Summer Project Review

SINUO GUO

National Portrait Gallery

My main interest was in the 20thCentury, contemporary displays andBP Awards as I found thesecontemporary portraits far morevaried in terms of style and meaning.Although the traditional portraitswere technically crafted, I wanted tosway away from realism and go out ofmy comfort zone, experimenting witha contemporary style. I also wanted toexplore different colour scheme thatmay not necessarily represent the‘real’ colours.

I was particularlyintrigued by portraits thathad some deepermeaning to them or theones that used a uniquetechnique, e.g. unusualbrushwork or markmaking. Most of theseportraits are very vibrant,with a visual style.

Initial Sources

Oskar KokoschkaSelf Portrait - 1965 Henry Cooper

William Redgrave 1969

I’ve started with line/tonal drawings,looking at the form, mark makingand the effect of the works.Kokoschaka’s self portrait conveys asense of ‘power’ and ‘seriousness,with the lower angle of perspectivemaking him appear intimidating andimportant. It’s also suggested withthe straight and firm lines that lookvery confident and definite, perhapsreflecting the artist’s character.

Redgave’s sculpture provides a more detailed interpretation ofthe face, more realistic approach. I also enjoy drawing from asculpture as it’s 3-dimensional, providing an additionalperspective, which highlights the tones and contrasting areas. Imade a tonal drawing, emphasising the highlights and contourson the face, capturing the intense expression.

Initial Sources

Girl in a Liberty Dress – Clara Drummond (2016)BP Awards 2016 1st Prize

I chose this painting because it was thewinning entry of BP awards and its style isquite unusual. It didn’t impress me at first butwhen I looked at it in more detail, it was quiteintriguing to see the subtlety of the lines andthe colour scheme that gives it a ‘vintage’ feel,matching the theme of the painting. The girl’sexpression is also enigmatic and draws theviewer in.

This was another uniqueportrait, commissioned aspart of the 1st prize of BPawards 2001. It’s an oil onboard construction, with astrong sense of space andperspective. I wanted to makeof study of something thatincorporated a spatialrelationship to the subject, inaddition to the 2-dimensialworks I’ve looked into. Thecomposition is also intriguingand the artist observed J.K.Rowling during a period oftime, setting her at the table,suggesting the setting whereshe wrote her first novel.

She’s presented both as a writer as well as a mother – with the eggs representing her three children. The surrounding space is almost surreal and carries a sense of distortion. This could reflect Rowling’s ‘own’ world of fantasy, creating a sense of enigma. Positioning her in the corner, makes her look almost ‘trapped’ physically but the window on the side creates a sense of ‘escape’, perhaps to her thoughts. It also suggests a passage of time and illusionism that resonates with the Harry Potter stories. This portrait is effective as it comes across very personal and is more than just a ‘physical’ portrait of the author but holds deeper meanings.

J.K. Rowling (2005) – Stuart Pearson Wright

Laurence Stephen ('L.S.') Lowry (oil on canvas, 1938)

This self-portrait was painted in 1938 by Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887-1976) during theyear that his mother was dying, with the artist’s intense emotions expressed in the painting.The composition of the portrait orientation with a full face view and eye-level angle makesthe portrait. This is further suggested by its symmetrical composition with the subjecttouching the edges of the frame, creating a close-up relationship with the viewer. Theserious, formal feel of the portrait we get from its composition most likely reflects theartist’s deep emotions during that difficult time of his life.

The area above the eyes is also outlined boldly, with the structure of the nose grouped intothree outlined shapes, creating a slightly depicted representation. The influences of art decoand expressionism in terms of the colours conveys a sense of depression and grief, mostlikely reflecting Lowry’s feelings at the time. This is intensified with the wide-open eyes,bright red colour in the corner of the eyes and black, harsh outlines – suggesting fatigueand pain

Main colours of Lowry’spalette. He used a verybasic range of colours,which were often: ivory,black, vermilion red,Prussian blue, yellowochre, flake white, withno medium.

Sir William Turner Walton – Michael Ayrton

I’ve also made a study of Michael Ayrton’s portrait of Sir WilliamTurner Walton – an English composer, known for his orchestralmusic. It’s a large oil painting, painted in 1948. I was intrigued bythe unique style of the portrait, combining a realistic and traditionalapproach with a more contemporary style, reflecting someinfluences of the surrealism movement. Although the imagery isn’tas ‘exaggerated’ and absurd as the themes in surrealistic paintings,however I do see a resemblance in terms of the ‘dreamy’ colourscheme – use of tones that don’t accurately reflect the subject inreal life. This is reinforced with the exaggerated brush strokes andshading of the creases on the subject’s clothing.

The effect of the painting on the whole is quite dream –like, with an unusual setting andbackground. I interpreted the painting as a reflection of Sir William Turner’s career andpersonality. The dream-like state could be tied with musical ideas as the dynamicbrushstrokes create a strong sense of flow and movement, suggesting musical notes andsound. The block-shaped brush strokes on the mountains create a contrastingbackground as they perhaps represent varied rhythms, contradicting with the ‘flowy’ andmore elegant brushstrokes on his clothing.

Initial Line DrawingsInitially, I started out with simple pencil line drawings from mainly front angles of my face fromdirect observation. In the first two drawings, there’s visible mistakes in proportion andperspective, however there’s clear improvement in the last two drawings which are much morebalanced and proportional. I experimented with different expressions as these two drawingsappear quite serious and ‘tense’ .

In the 3rd drawing I’ve kepta more neutral face andused a straight angle,without tilting my head. Itappears more formal butI’ve found that thedrawings worked best at aslight angle as it adds asense of perspective andquestion to the portrait.Hence in my final drawingI’ve used a slight angle withdirect eye contact, creatinga connection with theviewer. I’ve also added a bitof tone to see what a moredeveloped version of thedrawing would look like.

Compositional Drawings

Next, I’ve done four compositional drawings, closer to the final portrait, using the ratio of my A4 canvas. I’ve experimented slightly morewith pose and angles but kept it relatively simple as it was quite challenging to draw from direct observation while holding a certainexpression. I’ve used 2B and 4B graphite sticks for the drawings as they’re quick to work with, achieving a ‘sketchy’ feel and quick tone. Thefirst drawing tries to convey a deeper meaning of being two-faced, or having two types of personalities. However I felt that the ‘message’was too direct and I wanted to try for something more subtle, making it more intriguing to look at. The 2nd drawing appears quite mundaneand neutral but I’ve found that placing it at one side, leaving more space on the other, creates a subtle sense of imbalance and asymmetry.This could be developed into a greater contrast in the background, creating a greater sense of perspective. The last two drawings are lessaccurate proportionally as it was more challenging without direct eye contact but I aimed for something more striking in the expression andpose. I’ve also added some of the background, creating a sense of depth in the image.

Colour Experiments

In these initial colour experiments, I didn’t put much emphasis onthe level of accuracy and proportion, focusing more on the styleand colour scheme. The first painting was inspired by Lowry’s dark ,contrasting colours, bringing the subject forward . However, itcomes across quite mundane as I didn’t exaggerate the lines or thetones, with an overall ‘flat’ image. Then I moved on to a black/greycolour scheme, with the aim to create a greater contrast and slowlymove away from the realistic approach. I feel that the colourscheme worked more effectively as it added an enigmatic feel to it,with dry brush marks in the background, contradicting thesmoother brushstrokes on the portrait.

To break away from the more ‘realistic’ style, I’ve decided touse geometry-like shading, dividing the portrait intosections of solid colours, varying tones. I developed thisidea from Ayrton’s painting where he the separate tones arequite distinct and exaggerated. This would add a sense ofdimension to the face, and colour variety. The unfinishedexperiment is in greyish colour scheme, which works fairlywell but I thought in order to really express the separatesections, a coloured version would work more effectively

Final Portrait

I’ve started my final portrait with a penciloutline, dividing the individual blocks ofcolours. I’ve used the angle from the lastfinal line drawing as it had a subtle tilt andmoved it to the left side of the canvas,leaving more space on the right side tocreate that sense of imbalance.

I painted the face first as it was the most difficult, using different tones with such a sudden change in betweenthe sections so I had to make it quite subtle but at the same time, noticeable. I exaggerated some highlights onthe forehead and nose, darker areas next to the eyes. This really gave a sense of dimension to the face, whilenot clashing too much as I kept it in the colour scheme and used a darker brown, avoiding black which couldcontrast too much. I’ve used a light blue on the background to push the subject forward, with a sense ofemptiness as the canvas is quite small and I didn’t want it to look ‘over crowded’. I’ve used a vibrant colourpalette, with a mix of pastel tones and a brighter pink on the clothes to contrast the background. There’s adeliberate ‘brighter’ area under the left eye drawing the attention to that area. Again, this creates a sense ofasymmetry and expectancy. The final outcome portrays my personality as a perfectionist, through the preciseedges of the shapes. The illustrative style also represents my preferred pathway – graphic design.

Review of last year’s workLast year was a challenging, yet rewardingexperience. I got to explore a range of art& design disciplines, gaining a range ofskills. I also have a deeper understandingof the contextual side of art & design andhave confirmed my preferredpathway/design area that I would like tofocus on, starting this year.

The Equivalents project was a good starting point forme, as I refined my visual recording skills. Exploring arange of observational drawing and mark makingusing different techniques and materials.

The Tate Assignment was the most challenging project for me,in terms of workload. However, it was an enjoyable process asI’m passionate about graphic design and it was my firstopportunity to really start exploring it. It was also my first timeusing digital softwares for my final outcomes.

The Kew Gardens Assignment waspossibly my most successfulproject as I’ve developed a rangeof new skills through the modelmaking, for which I explored newtechniques and materials. Ideveloped my ideas thoroughly inboth sculpture and surface designparts of the project. I also foundthe surface design enjoyable as Igot to use screen-printing.

British Museum assignment wasthe one I was most passionateabout as I could choose thegraphic design pathway. However,I wasn’t as efficient with timemanagement and although I’mhappy with the final pieces , Icould have developed my ideasmore , producing more effectivedesigns.

Progression

My plans for the future haven’t changed throughout the year as I havealways had my mind set on studying Graphic Design. Although I waskept an open mind towards other design areas, the varied project in year1 confirmed my decision.

Attending a range of events and exhibitions have further inspired me togo into the field, especially looking at graduates’ work at the NewDesigners exhibition and D&AD. I’ve already made a start to planningmy progression by visiting a few universities and learning more aboutthe Graphic Design courses there: University of Edinburgh, Brighton,Southampton, Loughborough and Leeds. I’ve found that the coursevaries in every university and is taught in a slightly different approach,e.g. Leeds has a more academic viewpoint and focuses a lot of theory ofdesign and principles, whereas Winchester School of Art(Southampton)’s course is more practical and experimental.

I’ve also attended a talk in London Design Festival at V&Aabout ‘Power of Packaging Design’, with successfuldesigners and strategists from design agencies likeBulletproof and Pearlfisher discussed the purpose andeffect of packaging design, the way it has changed in thecurrent ‘digital’ world and its future directions.

In order to achieve my goal, I need to start working on myportfolio and personal statement and carry out furtherresearch of courses and their structure/content. I feel that Ineed to focus on the graphics aspect more this year, whilestill being experimental and using a variety of techniquesand materials.

Progression