University Research; Leeds College of Art

"Leeds College of Art is one of only a few independent art schools in the UK, our students enjoy a small, close-knit community in a creative atmosphere where anything feels possible. We believe this is the best environment in which to grow as an artist or designer."

To a great extent, our reputation goes before us: Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth studied here, as did, more recently, Marcus Harvey, Damien Hirst, Danny Sangra and Omar Kashoura. However, we never allow complacency. We work extremely hard to remain a leading centre for art and design education, choosing from among the brightest international potential to produce some of the most sought-after creative talent.

In the Guardian Education League Tables 2015 we are the highest ranked independent art college in the UK. Excellent staff: student ratios mean you’ll benefit from as much personal attention and expert advice as you’ll need.

One university I have decided to research is the Leeds College of art. Initially a UCAS convention I went to earlier this year is where I first heard of the University. After speaking to the people representing the college about the course I was interested in and looking through the prospectus I picked up I decided to do some further research in to the college.

The course I am interested in is BA (Hons) Creative Advertisment as it is a mixture of both creative and academics studies. After watching the programme video and taking a virtual tour of the studio and the college I feel like this course is perfect for me. 

Leeds is such a beautiful city which I have visited it many times before. Its not to far from home but will be definitely be a change in scenery, moving from the suburbs to inner city. 

The  halls of residence which the college offer are Carlton hill and Liberty Park.

Artist Research; Barbara Hepworth

Barbara Hepworth is the last artist that I have researched for Portraiture and the Human Form.

Hepworth uses an array of different mediums for her sculptors such as marble,limestone and teak to name a few.Most popularly is bronze however she has used many different types of wood such as Burmese wood, Elm wood and Guarea wood.

Artist Research; Egon Schiele

Egon Schiele is the next artist I am researching for Portraiture and the Human Body.

Egon Scheile is known for being grotesque, erotic, pornographic, and disturbing, focusing on sex, death, and discovery. He focused on portraits of others as well as himself. In his later years, while he still worked often with nudes, they were done in a more realist fashion. He also painted tributes to Van Gogh's Sunflowers as well as landscapes and still lifes. 

Artist Research; Alberto Giacometti

Alberto Giacometti is another artist I am researching for Portraiture and the Human Form.

Giacometti creates sculptors which are seemingly out of proportion as they are very tall and thin.

His drawing technique however is very unstructured and messy.

Artist Research; Henry Moore

Henry Moore is the first artist I am looking into for my research on Portraiture and the human form.

Moore uses simple outlines for his drawings, which though lack in detail have harsh contrast in shadow and light. 

Moore also creates sculptors using stone, wood and bronze. His sculptors, like his drawings lack in detail, instead they concentrate on the fluid outline of the human body. 

Frank bobbin's Institute- Pull, aim, squeeze and sweep.

Today we visited an art gallery in Worksop.I thought the gallery was interested as there was a mixture of paintings, videos, music and even a live performance of a girl applying makeup. 

The gallery , which was set in an old house, gave off an eerie and freaky impression with the use of dark hallways and creaking floorboards.

 I particularly liked the vetro record player and the various videos set up which plays on a loop, one showing a younge girl dancing to upbeat music while another showed a person on stilts draped in white walking towards the camera.

Skeleton drawings, Part 1

Using charcoal I have drawn skeleton from different angles.

Standing up at our easels, the skeletons were placed in the centre of the room with spotlights and regularly changed so everybody drew the skeletons from different angles. 

The first picture was done with only 5 minutes per skeleton.

The last two were done when given 10 minutes for each. 

Evaluation: As my first attempted of this I see that I need to improve on the proportions of the body.

Mod rock

Here I have used mod rock to make a cast of my arm and face(with the help of friends) 

Firstly I put on a glove and cling filmed my arm as the mod rock would pull out any hairs I had on my arm. Then I took strips of mod rock I pre-cut dunked them in water and place them on my arm till my arm and hand was cover, only the top half of my arm otherwise my arm wud get stuck in the mod rock. Then a second layer of mod rock was applied going the opposite direction the first layered was applied.  

Next we moved on the mod rocking faces,

As done when mod rocking the arm, cling film is put all over the face and hair(apart from the nostrils) and the mod rock is placed on the face in strips with a second (and possible third) layer going in the opposite direction. The eyes should be the last thing that is mod rocked as when it has the model will be in complete darkness.Once the mod rock is dry(checked by tapping it with your fingers) it should easily come off when the model tilts their head forward.

Health and safety tips:

 It is important that you do not modrock all the way round the head or arm as it will get stuck.

Cling film is necessary when mod rocking parts of a person, as every one has hairs on their bodies.If the mod rock is applied directly to the hairs it will be extremely painful upon removing.

When mod rocking someone's face in particular it is important to communicate with them to make sure they don't feel claustrophobic. If the model panics the modrock mask should be taken off straight way( side note: make sure the mask if loose around the edges so it can be removed easily if needed)