More clay tests...

I cut out some shapes in earthenware clay and then drew portraits on top using sgraffito techniques.  I added some slip in a painterly fashion to some of the portraits, ready for bisque firing.

I also hand moulded two stamps in stoneware clay, to use to create patterns in soft clay.  I chose to create a flower and a vine pattern.

The final picture shows the beginning of a vase I plan to create using the coil method; I have started the vase here by making a thumb pot in stoneware clay on a spinner, then adding coils of clay using my hands before joining them to the layer below using a serrated kidney.  After this, I will smooth the lines out using a smooth rubber kidney.

Making clay moulds for cameos

Another idea I have had for my project relating to French aristocracy and the contrast between beauty and death is creating clay cameos, onto which I can draw portraits (either using sgraffito techniques on the clay itself or other methods).

I found some moulds that were circular and oval-shaped, in order to press earthenware clay into and create a frame-like piece.  Once I had practised these, and created some lovely cameos with different coloured slips and portraits sgraffito-d into the slip (please see photos), I made a cast of a decorative glass plate I bought in order to have a frame with decoration on to use as a mould.

 

 

 

Making clay pots for glaze and slip tests

I have decided to work in earthenware clay for my project as, when fired, it has a lovely deep terracotta red colour - ideal if I want to show the contrast between death and beauty in revolutionary France.  

My main idea is to show this contrast, perhaps through making portraits in clay or adding red colours to the inside of beautifully-shaped pots or vases that have ornamental or decorative designs on the outside.

I tried throwing and hand moulding a few pots, to which I added various colours of slip (such as blue or green) and then carving various patterns in using a needle (sgraffito technique).  Once bisque fired, I applied either clear or honey glaze, specifically for earthenware pieces.  Below are some photographs of the process.

 

Final Major Project - chateau pictures

For several weeks in the summer before this final year of university I worked at a chateau in a small rural village in France.

The chateau itself is beautiful, albeit still with some areas right at the top to restore, but it has several guest rooms in the style of the era it was built as well as a large restaurant room, bar, breakfast room and hallways with chandeliers suspended from the ceiling.

Below are two photographs I took to show the shape of the chateau and the beautiful shape of the main stairway.

 

After working here I have several ideas; I would like to work in ceramics to create pieces either in the style of objects seen and found in the chateau or reflecting French culture in some way.

Butterfly portrait

For this portrait, I decided to draw a woman (as with most of the fashion photography models), surrounded by butterflies.  I am using coloured pencil for this, and then I plan on outlining the butterflies with felt tip or fineliner pen.  Below are progress shots.

 I decided to add quite a lot of hair in the picture to give an appearance similar to that of the models used by Tim Walker, as well as similar to how fairies and other fantasy creatures are depicted.

The butterflies I have chosen to draw in different colours to stand out, as well as giving them harsh black outlines and some white detailing on the wings.

Below is my final result.

Tim Walker - flowers/nature adornments

Thinking about facial and beauty adornments led me to consider the option of natural accessories, such as flowers, insects and even animals.

I discovered some work of the fashion photographer Tim Walker on reading a fashion blog, after realising I had seen much of his work before.  Walker is renowned for using bizarre, ethereal and fantasy landscapes in his work, including many models of (and some real) flowers and insects.  Below are a few of his works which particularly stood out to me.

I also discovered this fashion photo of a model by Ben Toms, using butterflies and butterfly wings as a mask similar to a masquerade one.

I would quite like to create a portrait with butterflies, possibly in coloured pencil as that is a medium I have not used before in this project.

Masquerade mask edits

Using a beautiful portrait of a woman wearing a masquerade mask I found on Pinterest, I have created some edits to showcase the contrast between the eyes and the intricacy of the mask.

These first two edits I chose to use a dark blue and light blue.  The first edit is in a block dark blue colour, which nicely accentuates the detail on the mask as well as fading out the detail of the hair and clothes.  
For the second edit I mixed the watercolour and coloured pencil effects together in order to create more pastel tones for the portrait, which in turn added lighter blue hues to the eyes, mask and clothes.

The last two edits I've created in black and white.  The first one is a mixture of an imprint and charcoal effects, which created an interesting and slightly blurred background effect, whereas the second one is a pencil drawing effect in which I raised the pencil thickness in certain areas and lowered it in others.I think these edits beautifully enhance the detail of the masquerade mask, as well as emphasizing the detail of the eyes and portrait in general, as well as the direction of the subject's gaze.