Dissertation Idea

Over the past few weeks I have began to start thinking about my dissertation. This has mainly occurred due to a friend asking me what my dissertation was going to be about and I could not fully explain my ideas. This realisation that I did not fully understand what I wanted to discuss lead me to have a meeting with Brian. This has proved to be very useful as I have written a short version of the types of things that might be discussed through the dissertation. These ideas have been formed through a series of questions. This initial exercise has let me effectively empty my head and begin the process, this can now be built upon and added to with reference to my own project. The vision statement, themes and questions are all likely to change over the next few weeks but I feel much better having started with this task and I now feel I have a  better understanding of what is important to me and the project. This exercise is shown below.

The story begins

I have drawn an initial image the introduces the beginning of the story. The idea behind the image is that the man shown within the painting capturing the unicorn could possibly be the grandfathers ancestor. The reason for the choice of painting was to symbolise that the origins of the story itself comes from Scotland. The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland which not everyone in Scotland is aware of, this gives me a subtle way of hinting that the story begins in Scotland. When reflecting upon this image I do feel it could work much better if the family were walking past a sculpture of what is shown in the painting. Due to me being so far behind with progress this will only be rectified if there is time.

setting the scene

As the story is to be set or told within a gallery both the main characters and the gallery will be introduced within the pretext pages. These pages are most commonly used within picture books to give details on author, artist and publishers. However these pages can also be used to help with narrative and the introduction of people, places or anything important to the story. For these reasons I have chosen to show the child, her mother and grandfather all entering the gallery which can also be seen within the background of the image shown on the end paper. The initial images are shown below and details will be added later when formatting for print.

wc 07/03/16 progress, reflection and ideas

Progress

The image that will be used for pages 2 and 3 is now nearly complete, pages 4 and 5 have now begun.
I am currently about two weeks behind my new schedule.

Reflection

I have spent too much time on the first image but this was most likely due to the dual purpose of being for both end papers and a poster. This has also shown me what can be achieved time wise using this particular method of working. The initial image actually contains around eleven separate drawings so when considering this things do not seem as drastic.

Ideas

I will just need to keep on working through the images, perhaps not worrying to much about small details as they are supposed to be roughs anyway. May possibly end up having to work on drawings when I am away next month.

End paper nearly complete

The image I have been working on for the end papers and poster is now nearly complete. My plan is to now leave it as it is so that I can come back to it in future with fresh eyes. This will allow me to notice any mistakes easier and might also bring new ideas on how to finish the scene. Items such as shop names, inside flats are all evident so far as incomplete. However the image has now reached a point that I am happy to now progress onto the next spread, the image is shown below.

Will come back to this image at a later stage to complete

Filling the scene

To help complete the image and introduce the main characters I have drawn a variety of people, a small market and a protest. The protest itself is about modern day slavery and mention the 27 million people who are estimated to be enslaved within society today. The main characters are shown on the street along with everyone else and will not be singled out until the next spread as they enter the gallery. These characters and protest are shin below with all being created using the same process of merging drawing and painting.

Billboard

The billboard that is shown on the side wall of the flats should also work within the theme or context of slavery. For this reason I have decided to advertise the yearly Black Friday sale the occurs. This choice is due to the debate on the origins of black friday, retailers will say that the sale was invented as that particular weekend was always in the red so the sale then brought them back into the black or making profits. However historians have argued that black friday was a term used when slaves were bought and sold in human markets which were held on fridays. Due to this debate I felt that the poster or issue was suitable for this project, the billboard is shown below.

Balconies filled

This seems to be my first post for a few weeks, this is most likely due to me being busy with trying to complete the first image. One of the things I have been working on are the balcony spaces within the image. As this particular image is to be used for the end papers and to make a print for the exhibition and has so much contained within it has taken far longer than expected. The theme of slavery was to be evident within this image although subtle. This will be shown in two of the balconies where one girl is essentially a sex slave and in another flat someone will be held hostage to grow a cannabis farm, this flat is shown as almost derelict. Examples of the balconies are shown below.

Older couple on balcony to show normality

Girl will be shown on second end paper and poster as sex worker although very subtly

Almost derelict looking flat will be shown to contain a cannabis farm