Obs and Comms Project (1st Year - Long Overdue)

Very long overdue. This was my Observation and Communication project from my first year. Easily I feel my most successful project when trying to find my place last year. It consisted of simply finding a piece of architecture in Sheffield and drawing it, to the produce a final poster.
I picked an old sheet mill (name unknown) opposite the Trigon halls of residence for Sheffield Hallam University. It was fantastically degraded and had so much character within its paint flaking walls and smashed windows. It was perfect for me. I felt I somewhat identified with the building throughout the whole project. Through it's rough appearance and mysterious lack of use.

"The only beautiful things, are those that do not concern us" - Oscar Wilde



Drawing many times on location and compiling a bank of photographs, I felt the building was best represented through its individual sections, smashed windows or boarded up doors than the building as a whole. I produced dry point etchings, drawings in different pens ranging from permanent to 0.2 fine line and also attempted some woodcut printing.



Frottage is something I have never enjoyed doing. I'm not totally sure why, I just don't like it. Yet, it did give me a greater sense of the feel of the building. It wasn't something I referred to whilst drawing but I felt it was necessary to consider when starting the project.



Part of the project was a "Dot. Line. Form" session that we did in the hubs. It was a good way to create different mark making techniques. Above and below are some of my better examples. Above was created with a flat drawing pin head that I dipped in India ink and dotted until i needed to reload the ink. I feel it's a very strong image and one that I will refer to a lot over the rest of my course. It's perfect for a texture brush on photoshop, or even alone by itself.



When drawing, and focusing on small parts I felt a little bit that I was purposely neglecting the building in its entirety. This page below I produced on site using watercolours and Biro. It's one of my favourite pieces I've done since being at Uni. The wash of the watercolours is beautiful and it's looseness is fully complimentary to the buildings aesthetic. I was thoroughly impressed once I had finished. I miss my watercolours - can't find them anywhere!



When dry pointing, I found beauty in the cleaning process. When wiping down my plates the excess was spilt onto some newsprint. It was beautiful. I then produced a few quick studies of the building with a white gel pen and tipex. They are very strong visually and I have now started a collection of messy ink sheets as I get more from them than the actual drawings sometimes. Also, they are wonderful for backgrounds other drawings and excellent when scanning in for digital editing.



Below is the finished poster, to be seen in the Moors Art Space next to Argos on the Moors Shopping parade (think it's still there). Sean Gee and myself had the responsibility of putting together the output through InDesign and was then installed a week later. It's a brilliant collection of work, posters and sketchbooks alike. Congratulations to everyone whose work is there.
(Re posted image below from October)