It's Christmas!

Over the past few weeks to countdown to Christmas has been on! Over that time I've done some illustrations of the festive activities I've found myself part taking in:

Carol Singing, although i wasn't actually singing in them!

Shopping At The Dublin Christmas Markets

Walking My Dogs In The Forest

And countless nights out..........................

Happy Christmas!! xx

Thesis Trauma

Currently i am in the unfortunate position of writing my degree thesis. Hours of reading, writing and praying for inspiration have taken their toll on me! So i did what any art student would do and expressed my trauma through an illustration! Note the bags under my eyes from lack of sleep, messy hair, glazed stare and my trusted pink fluffy pj top, which i have found myself living in! oh the joys.....

.......sorry the lighting is pretty bad for taking photo's!

Illustration Update . . . . . . . Linda Live At The Olympia!!

Here's the latest installment of my daily fashion illustrations, although i have to admit that i haven't been doing them everyday!! Must get back into that habit. The above illustration is the outfit i wore when i made my debut appearance on stage at the Olympia Theatre over the weekend!!! I also did some illustrations of my good friend and avid train companion Noelle, because she's never been drawn as an illustration before!

Noelle:

Budget Day 2012

"After Winter Comes Spring"

This animation was created in response to the economic crises which Ireland is experiencing at the present time. I made this animation using chalk and a small chalk board. The narrative represents the dark times which we are experiencing, winter. Hopefully someday these hard times will lift

and spring will return. I find this animation appropriate for the present time when we are awaiting the daunting budget of 2012 to be released on 6th December. A hard winter is expected!!

100 Things To Draw

It is known that I am an avid fan of blogs, and i especially love Pikaland illustration blog. Recently i have been scrolling through their past posts and i came across a wonderful one named "What To Draw: A List." This blog lists 100 things that you can draw, when your looking for inspiration. Of course the one hundred listed are all from observation, which makes it even more relevant for enhancing drawing skills in such an easy fashion.

Check it out >>> http://pikaland.com/2011/05/18/what-to-draw-a-list

What I Wore Today......Fashion Illustration

                      Being a huge fan of fashion illustration, it was going to be at matter of time before i came across the wonderful blog called "What I Wore Today........In Drawing."This blog allows followers to send in their illustrations demonstrating and describing what they wore on a certain day. I find it fascinating to see how illustrators approach the same subject in their own way. I decided to follow the trend myself but in my own way......... being in art college means I'm constantly (or should be) drawing and painting. So each morning when i arrive in i make it my business to do a quick sketch of what I'm wearing. I find it a wonderful way to start the day as I'm getting stuck into drawing first thing! These are some which i have done over the past few weeks.

Bauhaus : School of Modernism

     
 The most celebrated art school of the twentieth century is the Bauhaus of Germany. Established in 1919 it was nick-named "The School Of Modernism," which bid to integrate all art practices in an interdisciplinary practice. The Bauhaus movement  has had lasting implications, effecting every artist who studied in an art institution since the 1920’s.  It wasn’t their beliefs in art but the terms in which art is taught, which we continue to practice to this present day. The Bauhaus was unique for it’s time, it was avant-garde and pursed the opportunity which led to modernism, and through it’s willingness to embrace the mechanical age. Members of the Bauhaus practiced an “anti-academic education.” They believed that traditional academies didn’t distinguish between high and applied arts. Also believing that they dissolved the connection between fine art and architecture. The Bauhaus believed that traditional academies did not prepare the artist for the real world and the times in which they were living in. The founder of the Bauhaus, Walter Gropius vowed to change this.

Bauhaus Publishment of Curriculum 1922

                   

             Gropius felt that all art disciplines should work together, interdisciplinary. The emphasis wasn’t on what was taught, but how it was taught. Learning through doing. Students of all ages were accepted into the Bauhaus, people from different backgrounds, with varying levels of education behind them. Different nationalities and religions. A wide range of diversity in people would help the development of the human character. The Bauhaus wanted members to actively participate in both design and discussion.It attracted international personalitiesGropius’ visions’ and the Bauhaus teachings are still practiced today. The development of a new way to teach art was embraced. The ideas of interdisciplinary courses are still in art colleges. No disciplines are taught in isolation, no disciplines are deemed more important that the other. Learning through doing is the bases of art, theories can be taught but putting them into practice is another matter. Even mainstream schools, at primary and secondary level have embraced the notion of learning through doing. Also the establishment of a preliminary course was adopted in a similar way in art education all over the world and is still used today

 The Bauhaus changed the course of art. Many artists adopted the concept of a studio community, not as a place where art was created in isolation, but a studio where work and play merged into one. Designs from the Bauhuas are still relevant today, ninty years aftr they were orignally sketched on

paper!

Bauhaus furniture: Breuer club-chair, 1925 - 1926

"Every work of art is a child of its age”

- Vasily Kandinsky

Ps. I have a known weakness for the Bauhaus, their design and pedagogy on art education, must be why im frantically writing my thesis on it at the minute!

Picasso's One Line Drawings

        When in doubt, take Picasso out! Drawing simple is hard, the artist i turn to for inspiration, who handles "simple" so simply is Picasso. Looking at his animal gesture drawings is a lesson in drawing itself. His economy of line that portray the exact gesture of the animal is perfection.  These simple drawings show that detail isn't everything, lines should be simple and economical. Drawing is about seeing and these drawings show Picasso's vision.

......... Although it can be said that i also have a soft spot for Picasso due to the love he shows his dogs, always an ever present feature in his studio were his dachshund Lump and his beloved Afghan hound Kasbel. Kinda like me and my poodle Kiwi :)

Charmine Olivia

Recently i came across this american based artist Charmaine Olivia, i find her work so inspirational. I could spend hours looking at her use of the female form with animal body parts and liquid ink drawings. Take a look for yourself!

http://charmaineolivia.com/drawings.html

Ink Motion

"The Act Of Change"

"The Act Of Change"

Dancer Layer

                    As humans, we are constantly in motion. Weather we are aware of this or not, change is an ever present form in our lives. "The Act Of Change" painting incorporates the different aspects of change encountered in life. The dancers represent the physical aspect of motion, the girl crying represents the change which we find difficult, while the girl with her arms out represents the liberation felt when positive change occurs. The painting is fragmented because change rarely impacts one aspect of our life in isolation, it seeps into the very roots of our soul. It's seldom one swift motion. Weather major or minor, change is one of life's certainties.

Girl Crying Layer

Girl reaching out, layer

All three layers seperate

Final piece when all layers are together.

"Step III" Exhibition

                     The "Step III" exhibition took place in Block T, Smithfield Dublin in April 2011. It was a collaborative exhibition of work from myself and some fellow colleagues of mine in 3rd year Fine Art at DIT. The piece which i displayed in the exhibition was my "Echoed Vacancy" piece which i spoke about earlier. The exhibition was truly successful and a wonderful experience. Hopefully we will have more exhibitions to follow!

Emma Brown

Doug Barrett

Claire Mc Cluskey

Carmel Mannion

Mason McMillon

Maeve O'Flaherty

Thomas Moran

Bridie Farrell

Emma Brown & Linda Byrne

3rd Yr DIT 2011 - "Step III"