Approaching A Level Fine Art transition unit Fine

Approaching A Level Fine Art transition unit

Fine Art theme: Portraiture and Identity A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation that records the likenesses of humans or animals that are alive or have been alive, in which the face and its expression is predominant. However, although this is an attempt at defining a 'portrait', the true meaning of the word is ambiguous, as there are no set of guidelines that one has to follow in order to create a portrait. In the video (link below) art fanatics attempt to define the word 'portrait', with varied success. Lesley Stevenson, Senior Paintings Conservator at the Scottish national portrait gallery says”: A portrait is an evocation of a person. It gives the sense of that person. It doesn’t necessarily need to look like the person but it would have to give some impression”. David Taylor, Senior Curator, Scottish National Portrait Gallery: I think a portrait is probably different things to different people but in general terms it’s a depiction of a person which can be idealised to flatter them or it can be an impression of their personality or it can even be an abstract depiction of some element about them. Watch the video, make notes, what is a portrait? http: //www. nationalgalleries. org/play-menu/what-is-a-portrait

Starting points. A level Fine Art is challenging and whilst you will be drawing upon and building upon the skills you have already gained during GCSE, you have been challenged to consider the following theme; Portraiture and Identity. Over the next 18 months, you will be developing a series of work for your portfolio, researching and learning about historical and contemporary artists and their response to this theme in art. Over the next few weeks your teacher will be in contact with you to send you more resources and links to allow you to progress this key body of work which will provide you with a solid starting point for your initial A Level project. Brief Throughout History and to present day Artists have based their work upon aspects of portraiture and anatomy. The human face has been widely used with artists creating sculptures, prints, painting, drawings and mixed media work based upon this theme. Artists have investigated the aspect of emotion and mood, the human condition, anatomy, identity, gender, family and age to name but a few. Task Write your own brief as a starting point to the overall theme of “portraiture and identity” This personal investigation will comprise of a portfolio of practical work and artist research, experiments and conclusive pieces. Describe what your intentions for the project and what you intend to investigate as well as mentioning any artists you have researched based on Portraiture / Identity. Perhaps mention the direction you would like to develop your work into (Subtheme)

Transition work: - Approaching Fine Art A Level Assessment objective Work title Work description/ resources required Write own brief for personal Investigation See Slide 5 for example personal investigation own briefs (past student examples) Write a statement of intent for your chosen project. Email both art and design staff with these to receive feedback cjo@st-mary. blackpool. sch. uk and aha@st-mary. blackpool, sch. uk AO 3 Recording ideas Inspirational ideas board From a variety of sources, collate example of work related to portraiture and Identity. Use pinterest and gallery websites, https: //www. npg. org. uk/ (National portrait gallery) for inspiration. Make a collage of these and add notes describing what exactly you like about the images (keep notes brief) is it effect on the viewer? , the composition, tones? Technique or level of detail you are inspired by, Be specific here. AO 3 Recording ideas Mind map - Visual / written representation of own thoughts and ideas. See example mind mapping resource “concrete example – Portraiture and identity mind map A Level” This will be shared with you by email AO 1 / AO 2 Analysis / experimentation 3 in depth Artist research sheets along with written and visual and written analysis. Research a minimum of x 3 Artists based on your personal theme See example resource “Concrete example Artist research and analysis” This will be shared with you by email. If time allows attempt studies interpreting artists style/ technique using your own imagery. AO 3 Recording ideas and observations Photo shoots to prepare images for a starting point. Initial sketches, observational Drawings from primary / secondary sources Create a series of photo shoots to be used as a starting point for your project. Create a series of quality drawings using pencil, biro pen, pen and wash, white pencil onto a dark surface, coloured pencil working from your own photographs. Vary the size if possible.

Examples of past students written statement of intent Example 1 – mood and emotion The intention of my personal study is to investigate how artists represent someones mental and emotional state. During the development of my work I will research artists who have represented their subject’s emotions and mood. I also want to look into what exactly has increased anxiety frustration and emotional unrest in young people and how this can be represented visually. My idea is to look at causes of poor mental state, a lot of this is a result of negativity created with media or generated with the perpetual use of social media. People are constantly judged, made to feel inadequate because of their appearance, are subject to criticism and negative comments. Social media gives rise to and a platform for keyboard warriors and those afraid to comment and abuse in person. Many people experience racist and discriminatory comments and these can be a factor causing suffering, anxiety and eventual poor mental health. Having created research based on artists who portray extreme emotion, I want to show within my own work how what the impact of someone’s negative words is upon my subjects and how this negativity can alter others thoughts and emotions and how this can be shown in my subjects face. The challenge then will be to represent these emotions in visual form. The artists I am looking at the moment are Clara Lieu whose work presents large scale black and white images of het subjects portraying extreme emotions, another artist I have researched so far is Jonathan Yeo and Lucien Freud for the way they paint, their interesting use of colour and painting technique to represent their subjects, Yeos work is more thought provoking, and more subtle in that imagery shows his subjects insecurities by creating unfished pieces suggesting part of them is missing, however Freud’s portraits are more of a “warts and all” representation of his subjects; His work will undoubtedly influence my painted studies.

Example 2 – colour and mood The intention of my personal investigation is to explore how artists have used colour in portraiture to evoke a meaning, a message or an emotion. Artists have often used colour to emphasise a mood of their subject, Clara Lieu’s work for example is a visual representation of how the artists herself has felt and these high impact large scale dramatic pieces in close up present emotions such as fear, anguish and frustration to the viewer. Polish Artist Joanna Sokolowska uses colour effectively to represent her subjects innermost feelings and her work explores the human condition. Her paintings and sculptures revolve around theme of human beings, their interior, hidden emotions, life, psyche. Her most common topic is portrait, human face. She combines elements of realism with expressive, emotional quest for power of expression. I intend to explore the effects of the use of colour and what colour can communicate in a portrait and what it can portray to the viewer. My starting point will be to create a series of observational work related to portaiture, with an emphasis on facial form, structure and how the face alters with different expressions. I also intend to create studies of relatively ordinary quite non descript facial expressions, then by altering tone, colour and technique, explore how alteration in colour can affect the overall mood. During the development of my project, I would like to explore the use of paints and other medium to demonstrate how subtlety and intensity of colour can affect the viewer and message behind a piece.

Example 2 - family The intention of my personal investigation is to explore how artists have represented “ family members” and research how family portraits have been represented in art and photography over the years. From the family miniatures created in the Early 19 th Century by Artists such as Richard Cosway and Pierre Henri to more modern painters such as Lucien Freud and his paintings which have replicated the composition of traditional family portraits, composing his subjects in groups for example or even creating several portraits which are less contrived in terms of composition and capture the subject in a more candid fashion. I will also look at the work of Photographer Nicholas Nixon, a photographer who has created photographs of the same family for over 40 years, capturing changes in appearance as well as researching more contemporary artists whose subject matter has been based upon family. My intention is to begin by collecting a series of candid and more posed images of my family in groups initially and then as individuals to begin some detailed observational work. At the moment, I am unclear as to where this journey could lead, but within my studies I could chose to create Pieces which observe age or relationships between family members.

Web resources • https: //www. npg. org. uk/ • https: //www. nationalgalleries. org/visit/scottish-national-portraitgallery • http: //www. artcyclopedia. com/ (search artists by name /type/ Movement) • https: //www. pinterest. co. uk Examples of work from other students, practitioners and fantastic for ideas • https: //www. lookslikefilm. com/2019/01/21/family-photos • https: //www. standard. co. uk/go/london/arts/famous-artists-family-portraits-painting-a 3992341. html 10 famous artists who have based work on family