Professional statement

I'm an artist who has delved into a path of illustration. I love how illustration can make a book,leaflet or more to have in depth detail expressing creativity. I especially like cartoons as they are something that when you grow up you don't forget about, either it being seen in a book or on TV. One day I want to make the same effect.

I studied art in my gcse's and then went onto a level 3 extended diploma in art and design. Through the first year I learnt on developing my skills as an artist in different section such as learning the history of art and design; expanding my visual communication art work, printmaking, life drawing, photography and much more. It's began to make me think that the direction I wanted to go in was illustration due to the fact that I love to draw in a 2D form. Currently I'm in the 2nd year of my course and am now looking into my specialist area this being visual communication where I hope to discover what my style really is. In my specialist area I can advance my skills in technology such as using programs like photoshop  to enhance my imagery to create a better piece.

I hope to get into university  on an illustration  course where I can learn the history behind it. As well as advancing my skills in detailed drawing so that my future career of an illustrator can be met with the up most accuracy. The course also shows that I can learn about Creating pieces in groups as well as independently; where I also get to chose my own theme and expand on it to give my new tutors a sense of who I am and what I want to carry on to be.

I would say my inspirations for going to this direction have to be firstly, Nick sharratt who created an iconic character that has been through many books and even converted into a TV series. He shows passion which I have to; creating bold coloured cartoons which everyone recognised. He inspires me to be like him one day. I'd also say Salvador Dali had inspired me to be more adventurous and at times surreal in my work to confuse the mind which gets people thinking about my work. Lastly, Banksy whose work is produced with spirit as he wants to get his political messages across. In my work I'd love to hopefully get my own message across to create my own statement  and style.

'Corpse Bride' by Tim Burton

'Corpse Bride' is a stop motion movie about a victorian man who is getting married , so he goes to practice the ring placement. He places the ring on a branch  and now has himself a corpse bride who wants to be married. It was released in 2005 and had a budget of $40 million. It casted Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter who brought the film to life. I have seen the film many times and appreciate the concept of the dark spookiness  along side some silly jokes. The film was put  into creation after the film 'A Nightmare Before Chrsitmas' which is also a masterpiece. The film was dedicated a executive producer called Joe Ranft who passed away while the film was in the  middle of being made.

This film has inspired me make my work appear at times in the dark side to really get creative. It can end up weird and troubling but gives off the effect I want which can be shock and I want people to think hard towards my future work giving it different aspects.

'Autumnal Cannibalism' by Salvador Dali

'Autumnal Cannibalism'  is an oil paint on canvas piece which was created in 1936. It is 898 x 899 x 85 mm for the frame and the support shows as 651 by 651 mm which captivates emensce detail.  The piece was created to bring together the state after the Civil Spanish War; it shows  a couple holding each other while also trying Cannibalism which shows the extended to how bad the place was left. After the war. That background shows the remains of what the fight has done which it has cause the outer look to appear crumbled.  The legend of William tell is shown in the piece due to an apple placed on the male in the cannibal couple. The apple represent the story well of a man who had to shoot at his son.the apple shows a symbol to a target.

This piece inspires me to make my work  not just about anything but if I can include something powerful to move people emotionally like in Salvador dali's  painting.

'Mickey Mouse' by Walt Disney

'Mickey Mouse' is a cartoon character which was created by Walt Disney in 1928. The character first appeared in a  short film called 'Steam boat Willie' which turned out to be one the first talking cartoons. Walt Disney even voiced Mickey Mouse from 1928 till 1959. Walt Disney was inspired to make Mickey Mouse after a man called Mickey Rooney who was an actor who is actually the last known star from back in silent films which he appeared in.  This character  creation gives me inspiration to be joyful in my work to just let it be creative and fun. I age  followed Disney for along time. I love the films a lot and will never stop watching them. Seeing as my favourite  film is "The Little Mermaid".

This quote from Disney just shows to remember  how the journey started.

"I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing- that it was all started by a mouse." - Walt Disney, Disneyland; October 27, 1954

'A grand day out' by Nick Park

'A Grand Day Out' Is the first ever Wallace and Gromit production. It was released in 1989 and was created using stop motion with soft clay made characters. It was created by Nick Park when he was at The National Television School. He was finished with the film when he joined Aardman Animation Studios. It's lasts 24 minutes and had a budget of £11,000. It was about Wallace and Gromit (well known characters) who fly in a rocket ship to the moon to eat moon cheese as they have none at home. And they wanted to have an adventure. This has inspired me at a young age and even today to create a short film for my connect project at college as well inspiring my pieces to be as fun as Wallace and Gromit is to Nick Park.

'Thing's change' by Jo Peel

This piece was created in 2012 and was created upon a large wall which was located in Shoreditch, London. The whole scale painting rook around 3 weeks and was even filmed to create a stop motion film which lasted 3 minutes. She painted over and the repainted to create a moving image when the photos where all put together. This piece has inspired me to make a short film which will be drawn, rubbed out then redrawn again. This will go towards a final piece I'm doing at the moment for a project called 'connect'.

'Thinking of You' by Barbara Kruger

The first image that has inspired me is Barbara Krugers ' Thinking of You' piece. It was created in the year 1999/2000 and the pieces size is  312.7 by 255.7 cm. It was created using screenprint in vinyl; it uses the font style of Italic Futura Bold. She found the photograph of the index finger being poked at and attached the statement 'thinking of you', which I think expresses the idea of unknowing. Almost like a warning to be careful  wherever you are. She describes the piece to show self -awareness. This piece inspired me back in school to go off and create a piece like this for my own final piece for a project I had. It helped me genrate so many ideas such as making a stament and using bold italics to influence  my work. 

A+D Website : The Tate

Tate.org.uk is a website which allows you to explore art and artists. You can find out information about an artist and their work or even just the work itself. There is  a clear understanding of how to gain that information as well as the website in total looking clean and fresh with new information. It explains where the tate galleries  are plus, how to get there. It let's you see what exibitions are happening and when so you can be there to experience it.

You can become a member  on the site which allows u to gain information on what's happening in the tate or even what's happening in the website.  The membership  also allows you to gain free access in any tate gallery to look at as much art as you want. It gives you a 10% discount on seasonal offers as well as other things. For 6 children aged 16 and under also have free access, so you can even bring family along as well.  A tate Etc. Magazine will be given to you as you will have a subscription to it.

As I have said you can find artists easily on the website. David Hockney appears on the website it let's you know what he is all about.  David Hockney a British artist who has ocupations of a stage designer, photographer, painter and printmaker. As a highly popular artist of the 20th century he did study from 1953 to 1957 at Bradford School of Art. He involves many aspects into his work such as poems which he messes around with to create secret messages. He even used these to create 'homosexual love' which was a collection of paintings he created.  Through his time he experimented with different paints to create different textured surfaces.

Next I found information on the  artist Pablo Picasso who's ocupation consists of designer, painter, lithographer, ceramist,  painter and sculptor. He attended The School Of Fine Arts In 1895 then in 1897 he attended Madrid Academy. His work consisted of inspiration to places he had been such as Paris in autumn as well as emotion which is expressed in his 'Blue period' where his pieces where deep  and meaningful. He even created 'cubism' along side Braque. 

Overall the tate website helps students and adults locate information  in artist's, plus their pieces. As well as providing amazing services such as a membership plus, the website  is updated very frequently which helps you know what is happening next at the tate galleries.

Banksy

My second favourite  artist has to be Banksy. He has a hidden identity and has his work publicly shown without  selling any of it to anyone. He is an English artist who creates graffiti pieces commonly expressing political statements as well as dark humour elements. He is a political activist and gets his point across giving him a recognisable image.

My favourite thing Banksy has ever done was the exhibition of dismaland  which 's a play on words for Disney land. It was only temporary and was located in Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. Dismaland showed off Banksy's work and many other pieces from other artists. Banksy wanted a twisted Disney land to express the reality of life not what we r lead to belive in things such as Disney  in make believe. It made a high statement in my opinion.

It showed wacky things such as a turned up carriage with cinderella  in the window laying out of it slightly after what seems a crash. As well there were photographs being taken which express how drama can circle fast in today's society. My favourite part of dismaland  was the distorted ariel  which showed everything  is not what it is shown to be.

Salvedor dali

My first favorite artist has to be salvedor  dali who was known for photography, sculpture, paintings and more. He was involved in the movements of da da, cubism and of course surrealism.

In 1916 he attended a drawing school. After this in 1922 he moved to a student residence known as residenesa de estudiantes located in Madrid. Another place he studied afterwards was the real academia de bellas artes de San fernando.

My favourite piece of his called 'the persistence of memory' which I understand that this piece is highly recognised. It was created using oil paint on canvas and was completed in 1931. It's being held at the museum of modern art in New York and is 24 cm by 33cm in size.

The piece influences dali's hardness and softness theory which he was Trying out at the time.

I find the clocks to resemble time melting away. What we need to do is catch every minute and cherish it before its gone and while we can grab it metaphorically.

Recently I went to Manchester to explore two art galleries containing ancient and modern art pieces to look into. this trip in my sense was to hopefully discover new artist to influence us in our work. We first visited Manchester Art Gallery; It was fairly large and had tonnes on historical art pieces which were mainly oil painted on canvas. one piece which I loved was a textiles piece by Cherry Ng (who attended college London of fashion). I was suddenly drawn to cherry Ng's piece due to its assassins creed aesthetic. In the description next to the piece it stated that the inspiration for this textiles piece was from war ships featured in the first world war ,as well as the uniforms which women had to wear when working in factories.It also says how cherry likes the dazzle ships due to them representing art and war as an emblem plus the post- war periods were really expressed due to the use of pleats on the outfit as well as the camouflage it creates. the piece was created using latex coated cotton, PVC, leather and metal.the piece was also released this year.

The next gallery we went to was the whitworth Gallery which was my favorite to visit as there was interactive pieces such as distorted mirrors which changed your appearance as well the gallery had an art setup for kids to experiment with art materials. the gift shops had art supplies ,fabric bags, Eco friendly books as well art books for kids to kick off their own creativity. Out of the galleries many pieces my favorite piece was a sculpture created by Shiro Kurumata called 'revolving cabinet' and was created in 1970. The sculpture was made from metacrylate plates and metal.The description next to the piece expressed how Shiro Kurumata as a furniture designer in the 20th century was innovative and influential. It also said how Shiro Kurumata used various plastics and steel mesh to fully create amazing and bold pieces. The piece was actually purchased last year.

5 year plan !

My five year plan is set as a form of guideline in which I express where I would like to be each year, From 2016 to 2021. I'd say a five year plan helps create a structure  and realisation of what your ideal future plans will be. So here are mine.

2016:  Ending the first year of the level 3 art and design course I'm on, and begin my ventures into the second year of the course. This year I'd like to achieve a high level of  potential in art and experiment with new materials. I want to get my creative style forward to what appeals to me most of all. Also I believe I should start to find out which university  if like to go to after college and go to some open days while exploring into various courses they all supply. And hopefully I'll be able to apply for a great course.

2017: I hope to finish my college course strong with awesome grades and amazing pieces of art which I'm proud to say where mine. I hope to also get set up and ready to move onto my next venture in education by going to uni. Which ever university  I decide to go to and have the grades and ucas point for I'll be ready to attend my first taste of a university  art course.  Or I'd possibly  like to take a  gap year out of university and go see the world or part of it. Going to gallery's and exhibitions, learning and getting inspiration from different artists.

2018: at this point I would have either finished my travels and set up ready to endure the course I have before me. Or I would have completed my first year of university  and prepare myself for another year (if the course is a 2 year one or 3). I would have liked to gain a strong  direction to my style of workings and what I prefer overall in art. I may have learned new skills which I would edvance for myself preference. Made a ton of new friends and be living in student accommodation. Becoming very independent  and more of an adult.

2019: I'd like to say I would have become more mature and actually used a washing machine and iron successfully  but who knows. My uni course may have ended so it's off to either more extended  education with another course; or I have decided to go along my own path. Find a place (most likely a flat) with whoever  or on my own, where I can be settled with a part time job as well as beginning my own business with a website and such. However I would love to look through and research if there are any people or businesses  looking for a illustration  artist. Which would be a good opportunity  to get my work out there and develop my art work to appeal  to many people.

2020: After hopefully working for some businesses my website would have blew up and I could begin placing my work into galleries and hopefully getting in. If rejected I'd keep trying. I'd like to be settled in a flat in a good part of the world or even a house with  pets! Well maybe. If I do not have a business up and ruining I'd like to be in a  fixed job position where I can make illustrations for possibly graphic  novels or children's  books.  And have a stable income where I can support myself and whoever else maybe in my life. Such as a cat or more cats.

Magazine research : Dead End

In a  art theory lesson we had to go down to the library and look for a art magazine which shows what we as art students were into. Either that being illustration, fine art, sculpturing, architecture and much more. Well my favourite art form is illustration so I found a magazine which was called 'no brow 9'. It was filled with wonderful images and highly imaginative comic like layouts; one of these which I found interesting was a comic strip named 'dead end' and was created by a woman called Kirsten Rothbart. I loved the dark and light pastel shades ranging through the whole strip; each square has fine details while still showing a cartoon appearance. I believe the story is about a women who we see as coming back from her job to her caravan, she is just ready to relax with a cigarette and play her guitar. She seems to fall seemingly into a calm chilled out  mode, surrounded by full, unwashed bowls or cereal and a mess all around. I noticed she looks at a Polaroid photograph capturing her past self on stage performing with the words 'keep going'. So as I see it she used to be a famous pop star or rock chick and then something happened and the dream died out; and now she has a job dressing up as a bear and selling produce. Which maybe that was her dead end which links to the title of the comic strip. Kirsten Rothbart may be joining my favourite artists list.

Archetectiure and magazines

Recently in class we have been shown various buildings to focus on the style and detail that the architecture expresses. Such as the Macao bridge in zuhai, Hong Kong which is 50km in length and shows incredible construction. Also the cross rail located in London doesn't appear at first look to be a cross rail; It almost appears to be a brightened tunnel that is endless.

Introudcution

This blog will include my developments through art as well as keeping track of the artist and successful student i'm hoping to be. So ill start by introducing myself , hi there my name is Leah Bromley and i'm currently a level 3 art and design student in my second year of the course. I have a gcse in art and design as well as completing the first year of a level 3 art and design course in college.

I would say i'm a highly creative and imaginative person which truly shows in the art work I produce. I would say art has followed me for the majority of my life in so many ways. my creative gene began to flourish when i was about 3 years old; i would sing to people randomly in my town, which gave me a good deal of confidence. this confidence allowed me to gain courage to appear in community plays from primary school such as 'Alice In wonderland' and 'A Christmas Carol'. 

When i was around 13/14 years old i joined a wonderful local drama group  which i attended for 2 years; I made tones of friends and got to appear in amazing plays such as 'High School Musical 2', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Summer Holiday' and lots more. I remember gaining a lead role in 'guys and dolls'. It felt amazing to sing and act solo as well in a group which will always stay with me forever. Although it shows that i enjoyed musical theater my passion is for art even though I wouldn't mind going back on the stage again. 

Outside of education and groups i did create a logo for a community that specialized in apps. I got given a colour scheme a and a sense of layout that they were looking for. I think overall I think I created a good logo for them and it was a sort of good experience of being asked to create something in a business setting.  
Art was influenced to me by my cousins Amy and Laura who are both exceeding in art ,they are twins and are both leading different  artistic lives. at a young age I would see them draw and be fascinated trying to be like them, draw the same as them and they even taught me a few things about art. They have given me good advice to take when i'm following my art path. Recently in the summer holidays I went to view a small exhibition containing their work called Tenderfoot; it was amazing to me seeing how from a few scribbles when they were young to patterned and detailed pieces for many people to see. I want that one day.I would also say my friends, family and teachers in primary and secondary school have made me feel proud of my work. They are also supportive of the directions i'm taking and in what I produce as art work.

I would say Banksy has inspired me in art to create pieces which mean a lot to me and are my main focus; as Banksy creates art in which reflect's political and statemented issues. My favourite theme in art is surreal I love when my work is out of the ordinary. Which I was why I also love the work of Salvador dali as his pieces may seem confusing to the eye but reflect a deep emotional truth.