Developing my Drawings

I've decided to move on from working with paper, and I have started to use fabric in order to broaden my range of materials. I have really enjoyed making all of these samples, most of  them are hand stitched and there are a few completed by machine. I really like combining different techniques with different materials to create alternative effects. I thought that I should start making these more creative pieces because I have gained so much inspiration so far. I am really looking forward to the next tutorial to see where everyone else in the group is up to and to also discuss how we will be collaborating our work at the end of the project.

  

For these samples I have used a range of different hand and machine stitching techniques, combined with a wide selection of materials in order to create pieces that are really different from one another. I found the making process for these samples very enjoyable and because I was able to experiment with different methods and I am pleased with these abstract versions of my night sky because even though they are only completed by using black and white pieces of fabric, they are still visually interesting.

Interpretations of the sky at night on paper

I have developed this idea from Susan Weinthaler's work based on dots, and I have decided to create my own versions of the night sky. I have used a range of black media on white paper in order to develop my own ideas of how the stars can be interpreted in different ways. Firstly I took some time to study the history of a few of the constellations that are visible in the night sky around 24th June. I managed to find this image on the Telegraph website of what the night sky looked like last year on this date, which made it a lot easier for me to see which constellations were visible. 

 

  

My own drawings on paper

 

 

Susan Weinthaler

 I have decided to research a collection of pieces called 'Dots' by Susan Weinthaler. This collection is based on the artists perception of the sky at night. She mentions that because she lives in a city centre, the stars at night aren't visible, making it difficult for her to place herself in the grand scheme of the universe, she goes on to say that this body of work started as a reaction of the world above, but became about the world we live in now because she was seeing connections in the stars to every day objects such as LED lights, fireworks, etc. As this is something I can relate to, I found the concept of her work easy to understand and very interesting. She has made these pieces out of paper and glue by creating her own little universes out of circles. I found the idea of creating your own sky very unique and I want to interpret this idea into my own work.

Another aspect of Weinthaler's work that I liked, was the concept of using simple rules when creating her work, just like in the ones above where she only allowed herself to use paper and glue to create her pieces. 

I decided to undertake a similar experiment when on the train home one night after work. All I allowed myself to use was a polo, a pen and paper and I did this to test how creative I could be with basic equipment. I really like using rules when creating my work because you don't spend as much time thinking about what you could do and what equipment you could be using. The idea of these pieces was to recreate Weinthaler's idea but by using different equipment and even though they aren't anywhere near as complex as her work, I found the exercise really helpful.

 

I then decided to create my own small versions of the night sky by using paper and glue. I thought it would be useful to experiment with a range of media to create my own versions of the night sky, in order to see what I liked most, and what I think works the best. I like the idea of creating my own versions of the night sky and I wish to develop these ideas further.

 

I'm no photographer

I hired out a digital SLR from the Uni store to take my photos, but unfortunately they didn't turn out too great, so I have booked a better camera in order to see if I can take at least a half decent photograph of the sky next weekend. I'm not too disappointed because I half expected every picture to come out plain black and for no stars to be visible at all. I am also going to experiment with the time I take the pictures at, these photos were taken when it was pitch black but I think I will get a better result if I take them at dusk and dawn when the sky is a bit lighter. 

Alexi Jurchenko

 

Jurchenko is a Russian photographer who enjoys experimenting with different types of photography; he tries his hand at astro photography, where he has managed to capture these rally interesting images. I especially like the one of the moon because it includes a lot of detail. I also really like the time laps photos because it would have taken a long time to take the picture, and I think they contain a lot more information that just a other images because they are capturing the image of something whilst it's moving. Looking at these images has given me a lot of inspiration for my project, and I am excited to see how my own photos of the night sky will turn out.