Artwork

A note to our regular readers; This post is rather off topic with what we usually write about so consider yourselves warned! Although there are quite a few images relating to gardening and plants so you might enjoy it anyway.

Painting in acrylics of bumblebee on oregano plant.

Some friends and family have asked to see my artwork and as I have submitted it to College now I thought I could share it with you here. I will include the final pieces with some back up and also a few sketches and doodles. I hope that this post might be of use for anyone creating a Fine Art portfolio, in relation to what is good to include. One thing that all colleges like is documentation of your creative process. It is good to get in the habit of sketching and drawing on a regular basis. Some ideas and inspiration for finished pieces might come out of it. Drawing from life whenever possible, rather than from photograps, is always a good starting point.

I need a lot of practice drawing and sketching as you will see from my life drawing and sketches but that is one of the reasons I would like to go to college.  I love drawing with coloured pencils as in this picture of Kali Ma where the face is done completely with prismacolour pencils. I made this collage mainly  from recycled and found materials. Collage is my favorite artform and I’m always on the lookout for scraps of papers, cloth, sweet-wrappers and anything else that can be included.

I also enjoy working in three dimensions and a while back I created a lifesize sculpture with two sides, one of our beautiful Mother Earth and the other of what we have done to her. It is made from found and recycled materials, mainly plastics.

I love trees and they featured heavily in the portfolio in different forms and shapes. Colleges like to see you use many different mediums and experiment.

Collage from recycled plastic.

It is important that the work in your portfolio is your own and not copied from the internet or books. Lecturers want to see your own unique style and there is also the copyright aspect to take into consideration. Here I have however included my version of  a favorite artwork by Hiroshige; “Plumgarden at Kameido 1857”. This image is so old that is outside the laws of copyright as Hiroshige died in 1858 and the law in Japan for copyright is life of the artist plus seventy years.  There are different time limits for different countries. If you wish to include a copy of an old work, always state the name of the original artist in a note.

I wanted to include some work featuring nice curves and lots of colour so I decided on the theme of a tree, reflecting in the moonlight in a dragons eye, for the following piece. It is made in acrylics.

I played around with some lino printing and sketching for the next piece which is made from collaged papers and has embroidery and wool added to it.  It is the Japanese snow spirit Yuki-onna.

 

I will only include a small selection of work from my back up visual journals and sketch books  as otherwise you will be scrolling forever. A portfolio should include many more.

The spaces in between the paintsplashes are home to many different creatures.

3D Hare gazing at the moon.

These are from my first ever life drawing class in November 2019. I need a lot of practice.

Self portrait in coloured pencils.

I enjoy splashing, dripping or printing paint onto paper, letting it all dry and see what creatures or plants can be found in the image. It is a playful way of creating something and it takes away the fear of the white paper that can sometimes be a problem. My advice to anyone putting together a portfolio is to have fun and get lost in the process. In the end you might end up finding yourself. Good luck!