I wanted to take my flower drawing forward with some more subtle experiments with colour. I also carried on the pattern I used for some sections of flower petals through the rest of the drawing. I really like the idea of keeping the muscle sections blank and allowing the flower to really take centre stage. The pencil allowed me to get some really nice depth to the flowers and layering a tracing drawing on top of another also gave it a very 3d aspect. I feel very positive about this composition and just need to consider if I would incorporate colours and which ones.

The only thing to consider about this sample is how it contradicts my earlier aim to create something vivid and vibrant in order to invite the viewer in. That being said there's something quite beautiful about the subtlty and perhaps vibrancy would give it too much of an abstract effect.

The next stage is to look into getting my drawing on to a screen and do some silkscreen printing as this could be a good way to experiment with colour but also create numerous replicas in a shorter space of time. Thd sooner i decide on the technical process I will use, the sooner I can work towards creating my finals peices of artwork.

Continuing with my experimentation with identities reflected in the body. This time I wanted to play with different mediums and see how skin like tones would work against a contrasting flower. I found this quite interesting to play with using a flowery wallpaper, however the contrasting designs seem to make the image quite flat and loses its depth slightly. It was suggested I could continue the design on the wallpaper into the muscles and create something quite abstract. This could be interesting however I'm unsure this would take away the message within my design. The flower is a symbol of hidden identity within people and I want to portray that people should find that within one another.

I want to next experiment with more aesthetically pleasing colours to suggest it is our individuality and who we are not what we look like is where the real beauty lies. I like the idea of perhaps leaving the detail of the muscles simply as an unfilled line and let the colour blossom within the entwined flowers. Although our bodies are beautiful I want to reflect that beauty should be defined by what comes from within. I've thought about just using the feet as studies as it symbolises the concept of walking in someone else's shoes.

I wanted to this time experiment with a composition with the muscles of the foot, incorporating the flowers. I hope to by the end have a series of compositions but in order to demonstrate that we all have different identity's each must have a different combination of flowers which have of course their own hidden meanings. I've started to consider colour combinations, this is the beginning of an idea to have the muscles in monochrome but perhaps the flowers could be in vibrant colours. This wil highlight our identity (the flowers) is what is important and what we should be judged by. Therefore I am making a link with the body (as promoting positive body image is a body issue after all) but without making it the sole focus. I feel really positive about the composition but I'm unsure yet of my chosen medium therefore I will experiment with that next. 

My concern is about overcomplicating my design, although the point is to strategically place the flowers in a way that's subtle, I still want their presence to be apparent. Our identity lies within and we should take the time to get to know someone and judge them by that instead of making remarks on someone we don't know purely by their outside looks. I could therefore consider leaving the muscle structure as a simple line drawing and shadow the flowers, which could perhaps be nice in the screen print process. This is something I could consider next. I've also collected wallpaper samples with different flower designs that I could print and draw into, which I'm quite excited about! 

I've been doing a bit of research into aboriginal body painting as another form of investigating into identity, the paint acts as a representation into who they are. Whilst our society seems to judge one another's identity on our physical appearance, the aboriginals body painting is a representation of so much more. The decoration is a definition of their family role and place within the tribe, as I've found. The body is a temple to the culture, traditions and responsibilities held upon them, a complete contrast to how we consider our own bodies. I found this really interesting, as they are almost treating the body as a work of art. It saddens me that our society spends so much of its time criticising and judging peoples bodies in such a negative manner whilst cultures like these are proud of who they are regardless of what others may think.

I intend to some more research into this as perhaps including cultural differences in my artwork could be interesting. In order to do this I will need to look at the meaning of the different symbols adorned on the body and also the colour symbolism. It could be nice to incorporate flowers that are perhaps associated with the aboriginal tribes (if any.) The aboriginals are so much more appreciative of nature as they don't have the technologies that we have. This would explain however why we feel so differently about our bodies, as we are subjected to the social and public media that has influenced our self judgement whilst they are not.

The next step is perhaps to look more into the aboriginal culture but perhaps look into others such as American Indians or other African tribes and even consider looking more into our own.

So in researching into identity I've had a thought about relating the body to natural organisms such as plants and flowers. Our bodies inside and out are just like flowers in that we all grow and form differently and individually. But also in order to flourish we need to nurture and love and appreciate our bodies in the way we would look after a flower.

Also, in researching more into flowers I've discovered that each plant life has its own definition and meaning, mostly which are also considered characteristic qualities. So for example, a yellow rose represents jealousy or infedelity. The flowers could work well as a way to interject my concept of identity into each individual work. I want to use studies of the body, however by using the exterior it could encourage people to judge my artwork by the appearance of the body and I want to prevent that. I want to promote individuality to portray our identity as the beautiful aspect of our being and not our shape looks or weight. Therefore I've considered drawings of the inside of the body such as the muscles and skeletal structure. This would again symbolise that beauty lies much deeper than our looks. Therefore I've began experimenting with joining my concept of flowers and muscle work into one. Shown in the example image. By doing different studies with different combinations of flowers I am reflecting different traits in different people that make up the identity of who they are. Making them all different combinations will support that we are all individual and different, and this applies to both our personality and identity but to our bodies aswel. Our bodies are also unique and we should embrace them.

At the moment I feel very positive about this idea, it would help me to conceptually represent different identities in a way that might please people aesthetically. Flowers are considered or usually associated with beauty and I want to promote that we are all beautiful from within. I want to promote positive body image that may help people take even a small step in the right direction away from self loathe.

In experimenting with some drawings, such as the one above, it has helped me put my thoughts down on paper and allowed me to come to the conclusion that using body parts such as the hands and feet ( where the muscles are more intricate) are much more interesting to play with as I can wind and intertwine the flowers much more interestingly. The flowers aren't hidden in a subtle, exciting way when using parts of the body with larger more block-like muscles.

Aternativelly, instead of just placing flowers discreetly between muscles I could create patterns with the flowers themselves And then apply the pattern to cover different muscles. This is something I could address next in my experimentation and may actually work effectively for the more larger muscle groups.

new brief, new start...

So this is the moment we all wait for in degree art & design...the opportunity to do what we want to do! I've always been interested in the body obsession issue that plagues society and how it has resulted in a rise in eating disorders. Having partaken in projects in this theme before I've always approached it from the angle of someone experiencing an eating disorder. Therefore this time I want to promote the idea of inner beauty and how we should be defined by our personality rather than our shape or size. 

I feel this could be a much more interesting angle and help me to create artwork that isn't going to make people uncomfortable like previously but help address a matter that should be taken more seriously. We are human and it's natural to have flaws, we aren't designed to be perfect and trying to be that is causing people to be seriously I'll and unhappy. 

Having a chat with my mentor was really helpful, focusing on the key words of identity and individuality will help me demonstrate that we are all different and that should be embraced not resented. On the down side I'm now hit with the difficulty of addressing identity without causing any focus on looks or body image, a tough one but could also be interesting during the research process. 

The next step is to come to a conclusion about how to represent different identities with people....research time! 

Graduation plan

So it's presentation day for my graduation plan in PDP. I think I've come to the conclusion that I want to get my honours...it could really help me out with my goal to own my own gallery and help me broaden my knowledge.....at Least that's what I'm telling myself anyway. Have to present it later on so I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later if my plans brilliant or atrocious 

Got new brief last week aswel focusing on the concept of lines so let e honey that could encorporate anything really...I'm trying to be really clever about what I choose to do but giving myself a bit of brain pain in the process :( had a few ideas such as the line of fire (shotgun executions) or the expression "crossing the line" which I could either use as an emotion type focus or look more into boundaries within the world...the first idea I hae loads of topics to explore but I feel like I'm always picking something kind of depressing to do. And the second  option I don't really have to many ideas for but if done right could really tie in well with my travelling diary for my "big project" after Christmas.....so basically more research ahead. 

Critical writing is going well, David seems pleased with my plan so far so all good in that aspect, just very annoyed I can't get hold of either of 2 books at the library that I've been recommended. Would be so much nicer if people would actually return them when supposed to so I feel I'm gonna end up having to buy a book... It's not like I'm a student and im skint all the time.......  Grr