This is an A2, A0 portrait in charcoal that I completed in response to Guy Denning, from one of my own photographs.  I used studio lighting to create dark shadows and contrasting areas of bright light, to achieve the dramatic images that Denning’s portrays in his work. I used the charcoal in an expressive way, with sweeping strokes, and found that using the charcoal on its side was effective. I added the vertical black strokes around the side of the face to enhance the strong features of the face.  

Above is an A2 portrait, size A0. I used acrylic paint on unprimed canvas, which I also painted with grey acrylic as a background to begin with, I did this because I wanted the white paint especially to show up and contrast with the black on the face. I took a loose style to my painting, in response to my artist. However I did the eyes in detail, as I think that the eyes make a portrait really come alive, which I think is true of this portrait. I used a ‘dry brush’ technique in areas to make subtle marks.

I include a double page spread of a contextual study in my sketchbook on one of my chosen inspirational artists: Guy Dennings. On these pages I show four images of a variety of his pieces that particularly caught my eye. Next to these images I write about his use of the medium he uses, and the effects that his uses have and also the positions of the subject and the angles at which he is painting from, and what effect that angle has on the light on the face.

This is a particular page in my book, which shows the development of my portrait on grey canvas above, in response to my artist. I recorded the stages of my completion from start to finish, with images from the middle stages, this was so that I could see the difference that certain features make to the whole aesthetics of the face, or even just small adjustments which make the portrait come alive.

Responding to Mark Powell, who I discovered in The Other Art Fair in London this year, I completed an A5 transcript of one of his pieces using his signature medium: Biro. I was surprised to discover the amount of tone and detail that can be achieved by using the biro, and I particularly liked the soft, light effect you can create with it, in areas of light or wrinkles in this case.

This year I took part in a life drawing class with the Royal Academy of Art, where I was able to have the opportunity to become familiar with the dimensions of the human body, and learn how to draw the body with correct proportions. This is an A3 charcoal and chalk drawing that I did within a three minute time period, so it is expressive, which captures the lines and muscles on the figure.

As part of my A2 textiles project, I disassembled a Hobbs linen jacket to see how the jacket was constructed; it had pockets, lining, padding in the shoulders and a collar.  I did this in preparation for when I came to designing and drafting my own pattern for the jacket that I will be making. Knowing how the jacket was put together will help when I am doing a similar process myself, as I will have seen an example of it first hand.

These are A2 textiles developed designs for my design brief ‘Utility & chic’. I will be making a jacket and shorts. I came up with these designs in accordance with my design specification, written previously to designing. The outfit, which I design should have lots of freedom for movement, look smart, (so when I choose my fabric I will consider its drape) but at the same time look chic and be comfortable to wear. I tried out a variety of different designs, and created variations of designs. On this page there are two main designs, and their variations.

Here I show more of my A2 textiles ‘Utility & chic’ developed designs in colour using watercolour paints. Each design is a development of my initial designs, which I most liked, and saw prospect in to carry through and actually make. I kept my designs quite simple in terms of the basic shape, and then added embellishment and components to add aesthetic interest.

This is an A4 digital print from my coursework at AS level. I took this photo, and was specifically thinking about where I wanted the light to be coming from, and the effect it would have. I chose natural light coming from a window behind her. I then enhanced and changed the colours on Photoshop. I increased the contrast before changing the hues, and this highlighted the key light areas  going through her hair at the top and on the side of her face. The green hue really shows the light against the purple.

In AS art, one of my mini projects was based on landscapes. This piece is a small (less than A6) collage that I did to experiment with creating a landscape with different materials such as tissue paper, fabric, string, sand, and wood chippings. The collage image is taken off a section of a photograph I took on the beach, which had a variety of different coloured sand, which I thought would create an exciting collage with layers of different colours and textures.

This canvas was my final piece for my AS Art exam, and is of the Boston bomber that survived. This was something that had recently happened at the time of planning my final piece, and I was currently interested in controversy in art, and was looking at Marcus Harvey’s ‘Myra’, which is a portrait of one of the Moors Murders criminals using children’s handprints, which caused a lot of uproar with viewers because it was so recent and shocking. In response, I created this portrait using footprints and trainer shoe prints to represent the people of the marathon.

 This is an example of some developed designs for my design brief ‘interior furnishings from a chosen decade’. My chosen decade was the 1920’s. I researched the fabrics typically used and patterns that were being used. The interior/soft furnishing I chose to make was a quilt with 1920’s fabrics and aesthetics. I saw that rich colours were used and patterns, and in my developed designs I created my own patterns with the view to free hand embroider the patterns.

This is the final design for my 1920’s quilt; I set myself quite a challenge with this design. I decided to make my own bias binding for the whole quilt perimeter, which had to be hand sewn on one side the whole way round, as well as mitering the corners. I also decided to quilt down the lines of the red panels to make each one rise up from the panels next to it. In the middle I free hand embroidered ten squares with my chosen pattern.

This is an image of the final product in its purposeful home – on a bed, to serve as a bed spread/quilt. I was very pleased with the finish as it has an extremely professional look to it, with its neat stitch lines, and in particular I was pleased with the bias binding patterned rim around the edge, the hand stitches are not visible which was the aim.

This was my final design for an AS design brief ‘design and make a garment for your chosen fashion designer’. I chose Valentino as my designer to design for, and once again challenged myself by deciding to work with chiffon fabric and lace. I also included satin bias binding and black fur. I learnt a lot from producing this top and found out how difficult chiffon is to work with as a single fabric, however what I also learnt was how to do seams with delicate and almost transparent fabric and how precise the stitching must be.

Here is an example of one of the tests I did before doing the real sleeve

cuff. I used satin bias binding to cover up the raw edges of the cut chiffon. I decided to do this type of cuff because the chiffon was non-stretch meaning that without an opening cuff with a button fastening, the wrist wouldn’t be able to fit through the sleeve at the bottom without ripping it.

This image shows an image of my final ‘Valentino’ inspired piece for AS Textiles. When I consider that this was my first time working with chiffon, I was proud of how it turned out. I am fully aware that there are a few places where it is not the neatest it could have been, but I would like to work with this fabric again, to perfect my skills in working with it, making my seams etc. more tidy.