So, not strictly a How-To article, more of a this-is-how-I-did-it-if-you're-interested-article. Monday is bump in for the
Extra Cheeese Stage 3: Retired Materials exhibition - of which I am part of. This year the group show requires artists to team up with a designer and create an artwork/design using retired (second-hand, recycled) materials...
I've teamed up with a mate from college to create a pretty unique artwork based on a hand. There's not really any big meaning to it all, but it has a good evolutionary thing going on. This wire hand is one half of the piece, I won't give too much away at this stage since I'll post again with second round photos. So here's what I've done for my half and how I did it!
Retired Materials
- An old photo frame I had lying in my studio;
- Some old pieces of foam (+ cardboard not pictured);
- A second-hand book,
Testing Transparency
The old book will serve as the backing to the photo frame, open to the middle so that it's even and flat. The background texture in my digital artwork is going to be printed onto transparency film, so I printed a test sheet with varying percentages of opacity. I was afraid that it would print out too dark, but it's actually quite light even at 100%, so I've adjusted the levels to make it a bit darker.
Assembly and Layering
I then made a huge mess! I printed out each element of the artwork (like a collage sheet) onto photo paper which had the thickness of light card. Cutting down some old cardboard boxes (which I never got around to throwing out!), I used double sided sticky tape to mount the images on. I then layered all the pieces together in order and used pieces of the foam to help support it all. This is the most tedious and difficult part.
Voila!
And this is how it looks (in the dark with crappy flash). Next up is combining this half with the other. I'll be taking photos tomorrow, so stay tuned!
If you're in Sydney next Thursday 6th of August, come down to the Saatchi and Saatchi Gallery in the Rocks to check out some amazing collaborative artworks (and have a few bevvies!)
I do love vintage items. Which is totally not evident in my 'ikea-korner' studio. But I was chuffed the other day to add a cute pile of vintage books, all in various states of disrepair, with a ribbon to tie them together. Something about those old, decaying tomes sitting amongst the clean, white furniture really appeals to me...
A roundup of some recent amazing posts, people, photos etcetera...
If these have piqued your interest, why not try making a traditional favorite? Roanoke.com have this diagram to show you how to make a classic crane: 
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