End of project Evaluation-"hands on"

Throughout the “photography hands on project” I have used photographic experimental application to explore characteristics of a wide range of visual language by showing hands in different ways for each individual characteristic. To use visual language we explored the “principles” and “elements” of design and key terminology from the workshop. The key words in the principles include pattern, contrast, emphasis, balance, proportion/scale, harmony and rhythm/movement. The key words in the elements include colour, line, shape, texture, form, space and value. We used visual language by describing all three elements above through our glossary pages and presenting them through images of hands that relate to the definitions of each key word. By creating my own definitions as a visual image made me understand the key term better than the actual definition. I used visual language also by producing 19 glossary pages that have images taken by myself in the photography studio and edited myself on Photoshop at first I found it quite difficult to use this type of media because it was my first time using it but as I made progress and the five weeks went along I was capable to teach myself as well as Victoria my instructor teaching me skills that would be more effective for the project. I have also been able to visually use visual language in the workshop tasks to complete each workshop outcome to relate to key terminology.    

I feel learning about terminology and producing a glossary has improved my English skills in different ways, as producing a glossary I have learnt different meanings for each individual words for both principles and elements. Also throughout each day of going through the project I have wrote on my blog: lala-2010.blogspot.com about the workshops I took part in and the keys words that we were given to also produce a glossary sheet out of. From writing about my workshops has allowed me to use me literacy skills because without having to summarise my workshops and glossary pages I would forget key skills in English that are needed every day. For research I produced both primary and secondary, primary being my own images where I took them in the photography studio where I work every Wednesday with my instructor Victoria. Where we look at different lighting and look at different angles, also including different backgrounds seeing what lightings work best. Ever Wednesday we focus on a different lighting technique used for portraiture and I myself get to be the photographer as well as modelling. Secondary research is photos from a different research source for instance I created a Pinterest board called ‘hands’ and got all my secondary images from there but when it came to drawing secondary images I simply search hands on google and found drawings more my style. My research was very effective during this project as it gave me inspiration for my glossary sheets and sketch book work also.   

In each individual workshop I have learnt many new skills and techniques, some I have never heard of and some I had never tried. Firstly, photography my main forte and what I am studying. In the workshop photography I learnt about the main aspects of manual settings being: Shutter speed(self-explanatory): Which is in simple terms the shutter at the front of the camera what focuses on the object or area you are taking a picture of, for instance on the camera the shutter is open when your finger puts pressure on the button. Aperture (opening): The aperture is basically an opening, hole, or gap. So for example the larger of the opening the more light is passed through but the depth of field will be smaller, where as if the opening is small there is less chance that the light will pass through. ISO (quality of light): The camera's ISO setting is its sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive it is. Exposure:  A photograph's exposure determines how light or dark an image will appear when it's been captured by your camera. As well as learning all the manual settings we were taught lighting techniques such as high key lighting and low key. Every week I have a one to one photography session with my instructor Victoria as because there are only two students doing photography including myself we don’t get that much time to focus on our actual course. We focus on our portraiture and the lighting that can be used when taking a portrait photograph of someone and the lighting that we have learnt so far that can be used for it is: Rembrandt lighting and butterfly lighting. The “Rembrandt lighting” is a type of lighting that is popular because it is capable of producing images which appear both natural and compelling with a minimum of equipment. You will be aware when Rembrandt lighting is at work as you will see a triangle shape underneath the subject’s eye, also for the triangle to appear the light should be placed above the subjects head almost at the side of the subject also. This lighting is mainly used with a dark background and depending on the lighting it may turn out either lighter or very dark. Whereas when using “butterfly lighting” there is always a light background Butterfly lighting is one of the oldest techniques and types of lighting used in photography for lighting a subject. It is named butterfly lighting because when taking a photograph a butterfly-shape shadow should form underneath the subject's nose; this setup is a proven method to ensure your subject is well-lit in a pleasing manner.

The next workshop, ceramics, I learnt many different skills that I quite enjoyed doing. I learnt techniques such as how to avoid air bubbles in clay so that when you have made your model it will not explode in the kiln, how to mould for instance me final idea was to make a mould of my hand so that it had all the texture and detail an actual hand its self would have. During the process of moulding you have to cautious that it wont burn or damage your skin so you have to put either hand cream or Vaseline so that in protects your skin. After ceramics i was introduced to 3D which i didn't in particular enjoy it as other workshops as it was not my forte but considering it wasn't, i did learn new key words such as abstract. i had already done a little of 3D in GCSE for product design where we have to mess around with flat pack and when it came to creating our designs we have to slot card together to create our models and also the final piece. As I found it quite hard my final piece wasn't as creative at i wanted it to be. Next workshop was print making, which i quite enjoyed with my instructor jess. I learnt techniques that i'd never done before which was lino cutting where you create a design either just a design or on the shape of a hand on a lino using a lino blade. These workshops were incredibly effective for my photography work as with my ceramics model i was able to create shadows and also great quality as when it came to editing it on Photoshop, i used to sharpen tool which gave it emphasis. Moving on to 3D using my final model in the studio allowed me to create harmony and form by using white on white aswell as creating a motion that the model was a waving hand. Bare in mind with print making as it was only lino i was limited to things i could do photography-wise but i was able to create a emphasised image by allowing the lines to be brighten and the background to be darkened. My last workshop was textiles, which as it was on the deadline not many key terms were explained through the process but we did get taught methods throughout the workshop which were: screen printing, batik, puff binding and heat press. 

In the process of my workshops most of my out comes came out unexpectedly better than i imagined, but on workshops such as print making it was quite hard to make it look perfect considering the tools were not that accurate to use. Once ink was applied to the lino and printed onto cartridge paper the pattern was more effective rather than the actual cut out itself, but some of the pattern was not cut out to how i wanted it to be as it was my first time it was bound to happen no one is perfect the first time. Where as in my ceramics workshop, which was by far one of my favourite workshops that was set as i got to experiment with plaster for my final piece which was quite extraordinary. By moulding my hand it gave me final piece emphasis and effection as all the detail from my hand was moulded into the mould just how i wanted it. But i did discover difficulties during my time in ceramics as when i had to leave the clay to dry out i took it out of storage to take a photo and because it was so fragile without me knowing i laid it onto the table and the fingers collapsed but i was able to apply slit onto the fingers to re-join them and now it is secure ready to be fired into the kiln. One workshop outcome i wasn't expecting to go down well was 3D as i didn't enjoy it due to it not being my cup of tea, but the outcome was unexpectedly creative. It was made to look like a motion of a waving hand which it did but also looked like a chandelier. The textile outcomes were very effective but very easy to do as all three were simple. Batik was a wax method which was similar to drawing in a way but it standing out as the wax dried. Screen printing where depending on the ink colour and what fabric, the method was easy, also buff binding was the same method as screen printing except you use a heat gun at the end.

Overall i think all of my portfolio of photographic images and work along side it, is effective as i have used all my skills on Photoshop to create, creativity and imagination. I also think it has presented my skills, knowledge and the understand of the project itself, through all the work that has been produced on the outcomes of workshops as well as glossary sheets. i believe my glossary sheets are effective in my portfolio of work because it presents a true understand of the key terminology by using a camera to produce such meanings, also how it expresses my imagination and creativity. Throughout the project i have come to terms with is that i need to manage my time efficiently and effectively as towards the end i was rushing to get everything done. It has learnt me also that when you do a piece of work try and get it finished because every little thing counts towards it all by the end What i have noticed is that i had a few bits and pieces that weren't finished to great quality so this is a number one tip i will bare it mind. 

Throughout the project we explored the elements of creativity and how creativity is presented through both art work and photographic images. We also learnt about how creativity is measured, where about the it is presented in a specific environment. To identify and get a image in our heads of what "creativity" was we were set a task to work in a group and by putting all our ideas together get an image of what creativity is. Throughout the project we have explored creativity in many ways by taking part in workshops and creating a piece of work that defines a word and our glossary sheets which by creating these we showed creativity by making our glossary sheets into meanings so that they spoke for themselves. I feel like i have improved my creativity remarkably well as i have learnt new techniques and skills which allowed me to use my individual ideas and show more of my creative side. 

Textiles workshop

Last week on the 15^th of October I had my last workshop, which was textiles but considering it was on the actual deadline day of the project we didn’t experience the full day of textiles. Textiles Technology helps students develop their creativity. This two-unit specification requires students to develop their ability to make textile products, a vital feature of candidates' experience of taking this specification. The workshop was led by our instructor Kat, a textile expert who has taught it for around 15 years. Unlike other workshops we straight away got into different activities with Kat instructing us as we went along due to time. As we were going along we were introduced to different methods of textiles, these being:

Screen Printing: A force of ink or metal on to (a surface) through a prepared screen of fine material so as to create a picture or pattern. Also a technique where mesh is used to transfer ink onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink. In the workshop, we used materials such as cotton and calico to produce prints.

Batik: A method (originally used in Java) of producing coloured designs on textiles by dyeing them, having first applied wax to the parts to be left undyed. In this method, wax is melted to create the pattern using a tool called a Tjanting . This tool is used to apply melted wax onto either paper or a material then once the wax is applied it will the dry and the once you apply colour the wax will stand out enabling the pattern to been seen.

Puff binder: Puff binding is used in the same way as screen printing but after heat is applied with a heat gun and allows it to rise to create a 3D effect. Also for a better effect dye can be applied to create a little tad of colour.

Heat press: A heat press is a machine engineered to imprint a design or graphic on a substrate, such as a t-shirt, with the application of heat and pressure for a pre-set period of time.

3D workshop

On the 1^st of October I had my third workshop which was 3D, instructed by our 3D instructor Adam. During the first part of the workshop we were introduced to some of the key words from 3D and health and safety issues. These words were: shape scape, cutting matt, abstract, slotted cardboard, and scalpel, craft knife and slot puncher. Most of these key words are mostly equipment apart from shape scape which is a sculpture in a box aimed at adults to construct an infinite number of sculptures from the same set pieces. Also abstract which is art that does not attempt to represent just one individual image but instead uses shapes, colour, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect. Firstly, Adam showed us a designer called Peter Mayor who designs shape scapes. As the workshop included working with a lot of sharp objects the health and safety was priority, so for instance when using the craft knife do not press on to hard and to only cut towards your body so that you have better control of cutting and the knife. After seeing a few of Peter Mayor’s designs and going through the health and safety prestige’s we had ago at making our own shape scapes. I ended up creating a plane which also turned out looking like a rat from different types of angles. After the first part of the work shop we started to bring our “hands on” project into process of 3D before thinking of idea’s Adam our instructor showed us some of his models relating to the hands of project, but I found it quite difficult as 3D isn’t one of my strongest points and I was very limited with idea’s as 3D was one of the last workshops of mine. What I did was draw around my hand on to the card and carefully cut it out with the Stanley knife which I found extremely easier to use than the scalpel. I then started to bend and play about with the hand and sketch out an idea, which ended up looking like a chandelier of hands but also looked like a waving hand to make it look more abstract. It wasn’t always easy throughout the workshop I sometimes wanted to give up but once I continued to think about it and played about with the card I finally got an idea and managed to create what I wanted.        

Photography-butterfly lighting

On Wednesday 30th of September I had my second lesson of photography with my instructor and photographer herself, Victoria, where we concentrated on a different type of lighting this week, called butterfly lighting. Butterfly lighting is one of the oldest techniques and types of lighting used in photography for lighting a subject. It is named butterfly lighting because when taking a photograph  a butterfly-shape shadow should form underneath the subject's nose, this setup is a proven method to ensure your subject is well-lit in a pleasing manner. Butterfly lighting is considered the ‘fashion’ or ‘glamor’ lighting setup, it is mainly used for portraiture. When using "butterfly lighting" there is a specific diagram on setting the lighting up in a studio, but has only little equipment. For instance the equipment required is one key light and a white background can be black but for butterfly lighting white is more effective. The key light is placed above the camera pointing towards the subject. Sometimes when using butterfly lighting you may want to add a reflector on some odd occasions if you cant get that butterfly shape underneath the nose. As always myself and my other colleague both took the opportunity to take photos of one another to get the perfect photograph showing that we were able to use butterfly lighting. Only I choose to remove the camera from the tripod and explore different angles instead of capturing the same image repeatedly.

 

 

 

Art Glossary-extended

On the 29^th of September I continued to work on my glossary sheets for my “hands on” project that we are concentrating on until the 15^th of October. Recently because I am concentrating on photography and I am studying it I have been told by my tutor, Claire Harrison, that I am now allowed to explore my skills on Photoshop and start to create glossary pages by taking my own photographs and editing them related to the key principles and elements of design. On Photoshop I explored different ways in which I could edit every photograph I had taken using hands in different ways, for instance increasing and decreasing the lighting and also contrast and sharpening edges to increase the quality. This time I choose the words “colour” and “movement” and used photo’s that I had taken in a photography workshop. The meaning of colour is the property of an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light. Whereas movement simply means the act of motion and energy. With the word colour I simply used an image where the hand itself had dried up paint on it and when editing it I brought all the focus to the colour on the hand and increased the brightness, not only to brighten the photograph but to increase the quality of the photograph. Whereas on the “movement” photograph I already had the technique I needed to create movement but when it came to editing it I knew I needed to increase raise the brightness to create more movement. By using adobe Photoshop I found it incredibly easier to do instead of drawing because It’s something I want to do and puts me in the right mind set whereas when it comes to drawing I am not in the right mind set as I want myself to be in. I intend to move on to the word space next in the process of our project. After progressing on our glossary sheets, our tutor Claire Harrison gave us a task where we were given either a element or principle of design to each table working as a group to come up with an idea related to that work. We were given the word contrast and the 3rd picture down was our idea.