University brief: Create a written post responding to three prompts from the Reflective Journal resource. No more than 150 words for each.
What made you curious this week? How does learning feel different when you’re curious?
Whilst thinking of ideas on how to approach Task 1, a Postcard to Myself, I saw an advert on Instagram for a Domestika course. (Hand, 2022). It was a course on making paper mache figures. The figure being made was whimsical and it peaked my curiosity when I thought about applying it to my own task.
I completed the course and used the techniques on my own project. I have always been intrigued by mixed media illustrations, in using various illustrative methods and then pulling all those techniques together to produce a cohesive and eye-catching illustration.
It was such fun to watch the course and then take those lessons and apply them to my own project. It really made me feel motivated and enthusiastic. It was amazing how quickly the time passed while I was engrossed with sticking bits of soggy paper to my model, like being a kid again!
What do you want to learn more about, and why?
I am intrigued by textures in mixed media and the interaction between various elements in illustrations. I particularly enjoy the juxtaposition of different techniques used to create an illustration and how the different parts interact.
The mixed media aspect of illustration is fascinating to me. It encompasses such a huge range of materials from rubbish and recycling to expensive artists’ supplies and junk shop finds. The application of these materials is endless. It is so exciting to see the different uses for items most of us would throw in the rubbish bin! The huge opportunity of participating in this degree course is something that I want to really take advantage of and experiment with as many different mediums as possible. I think that trying out a wide variety of techniques will mean I can to have a huge idea generating factory in my head by the end of three years!
How has an artist used media, mark making, composition, colour etc. to evoke a mood?
A documentary called Waste Land featuring an artist called Vik Muniz, who created seven portraits using rubbish from the largest rubbish dump in the world, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Jainero.
The artist managed to bring attention to a massive waste problem by using art, rubbish and people.
The illustrations were portraits of seven of the people who live in the dump, known as the Catadores. Large-format illustrations were created from rubbish taken from the dump and positioned on a warehouse floor to create images. The only way to see the image as a whole was by using a large crane, hoisted up, over the illustrations.
It was a great example of how art can be used to bring attention to issues that may otherwise be ignored. It shows one of the many uses of art and the multiple ways it can benefit people.