Tuesday 17 August 2010

Fortitude Part 2

So, a few weeks ago I received a piece of work from Megan in connection with our summer project, based on the tapestry 'The Triumph of Fortitude'; and just over a week ago, after doing some work on it myself, I forwarded the piece to third group member Rebecca. I've posted some before and after pics below...(give 'em a click to make them bigger)


before...
and after

 I found it quite a challenge working with what I considered to be a finished piece of work. I think each of us in the group created finished pieces of work to start with, in the sense that we didn't work really basically, or leave things out e.g colour or huge patches of space, so that there was something really obvious for the next person to work on. 
I think this was a good thing as it meant we could let loose and do exactly what we wanted, but it also makes it a challenge as, for me, I found it difficult thinking of ways to add to/work with the piece, whilst still being sympathetic to the original. 


When I received Megan's piece, I knew straight away that I wasn't going to be able to replicate her style well enough to add the main shapes and patterns coherently. So I decided to play with the background, changing the colour and adding some similar shapes and patterns to make a connection with the original. I also added some hand stencilled typography (the English translation of the Latin from the tapestry) just to add some extra information and allude to the original tapestry. I had a version of the image with the type in black, but I opted to keep it white as I thought it my look a bit too busy and I didn't want to draw attention away from the main imagery. I've posted it below anywhoo...



So now I'm going to be adding to Rebecca's piece, which has travelled via Megan to me, and will post updates soon. a-thank you....

Matthew Lyons

I first saw the work of Matthew Lyons quite a while ago, and also saw his work at D&AD earlier in the year, so I thought it was about time I posted about him. His work has a real 1950's feel to it, and his use of colour, tone, composition; and the ideas behind his work make him one of my favourite illustrators this year. His work is incredible, and such an inspiration! He creates his work digitally, but it definitely has a hand made feel about it which I love...

Here are some examples of his work for you to get your peepers round, some of which were on show at D&AD. Peace...



oh the loveliness...