Do Judge A Book By Its Cover

This week’s AOTW comes from Hanna M (S5,OLSP), I’d shown her work around a year ago. It’s developed a lot since then. She’s currently working toward finishing her expressive and design units for her higher. The image above is actually her final piece for her design unit. It’s based around a book cover design on ideas that she has developed herself. Hanna uses her drawings and her creations in Photoshop via a graphics tablet to produce her work. This gives her work an incredible finish, one of the most professional I have ever seen for someone her age.

You can follow her through her Deviant Art Profile:

http://burakotka.deviantart.com/

Danger Doppelgängers!

I first introduced you to Narin300‘s work around a year ago. Since then, her ideas have been developing and her skills have advanced tenfold. I was so shocked at the publication of her new images featuring her interacting with her own doppelgänger that I had to show them off as soon as possible. The images remind me of work that was featured in Saatchi’s ‘Sensational’ exhibition a few years back, though they hold no pretension.

The trick is simple, though Narin has pushed it into something far more than the visual magic. It takes a while to notice that it is the same person, that’s because she has been very clever in developing slight different personalities for ‘herself’. Even when the characters are wearing similar or identical clothing, by changing her emotions or interactions, Narin has developed two different people. You could even be forgiven for thinking that these photos are of identical twins.

You can check out more of her artwork over on her deviant art profile:

http://narin300.deviantart.com/

Sticks & Stones

The soundtrack from the With/Without short film is available for download or streaming. The track, written and performed by Rosie B and Rachel W is maybe not to everyone’s listening taste, though I think it’s fantastic.

You can now also send me your tracks through Soundcloud and I can feature them if they’re any good. Click on the Soundcloud dropbox at the bottom of the right column.

Beerjacket – ‘Drum’

I was working a day long workshop in Notre Dame on Monday and was able to acquire permission to use Beerjacket’s ‘Drum’ song for use in a music video. Beerjacket is Peter Kelly, a once Glasgow based musician, he writes beautifully sour alt-folk songs.

The video is a shadow puppet short based around a little bear who becomes obsessed with drumming. This leads to some gruesome repercussions and a dramatic end. I’m so proud of the Notredame girls for making this in a day, it’s absolutely amazing.

If you quite like what you hear, you can visit Beerjacket’s site below and listen to more, as well as purchase tracks individually from him for a small fee.

http://beerjacket.bandcamp.com/

With/Without

The above video is the final edit for Notre Dame High School’s entry into the Young Brits at Art competition. The film is based on the competition’s theme ‘a world without prejudice’. The film has had to go through several edits to make it suitable for myself, the school and the competition, though I’m really happy with how it’s turned out. The most exciting thing for me is the music created by Rosie B and Rachel W who actually win my ‘Artwork of the week’ this week. Their improvised score really is a work of art. It suits the feeling and mood of the short film and fits into the intro and credits perfectly.

The Freedom And The Courage

Adilah B (S5) from Notredame has amazing skill. Her concentration and drive is almost frustrating to watch. You just end up envious of her and feeling sorry for yourself. Though, my neurosis aside, Adilah’s style is her own, it’s uniquely messy with a controlled brilliance, it’s complete freedom with a driven confidence. I often wonder how she can manage to draw a hairy line that looks so clean and precise. Though this is the very reason why her work is so interesting. It’s full of contradictions and impossibilities that you think shouldn’t work, but somehow do, just because it’s Adilah who did it.

Like the still life study above, Adilah has used a 2B pencil, which has an extremely soft lead on canvas textured card. Now you would think that it would be impossible to get any kind of definite line or signs of pencil marks and strokes. You would also think that the line should be uncontrolled and messy or smudged due to the nature of the lead and the texture of the card… but it isn’t? How can that be?

Technically, Adilah’s still life is my Artwork of the Week, though as a bonus I thought I would show you some of her Graphic Design work. The piece below is a few pencil tonal studies of a clamp that Adilah had to bisect. Enjoy.

“There’s No Way That’s A Drawing”

This week’s artwork comes from Nadia B (S5) from Notredame High. This is her first sheet from her expressive unit. The pencil work is absolutely stunning, the photo does not do it justice. My favourite drawing has to be the egg in the egg cup. The tonal rendering is perfect. Nadia’s skill is evident in the way she can layer enough pencil marks on top on each other to merge them into looking like a solid firm object. Her skin looks like flesh, her surfaces look smooth and hard and her cloth looks soft and malleable. A truly stunning collection of drawings to end the week with.  Thanks Nadia.

Need A Hand?

I have recently had the chance to look back at my past 3 years of Secondary School teaching and browse my way through most of the fantastic work that’s been produced in that time. Whether that be through photos or actual work that is on display in my home, there are a lot of pieces that, even I, can’t believe they were created by students rather than professionals. One of my favourite sketches of all time is the work below by Agnes (S3 from Notredame High).

Agnes had very fine slender fingers and so her beautifully sketched drawing of her hand reminded me of the work by Klimt or Schiele. She could not see the beauty in her style and found no great pleasure in drawing or Art in general, so it’s amazing that she had such an elegant style and observant eye. I had stored this piece inside an art book to keep it flat, so it was an absolute delight to re-discover it.

I will have to buy a nice thick black frame for it over the weekend and show it off on a wall like it deserves, but until then, I thought it would be apt to award it ‘Artwork of the Week’.

Notredame Website

About a year ago I had planned with Mrs Lyons, the PT of Art in Notredame Secondary, to set up an individual art department website. Visiting the school during Holidays we set up several ‘sets’ to use as a menu for the project. I also had plans to make the site look more realistic, without cleanly designed buttons, tables and the usual internet hocus pocus… just to make it look more ‘arty’.

Exquisite Corpse

S2 from Notredame where given the chance to try an Exquisite Corpse on my last day at the school. The game requires you to draw an image that has links to another image. You pass on the links, hiding the image you’ve drawn and then someone draws another picture using the links and then leaving their own on the opposite side. This continues until the last person, they then finish off the image.

This forms a huge flowing picture when played by lots of people, but can still be as fun if played by two or three people. The game can also be played electronically by emailing the links.