Little White Lies Competition Project
Self-analysis and critical reflection
My initial ideas for this project were to combine the main character portrait (Gary Oldman) with spy themes such as mazes, codes and puzzles. I researched jigsaws, board games and typefaces that would be appropriate for the subject matter and incorporate these themes. In this project I wanted the three things I struggled with in the first project to come together; the colour, the type and the overall composition. In tying these elements together seamlessly I would generate a strong piece of work that was all on one layer and would need very limited tweaking via the use of Photoshop. By embroidering the image onto fabric and turning it into a cushion I have achieved these three things, the colour has been carefully considered and is appropriate for the era, the type has been fully integrated into the composition by being stitched and the composition is all on one layer. I have mixed the title of the film up to make it a mini puzzle trying to find the words and link them together.
I have researched type in accordance with my personal thoughts on my failings on the last project. On my portraits of Gary Oldman the type is hand rendered and integrated fully into the image rather than worked on top of. I haven’t worked like this before with the integration of type within the image itself but the result is far superior to an additional layer on top and is definitely a process which I will utilise in future projects. It has also aided my desire for limited use of software. Although my initial attempts at hand rendered type failed as they were illegible, given more time I could develop these to transform the idea from my head into a reality.
Again I have painted onto a board, but I have also used stitch onto mustard material and collaged onto a board in a similar method to Ian Wright who was highlighted to me in a group crit. I decided that the subject matter being a spy film, trying to disguise the main character would be entirely appropriate. However, I didn’t want to make him totally unrecognisable as the archive of Little White Lies previous magazine covers have all been recognisable main characters. Integrating alternative processes along side wet media still gives me the chance to experiment and explore other options whilst still keeping the outcome mine. The wet media I found is quite limiting as it didn’t really resonate with the Little White Lies audience.
I have spent time again considering my palette, as the film was set in the 1970’s I have decided on brown, beige and mustard tones. The contrasting white collaged board gives an air of office work to parallel the work undertaken in the ‘circus’. All my outcomes on this project have been on the one layer which has made the work look much more authentic but doesn’t give the same amount of flexibility as working on separate layers would offer.
To make this project outcome even better, which I intent to work on next semester before the competition deadline, would be to photograph the cushion with a 1970’s camera to give the true gritty quality that would come from the era. Also, I need to be very selective about which particular elements I use for my set, I cannot use just any ashtray or any sideboard, and they have to be the perfect pieces. Additionally, I like the idea of pasting my image of
I have noticed that through all of these projects this semester I have had some very good ideas, but rather than following just one through and developing it to its full potential I flit from one to the other. During the course of next semester I intend to sketch out all my ideas initially and then take just one that I think has the most mileage and develop it thoroughly to explore its true full potential. Not only will the outcome and body of sketchbook work be much richer and better quality through research but it will give me the opportunity to really dig deep into a project and earn those much needed marks from the learning outcomes.
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