On a Wander

For one of our tasks we had to go on a 30 minute walk and take pictures. So here some of them are.

This one I focused on the water droplets on a blade of grass. I made sure that the background and foreground were out of focus so that it would not detract from the water.

I wanted to show the textures and shapes in the lichens on this branch of the tree. By putting the lichen in the centre of the picture and using flash, it has darkened the background to the point where you can't really make it out and so you focus on the lichen.

 These two are the same plant but I decided to see which would work better and give more impact. I think the bottom one works better as you can see more of the habitat the plant is in. Also the background is darker and I think this lends itself to the overall image.

I really like the colours in the ivy leaves at this time of year as they start off a lovely deep red with just the veins in green. The red fades as the leaves grow older and they are plain green.

This is a decaying puffball fungus that I thought looked really interesting as not many people take pictures of things when they are decaying and often they look really interesting.

The top one is an ivy flower and the bottom one is the seed head. They both have a drop of water on them and I think they work really well as a series.

This is another of my favourite images that I took. The image itself is very plain but I think that it is a very powerful image with just the branch through the middle and the drops of water on.

These two are of the same tree. The bottom showing the flowers properly. I really like the strong contrast between the pale flowers and the dark green of the plants they are resting against.

Origami

 I made the origami water lillies and then stuck them on a piece of paper. I drew the vines and leaves to add to the background as it was too plain. Inside the lillies are quotes from the Chapters 1-13

Chapter 1 - 'There was a shining silver thread connecting him to that future'

Chapter 2 - 'I am not alone'

Chapter 3 - Does not happen'

Chapter 4 - There's only the two of us here!'

Chapter 5 - 'Come on! There's more people!'

Chapter 6 - 'And Mau saw the little silver picture of the future again'

Chapter 7 - 'I've found you a new god, old man ... and I think he is a trouserman'

 Chapter 8 - Do what is best, say what is right'

Chapter 9 - I heard you because I was listening'

Chapter 10 - 'Run!'

Chapter 11 - 'You shouldn't have shot the priest'

Chapter 12 - 'Tell them to organise themselves'

Chapter 13 - 'Mau, I don't want you to die!'

Unfortunatly there are 15 chapters but I fit them on the page. I chose these quotes as I think they sum up what happens in the chapters pretty well. The book itself doesn't really have a happy ending as most books do and I think that this is one of the things that drew me to the book. It also makes you think about some of the things that are said in the book and that you can take them into real life. The book ends with the two main characters going their seperate ways and I think that this is more realistic than if the auther had made them be together. At the end of the book it gets said that 'they both thought more about thier people than they thought about themselves'. I think that this sums the book up pretty well.

Plaster Mold

 First you imprint what you want into the clay. Make sure the clay is quite thick and you have a big border around the imprint.

 Then, being very careful, lift up the sides to form walls. Make sure you do not make any fingerprints around the imprint.

 

Then pour in the plaster of paris into the mold. When it is almost full you need to lift up the board slightly and let it drop onto the table. Repeat this for a while to make sure all the bubbles come to the top. If there is a leak then patch up your walls as best as you can. Wait for it to dry and you can peel back the walls carefully. then you can cut away the walls and fire the clay if you want.

I haven't done anything with my piece as my imprints were quite faint and so I decided to leave them as I didnt want to loose them if I added glaze on top.

Artist Research

Robert J. Lang

 

 

 

I think that these are beautiful. They are also very difficult. This artist is amazing at origami as these are so delicate and realistic. I think the top one is my favourite as you can almost imagine the hummingbird is about to beat its wings and fly off. I think the artist is trying to convey that you can create something beautiful and delicate out of simple things like paper.

Artist research

 

These are paper mache birds that have been created by Gail Bartel. I find these really cute but they also look life-like. I really like the detail she has put into the birds as she has put in feathers and made their eyes realistic. She uses bright colours that are reminiscent of real birds.

She has also set up the pictures really well to make it look like they are real and outside. She has made them with wire feet so you can make them grip onto things and make it look like they are perching. 

I think she is trying to tell us that we can make things and just have fun and don't worry too much about things being as realistic as possible.

Paper Birds

I had left over polystyrene bird bodies from when I made my friends birthday present so I decided to use them in my project Homage To Books.

I have decided to concentrate on birds as they are, in most books, just a little extra writing. In short, they are extra scenery. They aren't concentrated on much so I chose to look at them more I thought they deserved some recognition. 

In 'Nation' there are birds called Grandfather Birds that are a little more than scenery as they are actually pretty important to the story so I scanned in several pages from the book and cut them up and glued them onto the bird bodies.

With the rest of the bird bodies I decided to paint them. I am limited to three colours and I have chosen Black, White and Silver. I chose black and white to represent the book and silver as the main character has a silver line pulling him toward a picture of the future in his mind.

 I have taken these photos in the Hazel tree in my garden as they look like they are in a natural habitat even though they don't look that natural. I looked at bird markings and found that most birds rely on colours so when I only had black, white and siver to work with i had to look at monochrome birds. they also don't really have many patterns so I decided to add some dots to make them look a little more decorated.