Skull-pture

After being inspired by the spine, I had an idea for a sculpture using the finger knitting that I had done during the month of November. I got some bamboo, then hammered it so that it would split in half and then had a frame made by the technitions. I filled the frame with clay and smoothed out the surface of the clay. I tied 2 pieces of bamboo together using string. I did this in order to get the bamboo to bend in the shape of the spine. I then stuck 3 pieces of the bamboo into the frame and bent them into a type of curve, the inspiration for which came from the shape of the spine. To get the shape to hold I had to tie the tops of the bamboo together using fishing line. I then began to wrap the raffia finger knitting around the 3 poles. I wrapped it in such a way so as to recreate the bumps of the vertabrae. I eally enjoyed making this piece! It was great fun and I'm also pleased with the result!

 

Sticks and Stones . . .

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I started to think about the similarites between twigs and branches and bones, I wanted to begin to use them as a media. Both twigs and bones are natural substances, something which I have been kee to explore through out my project. both of these object provide structure to other things also, ie. the bones give structure to the body and the twigs give structure to the tree. So.... I dragged my sister outside to help me to collect some twigs around our local countryside. The twigs that I got were ash wood, which is very flexible.

I then tied the twigs in a "V" shape, trying to tie two twigs of similar size together. I seccured them with thread, cream in colour. I really like the effect of the cream on the brown wood.



 I wanted the piece that I would make to to take inspiration from the spine. I looked at how the vertabrae locked into one another in a "V" shape and decided to slot the ash "V"s that I had made into one another. This created, in my opinion, a very interesting pattern and shape. I really like how the ends of the branches naturally stick out, recreating that pointed element of the spine also.

Painting with the Skeleton

I started looking at the skeleton as a tool to use for painting. I began to think about the way the actual arm of the skeleton can push and drag paint around the page. I wanted to do a painting which could capture this. I got 4 A1 size sheets and then I taped them together. I then took inspiration for the colours of the piece from my cow's vertabrae. I mixed ochers, ultramarine blue and browns with white in order to replicate the colours that I saw. I then watered the paint down so that it would be easy for my skeleton to spread it accross the page. the purpose of this painting is to get a visual representation of the movement of the skeleton.

Working with the Casts

After making more of the wax casts of the vertebrae, I decided to string them together in order to examine the movement of the spine. I really liked the idea of stringing the wax pieces together. I wanted to arrange them in the "S" shape of the spine. I needed to get some strong wire in order to do this. . .so . . . I bought some wire at the garden centre and but it had a plastic coating on it which I had to remove with knife. At first I wanted to  push the wire through the wax casts but this did not work as the wax started to break when I did this. Then after some thought I wrapped the wire around the casts. I wrapped wire around aprox 9 casts, then hung them between two pieces of bamboo in the studio. I wanted to recreate the "S" of the spine, as I said, however the casts were too heavy, which led to a dip in the piece. I'll have to get thinking so I can find a way of making the wire stronger without obstructing the simplicity of the work!  

  

Back Breaking Drawings of the Back Bone

After examing the spine and the vertabrae, I decided that I wanted to do a series of charcol drawings of them. I felt that it would be a good experience to do these drawings on a large scale. I wanted to use paper that was off white, as I felt that white would be too stark. I got a large strip of brown paper, the kind used for wrapping parcels, from the materials store. The paper measures (at a guess!) aprox. 5foot in lenth and aprox 2foot in width.

Drawing 1

The 4 drawings, are to be viewed as a series, each one is a development of the last. I began the first drawing by trying to capture the bear shape of the spine. With the next drawing I tried to develop this further by adding in a few more details. And so on went the process untill drawing 4, the drawing which is fully developed. I used only charcol and my fingers to shape the drawings. I rubbed the charcol on to the page then removed the areas of highlight with my hands. I wanted a blurry, unclear quality to result from these pieces. In all these pieces took about 2 weeks to compleate, so they were quite time consuming!

Drawing 3

Drawing 4

Drawing 2

 I really enjoyed doing these drawings, I found it really exciting to be working on such a large scale.

Inspiration from "Transform"

             These are pieces of ceramic art that featured in the "Transform" exhibition at LSAD.

These works are by the artist Jenifer Hickey. She used very fine pieces of porcelain in her work, sometimes combining them with fabric and them illuminating them. I find this work very interesting and inspiring. for me, her pieces have a bone like quality which perhaps has sometting to do with the delicacy of the ceramic.

These ceramics are crafted by Nula O'Donovan. I find her work really appealing, I think there is a very raw, natural quality to the pieces. The work takes insiration from a river and I think you really get the feel of the water from the smooth curves of the cermaic. The white colour has connotations of bones for me also., as does the sense of structure found in her work.

Here is the work of Grainne Watts, another artist who exhibited. These beautiful fragile pots remind me strongly of the spine and rib cage due to the patterns which cover them. These lined patterns, altough simple have a striking effect.

The Knitty Gritty

After attending a 3D lecture, I was inspired by the concept of finger knitting. I felt that the long lines of knit which were shown to us looked really like the spine. I also thought a
that the stiches looked like the vertabrae. I really liked the way the knitting moved too, and felt that it was also like the spine in this respect. So. . .I decided to try it out for myself! I watched a few tutorials on youtube in order to get the hang of it, then I had a think about what materials I wanted to knit. As bones are such natural objects, I wanted to continue this natural theme and use a natural material for my knitting. I began to work with a thick twine, but found that this was too hard to work with. . . it kept turning my fingers blue!!! I then began to work with raffia, a straw like material. This was perfect! And so the process of knitting began. I'd have to admit that I thourghly enjoyed it, it's really relaxing, fun and the product is just beautiful. I knitted everywhere-on the bus, watching TV, in college.

 I made about 6 lines of knitting that were about 7 foot long each. . .phew! My orignal plan was to suspend the lines using fishing line, however when I tried this out I thought that it looked really poor. The lines of knitting just looked like party streamer and nothing like the "S" shape of the spine. So I had to come up with a new way of using the finger knitting to explore the movement of the spine. After speaking to a tutor, I began to think about making the lines of knit into the actual shapes of vertabrae by looping and tying them. I then plan to make some type of sculpture with these. . . however this is a work in progres so I'll have to do a bit more thinking about it!

I Spine with my Little Eye

                                 

  After examining the spine through pencil and pen drawings, I wanted to begin to look at it in a 3D manner. I felt that this would help me clearly understand its movement and how it works.

I visited the butcher's in my home town and was kindly given a beautiful cutting of a cow's spine. when I got this the bones still had meat and sinew and cartilage attached to them. . .yuck!!!. . .so I began to clean them by firstly boiling the bones, to remove the meat. I then had to scrub the rest of the fat and tissue off of them with a toothbrush. . .a used one of course!!. . .The bones were then placed into a tray covered in salt in the oven to preserve them. They were now  ready to use!  

After doing some colour studies in water colour, I decided the best way to begin my 3d exploration of these vertabrae was to do some casting. With help, I made some silicone moulds and then cast the bones in both plaster and wax.

I really enjoyed the casting and plan to do some more of it, in order to build up a collection of wax vertabrae. I think that I will be able to make a type of sculpture with these! Dyes can be added to the wax to colour them. with the next set that I make I would like to take colour inspiration from the blues and yellows that can be seen in the bones.

Taking a Look at the Spine

 I aquired a science skeleton from the college, which was of great use to me. The skeleton helped me explore movement greatly. I firstly began by taking some photos of it, then doing some primary drawings of it.

 The part of the skeleton which interested me most was the spine. I thought that the vertabrae were really beautiful. I loved the way that they are all connected to each other and that they all work in unision when moving. The shapes of the vertabrae also appealled to me; the way that they all have slightly different shapes, yet they all connect together perfectly.

Work with Acetate

When looking at the open shut movement of the jaw, I began to draw the skull at the various stages of opening and closing. I wanted to find a way of layering these drawings on top of each other, so I began to work with acetate and a fine black marker.

I then worked charcol, rubbing in on to paper, then laying it face down on to a clean sheet and then drawing the same images on top of the reversed sheet with a ball point. I enjoyed doing therse fluid line drawings.

Study of the Pig Skull

I began to look at the movement of the jaw of the pig. I was very interested in the open-shut motion and the contact that the jaw bones made with one another. I also found the cavities and holes within the skull very interesting.

Firstly I did a large scale drawing of the skull, using two A1 sheets. Through this drawing I wanted to take a closer look at the surface of the bone and the fused joints.

Skeletal Movement

My project involves the visual research of the movement of the skeleton. I have examined, through various drawing techniques, the skull of a pig. My aim in this was to widen my knowledge of bones and the skeletal structure and how they move. When looking at the pig skull, I found that it was discoloured in places, in order to replicate this colour I began to paint using coffee.