Recreating Skin..

I was really interested in trying to recreate the texture of skin so I decided to try it using latex. It comes in liquid form so I poured it out onto a sheet of acetate and let it dry for a few hours. I added acrylic paint to get a skin - ish colour and added threads to be the wrinkles. However the end result was not as I had hoped and I think it looks a bit gross so I guess it's back to the drawing board with the latex.

I think next time I might try experimenting with swatches of leather.

I began crinkling tracing paper to get the effects of wrinkles in the skin aswell and this was far more successful :)

Printing Fabrics and Other Textures..

This week I was looking at the textures of different fabrics in order to investigate the texture of skin, mainly looking at denim and sequins. I inked up both textures and then put them through the printing press. I found the results to be quite interesting.

Denim

Sequins

I plan on printing socks, lace, shoelaces and woolen hats next and have been looking at the work of artist Jim Dine.

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My studio space this week :)

Dry Point Etching

This has definitely been my favourite print technique to date :)

Using a scribe I etched the wrinkles and lines of the hand onto a piece of acetate. Then I inked up the acetate sheets, took away the excess ink and then printed them.

Here are some of the results, done with plain black ink :)

Hopefully next week I will experiment with layering the prints and using different colour inks and paper.

More Monoprints

Made in China and the Transform Exhibition

The Transform Exhibition is a ceramics exhibition that is taking place in the L.S.A.D. Gallery at the moment. The work is absolutely amazing and has inspired me to go to the next ceramics workshop :) Here's just a selection of some of the beautiful pieces on display.

Nuala O'Donovan

Elaine Riordan

Jennifer Hickey

  Frances Lambe

 Michael Flynn

I also went to a talk called 'Made in China' by one of our tutors Elaine Riordan (who's also taking part in the transform exhibition) about the time she spent in Fuping, Shaanxi in China with other Irish artists to make a collection of ceramic pieces for the Fule International Ceramic Museum. She showed us loads of different slides and photos of their time there, what their workshops were like, the Chinese who were working alongside them and their final works and opening exhibition. It was a really interesting talk and it was nice to see some of the artists who exhibited in China , exhibiting in the L.S.A.D. Gallery.

Wire Soles

At the moment I'm trying to make a sole of a shoe out of wire, based on this charcoal rubbing I took of my runner.

It's still a work in progress but here are a few photos...I hope to have it finished during next week :)

It's made from a really pliable aluminium wire and I use black florist's wire to create the joinings.

Life Drawing

On Thursday I went to a life drawing workshop where we had to draw the figure out of scribbles and like we were building it out of sticks. All the poses vary from 2 mins to 5 seconds and they're all done in charcoal. I found the workshop really useful as it helped loosen up my drawing.