Alex Konahin
Author: jamesartwork
I am a student at Leek Collage, and this where my artwork is posted
Insect artists (real and not real)
Steven Kutcher
Kutcher was born in 1944 in Manhattan in New York and is known as the bug man of Hollywood, this was due to his art work using live bugs which he paint then he puts them on a piece of paper which they run around the page leaving mark on the print.
Kutcher has worked on many different movies like Spider man (2002) Jurassic Park.
Alex Konahin
Konahin is a self taught graphic artist. Konahin uses dip pens and india ink to create his pieces of art. he has done many different pieces of work like foxes, owls, insects and wolfs.
mold of insects
For this project I created clay moulds to produce plaster casts of insects. I based my creations on the drawings from the insect collection at the Potteries Museum that we had visited. I chose a dragonfly and a beetle as I thought these would make good moulds as they had clear and interesting outlines and were my best drawings.
I wanted to replicate their shape in the clay. I did this by cutting around the original drawing and using these shapes as templates to cut out the clay. I then fixed these to a square slab of clay using slip. When this had dried I then went over each insect carving in the detail from the drawing. To produce the moulds I used different types of equipment like carving pallets, rollers and flat head knife. The clay was then placed the kiln. ????????????????
A wooden frame was used around the clay to make a flexible inverted mould and when this was set a plaster cast was made from this of the insects.
Reflecting on this product I think that the dragonfly was more successful than the beetle as it was more recognisable and had a more delicate appearance which was more attractive. I felt that the process worked well although there were many steps to get to the end product.
Having tried this method it is not something that I particularly enjoyed but I can see how this would be useful if making multiples of a design as the mould can be used many times once produced. I found working with the clay quite messy and achieving the detail that I was looking for was not always possible.
If I was to use this method again I would chose a subject matter that was more interesting to me and had a bolder lines as this was difficult to create in the clay as was not very good at using the tools.
Metal Insects
Hexapoda
Hexapoda’s are a species of insects which are identified by their six legs.
The word Hexapoda originally came from Greek which translates to six legs.
Research:
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jamesjt235/hexapoda/
- Anna Collette Hunt
Anna Collette Hunt is based in Nottingham in England, Hunt uses clay to sculpt her work. Hunt believes that she is creating vivid worlds of art that people can step into. One of the things that she wants people to do is to look for small details of her world.
- Lucy Arnold
Lucy Arnold is a digital artist who was raised in California, Arnold’s main inspiration is nature. Her main pieces of work are with butterfly’s, birds and insects.
- Damion Hurst
Damion Hurst was born in 1965 in Bristol, UK and graduated from the Goldsmiths College, London. Hurst main interest is life and death and art. His most well know piece of work is called “Natural History” this piece was a steel and glass tank which was filled with a formaldehyde solution, Hurst then put a dead shark in the tank, since then he has put a dead cow, sheep and a horse in a tank.
- Mister Finch
Mister Finch was raised in Leeds in Yorkshire, UK. Finch never had formal training for textiles or sewing however, he did go and do a short course apart form that he learned everything himself. His main interest is insects, birds and flowers as he is interested in their life cycles and how they behave and act.
- Anna Van Bohemen
https://www.annavanbohemen.nl/
Bohemen main interest is the beauty of decay and what it leaves behind. The insect pieces were originally designed for children however they still fit with the rest of her work, with the remains looking like dead insects body with the shells being the only thing being left over from them.
- Yumi Okita
https://www.etsy.com/uk/people/irohandbags
Okita is a artist based in North Carolina, America. Okita mainly uses fiber wire and painted cotton to create visually exciting piece. Okita Main piece a vibrant colourful butterfly’s with extremely realistic.
- Etsuko Kagami-http://www.kathlibbertjewellery.co.uk/bees,%20birds,%20bears%20and%20blossoms/kagami02.html
Kagami main interest is in nature and how we miss the beauty of it everyday. Kagami main pieces are of insects and birds, recently Kagami has adding pieces that people can wear in order to fit the modern day demand.
Presentation Notes
Photoshop and Camera Settings
Camera Settings:
- Canon ESO 1300D
- Remote Controller
- Tripod
- ISO: 1600
- Exposure: -2
- Shutter speed: -4
Photoshop Settings:
- Document size: 20cm Width and 7cm Height
- Brightness: -20
- Contrast: 30
- Layer Effects: Overlay, Lighten,Soft light and Multiply
- Exposure: +0.10
Final Products:
My Sense Of Place evaluation
For this project I was told by Anne-Lise to create an artist piece of work from my sense of place, for me that place is Cheddleton and Leek as I have grown up within the area and I know them well. I was advised to focus on using my photography skills for this project as they would come in handy. I took this advice and took photos of Leek and Cheddleton and then put them into Photoshop.
For research I looked into Peter Mckinnon and Brandon Woelfel who are both photographers, with both of them I found there composition and editing skills to be extremely helpful for the shoot and for the editing. I found that I work best with photography and Photoshop editing.
I have found that heat pressing images onto mugs to be the most interesting as there is no limit to what you can do with that style of art.
The main focus of the pictures is the colour with them being urban colours of reds yellows and oranges, the images also convey’s movement with the cars shooting past leaving light trails. For two of the images I chose to mirror them to give them a different look and feel them, this give them an almost motion blur effect which made them fade into each other.
I believe that this Idea has been relativity successful as it conveys my sense of place. I have now put them on mugs to display them, this has made them look very perceptible and unique.
However, I would have chosen a different location like a street with neon lights as that would look more colourful and interesting to people. I would also have gotten different shot types so that I had a verity of shots. also I feel that the season effected how the pictures looked so I feel that I could have gotten some in summer which would have looked different.
Brandon Woelfel
Woelfel is a New York based photographer
A video by Peter Mckinnon show how he does his method in this video about him:
His main camera he uses is the Nikon D750 FX-format Digital SLR Camera Body
His main lens for his camera is the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G Lens with Auto Focus
Woelfel photos use a lot of light which are often from neon signs or from a Prism which he uses to cast rainbow colours on his subjects.
Most of his subjects are of people with some of them being face on the camera or with them doing some action like holding an object or dancing.
I found that the best part of Woelfel’s work is his use of light and how he makes it fade on to his subjects.
My problem with his work is that his work can look too light sometimes and could do with some more shadows and shading.
Sense Of Place
I have chosen to use Cheddleton and Leek for my sense of place due to living with the area for many years which means that I understand how it it works and how I feel about it.
The artist I am using to inspire me is Peter Mckinnon and Brandon Woelfel who both do photography and Youtube.
I am planning on using on of his techquies for my work which then I will apply to a product of my design.
I belive that I will use a light trails shoot where I keep the shutter speed slower to capture the light from car lights to create a dramatic image.
James Artwork 