Derby
We lately went on a trip to Derby museum of making, and afterwards to the theatre to see Ballet Black’s 20th anniversary show. The trip to the museum was another different way to inspire our design projects by exploring and drawing different shapes, structures and ideas within the museums collection. Within the museum I used my phone to capture the visuals that I found interesting, and plan to maybe use these when designing the costumes for Tartuffe. I also went on to make some quick observational drawings in my sketch book. This helped my practise perspective and also the drawing of figures, something which I need to improve on in my design work. I loved seeing the costumes of the performers at the ballet even though they were very simplistic. I found it clever how for each song the designer had marginally changed the skirt etc to create a while new outfit which fitted the songs and dance style perfectly. The designer clearly took into consideration the movement of the performers when creating the costumes, as not only could they move perfectly in them, but the movement and shaping of the fabric also complimented the movement of he dancers. Whilst the performance was on I made a few quick sketches of the dancers. This was very difficult as there was no light in the audience, so I drew without being able to see what I was drawing. At the end of the show I discovered that I actually really loved my sketches as they captured the movement of the dancers in am abstract, minimalist style, which I wouldn’t of created if I had been able to see. I found that not being able to see made me a lot free and less precious with my work, allowing me to create exciting new styles of sketch.
Laura Knight
Laura Knight (1877- 1970) was an English artist who became the first woman to study art at the Royal Academy. The exhibition of her work that we visited was from the perspective of the female gaze. This meant that in her drawings and paintings of women she didn’t objectify or sexualise them in anyway. Instead she captured them busy at work, sat in comfortable slouchy positions and emphasised their muscles and strength, instead of “feminine” figure. I loved the meaning and ideas behind her work and also her clear talent and style, however I also found it useful to look at how she captured the textures of materials, and also how she manipulated paint, often with hints of an impasto technique to it. She spent a lot of time backstage in theatres etc painting, which meant a lot of her work was of costumes and performers. I made some sketches of her work and of other exhibits in the castle, this helped me practise quick sketching and proportion, which I finally think I’m getting better at.
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