Here are a recent collection of images. They are a mixture of hand drawn and digital art play.
Gomersal Primary School – Experimental Portrait Workshop
This was a really fun and creative art club. From large A2 printed portrait photographs the children traced their own images paying particular attention to the shapes that exist within the human face. This made for some really lovely and unusual drawings. The second stage was to make another tracing, but this time from the initial line drawing so that there was some extra degradation of form though this process.
Using a limited palette of colours, the children then inked the second drawing by almost block filling the shapes that they had discovered within the lines of their drawings.
I love how these beautiful images started to appear on the paper. We later scanned the images and went on to do some digital image manipulation with them. Great fun.
Line and Ink Work
DIGITAL MANIPULATION
WORKSHOP PHOTOS
Mr. Scoper
Nimble Line Bimble – 09.11.15
Shelly First School – Digital Urban Mural – Digital Illustration Workshops.
Using Dazzle 03 pupils created funky character designs to use in the production of a Digital Urban Mural. Further graphic experimentation had them exploring various tools within the Dazzle 03 software package where they used multiple layers and learned to transfer images from one document to another. The pupils then combined many graphic elements to form the finished artwork exploring colour, texture, image placement, small graphic additions and much more. I love how busy these images are and how they have come together as a group of images.
Audio Cassette
Bag Bandit B Boy
Nous Trois
Found this the other day. It’s a triptych of characters painted on board that I did back in 2007.
I’m not actually sure what happened to them or where they ended up, but I have always loved these characters.
Hue Too
Face illustration on A2 cartridge paper.
Berol Pen, Quink Ink, Posca Pen & Biro.
THE GIFt 2
Coffee Morning Sketch
A quick sketch with a bit of Photoshop play. Faces are just so expressive. They tell us so much about a person. Mood, intention, character, right up front. But sometimes it is more subtle. Micro expressions are harder to read, but they are there. You just have to look!
Earth Spirit
A quick pen drawing, digitally edited and coloured.
Shelly First School – IF I WERE KING OR QUEEN – Digital Illustration Workshops.
This was a fun project with Shelly First School where the children got to make King and Queen portraits out of their own faces as part of a whole schools creative arts week. The theme for the art produced during the weeks creative activities was all based around and celebrating the fact that Queen Elizabeth II will become our longest-reigning British monarch on 9 September 2015. A massive amount of artwork was produced during the workshops and a lot of fun was had along the way. Here are a few from the pile. I think they all look positively regal.
Rage Head
Endless Running Games – Gareth Durasow
Yes, I am responsible for the cover design, but the real genius is on the inside.
‘Endless Running Games’ is a collection of poems by Gareth Durasow.
Gareth isn’t at all reluctant about eloquently sketching out the grit and feculence of the human condition. He does it with an almost tongue in cheek poignancy. His observations of light juxtaposed by dark are formed anew as if one had never known the two before.
In essence: refined, brilliant, witty and challenging word journeys.
My personal favourites are PRAYERS FOR CAPTAIN AHAB and FOR THE LAST FLAT CAPPER.
Definitely worth a punt but don’t take my word for it, find out for yourself here… http://inpressbooks.co.uk/products/endless-running-games
or here… http://www.amazon.co.uk/Endless-Running-Games-Fruit-Bruise/dp/1907133909/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1434056268&sr=1-1&keywords=endless+running+games
Gomersal Primary School – Digital Portrait and Digital Urban Graphics Workshop
Working with KS2 art club I did a quick photo shoot with the children during their first session to get some source material for their illustrations.
Once that was done we loaded all the images into the computer and started the creative process.
Using Dazzle 3 the children were shown how to use the different layers to derive illustrated images from the photographs. They were then encouraged to experimented with colour to create their finished portraits.
Once these initial images had been finished I wanted the children to do something different with their portrait images. We looked at further developing the children’s ability to manipulate their original images in Dazzle 3. Using different layering techniques and a bank of texture images, the children added experimental textures and
graphics to form their final piece of work, inspired by the urban graphics that are akin to my style of work. Here are some of the final images…
Wonderful work I’m sure you will agree!
Digital Urban Graphics
A mixture of photographic and illustrated materials.
The Butterfly Effect
Hero Boy
New Illustration
Cartoon line boy, a super hero boy, equipped with a cape he’s a gold tooth boy.
He’s an out there boy, a real hero boy, a fine and dandy do it well and for the people boy!
Gomersal Primary School – Funky Character Designs
A fun workshop working with Key Stage 2 children exploring drawing skills and character development. The children got to try many new drawing skills and techniques before starting on their final images. They were also able to experimented with vibrant coloured inks trying out different mark making techniques before adding the fine detail with POSCA pens once the ink had dried. I love the energy in the finished artworks. They are all very bold, bright and a lot of fun.
Rowley Lane JIN School : Digital Urban Illustration Workshop
Using Dazzle 3, the children at Rowley Lane JIN School explored portrait illustration using multiple digital layers. When they had finished their main images derived from their own photo’s, they made tome funky textured canvases in which to place their illustrated selves. The workshop was a lot of fun and their finished artwork is just super. I love the expressions and colour work.
Self Portrait
Spectrum
SPECTRUM
The trick is to be one!
Into the Matrix
Pen and Red Crayon
Salendine Nook High School – ‘I CAN’ Street Graphics Project.
In 2013, Salendine Nook High School won the Guardian Newspaper’s ‘School We’d Like’ competition and was awarded £5000 in prize money to revamp the Blue Tunnel, which is a key linking walkway between different buildings in the school. See the initial post from The Guardian… The Guardian – Salendine Nook: graffiti art project transforms old walkway.
I was approached by the school in the summer of 2013 and was asked to facilitate a creative project consisting of a series of workshops based around the title ‘I CAN’. These workshops began in autumn term 2013 and ran through to March 2014.
The initial workshops explored the history and culture of street art and graffiti and looked at the myriad of artists whose work adorns the street of the world’s urban spaces. Particular focus was placed upon methods, techniques, colour use, image placement and characteristics concerning each individual artist’s approach and style.
We looked at everything from the huge typographic scrawls and intricate lettering styles of graffiti and the continued development and evolution of graffiti culture, to Wheat Paste posting, the Knit The City phenomenon, Banksy, The London Police, Shepard Fairey and many more.
The creative workshops were designed to produce a range of strong graphics, which were either hand drawn, painted, developed from photographic elements, made using collage techniques and indeed a mixture of all these modes. Strong emphasis was placed on different drawing techniques designed to loosen up the creative process and produce an unexpected quirkiness in the resulting graphics.
Students also explored the use of the light box to trace images in order to develop quick and strong graphic styles and to experiment with composition. There was also an emphasis on the significance of mark making, constructing textures using paint splats, printing with inked bubble wrap and other interesting found materials.
Sponged ink marks and small hand drawn elements like arrows, swirls, cross-hatching and all sorts of shapes and patterns were created in the exploratory process.
Out of the mass of graphics that were produced in the workshops, the students started to get a real and definite idea about which images they wanted to use in their final artworks.
The imagery was then scanned at high resolution and prepared for layering and colouring using Photoshop CS6. This allowed the creative process to be further investigated resulting in the impacting and beautiful graphics that were produced in the student’s final pieces.
The project was a wonderful journey of creativity from beginning to end and a lot of fun was had along the way.
I think the resulting artworks speak for themselves.
Check out the Guardian article here… The Guardian – How street art can boost learning and community engagement in schools.
This was a super project commissioned by the Guardian and funded by Zurich Municipal.
Daisy Daisy
Rowley Lane JIN School : Drawing – Digital Illustration – Image Manipulation – App Creativity
This was a lovely project at Rowley Lane. The children got to create lots of different illustrations using portrait photography as their starting point. Using textures, graphics and creative tablet apps to further manipulate the images, the year 2 – 6 children had some really brilliant ideas and moved between the creative platforms as if it were second nature.
The staff were really friendly and helpful too. I have always enjoyed working with this school.
Check out some of their artwork below.
Bradford Academy – Hometeam (AVC) Graphics Project
Working as Artist in Residence with young people at Bradford Academy recently in the production of funky graphics across four large circular boards. The design challenge was based on the Academy Value Contract (AVC) that students agree to adhere to. It is always great fun working at this school. Both staff and Students are equally enthusiastic for the creative process. All artwork has been digitally reproduced and is now displayed in the school.
Academy Value Contract
What will it look like, sound like and feel like if all learners from BA work/play safe physically?
We will have the maturity to self evaluate our actions. We will not discriminate against other members of the Academy and we will be responsible for our actions emotionally and physically.
What will it look like, sound like and feel like if all learners from BA work/play fair?
We will be fair, respectful and make sure everyone is valued in the school community. We will ensure everyone is motivated and be part of a team. We will also be given opportunities and be equally supported.
What will it look like, sound like and feel like if all learners from BA work/play safe emotionally?
We will not judge others for their individuality and we will respect everyone’s opinions and thoughts by treating everyone how we would like to be treated.
What will it look like, sound like and feel like if all learners from BA work/play hard?
We will, to the best of our ability, give 100% effort with pride and enthusiasm. This will help us to find our personal balance between working, playing and relaxing in order to reach our full potential.
The Finished Graphics
Beep Beep
The GIFt
Youth
Eco Warrior
Gomersal Primary School – Just Draw
JUST DRAW
I have recently been working with a fabulous set of key stage 1 children at Gomersal Primary School.
Together we have been exploring all sort of drawing techniques and having a lot of fun with creativity.
Here are a handful of images that have been produced over the past few weeks. There have been literally hundreds of drawings made, all of which have been amazing.