Daily Reviews
Diary
With the college going into lockdown from Thursday, I decided that it might be rather nice to keep a blog on updates and occurrences that come my way during the overall lockdown of the UK. |
| The Garden of Death - Hugo Simberg |
Thursday 19th - day 1
Initially, I was expecting that college would end on Friday. So had Matthew come round in the morning to pick me up, after waiting for an amazon delivery of watercolour paper. We received an email around 11 stating that the college was to shut at 1:30, so frantically rushed to the car with bags and our college passes to be able to get the work we needed from the studio.We picked up the large majority of our work and had a meeting at 11:30 discussing what was to happen next. It was nice to see people whilst I still could, and to have a bit of support regarding what the next steps were for Foundation Art. It seems that the most sensible option is to keep creating work and documenting the process at home.
I took home my larger pieces of work and also some oil paints, but left quite a lot in the studio which I now regret - as I think it might be a while before I see any of it again.
Friday 20th - day 2
The first official day of social isolation began. I couldn't stand it so ended up going out to see Matthew and talk about plans for the future. It's quite stressful as my family want to go into full lockdown, but I know that staying in my room and the kitchen for the foreseeable future shall lead me to become more unmotivated with my art from the lack of external stimulus.I know that since starting this blog and daily review though, I shall have a reason to keep track on my own progress and develop my ideas through both note taking and essay writing on here.
Saturday 21st - day 3
Currently sat listening to Joy Division whilst writing this account. I started a new job today at Asda, I'm only contracted to do 11 hours a week and that is only on weekends. I decided that a job is what I need more than anything at the moment in order to maintain a form of routine in my life.I only worked 4 hours today as opposed to the 6 that I was meant to do because the job was finished at 1 and my manager says that she'd prefer me to go home now, and just come in early tomorrow to do the early shifts before customers come piling in.
Sunday 22nd - day 4
Work at 6 this morning, I couldn't sleep at all so had 2 hours of restless napping before my shift. It was quite easy, and I made a couple of new friends. Didn't do anything when I got home as I didn't feel up to it.Talked to Matthew for a couple of hours on discord but nothing much else. Went to sleep at 9, as yet again I felt unmotivated to do any work.
Monday 23rd - day 5
Awoken at 8 due to my sister complaining about homework that she has been set, and how she doesn't enjoy it. I thought that it was rather funny as she always complains about having to go to school, but now she's complaining about being stuck at home where she loves. She's currently reading a book online that she was set as I write this, and I'm beginning to realise how much my artwork feeds off of external stimulus.I don't like being stuck at home unwillingly and I would do anything to get to of the house right now. I'm waiting for work again on Saturday to be able to get out again.
Tuesday 24th - day 6
I did some more on my oil painting and messaged David showing him my progress since he last saw it. I am quite content with the point that I have left it at so far. Matthew cut his hair off today :(
Wednesday 25th - day 7
Today I felt quite motivated to work today, so I decided to begin an oil pastel experiment. I haven't used the medium in a long time due to my overall distaste for it, but this is discussed in the designated post, so I shall leave you to read that instead of it here all over again.
Thursday 26th - day 8
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It was warm today! So outside I went to spray paint some freehand work.
I also continued my oil pastel portrait, and focused on adding details like pores and hairs on the face.
(Again, these features are discussed on the designated posts)
(Again, these features are discussed on the designated posts)
Messing around with music and sounds on my synth and warping it through my MacBook. I didn't really get anywhere with my music today, I attempted to create of few dubbed tracks but got my hair off with the synthesiser after it deleted my sample tracks.
I'll try again when I feel happier.
Saturday 28th - day 10
So I got up this morning at 2:15, got ready for work and started at 4. Ended my shift at 10, slept for 3 hours and so, the day disappeared. I've sat and wrote in my daily entries that were outstanding, and also have started looking deeper into artists to research. I've come to the conclusion that Monet and Klimt are going to be my strongest foundations for my work due to my adoration of them currently, and the motifs in their work.
Sunday 29th - day 11
Today was rather dull. I didn't do much.Monday 30th - day 12
Today was my birthday, but I didn't do anything to celebrate it. I saw no reason to, so instead decided to do more on the Tyler Joseph portrait. I did this until late into the night and continued into the day after.
Tuesday 31st - day 13
I posted this on the Facebook chat to show everyone my progress and to talk about the problems that I have encountered with the portrait.
I also got in contact with an old friend again called Curtis. Safe to say that I was VERY happy to talk to him again :)
Wednesday 1st - day 14
What i’ve been up to this week so far :
I started my sketchbook properly! I know I had it on the to-do-list of last week, but decided to wait until I felt more positive about my unit 5 ideas before I ran straight into it.
I’ve finalised my final major idea to be:
- Apocalypse - I wish to use imagery of people and animals that I relate to one another, in order to create my own version of the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ (death, war, famine, disease)
- so the first page is just some angry Russian crows, there’s nothing much to it other than one coming for your ankles. it was a marking and colour experiment more than anything.
- next we have a quick portrait of Russell Brand and some vampire bats. I thought of the bats because of Brands association with Noel Feilding and their duo of the “goth detectives” 🦇
- after that, are some characters that Matthew originally drew in a rather weird way. I saw potential in them for a storyline, so asked his permission to use his pieces to make my own. safe to say that I quite like them and may create a story between the two / adapt them again in the future.
- lastly we have Kit Harrington and the start of a wolf that I am drawing to relate him to. Of course, Harrington was Jon Snow in ‘Game of Thrones’, so made the choice to place him again with the wolf; as I drew him in character, so would make little sense to place him with another beast.
Also, I got in contact with another old friend again called Sam, which made me extremely happy too!
Thursday 2nd - day 15
I made spooky castles from watercolour. Listening to Bauhaus does wonders for what you think about. I wish to create a small comic of Daniel Ash and Peter Murphy as vampires living in a gothic castle. It may take some time to do!
Friday 3rd - day 16
I can't remember what I did today?Saturday 4th - day 17
Very little completed other than my proposal being finished and me sending it to David.Sunday 5th - day 18
Went to work in the early morning, came home later on. Started some "goth detectives" work. I started doing some studies for the vampire comic. Peter Murphy and Daniel Ash are going to be the main focus' as opposed to Kevin Haskins and David J, due to mine and Joe's adoration for them overall.
Monday 6th - day 19
I cleaned my room today, and moved around my work on my walls. A clean room is a clean mind for me. I sat inside and looked at videos for most of the day as opposed to doing anything excessively productive.
Tuesday 7th - day 20
More Bauhaus work! It was mainly a watercolour test for my work, and to decide wether or not the medium is suitable to use for larger works.
Wednesday 8th - day 21
I was meant to send David my second draft for my final, was ill so did not manage to complete it nor send it to him. Instead I decided that I would do some Bauhaus doodles and watercolour studies. I found this quite calming, and began to feel better so started to edit and tamper with my final major proposal.
Thursday 9th - day 22
twenty one pilots new songquarantine period extended :(
Friday 10th - day 23
I had a bad morning, and was meant to go to work today but ended up not going at all. I decided that whilst I struggled to keep my head straight, I would create some artwork based on the new Twenty One Pilots song. I quite like the colours that I used :)
Saturday 11th - day 24
I went to work in the morning, didn't feel too bad today :) Got to go in on Monday though because I was unable to do work yesterday. I drew some studies of eyes to accompany my work from yesterday and have completed all outstanding blog entries.Sunday 12th - day 25
Today was kind of uneventful. I woke up late; around 13:30, as I didn't go to bed until around 6 or 7 in the morning. I've been struggling to both sleep and do anything productive at the moment, so have been trying to motivate myself in many different ways.I found that today was good for brushing up on my digital drawing skills, and focused largely on adding detail and blending in my pieces. I did not originally intend to do this though, as I initially planned to create a more cartoon-sit piece, but it evolved quite nicely into one that is far more refined than I expected it to be. I let my work carry itself away, and didn't hold back on details that I wanted to add. It'll some time for this piece to be completed though due to the direction that it has taken, but I think that I shall be satisfied with the outcome.
A note to add is that I'm not going into work tomorrow, so will be able to add more to my work then. I also wish to start a video log for each day as opposed to writing these posts. So be prepared for my annoying voice in the future :)
Monday 13th - day 26
Completion of Tyler.
Tuesday 14th - day 27 - QUARANTINE OVER original ending
Use of colouring pencils. Experimenting with tones and colour values. Preparing canvas' for painting on at a later date. I also posted on the Facebook today, Leo kind of exposed me for doing fan art of Joshua Dun's eye (below) but I was generally happy with this piece regardless of whose eye it was.
Wednesday 15th - day 28
Daniel Ash. Suitable mock up piece for my final major. I've realised the I need more pencils if I want to do this seriously. Also, I only have one large board left as the others were used previously. So I only have one shot at this form of final major if I wish to go ahead with it. I could cut this larger piece down though so I can make medium and material tests, but whats the fun in that?
Thursday 16th - day 29 - 3 weeks extension - 7th May (new ending)
I sat and completed Daniel Ash, started texture book seriously for understanding how I can use mediums to benefit one another. I also enquired with David about work for the newsletter and I started running around looking for bits and bobs to do with my work.I wanted to go on a bike ride to collect some flowers and twigs for my work to do some textural studies, but didn't feel to up to going out as of another small panic.
Friday 17th - day 30
Staying up in a bit of a panic, this seems to be the usual now. I intend to use spray paint today on the Daniel piece, bats and stuffs, string etc to make my piece more like what I want to create for my final major.I've struggled doing anything productive today, I've been awake for 6 hours but have hardly moved much. I had a shower, received some brownies from a friend as he wanted to cheer me up, which was extremely sweet, and debated moving out and not going to university anymore. I'm sorry if you were expecting a really happy blog, but sometimes that won't happen on my daily reviews. I think it's important to document things honestly at this moment.
Haha, I love the mood swings though. I'm not feeling a little inspired to make my final major as an experimental piece. I find that when I try to "finalise" my ideas and come up with an outcome, I flop. So, I shall be experimenting a little more with methods to make a more well rounded piece.
Saturday 18th - day 31
Ceiling leaked at work lmao, back in touch with an old friend called Henry from my previous school. So in my opinion, today was great for my mental health. I quite enjoyed today.Sunday 19th - day 32
Nuneaton town centre is dead. Work was lively enough but I hadn't slept for three days so went to bed straight after getting home.Monday 20th - day 32
420. Board prepared for painting by using a burnt umber, black and white mix. This was for my recreation of Cabanel's 'Fallen Angel'.I decided to do some research further into oil paintings and discovered that some people use a brown / tan wash of colour on their backgrounds to allow them to gain a greater understanding of tone and mixing colours. Thus, I painted the background a neutral brown tone.
Tuesday 21st - day 33
Today I spent my time checking over my blog and adding photos to pieces that were missing them. Another task of today was to create the FAD collaborative blog, I enjoy blog work and it has rekindled my wishes to be creating artwork again.I also drew out the lines for the Fallen Angel today on the slightly damp oil paint washed surface. The indentations will help me stay in the guidelines at a later date through creating a barrier.
Wednesday 22nd - day 34
Started painting the fallen angel. Starting with the eye, I have slowly began to contour the face.Thursday 23rd - day 35
Edited final proposal again before sending off to David. Currently sat listening to The Smiths whilst Matthew and Lewis scream at one another.
Friday 24th - day 36
I can't go too far to get reference photos though else I'll be exhausted before work.
(I went to Hinkley in the end, apparently I don't
Saturday 25th - day 37
I was working today and did not manage to sleep after, so spent the day mixing songs on garageband and working with stems from other songs to remix them and create my own renditions. These shall not be shared though as I'm skeptical of my lack of skills in comparison to others works.
Sunday 26th - day 38
I decided that I was going to completely exhaust myself. After an 8 hour shift at work I decided to snoop around the back of college to get some photos of the bluebells that I knew were there.
Monday 27th - day 39
I made myself ill from the lack of sleep for 4 days. I'm not very good at this.
Tuesday 28th - day 40
Wednesday 29th - day 41
The goth detectives page is going quite nicely! The goths have accepted Joseph and I.
I've used this as an opportunity to work on my tonal portraits as I believe that this will be more relevant for my final major. Colour is proving hard to use with the oil painting as I am missing colours that I need.
Due to Covid and quarantine, people have been bulk buying oil paints, so I'm finding it very hard to acquire the colours that I really need.
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| Skype call with the boy band today - in doodle form |
Thursday 30th - day 42
The Fallen Angel piece is getting a little harder now and I keep losing motivation from not being around artists and my friends.
Friday 1st - day 43
Today was more effective for my work on the goth detectives. The portrait above is a digital, and is of Kevin Haskins; member of Bauhaus. I found that I much prefer the previous piece of Peter Murphy that I did, but for that I used a higher quality reference so it allowed me to see where there were abnormalities and different / larger areas of tone and detail.
Saturday 2nd - day 44
Right so today I was at work, hardly slept and in a lot of pain for some bizarre reason. I then got home and slept until 7:00 in the evening, and only woke up because Matthew called to see if I was okay. I'm now currently sat on my bed typing this and trying not to fall asleep again because I have to get ready for work at 3. I'm looking at my crumpets that I bought, hoping that they cook themselves, because goddamn its late.
I lost contact with my friend again. There's no point in being sad.
Sunday 3rd - day 45
I burnt the crumpets. Work was a hoot though as I got to spend more time with Henry and Ollie. After work we both bought some cider as I felt like there was a reason I would need it in the next few days.
Monday 4th - day 46
A friend died. No work.
Tuesday 5th - day 47
A family member died today. This week isn't good.
But instead of deciding to sit in misery like I could do for days or even weeks, I've been speaking to my friends that are around and also my boyfriend, and have personally decided that it's best for me to keep working; or at least trying to. This Quarantine has affected my abilities to create pieces enough, and more than being sad I am angry that this has all happened as it could've been prevented so easily.
Wednesday 6th - day 48
I'm currently sat in my bed, listening to reddit videos, and actually writing my blog up. It's too warm in my room, but my hands and feet are still freezing cold.
Thursday 7th - day 49
Today artwork was posted to the KEC's teachers and faculty, quite positive feedback was received and it was quite warming to hear about. People adored everyones work for many different reasons, It made me rather happy and I feel more positive about my experiments now.
Friday 8th - day 50
I continued with my Fallen Angel painting, it seems that mixing shadow colours is quite hard with my select colour palette, I require some form of pre-mixed purple or a pthalo blue to mix the tones that I need. Until I have researched more, I wish to put this piece aside.
After doing some painting, I decided that since my sister hadn't been out of the house since lockdown started, that I'd take her to see the more derelict parts of Nuneaton on a bike ride. We went to sit outside McDonalds and sip Capri Suns whilst giggling about how different the world looks, and as to how we wished that there was a zombie apocalypse; as we'd been training for that our whole lives.
Saturday 9th - day 51
Today was a blur, I went to work and then I slept out of exhaustion.
Sunday 10th - day 52
Today was a blur, I went to work and then I slept out of exhaustion (yes again).
Monday 11th - day 53
I started adding to my texture book. All of which can be found here
Tuesday 12th - day 54
Commission work.
Wednesday 13th - day 55
Work on Rome, further research into Diogenes. The philosopher is one that I am highly interested in and have been meaning to look more into him for a while.
The YouTuber; Pewdiepie, rekindled this wish, so off I went to write some works out.
Commission work also.
Thursday 14th - day 56
My Pinterest account died and was resurrected for the renaissance board that I made. A selection of boards can be found on my Pinterest account.
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/smoll_susurrus/the-tempest/
Commission work.
I also went on another bike ride as I was extremely bored and the weather was reasonably nice. above is a photo I accidentally took, and later found on my phone.
Friday 15th - day 57
Zoom call with David - and then I went to sleep in preparation for going to work (as I haven't slept in a couple of days)
Saturday 16th - day 58
Uhhhhh work and sleep
Sunday 17th - day 59
I have been writing letters for my boyfriend as I find it very relaxing and quite enjoyable to do. In addition to this I sometimes do little paintings. I looked at negative watercolours as I have been wondering about how to create them.
It turns out that they are remarkably easy to do! It's just the drying time that takes the longest. I started with a light wash of purple and blue tones, and slowly built up the contrast in the colours, leaving gaps where I intended for the imagery of leaves to come through. Once I had built up; what I felt, was enough layers, I decided to cut the piece with a dark blue and then later add some white dots to split the leaves apart and refine the edges.
Monday 18th - day 60
Well that was the best £60 I've ever spent. My Polaroid camera was delivered today! Looking forward to taking shots with it and learning how to use it effectively.
The settings are a little difficult to understand and so are the importances of the lenses, timings and lightings. But with time I'll get used to this :)
Tuesday 19th - day 61
Saw Joe on his bike and showed him my camera, and we looked at ducklings in the canal and blasted the smiths at them :)
Wednesday 20th - day 62
I decided that I wanted to brush up on some of my observational skills, so started to draw my hands and feet to prove to myself that I could still do it. I'm pleased with the outcomes!
Linked here :
Thursday 21st - day 63
More Polaroid testing shots today, blog editing for FAD blog. I also started a small oil painting of myself. It's a big step for me considering I despise how I look, i'm not sure if i'll finish the piece or ever show it completed, but I quite like the eye and how I painted it.
Friday 22nd - day 64
Continuing the painting of myself. I've found that I appear to rush the skin as there's less detail on it as opposed to the eye area. This is something that I need to improve on.
Saturday 23rd - day 65
Sleep and work.
Sunday 24th - day 66
Sleep and work.
Monday 25th - day 67
Went on a socially distanced picnic and admired the world around me for a little bit.
Started an oil painting on a piece of scrap canvas for it to then turn out really well. I've found that making a tonal oil painting may suit me better than one in full colour. I say this as I have ran out of certain oil paint colours that are required and I cant get hold of them before the final deadline :(
Wednesday 27th - day 69
Completion of my Morrissey piece. I LOVE IT IM SO HAPPY WITH HOW THIS TURNED OUT OH MY GOODNESSSS.
I have decided that my final piece shall be tonal just from how impressed I am with this testers outcome.
Thursday 28th - day 70
Today was not productive. I was depressed for the majority of this week forth, and found that sleeping for the day and watching the whole Miranda series was a better value of my time.
Friday 29th - day 71
Today was Matthews birthday! We had a socially distanced walk and I threw his presents at him. It was nice to see him in person again :) Later was band practice with Joe! We sat and smacked out songs by The Smiths on Skype and also some songs from The Cure.
Saturday 30th - day 72
Went to work and then slept.
Sunday 31st - day 73
Had my final panic attack before work. This was a weekly occurrence I have found and have been struggling largely with my anxiety and mental health. So today, I didn't go in and resigned next day due to the toll it was taking on me.
Monday 1st - day 74
Saw Matthew on another walk! Finalised my artwork planning for this and the next weeks.
Tuesday 2nd - day 75
Today I sorted out my evidence folder and made sure that all of my planning was in place before I finally began my final piece.
I found that since I've quit working, I'm generally feeling a lot more positive on my outlooks. It sounds stupid but I was rather blind to how horrible working made me feel, especially with so much pressure being placed on Key Workers during the height of the pandemic. Being worried about being spat on my members of the public was just too much stress that I didn't need.
Wednesday 3rd - day 76
Link : FINAL PIECE
Thursday 4th - day 77
Link : FINAL PIECE
Friday 5th - day 78
No artwork was created today, I felt extremely ill so sleep was much needed for the day.
Saturday 6th - day 79
Link : FINAL PIECE
Sunday 7th - day 80
No artwork again, I think that the chemicals that I have been bent double over has finally got to me.
Monday 8th - day 81
Still dying :(
Tuesday 9th - day 82
Again! More illness, no I don't have Covid.
Wednesday 10th - day 83
Collecting my work from the studio. Somehow this has made me feel whole again. I knew that so much of my important work was hidden away in folders at college that I really need for revamping my portfolio as I changed university course.
I changed from Illustration to Fine Art, as that has also been another hinderance on my ability to work. Knowing that I was going to do something that I wasn't comfortable with really took its toll on my creativity. I'm so happy that I changed course.
Thursday 11th - day 84
I slept for the whole day, so I'm thinking that I am still catching up after being restless during my few days of death.
Friday 12th - day 85
I broke my glass for my final piece :( That puts a spanner in the works, of which is evaluated in my final evaluation.
I'm currently trying to source another piece of glass! Hopefully I can get some quickly. If not this ruins ALOT of plans.
Saturday 13th - day 86 - THUNDER STORM
Link : FINAL PIECE
Sunday 14th - day 87 - THUNDER STORM
Link : FINAL PIECE
Monday 15th - day 89
I've realised that I've started to slack on my blog work with increasing stress. It isn't optimal considering the 19th is the final deadline and I now have so many notes to catch up on. Although, my painting is going well! It's taken a little longer than expected due to my lack of consideration for drying times.
Tuesday 16th - day 90 - THUNDER STORM
Link : FINAL PIECE
Wednesday 17th - day 91 - THUNDER STORM
Link : FINAL PIECE
Thursday 18th - day 92
Final Major? Completed it mate.
Friday 19th - day 93
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