings and struggled to start to adapt to my different working environment.  

As the year carried on, I started to enjoy the work I was doing and the artists I was researching into. Studying Vincent Van Gogh's work really fascinated me as of the visual technique he uses in his paintings but also the context behind his pieces are really powerful. 

For example, the colour palette he uses in "The Starry Night" are so mystical which emphasises how beautiful the surrounding landscapes are. However, when Van Gogh painted the piece in June 1889, it depicts the view from the east facing window of his asylum room. 

From mainly studying Vincent Van Gogh's iconic painting style and Russell Mills' earlier work, I wanted to combine features to create a new technique.

 Focusing on:

• Effective colour palette to create a specific mood and atmosphere  
• Expressive mark making
• Thick paint application
• Context and purpose
• Mediums and materials
• Body painting 

As I continued through the year, I started a new sketchbook to refine my ideas and findings from the features of the artist research to develop my work further to eventually prepare for my final piece. Starting a new sketchbook to refine ideas helped me a lot as I wasn't as lost and confused with my work, but I got to continue with features of my work that I liked.

Starting a new Pinterest board with any new project, has always helped me as they act like an initial mood board to store potential concepts and techniques to develop for the future.  

When finalising my work for my end piece, keeping evidence in my blog and in my sketchbook, I tested different medias, materials and compositions of what I wanted the sculpture to look like and what it would be made from. 

    

From testing and experimenting, modroc was the best material to work with. 

Its properties were that:

• It can be used as a cast from plaster being an element of the medium
• The colour is white, which is a good base to paint onto 
• It dries hard but takes a long time to be completely sturdy
• Cheap to buy and comes with many extra modroc packaged roles 
• Easy to use 
• Can smoothen with water to get rid of holes and gaps 

I had researched into gender roles and identity about how society sees individuals. Tailoring my work to interest me even more to keep me passionate and motivated about my work. I wanted to include this concept and information in my final piece. 

Also using information and inspiration from other artist research from the Tate Modern, such as Zanele Muholi who includes the LGBTQ+ community linked with her work as it is a subject she is passionate about. Her intentions to educate others inspired me to do the same in my work, which I included for my final piece.  

The problems faced with my work as I continued creating my final sculpture:

• Poor support inside the structure 
• Sunk into itself when painted 
• Wobbled when painted so I had to hold it
• Had to use scissors to keep the position of the structure
• Paint lifted off when I took the scissors off when dry

While I was in the process of painting my final sculpture, I found more research which links to my work. As of the distorted body painting concept I tried to create, the compositions of Ancient Greek sculptures are very iconic. I studied '"Venus De Milo" which is a very famous sculpture and displayed in the Louvre, France. 

As of doing this extra research, I found it was probably best to plan in more depth about famous sculptures, artists and  other structures prior to making my own. By having this knowledge I wouldn't of faced as many issues while in the production of my final piece.     

The positives elements I found with my work were that I had  created my planned concept which I had evidenced all of the progress on my blog and in my sketchbook. Also supported with all the other prep work and previous sketchbooks I had worked on throughout the year.   

I also managed to meet an observational comment from a peer 1 to 1 presentation earlier on in the year. The comment asked if I could include or create a way to demonstrate a form of body painting without having a naked model covered in paint in the studio. I took this as a challenge as I'd never thought of that idea before. I believe my final piece shows body painting on that distorted but physical form for others to view despite not all of the creative progress going as I planned.  

All the testing I had done previously in sketchbooks was to evidence what particular painting application method I would eventually use for my final piece. With the working time I spent looking at different artist inspirations, I had created my own technique from mixing my findings from all kinds of sources. 

The final structure also displays an array colours to link to gender expression and how no colour is linked a certain gender. The distorted body also representing breaking the rules of society and how it depicts to judge individuals. 

The application was thick, which used quite a lot of paint, however I felt this method was necessary as of the influences of my artists work and styles. The overall aesthetic, when the painting was complete, looked really effective and detailed. 

If I had to use my findings and experiences from my first year for progressing into my second year of A Level art, I now understand what its like to work with the new syllabus and the type of the experiments I would have to carry out for the following year.  Over half term, I will gather ideas and start initial research for a new topic.