Sarah Wise

Transformation of the child to Toddlers and Tiaras participant. I dont have pics on this computer but it took alot of work using a range of different tools to apply concealer (clone tool to remove dots etc), foundation (smart blur of only face) blush (low opacity brush) fake eyelashes (difficult to use brush) contacts and eye whitener, and the list goes on.. actually thinning her nose, lengthening her chin, making her eyes bigger etc. Could be thought of about 25 iterations in one work. 

I also put the whole presentation together and edited all videos (approx 7?)  which took a long time!

 I may have done other slides but cant remember right now

Another Mark - Sand Markings 

Originals

I wanted to do the same technique as class with this. Positive/negative space in a grid. However change the sizes of certain squares/marks to create more abstract. I was going to do a stencil and then spray it with glue and stick on the sand. This could have been too literal. 

Inspiration - 

I thought these were really interesting and I took the 4th picture further in mark 3. 

The 3rd pic is similar to the road markings with the yellow hexagons but looks more like bee hive. 

Watercolour Pencil Experiments -

Another Mark - The Skate Park 

Original marks

I went back to the site to take pictures of the wider view and took videos of the movement of the skater. 

I watched the video back and followed the skater’s movements with each colour being a different person. These looked childish

I did the same thing with limited colours and in pen but each colour was a different video. I still didnt like this. 

I tried to draw the shapes of the skate park. 

Then I went into photoshop and started editing. 

I took the original blue picture and applied a stain glass effect (little hexagons) relating with the hexagons in mark 5. and then I overlayed the image (50% opacity) with the diffused glow. The effect Sumi-e didnt work with this. I printed it out on transparent paper but the 1st effect didnt shine through as much as i wanted. 

I then cut out scratches like the skateboard mark and added the scratching mark with water colour pencil and tried to scratch with my fingernails. I still didnt like it so I changed my mark. 

I wanted to create a panorama of the beach and have it underlay all of the images. I wanted to fold all of the marks into one a4 page. I did this by sticking folded cardboard on the back of each connecting two pages. Stitching was another idea but it didnt go with my site at all. I wanted to use a black boarder but due to the textures it wouldnt stick down correctly. 

1. I took two pictures of Bondi and tried to combine them but there was a line down the middle even after editing.

2. I took a panorama on another camera which I decided to use. I had to edit the canvas size to 5xwidth, 1xheight of and A4 piece of paper (297x1050mm). I adjusted the pic to the new size and moved it to a position i was happy with

3. I made the opacity 50% so it didnt detract from the marks. 

This idea didnt end up working with my images unfortunately. 

To reference the beach I then moved onto using browns/yellows and blues ie. the colours of the beach. 

I also wanted to create the panorama by sticking sand on the sand area and rock salts on the water area. This didnt happen because it would mean I am spraying glue over the whole work whcih would stick all my works together. This was already happening as I placed two crete paper works next to eachother. NOT COOL 

I decided they would work together with the beach colour scheme but they also all have a form of texture or layer system. 

The outside marks have the same colour range and the blues are placed opposites too and the middle mark is a circle which ties them all together. 

Thought process.. trying to get everything to link. 

I was still at this stage using the skate mark.

I changed it to blue bottles which was a more organic, flowing mark which worked with the water mark. The two outside marks were more geometric than expressive. 

Trying to link the marks 

This was near final stages but still incomplete. 

FINAL PRESENTATION

I wanted to add the black boarder but it woulnt stick to some of the works

I thought the speed limit around Bondi was important to include as it as popular location so the speed limit of drivers is reduced to 40km/hr. I experimented with this mark on the road cutting out the hexagons, creating rubbings, replicating the hexagons with my physio cylinder and acrylic paint.  I tried to use impasto gel to imitate the grid surface (raised from ground) however the paint spread when applying it over the top. I then created this raised surface with cardboard and tissue paper and included the pedestrians seen in the sign. 

Original marks 

I tried to replicate the grid on the road using my physio cylinder. I liked it a lot better on black paper.

I then tried to combine the image (printed on baking paper which was kind of bad as it rubbed off) with the print.

I also started cutting out the hexagons to over lay on top of something else. 

I had this orange paper and decided to draw hexagons on to it. I got half way and decided I liked the pattern

I then tried to combine it with the print but I decided the colours didnt work.. and it just didnt look great. 

I then decided to create a raised surface like the grid on the road using Impasto medium mixed with black acrylic paint. I had make a stencil… cutting out the orange paper design from hexagons. I overlayed this onto a section of a panorama of Bondi (see Presentation). I put on the medium and waited for it to dry. The paper stuck together and ripped some of it, it was messy and the texture was… textured. I thought maybe smoothing it out would be better. 

Thought process. 

Experimenting with crete paper, the impasto medium and a net thing I found and painted it yellow. 

I tried to make another stencil. This time I did it the opposite way so i could actually cut what I saw rather than trying to look through to the other side. I put this onto cardboard so it wasnt as flimsy and hopefully fixed the edges. I did this over crete paper which related to mark 1 and worked with the image. The gel still went over the edges but I decided I will do something around the edges later. Then I decided to use the first technique again and roll over the hexagons. The acrylic paint smudged and didnt stick to the medium well. :(

I had to restart, and laid some tissue paper flat and the created the raised surface by cutting out hexagons on cardboard and putting crete paper on top of that emphasising the surface and relating to mark 1. I then cut out from my original print and laid the design over the top.

It looked unfinished. I had stickers with numbers on it so cut them up and put them around the mark and incorporated the pedestrians into the work from the original sign as there would be no need for the 40 speed limit without the high pedestrian activity. 

I dont have a final picture of this mark 

These animals often sting beachgoers and leave a painful mark on their skin. I decided to use this mark as these animals have stung my sister countless times (she is a surf life saver and is often in the water) and leave horrible marks (particularly because she is allergic).  I had already made a sculpture of blue bottles with plastic bottles and plastic bags commenting on the pollution on the beach and in the water. I used tissue paper to replicate the bubbly nature of their skin and used the string (also used in sculpture) to trace a mark left on someone’s body from a blue bottle.  

Research image of blue bottles

Research image of the mark a blue bottle can make on skin

Thought process 

I had already made these sculptures two years ago using plastic bottles and bags commenting on the damaging effects of pollution. I still have the string I used so i will use it in my piece.

I wanted to use plastic bags but I couldnt find any blue ones, so I used tissue paper (linking with other marks) as I kind of replicated the bubbly nature of the body of a blue bottle. Obviously I chose blue because of its colour. I used the string from the sculpture and tried to replicated the mark made on the skin of the people who had been stung. 

I thought it looked a little unfinished. I used watercolour pencils and drew the top/spine of the blue bottle onto the page. 

I dont have a final image for this mark 

The mark on a beachgoers skin after baking in the sun is also an overlooked mark. It is not only a mark but a concern for Australians with the rise of skin cancer. I used the process of burning paper to refer to the burning of the skin when sun baking. I used layers as a tanner will lie in the sun many times over the summer to become what’s deemed socially attractive, ‘tanned’.  The positive space of the sunbakers represents the moles on the skin of sunbakers. 

First I found a picture on the internet of the back of a swim costume as my sister wasnt home to model for me.

Then I traced it. 

1. I saw this image in a book and it reminded me of my mark and I wanted to incorporate it into my work

2. I decided to do this by burning the ‘skin’ parts of the person as it referred to the burning of the skin when sun baking.

I found the fire very uncontrolled and it burnt too quickly 

I also used charcoal inspired from the artwork

I accidentally printed onto transparent paper but decided to take advantage of it and I thought the layers could represent the multiple times a beach goer lies in the sun over the summer to create a tanned look. 

Where the skin was that wasnt burnt I was going to put a tea bag painted page (skin colour) and had another idea of using brown tissue paper (wrinkly skin) instead of burnt paper. 

I then burnt the transparent paper which was much more controlled and actually distorted the page which was annoying because I then had to make it flat again under alot of weight. But I really liked the effect so continued it on. I photocopied it to make it 2D. 

I thought of underlying this advert ‘theres nothing healthy about a tan’

I continued on with the burning of transparent paper, and created layers. (reason already explained). I thought it looked a bit plain … So I took the image I took of sunbakers from my 2nd trip to bondi and played with it in photoshop. 

I used the stamp affect again and tried to draw it onto the pages in felt tip. I sucked at drawing them so decided to use these as a print out. The top layer was going to be the furtherst zoomed out, then the next more zoomed in and pin pointed and I used the clone tool to pick out some people in the sun but I didnt use this layer. 

This is a blurry image of my Final piece. I like how the viewer has to look at the sunbakers carefully to figure out what my piece is trying to convey. I like that it also has a conceptual meaning relating to the social perceptions of beauty in society. The burn created a similar look to the shore line and I also liked that I did circles as it refers to the circle of life and the consequences skin cancer can have

I chose this mark as it is one that often goes unnoticed. The temporary mark the water makes after a wave as just crashed interested me as the water moved and altered it so quickly. I experimented with acrylic paint and glad wrap, tissue paper and watercolour however I decided to use photoshop to delete the blue bits and keep the whitewash. I edited the images and then overlayed them on transparent paper. 

Original images I worked from

I went onto photoshop and played with the effects in filter including the wave effect, the ripple effect and the combination of the two. The top left picture, I cut out rectangles and rotated them all each alternating.  

I then played with acrylic paints.

1. I was looking at the third original image and tried to use the same colours.

2. I put glad wrap over the top hoping to create a pattern in the paint however it only left a very very subtle mark.

3. I added some light into the painting, replicating the original.

4. I painted a white layer over the top after it dried and tried the glad wrap technique again. It failed. So I got a paper towel to remove bits of the white to let the colour shine through (like the whitewash over the top of the water). The only way it would come off was if I did it in a swirl motion which gave an effect that I didnt like. 

The glad wrap I put onto the paint..

1. Experiments using glad wrap (previous techniques)

2. I photocopied the glad wrap

I was cutting up rockmelon when its texture and thought it could work with my water mark. I like the outcome but it wouldn’t be a whole page mark, because the fruit is round and I would only be able to print bits at a time. 

Process on photoshop. 

Top row - picture 1

1. I used the magic wand to select and then delete the blue parts of the image. I then selected the remaining white, selected the inverse and deleted it.

2. The picture was too intricate. So I resized the canvas and had to work out exact proportions then moved to a place I liked.

3. I selected another layer, and cut out the white parts of the image.

Second row - picture 2

4. I took a new image, and cropped the canvas size, selecting only some of the pic.

5. I deleted the blue areas with the magic wand.

6. Then I did the inverse and deleted the white.

Third row - picture 3

7. New image. I deleted the blue which also deleted the top right corner which I liked. I cropped the canvas

8. Then I kept the blue parts by selecting the other layer and inversing and then deleting

9. I combined the two layers, putting the white was on the top. The images didnt match up because I moved one canvas which I liked.. it’s like a fight between the white wash and the water. 

I combined the layers of the first and second image.

I really loved the white water combination. I think its interesting how its grey and blue. I think it works well together. 

These are the three images of the white wash. I edited them (contrast, vibrancy, levels). Then I realised they are meant to be portrait so I stretched them out and selected my favourite parts of the image.  

I then printed my favourite image on to the section of the panorama of Bondi (see Presentation). I think it really clashed and didnt look nice. So I tried outlining in pen, permanent marker and water-coloured pencils. 

Experimentation

I chose to print on to transparent paper rather on to the same page as I believe it created a better effect and tied in with other works more. I was tossing up between these two images but chose the left side because it was similar to the blue bottle mark and I thought was more aesthetically pleasing 

I have chosen the rock pools on the north side of the beach as they are a permanent mark in the landscape that wears over time. I often went to explore these pools when I was younger. I was originally going to work with positive and negative space but I decided to layer tissue paper (which shows the inconsistencies of these forms) to create a sense of depth.

Reasearch images I took on my 2nd visit to the beach. The camera overexposed the second image which gave me the idea of working with positive and negative space.

I took photos of the insides of the pools showing the moss, barnicles and little creatures.

Thought process - developing ideas and starting to link with other works

Thought process- trying to understand how to create depth by working backwards.

1. One of originals (overexposed pic)

2. I then went into photoshop and erased all of the top layer of rock.

3. I went into the filter option and chose stamp (dark balance=50)

4. I went back a step, and went to the same option (stamp) however played with the options to show the shadow of the rock (Lower dark balence) and filled in the white rock ares with brown to show the difference between the first layer and depth.

1. I created a stencil from the stamp picture.

2. Experimented with water soluble water pastels. Using the brown as the darkest layer. But when it dried… it didnt turn out well

3. I used the paper I painted with tea bags (was going to be used for mark 3) as it didnt have the intense white colour and more of a natural look. First I created a stencil. I then made two pages of differing shades of brown using crete paper. I scrunched it up then layed it onto the page (scrunching it up on page too). I stuck the top layer onto the lighter coloured crete paper, cut out the next layer and repeated. I used crete paper as I believe it represents the inconsistencies of the rock formations. I decided to layer these pieces of paper rather than making it completely 2D, as I wanted to create a sense of depth in the rock pools.

4. This is a extract of my watercolour experiment. I used this technique over the final image using the grayish-green watercolour pencil to represent the moss inside the rock pools. I used a wet paintbrush and flicked the colour off the dry pencil. I concentrated this into the insides of the rock pools.

FINAL IMAGE- I also added the shadow back in (not completely exact) so the black matched the opposite side of the presentation (black in road safety, mark 5). I added little circles refering to the black barnicles in the pools.