'Fact' Project Brief & Introduction
For my forth project I am going to find and investigate a story that is happening in the real world as a visual reporter. For my outcome i will produce a body of work that reveals the story and narrative that i am investigating.
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I will develop relationships with social groups such as clubs, organisations, libraries and museums which will help me research and understand my narrative in cultural and social perspectives.
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Project Ideas: For this project i aim to research and investigate into Animal domestication. The image to the right are a collection of ways that i am going to research and investigate my idea and how it fits into the brief of the project. For example the bottom are some ways that i going to research into my theme.
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I am debating to myself whether to focus on the domestication on the dog or the horse because they are both one of the first animals to be domesticated that we know of so there is a lot of information of both of them historically and culturally.
Tutorial Session And Feedback
For my tutorial session today, I felt that i did not have as much initial research ideas that i would have liked.
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I showed the lecturer my idea which can be researched on and investigated in a number of ways. I have chosen to narrow down my theme of animal domestication into domestication of the horse and the context of the working horse.
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I may even touch upon the theme of rescue horses from farming industries that have been heavily influenced on domestication of livestock.
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I feel that i have benefited a lot from my tutorial session because its given me a clear understanding of what and how i can take the next steps onto researching through documentation and observing through investigation.
Action Plan: My plan for researching my project on horse domestication and working horses is to visit venues locally such as animal, horse sanctuaries and even riding centres to gain insight into the horses and welfare of working horses today.
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I will email these venues for the opportunity to document and interview the people who are part of these organisations. I will do this within the next day so i can visit these places as soon as possible to collect initial research. This will also help me manage my time better for this project as i feel that i am slightly behind from my peers.
Researching Venues For Research
I have looked online to find some venues where i can investigate and research my project by asking people questions about the venues, the horses and their opinions on the questions that i will raise.
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The venues below are locations that are less than an hour out of Norwich City Centre itself and back in Chelmsford, my hometown which i visit every 2 weeks.
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I have emailed both organisations and centrew about visiting and interviewing and will await a response.
Redwings Horse Sanctuary:
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40 Minutes by bus
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Free entry
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Open Friday-Monday
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10am - 4pm
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Aylsham, Norfolk
Spa Lane
Alysham
Norfolk
NR11 6UE
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Getting There:
X44 Bus Sanders Coaches
Anglia Sqaure Stand B - Bus Shelter Aylsham
A140 - Get off at The New Forge Pub / Garden Centre
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Hillside Animal Sanctuary:
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22 Minute Bus Ride
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Open Certain Times
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10am - 4pm
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Hill Top Farm
Hall Lane, Frettenham
Norwich
NR12 7LT
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Getting There:
Number 55
Pick Up Anglia Sqaure Stand A
10 Minute Walk From Drop off Point
Chelmsford Equestrian Centre:
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back in hometown
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20 minute walk from house
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riding school
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open weekends and weekdays
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8am - 6pm
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Rayne Riding Centre:
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Braintree outside Chelmsford
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Back in hometown
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will need a lift
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open weekends and weekdays
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8am - 4pm
History Of Horse Domestication & Its Role Today
A number of hypothesis suggest the where the domestication of the horse first started. Although horses appeared in cave art, as early as 30,000 BC, these were wild horses and were most likely hunted for meat.
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One of the earliest evidence suggests that the first horses to be domesticated were from the Eurasian Steppes about 35,00 BC. The Botai culture and Kazakhstan are the location where the first horse were domesticated. The use of the horse spread quickly across Europe to be used for transportation, agricultural work and warfare.
Archaeological Evidence: Evidence coming from the domestication of the horse appears to be from three separate sources.
1. The changes in skeletons and ancient horse teeth
2. The geographic distribution of horses
3. sites containing artefacts, images, and evidence of human behaviour connected to horses.
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Evidence also contains horse remains interred with human remains, appearance of horse corrals, equipment such as bits, saddles and chariots. This suggests the horse was worked and ridden by humans.
The horse is one of the most domesticated animals on earth today because of how easy they are to tame and how versatile they can be to aid humans. One theory suggests that they were also easy to domesticate and tame because of their natural flight or fight instinct.
All domesticated horses today are and have been used for centuries to aid humans in transportation, agricultural and warfare. Today they are still used for riding and occasional agricultural work but not in great quantity which they once were due to the invention of technology.
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The Arabian horse is the oldest man made domesticated breed in the world today. They were used to travel long distances like the camel because they are swift and fast runners in the dessert.
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The only breed of horse that has not been domesticated and tamed today are a ancestor of the oldest horse beed called the Przewalski's Horse(Tahki) who live in the steppes of Mongolia. They are the only breed that are all the same colour and are critically endangered. (Ref: Martian Clunes - Horse Power - ITV.2010)
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Another breed that is semi domesticated and tame is the Mustang. Ever since Europeans first tamed horses and brought them to america 500 years ago, they have gradually been escaping back into the wild. Because there is simp;y no room for wild horses and farms in america, the government every year round them up and place them in holding centres but others believe that the Mustang should be left to be wild.
Domesticated horses today have been bred over to time to come in all different colours and a range of breeds that are suitable for different jobs through selective breeding. For example, the Norwegian Fjord Horse is one of the worlds oldest breeds and is believed to have been domesticated by the Vikings. It is also said to be related to the ancient Pzrzewalski's Horse.
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Throughtout history it has been used in warfare, farming and general purpose because of its strong body to pull loads. This bred also carries the primitive dorsal stripe that runs along the top of its body and Its unique mane also carries the stripe in the centre with white hair appearing both sides of the mane.
The Working Horse: There were once 150,000 working horses in the UK to deliver our mail and 70,000 ponies down the mines. But in London, when the British monarchy come out in public for presessions, they are escorted by 300 horses from the household calvery. Before the car was invented, buildings accommodated for horses and coaches, for example parliament itself is deigned around horses and coaches.
Horses ad working domesticated horses also became a symbol of wealth and rank, especially in medieval times. Even as late as the first world war, we used horses in battle.
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Police horses today are used in a similier way to run into riots and push into people. They are trained to build up tolerance of loud noises and unfamiliar things they are not used to so they can work efficiently to do their jobs with the trust of their riders.
Working horses such are the shire horse were used for heavy duties such as plowing fields, holding heavy loads and other big extensive tasks. unfortunately after the end of the second world war, when the popularity of the combustion engine rose, horses were not so much used and many were sent to slaughter for meat.
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Today these heavy breeds are rarely used for extensive work but rather are seen at shows, and competitions. These horses are sometimes also used for the foresty industry to remove logs from large forests. They have also played a large role in the breeding of warmblood breeds across the USA and Europe.
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The Suffolk Punch is a local breed to East Anglia. It is a heavy draft horse which was developed in the 16th Century to be used for farm work and for pulling artillery in the first and second world war. However this breed almost became extinct due to agricultural technology. Although still rare, they are used for draught work and forestry work.
Email & Response From Hillside
On the right is the conversation that i had with the founder of Hillside Animal Sanctuary. Unfortunately i couldn't visit the venue because its only open to the public throughout April - September.
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In spite of this, the founder, Wendy Valentine asked for my address so she could sent me a couple newsletters on the sanctuary itself.
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Through the post i received a anniversary edition which tells the whole story of Hillside and a recent newsletter about the sanctuary during the winter months.
This will be really helpful for my research on local horses in particular because it shows the good and bad side of horse domestication and the cruelty that working horses have today which not many people are aware of. There was one horse in particular which was a shire horse. This horse was abused and abandoned because it didn't have the right walking gait for showing and work. This is a perfect example of abusing working horses for a persons own use.
Visiting Local Riding Stable
I went back to my hometown in Chelmsford over the weekend and during that time, i visited a local riding stables where i used to go to as a child.
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The stables knew i was coming as i called them before hand but they were quite busy during the day so it would have been inconvenient to chat to them about the venue and its horses in depth.
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They allowed me to go around the yard and observe what was going on with the horses and the general atmosphere with the venue.
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The venue itself was quite busy with horses being tacked up with equipment, ready for lessons to have children on their backs.
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all the horses were all different in breed, size and colour with different personalities. It was nice to observe how the stable worked on a busy day with lessons going on and horses being let out to fields and mucked out or simply relaxing.
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I spoke to one of the stable girls about some of the horses. She said that some horses had been bred simply for riding schools, others were brought from privately owned trainers, or ex owned horses which were too old for competing "We have different horses for different riders. If you are a beginner you will be put on a docile beginner horse which has a kind temperament"
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I observed the lesson which was going on and there was a class of 6 riders on horses of different sizes which were taking turns to canter around the arena in a safe and calm fashion. After the lesson i asked the trainer in charge if she thinks that these riding ponies can be classified as 'working horses':
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"I do think these horses are working horses because they have a job to do in teaching people how to ride. Its not just learning to ride through, its taking responsibility for an animal, learning balance, strength and stamina"
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"What do you think is in it for the horses and ponies? Do you think they enjoy being ridden?"
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"They do like being ridden i think, horses always aim to please with people and enjoy our company and protection"
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After the lesson, the horses were led back into their stalls to be untacked and to relax with bails of hay and sawdust in their stables. They all looked rather happy in their paddocks. This may be due to the calm manner you have to follow while in the yard. For example you must not run in the yard because it can make the horses anxious and fearful, thinking you as a predator.
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I went away with some good observational sketches that i did in my sketchbook using pencil. I really enjoyed observing first hand the live of the horses at the stable yard. I want to look at other venues and resources so i can get more research into looking at working horses. I still do not know what question i would like to pose regarding to working horses so researching deeper into this topic may uncover something.
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Online Survey Q&A
Online i made a survey for Facebook friends and family to fill out regarding the domestication of the horse and its working life. I feel this has helped a lot because its helped me gather different opinions and perspective of what people believe in different aspects of this theme.
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10 People filled out my survey but the ones that really stood out to me where the ones screen printed below. This because they have strong controversial opinions that will help me figure out and decide how i am going to convey a message that gets across to the audience appropriately.
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The first survey on the left is by someone who owns two horses herself. I really like the way that working horses can be referred to any sort of horse that does work now, not just traditional heavy horses. It seems that most people agree that the use of equipment can be cruel to horses and this is something i agree with, especially metal tack.
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It feels that the future of the working horse is more viewed on the competitive side of things, to the use of humans, without regarding the welfare of the horse.
Norfolk Heritage Centre
I went to the local Norfolk Heritage Centre situated in the Forum. I went here to see if i could get any local information on working horses around the East Anglia areas.
I asked about any books or information about horse domestication or working horses and collected these two books. The Suffolk Punch is a book based on a local working horse breed that is now quite rare. Inside it tells about the details of its history up to today.The Second book is called Horse Power And Magic. This book is focused on working breeds in general and its history and future from others accounts.
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The books themselves are very informative in how they are used in terms of working on the farm and how they are both now used widely for competitions and bred for these purposes.
Black Beauty
Black Beauty is a English 1877 novel by author Anna Sewell in which became one of the best selling novels. Anna Sewell herself was from the Norfolk area.
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The book itself is focused on the story of a horse named Black Beauty, written in first person so its told by the horse itself. The story is about animal welfare and kindness to others. Each chapter recounts an incident of Black Beauty's life containing a lesson or moral typically related to the kindness, sympathy and understanding treatment of horses. The start of the story focuses on the horses carefree young life to his long days pulling cabs in London, numerous owners and cruelty he has on him.
This story has always been close to myself in childhood to now. I never read the book but i watched the film numerous times and since then, i always have a concern for animal welfare, especially horses.
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Watching this film again for research has helped me decide what perception i want my audience to see in regards to the welfare of horse domestication and working horses.
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The short scene above is from the film, Black Beauty where Beauty's mare, Ginger is racing a steeplechase when she hasn't been trained properly to run and jump long distances. The scene really signify s the view of the horse because you can hear the way she is breathing fast and rapid, the owner hitting her with the whip and the intense background music.
Horse Equipment
There are lots of perceptions when it comes to the welfare of horses and the use of horse equipment. When horses were domesticated, humans started inventing equipment which makes it easier to site on and control a horse to listen and obey certain aids. While this helps the rider with balance and control, certain types of equipment can be considered cruel.
Rick Gore Horsemanship: A horseman called Rick Gore is very against the use of metal equipment used on horses and believes that it is unnecessarily to control a horse through pain compliance.
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He teaches people rather about the use of proper and pain free ways of having a relationship with a horse rather than the use of it. He simply rides his horses by giving aids through pressure and release methods.
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The video to the right is one of Rick Gore's YouTube videos in which he demonstrates the communication he has with his horses without the use of metal equipment to cause pain compliance.
Bareback vs Saddle: ancient people were quite content with riding horses bareback without saddles. In parts of the world it is still a popular way to ride because it improves balance.
The downside to riding bareback is that the weight of the person sits right on the top of the spine of the horse which can cause a uncomfortable ride for the horse and may damage their backs long term. Bareback riding should only be done in for a short amount of time.
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There are different types of saddles available for different jobs and ways of riding.
Saddles are all generally made to distribute the weight of the rider off the spine of the horses back itself to make a more comfortable ride for both parties. The most popular and widely used is the general purpose saddle used for different jobs like jumping, hacking or schooling.
Bits, Halters and Stirrups: There are lots of different types of bits available now. People use bits to put into the horses mouth that help control it and ask for specific aids. While this is good, in my opinion i feel that the use of metal bits is a cruel way to control the horse because its painful and uncomfortable to wear. These have also been proven to damage horses mouths and teeth.
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There are rubber bits available which are not as severe but still have some form of metal on them.To counteract this, there are now ways to ride horses bitless by controlling the horse just through the use of a bridle or halter.
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Overchecks: Overchecks or Bearing Reins are another piece of horse tack that runs from the point of the horses back to a bit. It is designed and used to stop a horse from lowering its head below a fixed point when in carriage to make it look formal and smart. in the 19th century, critics called it "Suffering without complaint"
Blinkers: Blinkers also known as Blinders are used for preventing the horse from seeing behind them and in some cases the side of them while in carriage. These are also used in horse racing to help the horse see forward. While this is safe for people to stop the horse getting scared or distracted, it stops the horse seeing clearly and in turn they must trust their owners to see.
In response to learning and researching more about these pieces of equipment, through my development and outcomes i want to place the audience in the view of the horses, what the horse is seeing and feeling.
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As a development of research, i will look at how slavery equipment that was used on people relates to cruel equipment that horses have to be accustomed to.
Group Tutorial
My group tutorial went well and i feel that my peers and lecturer liked my ideas and research that i have so far. I feel that i am also catching up on the stage where everyone else is with their project in the timeline that we have been given.
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I explained my choice and research of idea through the showing of my blog and observational sketches and books i got from the archives.
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Some suggestions that were given to me has really helped me to narrow down ides for my final outcome. It was suggested to me that i make a instruction Manuel on how to properly care for your horse with their welfare in mind.
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After taking this into consideration, like this idea because i am interested in showing informative illustrations with clear messages in them but i feel that this doesn't really push my comfort zone in my practical way of working as i am constantly working in 2D a lot. I think i would like to experiment this project in working in 3D ways such as sculpture as this would challenge me to think differently about my practice and be a refreshing way to work.
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I have worked in sculpture before but only experimenting with techniques as opposed to refined sculptures and for my own work rather than degree work.
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I like the ides of incorporating colour into my work and how it can be manipulated to show a purpose. If i am to devlop with sculpture, i will then keep the idea of marking pressure points on a horse.
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Overall the turoial has given me some great ideas but i feel that i would like to challenge myself in developing and experimenting with 3D work instead of 2D for this project. With this idea of the welfare and feelings from the horses point of view when it comes to tack and equipment, i will research slavery equipment and how that relates to metal horse equipment.
Slavery Equipment
"A slave is a person or animal who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them" - Wikipedia Definition
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After seeing this when i put the definition into google, it really drove the meaning that horses can be slaves to their owners by being made to work for them, that horses are technically slaves themselves.
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In my past research, i have covered the topic of cruel horse equipment such as metal bits and whips and now the idea of slaves and slavery equipment really relates to that in the same way that they are being punished and must have to obey or they will be mistreated.
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In particular, forced labour is one of the five forms of labour that their can be and which both human and animal alike are subject too. Notice how the two images to the left both are visually simlier in that in both images the subjects are forced to pull very heavy goods.
Mask:This Mask to the right is a illustration if a mask that Africans had to wear from trying to escape and commit suicide. To stop this, they had these tin masks put over the heads to prevent them from eating dirt to try and commit suicide. The small holes in the mask were for breathing.
Metal Collar:The image to the left is a illustration of an man who has a metal collar around his neck for wrongdoing. These collars were thick and heavy and often had large protruding spikes that made field work difficult to do and prevented them for sleeping at night. These collars were kept on for months at a time.
Whips:The next image to the right is of a man who has whip scars all around his back. Whips were one of the most common ways of punishing slaves and are used on horses to make them obey humans. The sound of the whip represents the sound of a small sonic boom and was known for making slaves bleed or even going into hypovolemic shock.
Chains & Shackles:One of the most used ways to stop slaves and prisoners escaping capture was the use of thick, metal shackles and chains which forced slaves to be led around. These chains and shackles were commonly placed around the neck, wrists and ankles. Sometimes there would be a metal ball attached to the end to weight the slave down and prevent them escaping with speed.
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This concept is still used today by police officers who use metal handcuffs to stop ciminals escaping aor acting aggressively.
Ostineli & Priest
Ostineli & Priest is the name given to two artists and sculptors that work together to create consistent animal sculptures. All the sculptures have colour, form and pattern in common to give a uniformity to them.
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The composition of this piece itself has been manipulated into a intricate and complex pose which i want to incorporate into my work. It gives a sense of movement and life to the piece as if its going to jump and run away.
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The splash like pattern and colour are also what draw me visually to this piece. The mark making seems to be a loose irregular splash pattern across different angles of the form of the horse.
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I like this subtle mix of blue/grey and brown together, it gives an earthy and natural texture and feel the sculpture.
Wang Ruilin Soulful
Wang Ruilin Soulful is a sculpture who's animal sculptures such as this horse are representations of himself, put into these inward looking poses.
I love the way the horse form has been manipulated into this inward, uncomfortable composition with its head being pulled into its neck and its legs slightly lifted.
I think this sort of form of composition will be appropriate for my work because i want horses to look uncomfortable and in pain with the equipment they are wearing but having to deal with pain compliance.
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i may even put the horses in submissive positions like bowing and having their heads lowered in a slightly unnatural way.
Carousel Horses
I have decided to incorporate carousels as another way of visually describing my work that i will do. I have had a general interest in carousel horses themselves and i feel this is appropriate to add into my narrative and message.
Although carousels are used for entertainment and are often perceived as fun family rides, they have a rather negative history to them. Another reason why i want to incorporate this idea is that the horses is a featured animal in the carousel and this gives it another representation of being an animal that is designed for use, convenience and not as much its welfare. The horse itself on a carousel is designed to hold 2 riders with a pole through its middle. Its also designed to be in visually pleasing poses, adorned in bright horse tack and equipment such as saddles, bits, bridles, spurs and stirrups.
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History Of The Carousel: The history of the carousel horse dates back to medieval times when jousting was a popular sport with knights and kings alike. They would charge at each other on horseback armed with lances that would blow another player to the ground.
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The concept of the carousel came from this sport.when knights would practice for jousting they would ride in circles on horseback and throw balls at each other. This activity required great horsemanship and balance.
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Another name for this practice was called "Little Battle" In time the game started to be played by commoners and the idea of the carousel popped up at fairgrounds across Europe.Wooden horses were made for the carousels to suit children who wanted the play the game.
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in the early 18th century, the carousel started being built and operated at fairgrounds. Platform carousels soon were developed in the 19th century with wooden animals and chariots fixed to a circular floor. These carousels were operated manually by person or Donkey.
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Soon carousels horses were animated by up and down motions as they travelled around a centrepiece. Electric lights and machine operated carousels soon became the modern carousels that we see today with fairground organs in the centre of the carousel itself.
Carousel horses are all mechanically and structurally build into the body of the carousel itself, as if they are trapped and compliant to work with the carousel. This is how I want my outcome to look like, as if it is intertwined into the body of the main pole that runs through it and the pieces of horse tack and equipment that have been built into it.
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I feel that i have enough suitable research and evidence to go ahead and start developing and experimenting different outcomes that will contribute to my final piece. This includes materials, processes and techniques.
As i want to work with 3D, i am to to experiment with different forms of sculpture work that can easily manipulated and created on a low budget and that is nottoo time consuming to fire. (e.g. air dry clay, polymer clay)
3 Week Timetable
I have come up with a basic list of tasks that i need to do in these next three weeks before the deadline and hand in of all our work in this unit. To keep myself organised and on task, i have written down a timetable of tasks that i can do before that time. Below i have rewritten the tasks onto this blog along with a physical copy.
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Week 1:
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Developments of compositional drawings.
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Experiment development 3D designs with air dry clay
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Pressure Points on clay
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experiment with Polymer clay
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Final design idea drawing
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Contact artists about Industry essay
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Week 2:
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Final design mock up
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Draft industry essay
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start final sculpture
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design pamphlet layout
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Week 3:
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finish final sculpture
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finalise blog
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print off project 1 outcomes
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editorial into pamphlet print off
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check overall work
This week will focus on the developments of my idea and thinking about how i am going to turn this 2D work into a 3D sculpture. I will experiment with different low budget clays to see how they work as a process, durability and quality. I will also start to contact artists i know to interview about my industry essay.
The start of week 2 will quickly fall into my mock up design of my final sculpture idea and following that, the start of the final outcome. By that time i will have a an idea of what materials, processes, techniques and how i am going to visualise this to my audience. I will also interview and draft my industry essay after contacting artists. I will also layout my editorial pamphlet for print
The final week will consist of finishing the final outcome for this current project, printing past project outcomes, finalising my essay and checking my work overall on my blog.
Compositional Outcome Drawings
The images to the right are some developmental com positional ideas that i may manipulate into a 3D sculpture through building it up with clay. I want to look at poses that are dynamic and have a sense of movement in them. I particularly like the bottom and top left sketches because they both have a sense of movement and imprisonment with the carousel like pole going through them. The use of dark areas are to signify muscle structure which i want to bring out into the final sculpture to bring a sense of life and body.
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The next idea is to incorporate equipment that both resembles horse tack and slave equipment to bring the narrative of poor welfare and cruelty that a horse may have when having to work with pain compliance equipment.
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I feel the carousel pole will not only bring a sense of imprisonment and narrative of being there for the humans sake of use but also to help the sculpture be structurally sound without tipping off balance or being too heavy to be held up.
To get my audiences opinion and perspective on what their favourites were, i posted the images on my art facebook page and got a few answers from a range of different people. Most people really liked the bottom left one because of the composition.
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I too really am drawn to this particular pose after seeing them together because it really gives a sense of movement, dynamic composition and narrative.
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My other favourite is the horse bowing as if in submission. My next plan of action is to think up of how im going to design equipment that echos both the form of horse equipment and slave equipment to bring the narrative of pain compliance of the working horse together. I feel these two illustrations for my design idea really echo that narrative visually.
Experimenting With Low Budget Clays.
I have experimented with some low budget clay that i have used before such as air dry clay and polymer clay but not for sculpture work like this which demands detail and form. Because i am to really build up the body of the animal itself, i want a clay that will allow me to manipulate it in this way while being strong, bendable and durable. I also have a low budget for this project so i want to keep cost down as much as possible. This is why i am to experiment with these two clays.
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Experimenting like this will also allow me to think and consider other techniques, materials and the process of my making.
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Air Dry Clay:I started experimenting by constructing a small horse head. I have only allowed myself to create a portion of the horse because it would be too time consuming to construct the whole body of the horse. The skeleton had been made from tin foil and masking tape to keep it together for the experiment, although i know the final sculpture will have to have a wire skeleton to give it strength and durability.
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Ive used tin foil and masking tape to also bulk out the form because it helps save the amount of clay and weight on the sculpture.The first shape of the horses head was too bulky with too much tin foil so started again. if i kept doing this and adding clay then i wouldn't have much room to mould and manipulate the clay into creases and shapes of the face without hitting the foil body. My next base head was much more effective with a even better shape of head that the clay can mould around into. The bodsy also resembles more realistic face of the horse. I did this by forming the tin foil into more ball like shapes for the head and nose.
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After the tin foil was constructed i started to lay the air dry clay onto the basic form of the head and cover it in a even layer. Because the clay dries the more time it is out in the air, i was under pressure to do this because it stiffened. When it came out of the packet, it was quite moist and easy to mould into a shape although slightly annoying to place onto the base because it had some trouble sticking. I started to add slight muscle structure to the face and when doing this, it became difficult to manipulate into the right shape because the clay would because stiff and crack. I persisted to add clay to form more of the face to make it a more convincing shape of a horse but it became more difficult when the clay was drying and cracking under the movement of me manipulating parts to create creases. The most obvious areas of cracking was the nose and mouth area.
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The area i do think worked relatively well is the cheek on the horses face because of the smoothness. I think this happened because i moulded it when it was still quite moist and easy to shape and give texture too.
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I will not use this clay because i do not think it is suitable and appropriate to use for my final sculpture because it dries quite fast and is prone to cracking in areas. This is not the effect i would like because i want the piece to look realistic and smooth. It is also hard to blend and manipulate into intricate shapes like facial features and creases.
Polymer Clay: For my second experiment i bought some polymer clay which is suitable to be cured in the oven. I chose this because i have worked with it before for personal work so have some experience in working with it.
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I created the tin foil base for the head the same way i did before by wrapping it in masking tape. I massaged the clay until it became flexible to mould with and placed it onto the base and gradually worked on it by layering up the body which forms the horse including the shape of the skull and muscle structure.
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This clay is so much better to work with than the air dry clay because it doesn't dry up and crack, it is easy to manipulate into shapes and textures, it is also much more durable and stronger. I think this will be the right choice of clay for me because of these reasons.
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The head that i made has the muscle structure of a working horse so it looks rather stocky than thinner breeds of horses. I only made one side of the horses head because i didn't want to take too much time up making it for the purpose of a experiment, i also didn't refine it too much because of those reasons. I will next experiment with how the tack will be placed on the horse, the technical tings i need to consider/ (wire armature/oven baking time) and the final design of the horse.
Developing Design Of Horse Equipment
To bring out the narrative of horse tack resembling that of slavery equipment, I experimented and developed sketches into refined ideas that can either be painted onto the sculpture itself or sculptured onto the animal itself to be part of it.
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The images on the right are of different parts of the horse that i want to have equipment on. The tack has been designed to look like tack but have resembling features of slavery equipment. The exapmple a ball and chain hangs off the back leg of the horse to stop it from running away or escaping.
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It was a last minute decision but i chose to change the carousels pole appearance to resemble the form of a horse whip with the rope hanging off but im not sure how this will turn out physically. I may have to give it a wire skeleton so it looks as though the rope is flowing around the main pole.
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Group Review
This group review consisted of me presenting my ideas so far for my project. This showed experiments and developmental drawings that had been hung up onto the walls.
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I feel that my theme and ideas have been a well received narrative but my peers say that they are struggling to find the jump between going from working with 2D to 3D sculpture. My debate or this is that it i will make the sculpture to be a interactive sculpture where the audience dress the horse in made equipment such as saddles, carts, horseshoes and bits. It will also bring s more like life appearance to the piece by making it 3D.
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Another idea that kept cropping up and being said was the idea of making a guide/users manual on how to care for a horse. This has been said before as the drawings i have done for the experiments are strong and giving the right informative visual language. I do like this idea but i feel that its not as technically challenging as making a sculpture.
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I have scrapped the idea of having the horse a somewhat carousel because it doesn't seem to quite fit into the narrative and seems to be more of a distraction from the narrative. Instead i will leave the form of the horse as it is.
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My next action plan is to make the final outcome of the sculpture and experiment with making equipment made from wire and metal to signify the pain and cruelty that some horses go through. I will need to make equipment that will be easy for the audience to interact with and place onto the horse itself.
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Making Sculpture
To make my horse sculpture, the first thing i did was make the skeleton. To do this i took pieces of wire to create a rough skeleton form of the horse. I used a horse anatomy book for reference to what i was creating was accurate to a real horse with the right sizes and proportions in place.
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To keep the sculpture light in weight, i wrapped it in tin foil and masking tape to form the basic shape of its belly and head. If i used all clay it would make the sculpture very heavy and not as durable which would likely make it hard to keep up right.
After filling out the basic form with masking tape a tin foil,. i started to wrap the piece in polymer clay and gradually began layering on the skeletal structure of the animal. This is to bring more form and proportions to the piece so when creating shape it will be more life like. The structure was still durable and strong at this point and i was happy with the progress that i made with this piece.
I gradually began adding more muscle structure on top of the skeletonal pieces which brought up mire form and proportions. I really enjoyed creating muscle structure to bring a more sense of life and movement into the animal. As you can see from the photography on the right, the shadows indicate the form and shape of different parts on the body. Again i used 'Art Anatomy Of Animals' to help me reference placements of the horse.
I changed the form of the front shoulder because it seemed to make the horse more muscly than i was happy with. The legs themselves were also proving to be quite tricky to work with because the clay struggled to grip onto the wire legs and as i kept moving the piece around to focus sculpting different areas, the legs would subtly change position which i had to re work on. This would make the balance of the horse unstable which i had to fix on a few occasions to make sure it stayed standing.
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The next steps i forgot to take photographs of but i focused on the face of the horse. This was hard to do because the head was quite small and they're are lots of muscle structures and facial features i wanted to incorporate into the piece to bring it to live and give more of a personality and emotion.
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I added strands of clay for the main and cut into it slightly to give texture to the mane and tail. This is oven bake clay so it is cured when it is placed into the oven. Once i had finalised details of the horse and made sure it was durable and stood by itself, i placed it into a tray in the oven to begin baking. Because the clay thickness was overall quite thin, i put it on a relatively low heat setting for 15 minutes. I was really excited and slightly anxious to go through this stage because like all sculpture work, a lot of things such as cracking, bobbling, breaking and burning can occur when it is curing in the oven as it expands and gets hot.
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After about 10 minutes i came to check on the sculpture in the oven and it had burnt all through and from falling over in the oven itself, it had landed on the edge of the try and became mis figured. I was really distraught and taken back as this sculpture took me many hours to create and i feel that i had taken all necessarily steps to make sure it could be durable and not burn in the oven as i have made sculptures like this become with success so i was confident that i would be successful. Again i forgot to take photographs of this but the whole piece was black with burning. In trying to salvage what i could from this sculpture and make the best of it, i painted it a somewhat natural and neutral colour of a horse to see what it would look like. It hid all the burning but parts of the misfigured sculpture are obvious which also stops the piece itself from standing, the position of the legs look different to what i had created originally. The face of one side of the horse is also misfigured as it baked on the side of the tray when it fell.
I think it looks okay overall but i feel it isn't to the high quality standard that i had in mind and that is expected for me. If this was for a company or client then i wouldn't submit this because it just doesn't have the quality that i wanted. Maybe if i did this again i would use a wooden turn base to place the wire feet into so that it didn't move or change position when sculpting. I maybe would use different paint as arclyric makes it look matte and gives a messy texture. Horses have quite a smooth shiny texture to their fut this outcome also didn't work in that respect. I was also going to make wire equipment that would be able to be attached and separate from the sculpture so the audience can interact with it.
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I could create another sculpture with these solutions in mind but the deadline is quite close now so i dont think i will have time to produce another to the standard that i want. I dont want to submit this as a final piece either as it just doesn't visually work to the high standard that i want. I will go back and go with my second idea which is too create a guide/users manuel on how to care for a horse.
New Plan For Outcome
My new plan for my final outcome is to go with my second idea and theme of making my outcome into a users Manuel/guide on how to care for a horse. This will be highly illustrative with informative visual language. The outcomes will be inspired from my horse pose drawings into a refined fine liner drawing on instructing on how equipment and what equipment should be used. The Manuel will cover four different subjects on how to care for your horse. As there are so many subjects to caring and looking after a horse involved, i will focus on areas that involve using proper equipment.
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I will take inspiration from very detailed and informative instructional guides which can be found when assembling objects and mechanics together such as cameras, TV's, wardrobes and beds. I will also take inspiration from illustrators who take this Manuel, informative theme into illustrations. Such as this illustration on the right hand side from artist, Tobatron. I particularly like the bold lines and the use of arrows to show steps to take with this fun and sketchy design.
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My next plan is to create some developmental sketches on how i am going to layout subjects how they will work around each other. I will also take inspiration other illustrators on how they have made similer outcomes. I will try and not take too long on this as the deadline for this unit is approaching and i want to give myself time to double check work that i will submit to make sure it is appropriate and right. I will still keep the theme of equipment being cruel to horses by showing pressure points and how it hurts a horse physically and mentally, i may do this by incorporating asetate to highlight these areas.
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Artist Research
Clint Ford: This work to the right is by artist and illustrator called Clint Ford to creates outdoor technical illustrations for instructional purposes on outdoor projects such as camping equipment and outdoor wear. I really like these illustrations because they are simple with more visual language than type to over take the image. The images themselves are bold in black and white and mostly consisting of simple line art which is simple to read and informative. There also isn't any colour involved apart from monochrome colours such as black, white and greys. This keeps the images simple and not to distract the viewer from the informative instructions.
James Provost: James Provost is an illustrator who creates 2D and 3d informative and technical illustrations for editorial use, instruction manuals and motion graphics.
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This piece of James Provost particularly stands out to me because i love the bright bold colour situated behind the images themselves, almost highlighting them in a informative and simple way. The artist has marked different areas with points and numbers to highlight different areas and marks of interest.
Central Illustration Agency: This is another illustration design by The Central Illustration Agency. This is a technical informative piece which has been inspired by built it yourself models. I really like this idea as it shows different pieces and objects that relate to the main theme to all be put together and turned into one piece.The objects have all been placed in their own sections which gives a informative approach and sense of formality and tight space.
Developmental Drawings
With the idea of technical illustration and informative drawings in mind, i drew highly detailed illustrations of horses, equipment and instructional illustrations that have been developed from past drawings in this project.
These are much more refined in the sense of detail and technicality. These were all done with different pen nibs to create different boldness and thinness in the strokes.
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Keeping these images black and white will be important in the role of making them seem like instructional or technical drawings o i want to keep that aspect as simple as possible. I may incorporate small colour details that resemble pressure points on the animal but that will be done digitally so i have more control on layout and placements.
Final Outcome
Below is a gallery of my final piece before it is printed and binded into a book. I used most of the same images that aer from my developmental drawings because i felt that they were strong enough to turn into and incorperate into the final piece of the book. The book itself is very informative with text that i wrote myself that reflect my research on the welfare of the horse itself and the proper use of equipment and care.
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I wanted to keep the layout informative but in a creative and simple way by keeping the layout design neat and light in colour so it still has that instructional/manuel book feel to it.
The video to the left i what the book looks like in its physical form with the binding. I used left over twine and hole punched the pages together to create a unique binding outcome to the piece. The twine is essentially double knotted in each set of papers. I wanted to try a different binding method as binding books isn't my strong point but i wanted to create something that resembles a rustic, natural theme that reflects the natural nature of a horse.
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The images on the front over are a more refined illustration that i created originally with coloured pencils. I edited the images so they have this airy natural, kind feel about them while still giving a idea of how powerful and strong they are. I did this by taking the natural colour of the pencil out digitally and editing it so they fade into the gradient gentle background.
The text on the front and throughout the book to the back are these bold and formal, mature type faces that are easy and informative to to read on a clear level. I didn't want to create a fancy title name for this book as it is supposed to reflect a Manuel instructional book so kept it as informative as possible. I feel that the layout and design of thebook itself speaks also in this way.
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I used A4 Linen ivory paper for this booklet to give it a slightly rough texture but not to interfere with the colour of the print itself. I really like this effect it has had on the print as it feels as though you are holding something that has some body and it also reflects natural textures that relate to the natural horsemanship methods that are suggested in this book.
Project Evaluation
From the beginning of this project, i was really excited to work on a brief that was based on researching and documenting. feel that research is one of my strong points when it comes to my illustration practice so this is one of the reasons i was excited to get into it. This project has also been very self directed which i have liked because i like working and being left to my own devices as this is how i work best.
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I wanted to set my brief on a subject that really has interested me in a long while and that is anthzoology or the human and animal relationship. I looked at a theme that is based on the working horse and how it is somewhat mistreated by the many owners it could have in its life. Inspired by horseman, Rick Gore and the book Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, i looked at how i could change peoples opinions and thoughts on the welfare of the horse.
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I originally thought between making a booklet about the welfare and care of a horse but i wanted to challenge myself a bit more so i attempted to go down the road of 3D sculpture. During my tutorial that week, i was told that it was quite a jump between suddenly going from 2D to 3D and what the purpose of that could be. I only answer was that the audience could see the life of the horse and be able to put equipment on the horse itself that resemble shackles or slave equipment.
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When i came to making my sculpture, it was all going good until it fell over during curing and burnt all over, leaving the piece quite hard to work with and not being at a decent enough equality to submit as a final piece. This really disheartened me and discouraged me. I didn't have time to make another sculpture due to how long it would take the the deadline approaching.
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I went back to my original idea and made a instructional booklet that is focused on the welfare and care of the horse. the drawings are all strongly visual and technical in detail and composition, being an informative piece of information that i audience and reader can take on board.
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I am overall quite happy with my final outcome of this project for the reasons listed above but am still very gutted about the sculpture because it was visually strong and i really liked this idea of the audience placing the slavery equipment onto the horse. I feel that the sculpture had a slightly more stronger narrative to it than my booklet but my booklet is more informative than being symbolic.
Unit Summary
PROJECT 1:
​My chosen story is called 'Light Is Like Water' It is an interpretative and imaginative story about two brothers who use the power of their childlike minds to travel the house on golden water from the light bulb in their house. This story really interested me because I like anything which has a sense of magic realism and fantasy. The workshops really helped me fine different and varied ways of researching into my story, for example one of the workshops was about finding and sectioning areas of a story. This is called 'Scene Shift'. Because I had three weeks to complete this project, I feel that I could have concentrated more of practical work as opposed to researching it, Although I am happy with the context of my developmental and experimental sketches and drawings. One of the big influences of my outcome are rooted from the idea of Spanish tiles and how they are related to the theme of water. I researched heavily into this topic but feel I could have designed a more varied amount of developmental drawings and designs for the front cover.
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The final outcome itself originally was a sketched drawing on paper which I transferred into Adobe Photoshop to digitally draw it. I digitally drew this because I wanted to do something on the computer which I wasn't too comfortable in making into a book cover. The outcomes focal point is of the light bulb that the two brothers break when they first discover the golden water of light that floods the house in which they sail on but it has been drawn around negatively so the golden shape of it is emphasised. It also gives a sense of discovery when your eyes see the general shape of it. The background is of the patterned Spanish tiles shaped to look like drops of water that are flowing to make the negative shape of the light bulb. I really like the colour theme of this piece because it has different and intricate shades of blue in which some are highlighted and gradient in different shades which bring out the lightness of the bulb. I feel that I did more developments and experiments when it came to the inside illustrations for the short story. I really am pleased with the final outcomes because they hold this child like scribbling to the background and are heavily influenced by artist Michael Craig Martin who uses strong bold lines against bright vibrant forms of objects.
PROJECT 2:
For my second project in Year 2, The brief I had been set was to focus on the exploration of classic fiction in playful, collaborative and experimental ways. The book myself and my group were given is a book by author Peter Carey called True History Of The Kelly Gang. The book is based on the story of an Australian folklore hero, Ned Kelly from the 1880s. The first impression i got from this book was negative at first because it didn't seem to be a book i would personally be interested in, especially being a biography about someone historical. Upon primarily researching basic information on the book and its main character, Ned Kelly, we collectively as a group decided to base the book on the perception of Ned Kelly himself. We chose this because people even today have mixed opinions about this historical and cultural figure. Some say he is a murderer and criminal while others consider him a Australian Robin Hood.
Focusing on the perception theme of Ned Kelly, with my group, we began to experiment ways to visually show this theme of perception through workshops and tasks set to us. These main tasks were set weekly and involved developing and experimenting with our theme to manipulate them into playful outcomes that met the different briefs. A big influence for my work on this project is a conceptual artist called Christian Boltanski who is best known for his photographic installations. His work has been a great source of inspiration for our Ned Kelly work because it also carries elements of manipulating and casting shadows in a large space with different perspectives in size, angle, perception and composition. Our development and experimentation methods have been very strong as they continuedly maintain the relationship between the narrative and visual language we are trying to convey. An example of this was our final piece which was exhibited at our ReStory Exhibition at St Margaret’s Church Of Art. Everything visually about our space reflected the story of Ned Kelly. The way the twine ceiling was constructed in a messy style had meaning of reflecting Ned Kelly’s chaotic lifestyle through to his death. The hanging quotes and objects situated around Ned Kelly’s character related to things he said and did. The cow represents the herd of cattle him and his gang stole while the guns signify the discrimination and violence he and his family had with the police. The cuts were cut out positively and negatively to oppose each other and suggest 'good' and 'bad' motifs, situations and perceptions linking with Ned. Ultimately these things give the audience free will to decide their own perception of him. If I was to do thus project again with my group, i would suggest us to find a better and louder sound system to for exhibition installation because it seemed to be drowned out by other groups work and the general noise of the venue. Another theme we could have gone down was using better torches as the ones used for the exhibition were quite dim so it made some spectators revert to using flashlights on their phones. Overall, this project has taught me a lot about working and collaborating with others on a professional, friendly way to produce a piece for a exhibition. It has also taught me more about thinking of producing a exhibition space and having to make compromises and solutions where appropriate to do so to make the best possible outcome. I really enjoyed working with a group that was open to ideas, opinions and suggestions in producing a final piece that was strong in narrative and visual language relating to the book and character.
PROJECT 3:
This project has been quite hard for me in terms of my dyslexia in English and the difficulty in trying to explain things in a way that makes sense. With this said, i feel that i have improved in this aspect from last year with reading back to myself things i have written out and generally taking more time on writing about my subjects. My favourite essay to write for this project has been the editorial essay report because it has been a chance to write about something i have a big interest in and care strongly about. It was also a great chance to product a pamphlet booklet that has the public and audience in mind. I feel the booklet itself has been quite strong and simple in layout in a way that the audience can clearly read and relate to. he essay that i had the hardest time writing and researching was the industry essay. It was hard to find inspiration to write about something i personally don’t know much about, but i soon found motivation when i chose what subject within the industry i wanted to go down.
PROJECT 4:
From the beginning of this project, i was really excited to work on a brief that was based on researching and documenting. feel that research is one of my strong points when it comes to my illustration practice so this is one of the reasons i was excited to get into it. This project has also been very self-directed which i have liked because i like working and being left to my own devices as this is how i work best. I wanted to set my brief on a subject that really has interested me in a long while and that is anthzoology. I looked at a theme that is based on the working horse and how it is somewhat mistreated by the many owners it could have in its life. Inspired by horseman, Rick Gore and the book Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, i looked at how i could change people’s opinions and thoughts on the welfare of the horse. I am overall quite happy with my final outcome of this project am still very gutted about the sculpture because it was visually strong and i really liked this idea of the audience placing the slavery equipment onto the horse. I feel that the sculpture had a slightly more stronger narrative to it than my booklet but my booklet is more informative than being symbolic.