This blog post is comprised of my development process of the unit 10 course project, Write It. My development is informed by the analysis of my workshop process featured in my previous post and will also be informed by further research, peer and tutor feedback, and personal analysis.
Aims
My development for this project has a focus on strengthening collage and digital illustration, with consideration of audience, format, and composition to consider creating a piece which narrates manifestations of queer identity.
Development Research (Knowledge & Enquiry):
Further research into queer narratives, considering format, style, and composition.
Further research into collage artists.
Further research into visual inspiration.
Development of Outcomes (Process):
Collage experimentation with application of different collage techniques, and format, and composition inspired by visual inspiration research and consideration of concept.
Text formatting experimentation, considering incorporation of text.
Digital illustration experimentation and consideration of how to combine collage and illustration styles.
Development of Final Outcome Plan (Realisation & Communication):
Audience research, posting outcomes on social media, collecting audience response to develop visual composition, evaluate success of outcomes, and consider final outcome format and distribution.
Collection of peer and tutor feedback, to strengthen ideas, adopt new perspectives, and consider professional outcomes.
Personal analysis with consideration of conceptual aims, visual inspirations, and development.
Tactical Collage
Throughout the Write It workshops I began experimenting with digital collage, combining found imagery with digitally drawn illustration and text from my primer. I felt some of these collages seemed incohesive, the imagery collaged being static and disjointed. To develop this I created tactical collage, to experiment with composition and create more cohesive outcomes.
1) Sweat exchanged in passing moments of a nightclub.
Concept: This line describes queerness through the nightlife scene, referring to moments of intimacy between friends and lovers in the nightclub.
Process: To recreate a nightclub scene of neon lights, I collated bold colours and textures, layered beneath clippings of crowds representative of a busy scene. The two women at the centre are layered over one another in dancing poses, as though they are sharing a moment of intimacy. The text recreates the line, using similar colour and font to create a cohesive style, the white/black white/red contrasts the busy background image to centralise the text.
Analysis: The background image strongly evokes a nightclub scene, the flashes of colour peeking through the bustling crowds, however further layering could have created a more three dimensional effect. The positioning of the central women contrast the rest of the image, yet their poses are static and not representative of the movement of dance, they both face the audience, losing a sense of connection.
2) To paint the inside of ourselves on the outside
Concept: This line portrays queerness through the lens of make-up, an integral tool for queer individuals to recreate their identities.
Process: This image aimed to create a contrast between the subject and the 'painting' of the subject, finding a masculine individual, layered behind overly feminine hands with extravagant false nails and jewellery. A motif of the idea of queerness challenging ideas of masculinity and femininity. The red drips are representative of blood, to narrate the sinister consequence of being visibly queer in terms of oppression and violence. The red text aligns with the image itself, whilst the white contrasts the image and positions the text as the focal point.
Analysis: The contrast created between the two gendered representations is strong, but this could have been done more elaborately, thinking of more binary ideas of masculinity and femininity, or using contrasting colours. The dripping 'blood' allows for a depth of meaning, and creates a flow which combines the overall image.
3) To make love
Concept: This line narrates queerness as it is enacted between lovers, capturing a sense of intimacy.
Process: This image creates a focus on the female form, with the idea of narrating queerness beyond my own restrictions. The two forms combine as though they are engaging in an act of intimacy, their bodies not explicitly nude to create a sense of privacy. Using soft pencil and lowercase text allowed for a developed softness.
Analysis: There is a strong concept for this image and the illustrative decisions emphasise the desired mood. However the portraiture is not strong and needs to be developed with more attention on the human form.
4) To paint the inside of ourselves on the outside (2)
Concept: This piece is a development from my first illustration of the above line, focusing on binary and structural representations of masc and femme and their interpretations through queer identity.
Process: This image focuses takes the binary idea of masculinity, as bold with a crotch forward pose, and leather jacket. Contrasted by the overtly feminine painted lips and breasts. This allows for a contrast between the two ideas, with the head covered to remove the ability to assume gender.
Analysis: My use of imagery in this piece allows for a strong contradiction between representations of binary gender, however it is very reliant on found imagery, which doesn't allow for detailed experimentation. This concept needs to be explored further, perhaps through drawn illustration.
Further Research; Personal Journals
For this project I want to narrate a personal manifestation of queerness through the style of a visual diary, to create an intimate interpretation of queer identity. Initially inspired by queer narratives such as Joe Orton and Lou Sullivan's diaries, I want to consider how this can take form through visual media. To explore this I look at my personal visual journal between 2014 and 2016.
Away from academic pretence, this journal visualises queer identity in a private way, documenting my lived experiences as a queer teenager. The journal covers subjects of queerness mentioned in my primer text such as love, heartbreak, pain, and unapologetic queerness. The outcome is raw and unpolished, a quality I aim to recreate in my current project with the application of technical and professional practice acquired through my degree.
This extract is a torn segment of text, layered over images of intimacy. The film quote in hand-written text represents an idea of romantic longing, when combined with the pressed flowers this emphasises the idea of lost or forgotten love.
This piece is a collection of flowers, a dancing figure in soft pencil, and the text I don't like the person I've become. (not pictured). The soft quality to this piece, emphasised in the pencilled text and fragile pressed flowers, evokes the feeling of sorrow and pain. The simplicity of the piece further emphasises an idea of loneliness, creating a visual archive of a feeling of unhappiness.
This piece combines softly drawn portraits of lovers with handwritten poetry in pencil, this creates a sense of intimacy as we peek into a private moment of sorrow. The shaky and soft handwriting further emphasises the idea of pain and sadness, whilst the crying figure evokes feeling of melancholy.
This segment is a torn poem by Phillip Larkin, purposely aged through tea staining and wrinkling. This treatment signifies the creators feelings toward the poem, to be representative of having once held meaning, yet now being forcefully put in the past.
Digital Collage
Inspired by the designs created through tactical collage, I wanted to recreate these ideas as digital collages using found imagery, and incorporating text in a similar style.
These collages aim to narrate the line - to paint the inside of ourselves on the outside - considering creating contrasting colours. The idea of the collages is strong but the skill is weak, the overall composition is disjointed and doesn't flow well.
These collages aim to narrate the line - I cannot peel away my queerness, I cannot discard it on the bedroom floor. My chosen imagery aims to touch on the brutality of having to unpeel ones queerness, incorporating the zip and closet background to touch on ideas of coming out of the closet. Again I feel these outcomes are very static, don't flow well, and the colour composition isn't appealing. However I like the mismatched text composition as it returns to the clipping style of my tactical collage.
This collage develops the portraiture in my initial to make love tactical collage. I focused here of creating more accurate portraiture, and considering how I could create movement by capturing only segments of the subject and overlaying and blurring the line drawings. I think this piece is really strong, and translates the intimacy of the line well through the use of blurred thin line.
Analysis:
Overall I think these collages are a lot weaker than work created in the workshops, I think there is an unfinished, static quality to the pieces which doesn't show clear development. To improve this I need to complete more visual research with consideration of the format of my outcomes. I think the lack of direction in terms of the format weakens these outcomes as there is no clear idea of purpose for the pieces.
Digital Illustrations
After the Make a Special Book Workshop, I collected peer and tutor feedback via Padlet for my concertina book:
Inspired by this feedback I wanted to create single pieces based on the designs from the workshop.
Illustrating the line - I shall tell you of cruel laughter - these pieces narrate the idea of being mocked for a visibly queer identity, creating repetitive mocking faces with garish sharp teeth. The background of the image aimed to create a wall of overwhelming laughter, merging text formatting to create a busy scene repetitive of the shame felt in that situation. Visually there are some strong ideas here, but there is a large separation stylistically from previous outcomes, which inspires further consideration into the merging of styles through collage.
These images narrate a line which suggests a desire to break free from oneself and one's queer identity. I wanted to evoke a gruesome mood which would come from being able to peel free from your skin, merging the zip within the figures body, and adding elements of dripping blood. The background of 'I cannot' creates a desperation and pain, which comes with repetitive intrusive thoughts.
Visual Research; Book Covers
With consideration of the pieces for the project so far, I feel I have come to a standpoint which is weakening my outcomes, as there is no strong directive ideas. To overcome this I have returned to my visual research to consider outcome approaches. Inspired by the Write it Workshop, Make a Special Book, I was interested in how a book covers can tell a story through simple use of text and image.
Context:
Initially I was inspired by these gay vintage paperbacks. Although some have been edited by different artists to be more homoerotic, I think the way the suggestive text and image combines to create erotic subtext is really clever. I like the vintage style of the covers, emphasised by the yellowed and grainy quality and cheesey imagery, creating small motifs of the past. Key design choices such as bold colours, the painted quality, and bold coloured text composition, is something I would like to incorporate into my own designs.
Shape and Colour:
Looking more toward book cover composition, I was inspired by these vintage Penguin Classics. In their traditional styles these covers use simplistic shape and colour to narrate the concept of the book. I think this is interesting in application to my own work when considering how to incorporate my digitally drawn designs into my collaged work. The use of white space, cut out shapes, and bold segments of black/white allows for emphasis of key shapes to direct the audience's perception of the story.
In contrast to the Penguin Classics' use of block colour and simple shape, these covers incorporate detailed linework alongside darker backgrounds. I like these designs as it evokes darker feelings and allows me to consider ways of incorporating line work into my own collaged works. I also like the ageing of the books here, this gives the pieces a personal quality, as though they are a personal belonging to somebody. This allows for an attachment of personalised context.
Composition:
These cover designs combine the two visual elements of the above covers, with the use of shape and colour of Penguin Classics and experimental use of line illustration. These designs explore composition which morphs the traditional book layout, keeping it's contextual meaning but applying a personalised visualisation of the context.
Creating Book Covers
Inspired by the course project workshop and my visual research, I wanted to create my own book covers, representative of the different manifestations of queerness in my text:
Queerness as pain
Queerness as romance and intimacy
Queerness as self-expression
Initially I chose 2 book covers I liked the visual composition of, left: a sunset which would allow me to capture romance, and right: deep reds representative of blood which would allow for portrayal of pain.
To create blank canvases I used photoshop to edit out any visual imagery I didn't have use for, and any text.
These final pieces experiment with digital collage and the incorporation of digital drawn illustration, I utilise text within the titles to create central focus points for an audience and to convey the text in a way which merges with the image. I think these images are strong as they create overall representations of the desired mood and context. I aged the images by using canvas texture filter, and grain filter, this allows for the element of time to be incorporated into the outcome, evoking ideas of history and sentimentalism, which would be associated with memories and the past.
Peer/ Tutor Feedback: Course Project Crit 19/01/2021
"Really interesting pieces, I love how the vintage effect has been created, and how the final design completely manipulates the initial image."
"It may be useful to collect some physical vintage paperbacks to consider tactical collage."
"It would be nice for these pieces to be developed by identifying key design features you like in the initial book covers and creating own covers from scratch."
Action: Inspired by the Course Project Crit, I wanted to experiment with making my own covers from scratch considering key design elements identified in my visual research.
This piece uses imagery created in the course workshops, in response to the line - to make love as though it is an act of defiance. Taking inspiration from the penguin classics I overlaid a deep orange version of the couple, and a black line version of the couple, leaving white space in between. This creates a sense of movement with the overlapping shape and line. Using design prompts such as shape, colour, font, and text placement from my visual research I created my own design as though it is a Penguin Classic. To add the aged element to the piece I overlaid a wrinkled book template, editing brightness and contrast to merge the image, and applying the grain and canvas texture filter. This creates a three dimensional effect as though it is an actual owned book cover.
This piece uses similar design prompts as in the first outcome, I chose to change the text of this image to 'unzip' instead of 'unpeel' as I felt that aligned more with the visual narration of the text. This piece is effective but not as clean as the first image as the illustration itself doesn't sit in it's own border so flows into the shape composition of the book itself.
Following similar design process to the other illustrations I chose for this piece to use a deeper red block colour, aligning with the context of the chosen line. This is strong as the image seems more complete as it is able to sit on its own without the cover.
Analysis:
Overall these images are incredibly strong as a set, I think the weakest image is the second as it doesn't have the same three dimensional quality as the other designs. I want to push this further by creating a series of additional pieces which incorporate more segments of text to align with the mood of each cover.
Peer/ Tutor Feedback: Course Project Crit 26/01/2021
Personal Question: How can I begin to incorporate the different visual elements of my project; the collage, digital illustration, and visual inspiration and concept of queer diaries?
"It's great to see development, but the digital illustrations are very literal, I think you need to go back to the beginning and start to read between the lines in your text. Although the digital pieces are good, the intimate quality which is present in the visual diaries is lost, perhaps think about curating the original diaries and finding meaning in your text which correlates with aspects of the diaries."
"Its interesting how you have identified key themes in the text through the covers, but you could push this further creating dummy books or small digital books on Issue the graphic packaging is going well, but the interior isn't as strong. The digital pieces are polished and show great development, but the sense of spontaneity present in the diaries is lost, it becomes almost performative - an aspect a private diary would not have. Consider focusing on curation, looking at the diaries there's a huge quantity of work you can draw on, instead of generating new pieces consider how you can collage and adapt old pieces, and keep the sense of privacy."
Action: This crit was really beneficial for me in reconsidering my concept. Looking at the queer diaries from my initial there is a sense of intimacy I initially noted which is becoming lost in the digital designs, and the concept is subsequently becoming weaker. I need to research curators to explore how I can begin to draw from my own personal diaries.