Film, media and music were the most common ways in which the 1980s saw growth both through official and unofficial culture. Examples that would be classed as official culture would be the rise in Tv shows with soaps such as Eastenders reflecting the social issues that were going on at the time,  creating storylines about what was going on at the time, and continues to do so to this day. Similarly, shows such as Top of the Pops highlighted the growing music culture, and would too pave the way for similar shows following its end, it turn shaping the way trends and our lives changed as we progressed past the 80s. 

In contrast to the official culture that mainstream media brought to the 1980s, unofficial examples of culture from the same time period, had the association of being rebellious, underground, and not in the spotlight anywhere near as much as the official culture was. Examples of this culture was more common to be music as allowed individual artists to express what they wanted to in their own unique way, creating a range of viewpoints being put forwards to their audiences. However, the influence that Thatcherism had on the rising of rebellious culture, wasn't only present within the United Kingdom. Stretching across the channel, French singer Renaud also took part in fighting Thatcherism with his song 'Miss Maggie' in 1985. There are countless examples of artists expressing their rebellious ideas, from musicians, to other forms of media- making up the cultural developments that went unreported in comparison to the mainstream, American influenced official cultural developments in the 1980s. 

T​o begin developing my ideas, I first did some research into clothing from the 17th Century, as would be the setting of the book. From there forth, with basic designs down, I worked with colour until I got the set designs down, focusing of making the clothing dull to contrast the eventual flames. Then I got to work on creating thumbnails for the rough pacing of the book, deciding that I would sketch the pages traditionally and then paint digitally to develop my digital skills particularly due to the lack of traditional mediums I was able to get my hands on.

I quickly realised that due to the pacing of the song, for it to make sense in my book, I had to cut out some of the repeating lyrics, and additionally add an extra two pages to ensure it conveyed what I wanted it to convey. 

Continuing the process of sketching and refining ideas for pages, with some taking a few attempts to get correct, such as the forth page in which the viewpoint was switched around and positioning of the characters changed, it was then a case of applying colours and making colour schemes that reflected the darker and more sombre mood as the book progressed. It was for this reason, I decided to begin with lighter and brighter colours, with a softer style if shading to represent the dream like state and the happiness that had begun with the young love. But as the dangers set in, switched the shading techniques to something more eerie and less blended. 

My next challenge was tackling the fire that I wanted to put into the pages, and ended up redoing the first page in which the flames appeared as they looked too simple in shape, and complicated in colour. Layering the varying colours and brightening the layers was key, even if I did lose quite a bit of the form beneath the flames. 

For the majority of the book after this point, it was a case of replicating the colour schemes, though effecting them with a varying degree of flames, as the book went along increasing in intensity until the end. Overall from this project, I learnt that I didn't need to be so reliant on digitally sketching as I get very caught up on moving things around to make them look perfect, though usually makes them look stiff. I learnt how to combine both traditional and digital mediums in a way that worked to my advantage, and created a more paint like and eerie style that worked well and contrasted the vibrant, blended and layered colours of the flames. I also had to learn what worked well and quickly given the short time frame we had to create the book, made more difficult by the additional pages I needed to added, but, was still able to be organised, and complete the task on time. 

As an introduction to composition, we were tasked with creating abstract collages based upon six prompts, chosen to prove that to some extent, composition does come naturally. When it came to this task, initially I found starting to be a challenge, unsure on how to tackle the task, yet, once I began, I found it easier to produce pieces of work that somewhat conveyed the prompt we were given, whether through colours such as the bolder or softer colours, or whether it was shapes, either softer or harsher and pointier shapes for different prompts. All in all, I was generally happy with the outcomes, however, looking closer at composition in the following lecture, it became apparent that there was a few things that I would have done differently. One thing I would have changed was the placement of the light on 'Tokyo', as if I were to do it again, I would probably shift the yellow to be off centre, or add two to be off centre as it being completely centre is a little too jarring when looking back on the piece as a whole. 

For this week, we were tasked with creating three book covers based around, 'The Tree'; one being a children's book, one being a phycological horror, and one being a sci-fi based around three different artists. The first challenge I faced was trying to somewhat replicate the work of each artist, getting used to the materials they used and trying to recreate the feel of their works at the same time. 

Anne Yvonne Gilbert works with coloured pencils, using them to create soft looking illustrations, that too hold a lot of detail within the pieces. When looking into her work, I initially tried to replicate the vivid colours seen within the piece to the right, even if I wasn't going to be using the use of fabric in my book covers. I then tried to apply it to vegetation, though found it to be far softer than the vivid colours of the fabrics. With that said, I was able to replicate the soft feel of Gilbert's pieces in my test samples, using various tones of brown and green to build up my examples. I found that it was harder to work on cartridge paper than watercolour board as I used for my final piece, due to the lack of texture on the paper. It was for this reason that I found doing the final piece easier than that of the test pieces and thumbnails. Looking back on my pieces, I could have built up the pieces further by applying more tones to my pieces, building them up more, even if that risked losing the softness of the piece.

                                Image by Anne Yvonne Gilbert, from AnneYvonneGilbert.com

Charles Keeping's work was the second artist I decided to tackle. Keeping's illustrations are mainly made up of watercolour and inks. I particularly liked the look of his black and white illustrations due tot he themes we had to fit each cover into, and it was for this reason I decided to go with phycological horror for Keeping's work. To begin with, I began by trying to use the dripping and wispy aspects of Keeping's work, whist too trying to find a way to use white on black that wouldn't be too time consuming. With that said, I didn't want to just do a black and white piece, and so played around with giving the background a wash with a darker colour to convey a horror theme. 



                                           Image by Charles Keeping, from Aestronauts.com

Brad Holland's work was the final artist I looked at, using acrylic to give off a dry brush technique, building up colours in various layers and blending them by building them up. This was something I found difficult to do to begin with, as naturally I add quite a bit of water when painting. Once again, cartridge paper proved to be the wrong material for this technique after a while of building up colours, the paper below began to peel up with the dry brush. However, I was able to manage by keeping the layers to a minimum to ensure I didn't push the paper too far. I attempted to find the best colours for this piece, as this was far more colourful and unnatural than the two before it, and needed to find colours that didn't clash. In the end, I believe I chose the best colours, using the surrounding area to set apart any colours that may clash such as the planet in the left hand corner. 


                                 Image by Brad Holland, from Margarethe-Illustration.com

 In the end I decided to go with using Anne Yvonne Gilbert's style for the children's book as I believed the softness of her work would be best suited for it. Secondly, I decided to use the phycological horror prompt for Charles Keeping's work due to the muted and darker tones found in many of his works. And finally, I decided to apply the Sci-Fi cover to Brad Holland's work, as the dry brush technique gave an unusual and unnatural feel to the pieces. I found this task a little stressful when it came to initially replicating some of the artist's techniques as the way in which they worked weren't the way I was used to working in my own work. However,  all in all, I was happy with the way my final pieces came out, and believe that I was able to communicate the artist's techniques to some extent.

Bonnie MacLean was an American artist, well known for her posters in the 1960s and 70s. She was one of the only women of prominence in the poster genre and took inspiration from Wes Wilson after he quit in 1967, so much so that her early work was based on Wilson’s work. Most notably, the influence from Wilson’s work came from the text she used within her work, as much like Wilson’s own work, was vibrant and in many cases difficult to read at first glance, encouraging the audience to look closer at the pieces to find out which band they were advertising for. Similarly, MacLean’s colour schemes were very reminiscent of Wilson’s work, following a very vibrant colour scheme, whilst too following similar colour palettes to some of Wilson’s work. 

Below - Bonnie MacLean Posters archived by Classic Posters.com 

Above - Wes Wilson Posters archived by Classic Posters.com 

​Although Wes Wilson’s influences on Bonnie’s work is clear, there too are differences, for MacLean was able to develop her own style of typography, setting them aside from Wilson’s work. In addition to this. MacLean’s work appeared to be far more illustrative than that of Wilson’s work, combining both graphic design and illustrations, whilst using a composition and colour schemes that would ensure the focus and more intriguing aspects of the piece would remain to be the information upon the posters. MacLean also drew inspiration for her work from other movements, such as Art Nouveau, with the free flowing of text and images that are reminiscent of the earlier movement present in her work. 

Artists such as Bonnie MacLean defined the psychedelic art scene of the 60s and early 70s, defined by its free flowing forms and vibrant colour schemes. MacLean herself was herself well known, not only for being one of the only female artists in this field of work But MacLean also grew with her own style that, although heavily influenced by Wes Wilson, evolved into something unique, and something that many may consider more appealing due to to the combination of graphic and illustrative influences both being present within her work.   

Norman Rockwell was a well known American Illustrator most famous for his work for The Saturday Evening Post, painting his first cover for the magazine in 1916. Over the next forty seven year, Rockwell would paint three hundred and twenty-one covers for the Post. With his work seen and loved by many, Rockwell's illustrations became reflective of American culture, and everyday life, finding a story to tell even in the most mundane of aspects of life. Over his lifetime, Rockwell created over four thousand original pieces of work in his life, with the majority of his surviving works in public collections worldwide, and still to this day loved and appreciated by many. 

Rockwell's artwork made the most of reality, and ideology, in that scenarios were familiar and interactions were seen day to day, as well as familiar to most. Yet at the same time, exaggerated features highlighted the idealised idea of America Rockwell was striving to present in his work.  

​Below is a photograph Rockwell used as reference for one of his works, showing how much he relied on the day to day settings to use as reference for his pieces. He heavily focused upon the interactions that were taking place, and using them to tell a story within his work, but too create something that people could relate to, to create a sense of familiarity. 

Above is a photograph Rockwell used as reference for one of his works, showing how much he relied on the day to day settings to use as reference for his pieces. He heavily focused upon the interactions that were taking place, and using them to tell a story within his work, but too create something that people could relate to, to create a sense of familiarity. 

“Most of the time, I try to entertain with my Post covers, once in a while I get an uncontrollable urge to say something serious."  - Norman Rockwell 

In 1964, Rockwell did just that. In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, Rockwell painted, 'The Problem We All Live With' depicting  Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old African American girl, on her way to William Frantz Elementary School, an all-white public school, on November 14, 1960, during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis. The painting was originally published in the January 14, 1964, issue of Look. Rockwell had ended his contract with the Saturday Evening Post the year prior  due to limits the magazine placed on his desire to express political statements through his paintings.

This piece of work was so significant, that in 2011 the painting was installed in the Oval Office of the White House as Barack Obama took office.  

Even years after his death in 1979, Norman Rockwell's work is highly appreciated by various types of artists worldwide, even outside the world of art critiques. In 1981, Canadian band 'Prism' released their fifth studio album 'Small Change', which featured Rockwell's 1954 painting, 'Girl in Mirror' originally created for the cover of the March 6, 1954 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

More recently, Lana Del Rey made tribute to the American artist in her sixth studio album 'Norman Fucking Rockwell!' making reference to the idealized portrayal of American life even when times seemed rough though, and from time to time found room to say something more important than the idealised idea of America he illustrated in his Saturday Evening Post covers - a sentiment Lana Del Rey shares, understands and strives to illustrate similarly in her work. 

To begin the colour and composition set of instructions, we were first given the task to replicate a colour wheel, a grey scale and colour scale. This in itself wasn't that too challenging, particularly when it came to the colour wheel aspect, as the biggest challenge overall was making sure it was neat and tidy. However the scales proved to be a little more challenging as determining how much to lighten the colours proved to be harder to judge than I first thought it would be. With that said, I managed, and if I were to redo it again, the only thing I would change, would be taking larger steps when it comes to lightening the greyscale, as to not have such a large jump between the lighter end of the scale. 

This part of the tasks was one that I found very interesting as I went along completing each individual segment. The aim of this task was to interpret what we associated with given words, as well as to create our own colour palette on colours that we found interesting and related to. I already knew going into this task that the likelihood of these colours being dark and muted were very low, as naturally in my own work, I am very drawn towards soft, natural colours that fall more on the pastel side of the colour groups. However, what I was a little surprised about was how colourful and soft my own palette was, and as well how similar some of the colours were between each word with the same colour groups cropping up. It was only when comparing them to other people that I realised how tentative I am when it comes to colours, not really going to the darker side of the colour scale. Yet what I also learnt was how different my interpretations were to other people, for example my 'Hospital Ward' colours were far softer and paler than others, which could be put down to different
experiences and different associations to the broad prompt. 

Going into this weeks task, this was one of the ones I believed I would have disliked the most, as it wasn't like anything I was used to, and before I began found myself struggling to comprehend how I was going to communicate what I wanted to through the given prompts. However, one I began to experiment, I found myself rather enjoying this task, with some outcomes being ones I liked, despite their simplicity, and others being ones I less liked the look of. 

Going into the tasks, I made a point of thinking in a stereotypical way, using colours that were broadly associated with each prompt, particularly the Masculine and Feminine prompts. Hence, why my first experiment was with the use of blues, given its association with being a masculine colour. However, I found that this wasn't always the most effective way to go, as personally, when changing the hue of the piece, I found the warm red tones to convey the feeling of masculinity more than the blues given it held a maturity to it. It was for this reason, I had another go at shifting around the colours and size of the lettering, changing the typeface to a similar, yet slightly different typeface. Something as simple as moving around the lettering, making some larger and some smaller proved more effective. It is for this reason I preferred the more muted colour palettes and believed they conveyed a stereotypical idea of Masculinity than the initial idea of blues; proving obvious ideas aren't always the most effective. 

When tackling the Feminine prompt, I wanted to use the same techniques as I had used for the Masculine pieces to prove how despite having similar layouts, text and colour can create a completely different feel to a piece. Clearly, the obvious way to go with this prompt was with softer hues of pinks and purples, something that did indeed prove effective. Coupling with an equally as soft yellow was effective too, as gave a slight variation in the warm colour palette. The association with Feminine is dainty, delicate and soft, which was what I attempted to replicate, changing the typeface to a softer font, with more rounded edges, and bolder text, contrasting the masculine set of designs. Much like that set however, I found that I preferred the design that had a little more of a variety in it, being that of the one that had both purple and pink hues, allowing some variation and somethings to stand out within the design as opposed to being all one hue. 

For this prompt, I wanted to take an alternative route to the idea, as very easily, either two of the more muted Masculine designs would have worked for this prompt too. Instead, I decided to take the alternative route and go for more vibrant colours, giving them a gradient and stacking them atop of each other as to create layers, each being lifted up by the one underneath it, as if standing on a podium conveying the idea of power. Due to the colours chosen however, deciding on a background colour proved difficult, as well as what to do with the large spaces surrounding the centre lettering. It was for this reason I experimented in copying the typeface around and making more of a pattern. Out of all of the designs I created, this was the one I was least certain, as there is something I don't quite like about it, hence, if I were to play around with this again, I would more than likely play around with more colour palettes, changing not only the background, but too the colour of the layers of text. 

These designs were the ones that I found the most interesting to work with, as they are very simple, replicating the letter 'S' over and over again, working with only two different colours of text, and yet, when putting all the lines of the patterns together, appeared to be a lot more complicated than they really are. For these designs, I again changed nothing more than the background, and this created an interesting effect, as in each of the outcomes, changing the background gave the illusion that the whole colour scheme of each design was changing. I believe that out of all the outcomes, I prefer the one with the blue hued background, as made both the yellow and mint green lettering stand out against the background as opposed to just one. 

Out of all the designs I created, these were the more interesting in my opinion, as they were again simple, but the layering of the different text colours and horizonal and vertical lines allowed me to play about with shadows and layering. Although the colour scheme isn't all that interesting, the combination of both pastel and more vibrant colours made for a nice mix. Additionally, the composition used makes the text appear more spontaneous, where as in reality it is far more structure than some of the designs for the other prompts, as can be seen in the square made out of negative space in the middle of the design. When messing around with this design, I made two final pieces, but I prefer the final one overall, the one where only some of the text has shadows behind them. This allows the piece to have some variation and appear a little more spontaneous and playful, instead of every part of the design following a common rule. 

 Before beginning this however we were given the small task of drawing out twenty four chairs as thumbnail visuals. Starting this task proved difficult for working in a fast way was something I am not used to, as I like to spend more time on pieces but for this task, the key was to work quickly.

​Although I didn't get to complete all twenty four in the one hour time frame, as I was working a little slower than I needed to be, this task proved that I could work in a quick way, getting pen to paper and getting any idea that came to mind down quickly, as was going to be the key to this project. This activity did help when it came to preparing for what I needed to do over the upcoming week and got me in the mindset to be working quickly and efficiently through all forty client visuals. 

All together, I did manage to make all forty visuals, working a the pace that I needed to be working at to get all the tasks finished, however, it proved to be stressful working so quickly. As I went along, as well as creating new ideas, I also began to mess around with and refine some ideas within the forty without even realising it because as I was working, I found ways to better some of the ideas I had already gotten down, whether that was by moving the text, or some of the composition of the piece. I believe that I was so stressed and panicked about finishing on time partly due to the materials I used, as ink and watercolour needed time to dry in-between working. Although I could work on a couple at the same time, if I were to do this again, I would rethink the materials I used.

One of the fashion stories I have chosen to look at is Vogue’s most recent article, ‘Playtime with Harry Styles: Dressing up, Making Music and Living in the Moment’ which has already been a conversation starter before its full release in late December with Styles’ being the first solo male to feature on the front cover of the magazine. In this issue, the conversation within the magazine surrounds Styles’ life so far, discussing his music career, finding happiness in this time of uncertainty, among other aspects of his life. Yet, outside of the article, the talking point has very much been focused upon Styles’ wearing of traditionally female clothing articles, such as dresses and skirts, with many believing it to be a step in the right direction in breaking down the stigma that comes to clothes and the genders assigned to them, especially given its appearance on what used to be a very traditional fashion magazine in terms of representation. But in previous years, Vogue and magazines alike are growing more representative, and more inclusive to body sizes, genders, sexualities and progressive ideas.

​In terms of this specific article, the audience would be not only for those interested in Styles’ career, but too those who wish to find out more about him, and his more eccentric style as has been evolving over the past few years. Equally however, this article has sure brought attention from those who have no interest in Styles as a person, but rather to see what the article is about in terms of the clothing used, whether they understand or not. In using Styles as the model, Vogue has been able to grow interest, as well as be able to use a celebrity who is not only well known, but is too pushing new boundaries, whether that be in the way he is perceived through his more gender neutral clothing, tearing away the label that comes with the articles of clothing, or if it is through his music as that is what he is more well known for. 

​The place in which these photographs were taken, was Seven Sisters in East Sussex, a cliff side known for the natural scenery and in this case, muted tones. This in turn works well for this photoshoot, as Styles and his vibrant and patterned clothing can be the centre of the work and in turn place the focus on opening up a talking point in regards to Styles and the ideas that we as a society have on clothing and the genders we assign to them. As for the techniques used within the photography for the article, there seem to be two different distinct ideas; the more freeing, which could be reflective of Styles’ new found freedom and happiness in the acceptance and embracing of not only his ‘out there’ style, but too the progress he has made over the year in terms of personal growth and freedom. These images look more freeing, and all round happier. The other side however feature Styles in more rigid posing, next to a male torso, whilst showing off the garments in their full glory. It could be seen as being a jab at the toxic masculinity that would have and unfortunately has arisen in response to the article, with a handful of people seeing Styles featuring on the magazine in traditional female garments as ‘un-masculine’, upholding the idea that a man can’t wear feminine clothing, can’t be sensitive or display any sign of weakness. If this was the photographer’s intention, it would explain why Styles stands tall, directly looking forwards, as if to metaphorically face the toxic masculinity head on, un-phased by the words and ideas of others as he has done for so long already. No matter which way you look at this article, the conversation that has been opened up as a result is something that hasn't been seen before, or at the very least, in a while, proving that fashion magazines are beginning to move with their audience and the evolving of ideas and acceptance in our society. 

For this weeks set of activities, the focus was on understanding varying perspectives from different points, with the focus mainly being on one and two point perspective. For the most part, drawing out simple shapes like cubes and cylinders was something I was able to understand, along with the likes of grids and fences after a couple of attempts.

However, I did find the more complex things more difficult to understand, such as that of drawing without the guidelines and imagining them on the page without actually using a ruler to measure them out. It is for this reason, I stuck around the basics for a while, wrapping my head around fences and measuring distance between buildings. Eventually however, I did begin to understand things more, growing more confident and beginning to play around with light sources on forms such as cubes and cylinders. 

It was when I tried to apply my understanding of perspective on basic shapes to a piece of work that it became a little confusing, still not used to working in a way that, to myself, didn't look correct. It was for this reason that moving into the second week of the tasks that I did try to apply my understanding to a setting as opposed to just basic shapes.

Following week one, I focused on applying what I had learnt the week prior in regards to one and two point perspective, whilst too understanding more about three point perspective. However simple the drawings I made, they were more complex than basic cubes and so, did help me begin to understand how to apply perspective to drawings that weren't as simple as a cube lit up by a light source. 

In addition to playing around with perspective, I also tried to do some quick figure drawings, focusing on faces as that was what I found most difficult. I also struggled a little with the lighting of the forms as usually I draw very lightly. However, I understand more about proportions of the face, and will be able to use that knowledge into my own work to try and better my art. 

When it came to messing around with perspective, using a digital medium helped significantly, as I was able to draw on the guidelines and take them off when I needed to. Although the outcomes were simple, it helped with my understanding of both one and two point perspective, especially when the way objects sit still doesn't look completely correct due to not being used to this way of working, I was able to double check by re-adding the guidelines in to find vanishing points and parallel lines.

All in all, although I did struggle with these two weeks of tasks, I now know more than I did about perspective, and understand it enough to begin to apply it to my own work and stray away from using simple objects and begin to make actual pieces of work with the techniques incorporated. Going forwards, I intend to continue to experiment and begin to make things that are more complex, and do use more than just one or two point perspective. 

The piece references many changes that were going on at that time, most notably that of technology, with the vacuum cleaner reaching further than before and the newly featured tape player. Not only does this piece show the changes that were going on in daily life, with technology and discoveries becoming more advanced, it shows how somethings still remained the same following the second world war; specifically, that of the roles of the man and woman; the former being the stronger and the latter being presented as delicate and a show off. 

The ideal world that was presented in this piece was something that many would be striving for, following the Second World War and all that had been lost as a result. When producing my own response, give the way this year had gone it was difficult to create something that was more positive and hopeful in nature, and so, had to adapt to show both the good and the bad and work out ways to present events in the context of a room.

​When it comes to my own interpretation, much like Hamilton, we are unsure where the future is going to lead us at this moment in time, and for this reason, I played about with the idea of hope for the future. It’s pretty clear that because of Covid, politics and political figures have become the centre point of our lives, and in our home and conversations more than ever, all while all of us still don't know what the future holds. It is for this reason both political figures are shown as they have been seen and more than likely will be seen over the next coming months, as long as that may be as this year seems to have been going on for a lifetime.

In contrast however, hints of positivity have been built up, layered up in the collage, as most notably this year, the Black Lives Matter movement spread across the globe and triggered the need for change. Too, I included drag queen Jaida Essence Hall in the collage due to the representation she brought; being a black, gay man, being able to catch the hearts of many, even those in the more conservative Milwaukee, Wisconsin, her home town.

In addition to this, the pandemic brought about change and appreciation for the arts, with many turning to art, music, baking and other crafts for entertainment in the time of need, only highlighting the need for the industry. Similarly, the biggest growth in online entertainers were seen over lockdown, with many turning away from traditional media and towards online personalities for entertainment, and may be the beginning of a shift in the preferred forms of entertainment. This brings about the question; art isn’t dead, but is traditional media?