TIME PASSING BY
ARTIST RESEARCH 3 - JELENA BULAJIC
The content of Bulajić’s work is multiple old people, from different ages and genders. To get an idea of the both large and small scale Bulajić works in, I have referenced multiple pictures within my research . The names of each of Bulajić’s artwork consists of the person she is drawing. Moreover, her pieces were created fairly recently within the past few years as she was born in 1990 and only graduation with a BA in Visual Arts in 2012. This is slightly ironic due to the fact that she is fairly young but focuses on drawing older aged people. The meaning of Bulajić’s work itself examines the effects of ageing on the human face which links in well with the idea of my main theme being how eyes don't significantly change over time but how the skin and face surrounding them does.
Due to the content of the artwork, there are multiple lines and textures within the face creating the wrinkles, fine hair and skin like imperfections within the face. A lot of the techniques have been repeated throughout the full face in each portrait, to create a more hyper-realistic appearance. In terms of size, she works in very extreme terms. For example, her canvas can range from 29.7 x 21 cm up to 320 x 237 cm (I have referanced multiple pictures to the size to get an idea of the size of artwork).
I learned from my visit to the Scottish National Portrait Museum, that she creates her work using mixed media on linen. Through more thorough research, I was able to find out that multiple pieces of her work were made out of acrylic polymer emulsion, marble dust, ground granite, ground limestone, kaolin, graphite, charcoal. This explains my initial thoughts about it appearing to be marble.
Even though this artist isnt highly relevant for the tecnhnique of the art itself, the meaning and inspiration it has given me is very significant within my project. I feel the main focus within this particular work is on the wrinkles themselves and how they represents the age and someones past. Even though the wrinkles are very intiricate and almost ditracting, i still feel the eyes are very piercing which is something I would like to capture within my work.
CRUMPLE PAPER PHOTOGRAPH EXPERIMENT
My previous research into Jelena Bulajić has inspired my to crumple my photography of my Nanny and younger sister. I have done this to simply enhance the idea o of wrinkles within the face. I have created contrast by using a young girl and older women by creating almost an ironic twist. This is due to the fact that I have experimented creating wrinkles on a 7 year old girl to pull further forward the idea of age changing out skin and face but not our eyes. As well as this, I also feel the experiments of my Nanny my usual model have been successful and have communicated my ideas well as in my opinion they have highlighted and enhanced the wrinkles that are already there. I also feel that particularly within the picture of my Nanny it has almost made her eyes looked bigger and stand out more. I feel this communicates the idea of even when the face becomes old and full of distracting lines, marks and wrinkles the eyes can still stand out, possibly more that before.
I have refined my experiments further by photocopying the original pieces of work. I found that photocopying the crumpled experiments was very effective and overall successful as it enhanced the lines and marks that had been made further by creating shadows. I personally prefer the photocopies over the originals because it appears they have more detail and depth.
I have experimented creating both very harsh obvious crumples and more subtle less obvious crinkles. I like both of the different experiments but believe the more harsh crumpled pieces will be more beneficial to inspiring my drawings later on and helping my to develop the use of wrinkles within my work. I believe the use of the media has been successful within this experiment as paper is a very easy medium to re-shape and create lines/marks within it.
I also like the aspect of how once you make a deep crease or fold within the paper it is very hard to remove and therefore has to stay there. This aspect of trying not to make mistakes because of the permanent effect links back in with the artist Mark Powell and the reason behind the use of biro pen.
To develop my ideas further and if I had more time, I would experiment using media that I have previously used within the project such as graphite pencil and biro pen to draw the crumpled photographs themselves. I feel as if the photocopies especially would be very effective if drawn as it would create new lines and distort the face. This could enhance the idea of age making someone appear completely different as they grow older but their eyes staying the same. More over, I feel as if this experiment would be beneficial to my drawing skills themselves as it enhance the use of wrinkles and sharp lines that I would be drawing within my portraits.
CRUMPLE EXPERIMENT - REFINEMENT
I felt because the crumple experiments were so successful both visually and communicating my ideas, that developing them further was necessary. Therefore, I carried my Photoshop experiment of putting clocks into eyes through to my crumple experiment.
I found this just as easy as my previous experiment due to the fact that the crumples within the photographs almost made the eyes clearer and easier to edit.
I feel visually they have been very effective and portray the idea of ‘time passing by’. Although, I feel adding clocks may be slightly too literal in representing time. Therefore, instead I will begin to include and experiment with old photographs from my families past to create a nostalgic effect rather than the use of clocks.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST - BULJAIC AND BROMHEAD
As I have researched into both the artists Buljaic and Bromhead I elt comparing them would help me develop my ideas further considering they cover similar themes and ideas within their work.
For example, both the artists focus on old age within their work. The subject the focus is on is old indivudals, and create a large emphasis on the wrinkles and blemsishes on the face. Where as Bromhead only focuses on certain aspects of the face such as the eyes and leaves an outline for the rest of the portrait, Buljaic works in a completely different style. Instead of selecting certain areas to work into, she creates detail within the full portriat.
If i were to take one of these styles forward, it would be Bromheads due to the fact that I am focusing on the 'unfinished' appeanace as in my opinion is gives more meaning, rather than completing the whole drawing and leaving nothing to the imagination.
Another similarity within their work is the use of both males and females. They both like to cover different genders but focus on one age group which I find very interesting. Where as, one large comparison is the scale at which they work. Bromhead creates fairly small pieces of art work compared to Buljaic who apart from a handful of smaller sized pieces, created 20 metre long canvas drawings. For my project, I believe I would like to create my piece bigger rather than smaller. This is because even though often you can get more detail within a smaller size canvas within a shorter scale of time, i feel sometimes because the image itself is so small the detiail of the drawing is lost and that it isnt as eyecatching as it could be. Where as, when I saw Buljaics work in person, it instantly caught my eye due to its large size and intense detail.
PHOTOGRAPH LAYERING EXPERIMENT
During my previous experimentation, I came across this image on Pinterest. Instantly it caught my eye as i have never seen anything like it before. Even though it is different to all of my artists, it links in with my previous crumple experiments.
Working in the style of the unknown artist, I have interepreted the work differently. Instead of placing the younger image of the person ontop of the older photo, i have completed it the other way round. This is because as my Nanny is the first within the generations of myself and my mother, I feel it is more appropriate if we are behind her and she is revaling our faces. More that the younger images of myself and my mother could represent a younger image of her - almsot like her past has ripped through to the present.
In my opinion, I believe my first experiment with the image of myself behind my grandmother has been more successful due to the closer similarities within the skin tone, face shape and position of facial features.
I have also sized my image more accuratley with the image of my nanny compared to the other experiment. For example, the image of my mother in the background is too big for the image of my grandmother and therefore doesnt look effective. The facial features are too big for the image infront and therefore the eyes and lips look too out of place.
Within my mothers photograph, the skin colour is also very different, making the overall edit blend less effectively.