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. 

For this task, we were given the brief to make thumbnail visuals for a play poster. I decided to chose ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ a 1955 play by Tennessee Williams. In this project, we had to design forty initial thumbnail visuals, using a range of mediums, and then narrow that down to five designs to refine before we decided upon the final three client visuals to present. 

 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?

​The Ulm School of Design was founded in 1953 by Inge Aicher-Scholl, Olt Aicher and Max Bill – with Bill being a former student at the Bauhaus. The Ulm gained international recognition by teaching a wide range of multidisciplinary context in design, even further than that of the Bauhaus’ approach of integrating art, craft and technology. Many ways of approaching the design process were implemented within the Ulm, in departments such as Product Design, Visual Communication, Industrialised Building, Information and Filmmaking through the years 1953-1968, the years in which the Ulm School of Design was in operation.
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​​The origins of the Ulm emerged from the brother and sister Scholl Foundation, made in 1950 by Igne Scholl in memory of their siblings Sophie and Hans Scholl, having been members of the resistance group ‘White Rose’, spreading anonymous leaflets and graffiti that called for active opposition to the Nazi Regime. Sophie and Hans Scholl were executed in 1943 by the Nazis

​In 1953 the building was opened, designed by Max Bill a Swiss artist and designer. The school and remains intact today as a historically important building, viewed as one of the world’s most significant design schools, equal to that of the Bauhaus. Max Bill was best known for being the driving force in the founding and planning of the Ulm School of Design and architect and head of the school (1950-1956) and the head of the Department of Architecture and Product Form. Some of Max Bill’s most famous design pieces are still being manufactured today as re-editions, such as the Ulm stool. However in 1956, Bill resigned his position as head of the Ulm, yet remained to teach there until 1957 before opening a studio in Zurich.

Max Bill’s artwork, was a combination of painting and sculptures, where he presented his interpretations of Constructivism through his, integrating geometry and mathematics into his art practice. Throughout his years, Bill created a variety of vibrant, geometrical pieces as well as his sculptures, making his work look all the more modern in contrast to art that had come before.

​Following his departure from the Ulm, Bill was appointed professorship at the State University of Fine Arts in Hamburg, holding the chair of environmental design. (1967-1974) Bill received many awards for his work over the course of his creative career as a painter, architect, sculpture and publicist, and was a member of many artistic societies. Max Bill died on the 9th December 1994 at Berlin Tegal Airport, on his way back for a presentation of his building for the Bauhaus-Achiv in Berlin, at the age of 85. But his work is still seen as influential and a major part of history and shows the influence of his time at the Ulm and the Bauhaus, as his idea on the concept of modern design had been fundamentally shaped by his studies at the schools.

Henry Lamb was an Australian born painter. Lamb grew up in Manchester, though eventually moved to London in 1905 to study at the Chelsea Art School run by Augustus John and William Orpen. In the First World War, Lamb served as a medical officer, and later an official World War II war artists, painting solders and the aspects of war. Although I was looking at Lamb’s pencil sketches, he was too a talented oil painter, painting both landscapes and portraits. 

We were tasked with replicating a pencil drawing by Henry Lamb for our first piece of work, replicating the bold pencil marks he had made, and too using cross hatching to create depth and shadows in the portrait. 

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When first beginning to tackle this task, I began by trying to find the right techniques to use upon the features of the woman, ensuring that I was fist able to define and use cross hatching to give some texture and depth to the form. For this reason, I took apart the features, focusing in on facial features and hair, before I went ahead and tried to attempt to replicate the face as a whole.  Through my samples, it became apparent that the softer the led, the easier it was to make bolder marks, as well as stray away from the usual way and style of my own work. 

Final Forgery - Pencil 

Mervyn Peake was born in China in 1911, though moved to England in 1922. In his early career, Peake worked as a painter, with one of his paintings being chosen for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1931. However, he also worked as an author, designer and illustrator. In 1942, Peake left for the army, visiting Germany as a war artist, gathering ideas for future collections of poems, and produces several drawings of dying inmates, having influence on much of his work. 

​For our second piece to replicate, we were given a Mervyn Peake pen and ink drawing, made up of many small details. For this drawing, the aim was to use a dip pen to get a variation in line work, whilst still being able to put in the detail needed to make the replicated piece as accurate to the original. 

To begin with, I once again took a small part of the piece to copy, replicating the varying techniques and getting used to the dip pen. It was here that I realised that blocking out the black ink with Tipp-Ex pens and white gel pens wasn't going to work, and so I knew that I had to be careful when it came to more detailed pieces of the drawing such as the beard and clothing to ensure I didn't completely black out areas. 

When it came to doing the final piece, I was able to generally replicate the techniques used, despite some noticeable differences between the original and my version. But being able to use different line weights ensured that I was able to differentiate between things such as the clothing and the beard of the man, all without boldly outlining each segment.

If I were to do things differently however, I think I would be a little braver and add more detail where it lacks, such as in the face and the hand, and be a little less reluctant to put ink to paper in areas that had more of a risk to go wrong. 

Final Forgery - Pen and Ink 

Claire Leighton was born in 1898. Her early efforts in painting were encouraged by her father and uncle, Jack Leighton, an artist and illustrator. In 1915, Leighton began studying at the Brighton College of Arts, later going onto study and the Central School of Arts and Craft, where she studied wood engraving. Over her career, Leighton wrote and illustrated numerous books, and was the first woman to produce a book on wood engraving, which in turn played an important part in popularizing the medium. 


For the final piece, we were tasked with replicating a wood engraving by Claire Leighton, but instead using scraperboard. The greatest struggle with this task was working negative on to positive, all whilst not having any defining lines that would be able to block in shapes due to the use of negative space. 

In the beginning, the most difficult thing to figure out was how hard was needed to press to make the negative space, and I was quick to realise that I didn't need to press as hard. Initially, I found it difficult to mark out the areas where each fold of the clothing and each leaf was mean to go. But, building up the piece, it became easier and quicker to do so as the piece slowly began to come together. 

​Along the way, I learnt many things, such as planning ahead for where marks were going to go as I moved along with the work. However above all, I learnt that I didn't need to be so heavy handed, as unlike the previous two pieces I had done that relied on being bold and line weight, I needed to build us this piece bit by bit, being bold, but cautious enough to not cause harm to the board behind. 

Final Forgery - Scraperboard 

Upon joining the Bauhaus, Stölzl began in the weaving department, due to the underlying gender roles present during this time period. However, she was very active withing the department, and was able to reopen the previously abandoned dye studio at the Bauhaus, all whist continuously continuing to develop her techniques and style. In 1926, Stölzl returned to the Bauhaus, now located in Dessau. Here, she was paired with Georg Muche, but the weaving workshop was seen as being under her control and organisation as the pairing of Muche and Stölzl wasn’t enjoyed by either side. Thus, from 1926, Stölzl was running the workshop almost single-handedly, and soon led to her becoming a junior master, and soon a full master of the Bauhaus.

​Due to the lack of real teachers in the textiles and weaving department, Stölzl learnt techniques and construction, mainly through her own teaching that was then passed onto other students upon becoming a master. Throughout her years at the Bauhaus, Stölzl took part in many exhibitions, where she showed off her wall hangings, carpets and other textile works, most colourful and abstract in nature. As well as fabric works, many of her designs, painted in gouache and other mediums can still be found today. 

In her later years, Stölz continued her practise until the end of her life, and had had a rich life, expressed through her innovative and beautiful body of work. Textile art, owes a lot to Gunta Stölz and still continues to display her works in many museums around the world, from Europe to the USA to Japan; her work is well known and still well loved by many today.