So I had an idea and just sort of went with it, because I’m just at the beginning (kind of ) I haven’t started doing my own work yet so while I’m trying to figure out where I’m going I thought I’d start doing some life drawing classes… why not???
I didn’t really have a point of reference in terms of where I was going with them or if I’d even use them I just thought why not start doing something.
I’m gonna continue doing it throughout my project as I want to work on my drawing skills and also potentially incorporate them into illustrations/life playing around with techniques and finding what’s aesthetically.
I’ve put a wee few photos below to show my initial drawings, I’ve tried to play around with styles keeping some simple and others using shading to get a feel for the aesthetic I’m going for. I like life drawing because in a small amount of time you create a large body of work.
What I think halts my creativity is trying to look too far ahead trying a create ties and links between things that will link naturally. However by overthinking it stops me mentally which is what messes with time scales and organisation, by doing these life drawings it’s helping me stop stressing as much about what I’m going to create.
I’m getting quite stuck thinking about how I’m going to start doing work and stop completely focusing on research.
I love illustration and that’s what I want to focus on in my work however I’m not sure how to incorporate it or how to make my outcome more than just a few illustrations. It needs to have depth and variety which at this point I’m just not sure how to do that.
I’m hoping to do some photography but I haven’t decided how much of a serious photoshoot I’m going to do or if I just take some photos to use in some mix media illustrations.
I’m not so much thinking of my final outcome I’m more so thinking of my experimentation and linking it in with my research.
I’m still looking at Playboy, even though it’s at the start of my sketchbook it is a constant reference I’m using. With it being so heavily photography based that’s what’s making me consider doing a photoshoot but I’m not sure how good my skills are to produce something that wouldn’t look horrendous.
I’m gonna try just experimenting with some illustration work and see where it takes me!
So after getting rid of all those predetermined views and assumptions on Playboy I’ve had time to look through the editorials and view them in such a different way than at the beginning.
This has enabled me to have so many more ideas of where to go with the project and what direction to take it in. As I’m very passionate about feminism and the power of women I want to incorporate this into this project in some way and not lose sight of it.
I’ve just started looking at a book called ‘Girl on Girl’ and oooooooo it is brilliant, it’s exactly what i needed to start getting a basis of research of artists looking into the portrayal of women not necessarily in a sexualised way but just the way women creatives represent women.
From Girl on Girl I think I’m definitely steering more towards the Female Gaze and not the Male Gaze, which is quite exciting!
So I’ve got my start point, I just need to not get bogged down stressing about my finish point.
As I focused on Playboy for my dissertation I’ve found it quite difficult to look at Playboy without associating it with all the academic references and gender study issues in which I found in my previous study.
In my research I have started by trying to disassociate it with my dissertation and concentrate purely on the photography element, this has meant looking past the nature and theme of the magazine as well. By ignoring the surrounding influences it has allowed me to appreciate the artistic approach to the editorial’s, thus creating a new outlook that doesn’t focus on the objectification/sexualisation of the women portrayed.
It’s helped me to look more into the composition/lighting and photographs more as artwork less like soft pornography, helping to turn my previous outlook around into a more creative view.
This has enabled me to analyse Playboy in a different way, still with a feminist stance but by stripping (oh the irony) all the surrounding predetermined thoughts and conclusions I had made.
Well now that I’ve given Playboy some new fresh eyes it’s time to start looking into the photographers/similar photographers & artists to broaden my research and relate it more back to art.
Not only a new project but a last project, cry cry.
So following on from the last project (creative research) I was pretty disappointed with my final outcome as I felt it was lacking content and depth. I did like the final illustrations and felt they were a good representation of the basis of my influence and research. With this project however I want to go more in-depth and have more context surrounding my final outcome.
So this project, FMP. The last one, the last push to get the postgrad status.
I’m going to continue on with my dissertation topic looking into Playboy, however I want this to be my starting point and to build upon this looking at Playboy in a different context to my dissertation.
I’m starting my research by looking at not only Covers from Playboy over the years but also their editorials and the way they promote women.
As Playboy is predominantly targeting a male audience, the photography and way in which the women are presented is for the male gaze. Looking at the what areas are emphasised, body language, aesthetic, the general tone of the photograph and focusing on how this represents women and portrays a feminine stereotype.
I hope to develop my research further by looking into the female gaze and how women look at women, this is inspired mostly by Naomi Wolfe’s Beauty Myth focusing on the challenges women face with beauty and societies expectation of a woman’s physical aesthetic.
