These are some of my final outcomes for the AD394 project. I used a Photoshop dupe called ‘GIMP Photo Manipulator’ which was very similar to the Adobe software. I started with my original photos from my self portrait shoot and created layers on white I sketched and used outline to create the shapes and dimensions. I then painted on top with different colours, block filled some sections and used the colour drop tool to add colour and depth to the images. I am quite happy with the way the illustrations came out, however their is not a consistent style running throughout them as I was still experimenting with my aesthetic. I had a lot of fun creating them and for FMP I will be experimenting more, finalising a style and creating more characters that have been inspired from my research through AD394.      

I have been looking into several illustrative artists work to see what kind of style I like best. A lot of current, digital artists that are receiving a lot of praise in the media seem to all have a similar feel to their work. Using bright colours, solid thought out line work and highlighting small details makes their work really enjoyable to view and discuss. Some of these artists are Polly Nor, Laura Callaghan and Aart-Jan Venema who all share some similarities between their styles and directions- but also have quite a few differences which I have discussed in my sketchbooks. I would like to experiment with illustration more in this project and try to exercise my personal style. I plan to illustrate images that I take on a shoot. As I will be taking some images in the artists style of work that I have researched, I will have to take more that will be in a good format to illustrate (clearer, direct lines).     

As I am looking into gender roles in this project, I have looked into several artists that I believe represent the different sides of masculinity and femininity. I have looked into Tim Walkers work and in particular his ‘Fleshy’ series which I believe depicts masculinity in a heavy, raw and slightly ‘hellish’ way. His blurred, out of focus and heavy photos really make the viewer feel uncomfortable and out of place when viewing them. The colours mostly predominant are icy blues and rich pinks/reds which contrast with each other- creating friction and tension in his pieces. I would love to have a go at recreating his images in my own style to see what kind of outcomes I could create.When going about this, I think I will be playing with shutter speed and aperture to get a hazed, drifting, dream-like feel to the images. The way Walker depicts the human body is in a very confrontational, graphic way that forces his viewers to digest their work- regardless of their feelings towards it. I think Walker does create the idea of ‘escapism’ quite well- but for this to be an escape to us, his characters have to be trapped within the images.Their are mixed emotions when viewing his work- I do like how fragile the human form is represented and I think this would work well for my topic of suburbia, domestication and isolation.

As I am looking into suburbia and the connotations that surround it, such as gender roles, families and socio-political climates- I was trying to think of another concept that goes well with it. I started to research deeply into different artists and decided that ‘mundane realities’ really suits the idea of a domesticated, bored, suburban housewife. I have been looking at Larry Sutton, Andrew Bush, William Eggleston and Phillip-Lorca DiCorcia’s work which look into a multitude of settings.

These include childhood/parents homes, the ritual of driving, deserted areas and one of my particular favourites from DiCorcia is his work titles ‘Hustles’ where he looks into the ‘mundane’ lives of male prostitutes. This was is a very emotive subject, DiCorcia forces his audience to come to terms with the harsh reality of what is happening on the streets of America. He also includes their names, ages and what their rates are. He also payed them to take part in his images by paying them what they would usually make with one of their clients. This whole idea of ‘oversharing’ or showing people the truth and black and white is very interesting to me and made me think if I would want to really invest and give my characters names and backgrounds. I have created some mood boards surrounding the theme of mundane realities and undergone thorough artist analysis in my sketchbooks.

In my tutorial with Jules we discussed my progression through the project. She was very pleased that I had gone to several exhibitions and that they were feeding into my research. She had attended some of the same ones and we had a good discussion about the Anthony Gormley show at The Royal Academy which really exercised my reactions to space, material and representation. While looking over my sketchbook, Jules thought that looking at different media (films) would really help me my critical analysis and help me formulate my characters for my shoots better. Since that tutorial I have looked into titles including Blue Velvet, Pink Flamingos, The Birds, Psycho, Barbarella and Gummo which have really helped me construct a strong opinion of the way women and men are represented in current media. I think this made it a lot easier to formulate my character for my last shoot and gave me a lot of new ideas on the different pathways I could take for my FMP.

As I have been looking into a lot of self-portrait artists who work in different media’s I decided to experiment and try a shoot on myself. I was heavily inspired by the work of Cindy Sherman, Charlie Denis and Nadia Lee Cohen who have all looked into the ideas surrounding suburban America, domestication and gender roles in relationships. Recently I have dyed my hair a pale blonde, so when I thought about my self-portraits I immediately thought about bleach blonde girls from Essex or Beverly Hills. I tried to channel this type of character and formulate how they would act, their gestures and their facial expressions etc.

I styled myself in a vintage corset which I found at a second hand store near me, black bottoms (not visible), ‘Playboy Bunny’ cuffs, ears and a collared bow time. To transform myself into this character; I gave myself an orange patchy tan with tan lines around the eyes (tan goggles), bold make up and body contour to accentuate some parts of the body. I experimented with how I took the images also. I took some clear shots so I could experiment with some illustrations on Photoshop and I took some in the style of Tim Walkers ‘Fleshy’ series with looks contorted, blurred and generally deformed and hellish which related to his mission of creating escapism for his audience- whether it is like a dream of nightmare.

I had fun on this shoot, even though I had some troubles when shooting and that the images did not come out exactly like I wanted. I think I have some images that demonstrate the extensive research I have undergone and led me further on my experimentation for FMP.

As I am writing my Dissertation on Playboy Magazine and the cultural climate around it, I have purchased 12 past issues from 1963-1975 which I have been analysing and critically examining. It has been really helpful to have these magazines for this project also as I have been looking at content, layouts, composition, illustration and imaging. While looking through these ‘adult magazines’ I was surprised to not actually see a lot of nudity in them- maybe 5-10 pages in each issue.

I have been experimenting with deconstructing and reconstructing the magazines which has been a really enjoyable activity. I have been creating my own illustrations to replace the derogatory and sexist one’s in Playboy- which I feel are some of the the most offensive parts of the publication. In my tutorials with Chris we have discussed me sewing ‘new’ parts of the magazine, so I could literally change Playboy’s content and therefore ideology.

I have attended several exhibitions to help inform my FMP discussion and get a deeper sense of the pathways I could take on doing so. I visited The Photographers Gallery to initially see ‘Shot in Soho’ which is a series of images, posters and documentation from the West End by several different artists. I really enjoyed this exhibition and it really proved some ideas that I have discussed in my Sketchbook. I also went to see ‘A Feast for the Eyes” which was less related to my work but did make me consider colour and texture more in my own images.

I then attended the Royal Academy to see Antony Gormley which I really enjoyed. The sculptor had a multitude of different pieces on display- my favourite room was titled ‘Lost Horizons’ which displayed his famous ‘body cases’ that are better known from the installation on British beaches titles ‘Land Sea and Air”. This provoked my thoughts about layouts, space and dimensions of my own piece. I really wanted to see the Lucien Freud exhibition, however tickets were sold out!

I then visited the free exhibitions at the Tate Modern, including the Nan Goldin exhibit. I was slightly disappointed at the size of the exhibit and at the fact that most of the images were digital- However I am a big fan of her work so I was happy to have gone!

I also visited the Amsterdam Sex Museum where I was educated and entertained! I came across a small display of Playboy Magazines, playing cards, other Adult Magazines and a display featuring corsets and undergarments.

While I was thinking about initial ideas for this project, I decided I wanted to relate my FMP to my Dissertation topic- so all of my research could inform each other and accumulate into a large body of work. For my Dissertation I am looking into Playboy Magazine and how it’s launch and ideology drastically changed the social construct of ‘masculinity’. While investigating this; I of course had to look into femininity, social and gender roles and the climate/historical context of it’s launch. While I am focusing on masculinity for my Diss, I want to do the opposite in my FMP and research more into femininity and what it means to be a woman. I want to research this in many different ways: looking at old magazine articles, watching films, moving image, reading, going to exhibitions and galleries and experimenting with my own ideas.