Evaluation

Evaluation

The theme of the project was “The World I Live In”. This project was very self-made as there was no list of what needed to be produced like there was last year. I think this was a good idea because if you didn’t want to make a 3D piece, or a textiles piece or something like that you could leave out the pages that wasn’t relevant to your work. For me, I create a sketchbook, 2 moodboards, 2 design sheets, 2 artist sheets, 2 design development sheet and a final design sheet. I also looked at 4 other artist in my sketchbook, one a 3D artist (Joseph Cornell), two fine artist (Picasso & Van Gogh) and a photography artist (Nick Ridley). As well as two gallery visits to the Cooper Art Gallery and the Civic which are both located in Barnsley Town centre.

I began the project by making a sketchbook using A4 cartridge paper and A4 brown paper. I used a thick yarn to thread them together to create the spine of the book. I filled the first page with a mind-map of things that I could research about my life. Once I had some ideas, I started my primary research. After this was complete, I started my secondary research by looking at artist & galleries. From my sketchbook I went on to make 2 moodboards, one based on my favourite celebrities and one based on my local area. I then produced 2 design sheets, one based on my family and personal life & one based on my childhood favourite films and TV shows. After looking at the artists in my sketchbook, I chose two artist; Georgia O’Keeffe & Van Gogh, to focus my artist sheet on. I went on to generate 2 design development sheet for my final piece. After these sheets, I went into the 3D workshop to start making samples. One these were complete I created my final design.     

From looking at the work in these galleries and also from the secondary research I did on the artist Joseph Cornell, I came to the conclusion I wanted to make a Cornell inspired box to fit the brief “The World I Live In” project. To make it a box about my life I thought of the main events that have happened in my life since 2015 began. The only one that jumped at me was on the 1^st January 2015, the day I give birth to my son, Leo Lovitt. I knew then that is was going to be the main or even the only thing I wanted to include in my box about my life. So that’s what I did. I looked at box design ideas to begin my final piece. The idea’s I came up with was a square box with windows in each side to see everything I was going to put in the box. I had already decided to have a cross section in the box to have 4 different stages in Leo’s life so far. I soon changed the idea of having window because they would take up more time needed to make them. So I just made the box, still have the cross section but have the box standing on one side instead of the bottom. Now people can still see the 4 sections but not have them all different stages in his life, but instead have just items that have been a part in his life. For example; his bottle & a wooden made bottle, some of his old dummies & some old clothes from when he was little.

I soon made the choice to have at least a few pieces of the items in the box made by hand, these where; his name, his date of birth and a baby bottle based on one of his own. I wanted to make them all in the 3D workshop as this is my chosen specialist area of choice. So I ask Adam to help me with the box and the cross section but I did all of the items for inside my box my-self using the pillar drill, the band saw, the sander and the wood lathe.

Most, if not all of my drawings were not done by observational drawings, they were all done drawn from a photograph of the image. For most of the images I drew I used colour pencils to shade them in, acrylic paints or water colour paints. I developed my research by using the drawings in my sketchbook to help me know what to include in my sheets.

I took elements from the 3D workshop and fine art workshop from last year to help me design and make my final piece. The features I took from the 3D workshop were, using the wood turning lathe, the pillar drill, the sanders and also the band saw. The skills I took from last year in the fine art workshop are being able to paint detail accurately for the outside of my box and also on the 3D wooden bottle I made on the wood turning lathe. I took my inspiration for the design of the outside of my box was from my moodboards and design sheets. This was the Doctor Who screwdriver which inspired me to make the design for the outside of the box a Tardis. I did this to represent my life may seem like it can all fit in a tiny box but it’s so much bigger on the inside. The only real constriction which affected my design was my own imagination.

The experimentations I did were all for the 3D workshop. I did each one as I went on throughout the project. For example; I make a sample for the skills on the wood turning lathe using a rectangle piece of wood. I then made it cylinder and began to use the tools to make shapes and indents in the wood. I then found the right tools needed to make the shape of my final piece bottle. So I only needed one sample for this machine. Then I wanted to make a cross section which would fit in my box and had 45 degree point corners. To make the corner’s I tried two ways to get a perfect point. One way was on the sand belt and the other was using a router. I tried 3 free hand sanding corner’s before I knew it was not going to work. That when I did my sample on the router and it gave the exact 45 degree corner I needed so there was no need to make any more samples for the cross section.

The only problems I encounter was really to do with the cross section being a little too long in one corner. So to correct this I re-routed it a few millimetres till it fit perfectly in the box. If I had no time constriction I would have made more of the items out of wood instead of just a bottle, Leo’s name and his date of birth. I would make them all out of wood and still use acrylic to finish the detail as I like the finish acrylic gives the wood. I may have even had a few items not painted and just used a varnish to make the wood shiny and clear.

The main artist that is the biggest link to my final piece would be Joseph Cornell. His work fascinated me when I came across him in a tutorial of the 3D workshop artists. I think that I tried to base my final piece on his work so you could say he was very influencing to my work right to the end. I’d say this as his work contains real and man-made items in them just like mine.

I decided on my final design by evaluation how the piece would be presented in a gallery and I thought that it would be easier for people to see inside the box if it was stood on a side not the bottom. Also by making this choice I could design more of the box then just the inside. I came up with the composition of the items inside the box when I had made them so I knew they would fit snug and proper.

The processes I used were mainly in the 3D workshop. These consist of; using the pillar dill to assist make my cross section, using the band saw to aid me to make both my box and the cross section, using the sander to smoothen the surfaces of the box, cross section and the bottle, and also using the wood turning lathe to construct the bottle.

I think that my final piece went very well in all of the make process as the box, cross section and the bottle all turned out just how I wanted them to. I think that only thing that really went wrong would be when I measured the length for the cross section, I was about 3 millimetres off, which made all the difference to the cross section being able to fit inside the box right. If I was to change anything I have done for this project it would be to work back into my Van Gogh artist sheet or to using a different piece of his work instead of his portrait as I’m not the strongest when it comes to drawing faces of using acrylics the way Van Gogh did.

I really believe I use my time very well throughout the whole project. I think is due to me finishing the box, cross section and the bottle were made within the time I set in my target setting. I think that if I knew I had more time I could have worked back into the Van Gogh artist sheet to make it look more like the original or I could have even made more items for my box out of wood or even clay.

I have used my blog to document everything for this project. For example; I have made five posts about different things for this project. These are titled; all artist research, sketchbook, work sheets, final piece – cross section making process & final piece – bottle making process. Once I have finished this evaluation I will upload it onto my blog too so there will be a post called “evaluation”. I think using the blogger app on google is a fantastic way for your tutor to see what work you have been going and can see your thought processes throughout each project as long as you post regularly.

My overall thoughts about this project are that at first I was really confused by not having a set target piece but when I thought about it properly I knew that this was about use as individuals thinking for out self in a real life brief situation so now I have finished the project I understand what the task was trying to get us to do. I love making the bottle on the wood turning lathe and making in the 3D workshop which is why I have chosen 3D as my chosen specialism. I think that the outcome of my bottle, box with the cross section and most of my sheet were as I wanted so I am very happy with the project by the end.          

 

(1,894 words not including title)