Thursday, 26 October 2017

Extended Practice - Personal Brief Ideas

'The Tales Of Beedle The Bard'

- I plan on continuing my interest in book illustration, by reillustrating these fictional childrens stories by JK Rowling.
Why have I chosen this brief?
- When reflecting on my practice, I have recognised that my work carries a certain aesthetic that I feel will work harmoniously with the dark themes present within this book.
- I will be able to continue to push my love for lino cut to achieve such aesthetic. I also hope to incorporate more experimentation with combining mono print and handmade texture -  (look to Jim Kay for inspo.)
- There are very few existing illustrations for the stories.
- Each tale carries an array of interesting visual metaphors // hidden message & I enjoy creating images with conceptual meaning.

Current Book Illustrations:


The Stories:

"The Wizard and the Hopping Pot"
This story is about the legacy of an old man who, in his generosity, used his pot to brew magical potions and antidotes for other people when they needed his help. Upon his death, he leaves all his belongings to his only son, who has none of the virtues his father had. After his father's death, the son finds the pot and a single slipper inside it together with a note from his father that reads, "In the fond hope, my son, that you will never need it".

Bitter for having nothing left but a pot, the son closes the door on every person who asks for his help. Each time he does so, the pot takes on the symptoms of the ones who ask for help, it starts disturbing the son and prevents him from having any peace of mind. This continues until the son finally gives up and provides aid to the town. Upon doing this, the pot's ailments are removed one by one and the son's ordeal finally ends one day when the slipper he received from his father falls out of the pot; he puts the slipper on the pot's foot and the two walk off into the sunset.

"The Fountain of Fair Fortune"
In this story, there is a fountain where once per year, one person may bathe to have his or her problems answered. This is how three witches meet. The first witch, Asha, suffers from an incurable disease. The second, Altheda, endures poverty and powerlessness due to a robbery. The third, Amata, is distraught after being left by her beloved. The three witches decide to try to reach the fountain together but along the way, a knight, Sir Luckless, also joins them.
On their path to the fountain, they face three challenges. The first involves a giant worm that demands "proof of [their] pain". The second, a steep slope where they have to bring the "fruit of their labours". The third challenge, crossing a river, requires them to pay with "the treasure of [their] past". Amata passes the challenge by using magicto withdraw the memories of her ex-lover and drop them into the water.

At the fountain, Asha collapses from exhaustion. To save her, Altheda brews an invigorating potion that also cures Asha of her disease and need of the fountain. Altheda realises that her skills are a means to earn money, so she also no longer needs the fountain. Amata realises that washing away her regret for her lover removed her need as well. Sir Luckless bathes in the water, after which he flings himself at Amata's feet and asks for "her hand and her heart" which she happily gives. Everyone gets an answer to his or her problem, unaware that the fountain held no magical power at all.

"The Warlocks Hairy Heart"
The story is about a young and handsome warlock who decides to never fall in love, so he uses Dark Arts to prevent himself from doing so. His family, hoping he will change, does nothing. However, one day, he hears two servants whispering about him not having a wife, so he decides to find a talented, rich, and beautiful witch and marry her to gain everyone's envy.

He meets that girl the next day. Though the girl is both "fascinated and repelled", the warlock persuades her to come to a dinner feast at his castle. During the feast, she tells him that she needs to know he has a heart. The warlock shows her his beating hairy heart inside a crystal casket in his dungeon. The witch begs him to put it back inside himself. After the warlock does so, she embraces him. However, being disconnected from its body for so long, his heart has developed savage tastes as it has degenerated into an animalistic state. And so he is driven to take by force a truly human heart. He tears out the witch's heart to replace his own, but finding that he cannot magic the hairy heart back out of his chest, he cuts it out with a dagger. Thus he and the maiden both die, with him holding both hearts in his hands.

"Babitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump"
This story is about a king who wants to keep all magic to himself. To do this he needs to solve two problems: he must capture and imprison all of the sorcerers in the kingdom and he has to learn magic. He creates a "Brigade of Witch Hunters" and calls for an instructor in magic. Only a "cunning charlatan" with no magical ability responds. The charlatan proves himself with a few simple tricks and begins to ask for jewellery and money to continue teaching. However, Babbitty, the king's washerwoman, laughs at the king one day as he attempts to do magic with an ordinary twig. This causes the king to demand the charlatan join him in a public demonstration of magic and warns that the charlatan will be beheaded if anyone laughs. The charlatan later witnesses Babbitty performing magic in her house. He threatens to expose her if she does not assist him. She agrees to hide and help the demonstration.
During the performance, the brigade captain asks the king to bring his dead hound back to life. Because Babbitty cannot use magic to raise the dead, the crowd thinks the previous acts were tricks. The charlatan exposes Babbitty, accusing her of blocking the spells. Babbitty flees into a forest and disappears at the base of an old tree. In desperation, the charlatan states that she has turned "into a crab apple" and has the tree cut down.

As the crowd departs, the stump starts cackling and makes the charlatan confess. The stump cackles again, demanding the king never hurt a wizard again, and build a statue of Babbitty on the stump to remind him of his foolishness. The king agrees and heads back to the palace. Afterwards, a "stout old rabbit" with a wand in its teeth hops out from a hole beneath the stump and leaves the kingdom.

"The Tale of the Three Brothers"
The story is about three brothers who, traveling together, reach a treacherous river. They make a magical bridge over the river wherein just as they cross, they meet the personification of Death, who is angry for losing three potential victims. He pretends to be impressed by them and grants each a wish as a reward. The oldest brother asks for an unbeatable dueling wand, so Death gives him the Elder Wand. The middle brother asks for the ability to resurrect the dead, so Death gives him the Resurrection Stone. The youngest brother does not trust Death and asks for a way to stop Death from following him, so Death reluctantly gives him his Cloak of Invisibility. Afterwards, the brothers go their separate ways.

The oldest brother, bragging about his powerful wand, is robbed of it and murdered while he is asleep. The middle brother uses his ability to bring back the woman he loved, who died before he could marry her. However, she is not fully alive and is full of sorrow. He kills himself to join her. As for the youngest brother, Death never manages to find him, as he stays hidden under his Cloak. Many years later, the brother removes his cloak and gives it to his son. Pleased with his achievements, he greets Death as an old friend and chooses to leave with him as equals.


To Do:

- Need to define a project rationale - decide if I am illustrating each story or focusing on a couple // & how many illustrations to produce for each story?
- Potentially a front cover to combine them all?
- Read each tale // draw roughs.

Thursday, 12 October 2017

'Untranslatable Words' - Visual notes/Initial ideas

After considering my other Briefs for extended practice, I have decided to minimise my 'Untranslatable words' project. I want this brief to run alongside my others without impacting the quality of work. 
I now aim to produce a mini series of three Lino Cut Designs.

Visual Interpretations for these phrases. Metaphors, / subjects that could represent each phrase. - initial ideas.

Forelsket (Norwegian): the euphoric feeling at the beginning of love. We can’t believe someone so perfect has wandered into our lives. They enhance and complete us. We might report: ‘I was overpowered by forelsket as our fingers enlaced…’
- mythical 
- out of this world sensation
- perhaps - ask people in love what it 'feels like' - what they compare it to.
- floating on air.
- space like? - something beautiful / unexplainable 

Saudade (Portuguese): a bitter-sweet melancholic yearning for something beautiful that is now gone: 

There is pain yet also a pleasure that such loveliness once graced our lives.
- perhaps a love affair, 
- a childhood home,
 - flourishing business. 
- friendship (relevant)

Torschlusspanik (German): Literally: Gate-closing-panic. The anxious, claustrophobic feeling that opportunities and options are shutting down; 
- you have missed the boat, 
- you have to get a grip, 
- you are getting too old - to achieve what you would have liked
- let something slip you by 
- like - light at the end of the tunnel//
- Things that seem so close that are so far - just out of reach of fulfilling.

Eudaimonia (Ancient Greek): often translated as ‘happiness’, it really means the deepest kind of fulfilment, often comprising a flourishing work and love life. It’s accepted that eudaimonia can go hand in hand with lots of day-to-day frustration and pain. You could be correctly described as possessing eudaimonia even though you were periodically really rather grumpy.

- success / fulfilment in something? - day to day or more special?
- accomplishments - finishing a painting?? 
- reaching the top of a mountain
- completing a marathon
- meeting a deadline

Schadenfreude (German): the satisfaction we find in another person’s failure or suffering. The source of the pleasure (which in polite circles we are supposed to find shameful) is at heart simply relief (rather than nastiness): that another person has been shown to be, like oneself, inadequate and unfortunate.

- ??

(Spanish): Describes a place where we feel safe, a ‘home’ (which doesn’t literally have to be where we live) from which we draw our strength and inspiration.

- 'A place where ones strength is drawn, where one feels at home, the place where you are your most authentic self'
- 'In bullfighting, a bull may stake out a querencia in a part of the ring where he will gather his energies before another charge.'
- animals - feel like home - foxes, mother baby
- baby penguin - under feet of mother.
- animals companionship - quite a nice interpretation? - by the side of one another
- feeling of being safe and secure confident 
- being somewhere familiar - comfortable
- animals being hunted - hiding in safe place

Mono no aware (Japanese): an acute sensitivity to the transience of lovely things; a melancholy awareness that everything nice will fade combined with a rich enjoyment of this short-lived beauty. 

- Cherry Blossom tree. - beauty soon to fade
- Flowers in bloom
- Dragonfly / butterfly? - short lives
- a beautiful moment in time perhaps?
- rainbow 
- show something beautiful - fading into its counterpart. - i.e. - beauty of a butterfly - / beauty of a flower withering into nothing...

YĆ«gen (Japanese): gives a name to a mood in which one feels that the universe as a whole possesses a mysterious, elusive, but real, beauty. 

- Moonlight, reflecting over water
- autumn moon - low
- sunset - cliche../sunrise - over ocean
- Bird murmuration
- snow on distant mountains
- birds flying high - evening sky
- northern lights?
- Commit / shooting stars.../ galaxy
- fireflies - lights
- lightening
- coral reefs

Komorebi (Japanese): When sunlight filters through the trees, creating an interplay between light and leaves.
- direct interpretation - not open for much variation perhaps? 
- could create an interesting interpretation of light through - through lino cut and print...?

*To Do:
- Create a selection of roughs from these ideas and narrow down final three designs. 
- Keep simple

What is Holding me back?


What is holding me back?
In response to a task about reflection of practice...

Statement:
From working in lino and mono print last year, it really forced me to be more considerate about the line quality and amount of detail featured within my work. - more aware of negative space. I became more prone to reducing the detail and simplifying my designs which in my opinion really benefitted the visual aesthetic of my illustration practice. However, when re creating a similar aesthetic through digital means, it was an excuse to start adding unnecessary detail and going over board, detracting from the charming simplistic quality that appealed to me about my authentic Lino cuts. This is something i felt was important to reflect on at this stage and to really be aware of this when creating my roughs and concepts. - (create designs that will be suitable for lino wether creating through this method or not.)

- Lino printing.
I have shied away from using lino cut of late, because its time consuming and there are more risks involved in the process. However, i enjoy the process and want to return to it in my practice. I want to take the opportunity of this task to overcome my reservations about using lino cut within my work. - this task will force me to work in a way that scares me, but one that will hopefully bring a lot of benefits to my practice.

During the creation of this piece - it helped me to address my issues head on - realised that I've been worrying too much about peoples opinions and failure. I fell back in love & it has Inspired me to keep pursuing the process which i love. don't be afraid of making mistakes positive reaction from new people was really encouraging - felt a warm welcome

Practical Response
- My first Lino cut of the year.
- successful / strong image / involved my interest in visual metaphors as well as passion for Lino cut.
- what it represents: Fear of self / fear of ambition/ideas / i'm holding myself and my practice back
- hugely enjoyable 
- excited to continue and create more.


Monday, 9 October 2017

Existing Work - 'untranslatable words'






The above work by Anjana Iyer is some that I initially discovered last year, and when I came across the article that inspired me for the extended practice module, I immediately was drawn back to her work exploring the same theme. 
- Why do it if its already been done well? - i think my printing process will bring a lot to the subject, and i will explore different words to these artist / different subjects, so hopefully i can bring something new and relevant.

Monday, 2 October 2017

Untranslatable Words.

A little series that I stumbled across this year named "Found in Translation" by illustrator Anjana Iyer, attempt to explain the meaning behind words in other languages that have no direct equivalent in english. I was drawn to the work for the charming illustrations, but also really loved the idea of a series of images that universally communicated an emotion or feeling through clever imagery.
 I recently came across an article discussing some of the worlds untranslatable words; (http://www.thebookoflife.org/untranslatable-words/) There are lots of moods, needs and feelings that out own language has not yet properly pinned down, - so I find it really interesting and comforting to see a long phrase summed up in a single word, and I perhaps would like to create a short series depicting some of these words, through my own visual interpretations.
Put here quite beautifully by the author of the article:
"The perfect word – even if it comes from abroad – can help us to explain ourselves to other people – and its existence quietly reassures us that a state of mind is not really rare, just rarely spoken of. The right word brings dignity to our troubles, and helps us identify more accurately what we really like or find annoying."
I think it would be a really fun little project to do over the summer, along with my plans to create a few zines and book covers. I researched further and here are some of my favourites:
*Note - if enough perhaps create into its own zine? stick to format from last year perhaps - 12 pages.

Forelsket (Norwegian): the euphoric feeling at the beginning of love. We can’t believe someone so perfect has wandered into our lives. They enhance and complete us. We might report: ‘I was overpowered by forelsket as our fingers enlaced…’

Saudade (Portuguese): a bitter-sweet melancholic yearning for something beautiful that is now gone: perhaps a love affair, a childhood home, a flourishing business. There is pain yet also a pleasure that such loveliness once graced our lives.

Torschlusspanik (German): Literally: Gate-closing-panic. The anxious, claustrophobic feeling that opportunities and options are shutting down; you have missed the boat, you have to get a grip, you are getting too old.

Eudaimonia (Ancient Greek): often translated as ‘happiness’, it really means the deepest kind of fulfilment, often comprising a flourishing work and love life. It’s accepted that eudaimonia can go hand in hand with lots of day-to-day frustration and pain. You could be correctly described as possessing eudaimonia even though you were periodically really rather grumpy.

Schadenfreude (German): the satisfaction we find in another person’s failure or suffering. The source of the pleasure (which in polite circles we are supposed to find shameful) is at heart simply relief (rather than nastiness): that another person has been shown to be, like oneself, inadequate and unfortunate.

Querencia (Spanish): Describes a place where we feel safe, a ‘home’ (which doesn’t literally have to be where we live) from which we draw our strength and inspiration. In bullfighting, a bull may stake out a querencia in a part of the ring where he will gather his energies before another charge.

Mono no aware (Japanese): an acute sensitivity to the transience of lovely things; a melancholy awareness that everything nice will fade combined with a rich enjoyment of this short-lived beauty. 
(The sight of cherry blossom provokes the emotion like nothing else.)

YĆ«gen (Japanese): gives a name to a mood in which one feels that the universe as a whole possesses a mysterious, elusive, but real, beauty. 
(Moonlight, snow on distant mountains, birds flying very high in the evening sky and watching the sun rise over the ocean all feed this sensibility.)