PERSONAL PROJECT

As I really enjoyed working with symbolism through living things such as birds & body language I wanted to continue this for my personal project & push forward & develop some of my ideas from the last project, 'Structure'. The piece I did using string to create images worked really well in my opinion. The way I used mixed media & pops of colour really helped push forward some of the imagery I used & unveil the symbolism & deeper meaning within my work. 
To start this project, I set out a list of birds with different meanings, gathering images from the internet of them in different positions, interacting with each other. This provided many reference images for me for future pieces & also gave me more information & knowledge on history of some of these birds & their connection to people.

Throughout my whole journey through this foundation degree, I have always explored or hinted towards ideas round life & death due to the loss of my grandad during first year, so it has always had a place within my work. My interest in birds & their symbolism derived through this as he used to give us binoculars & bird books to bird spot in the garden with him. He would keep it interesting to us by showing us funny looking birds or ones with funny names such as the blue-footed booby. My mum would also talk about superstitions about certain birds. Its only now I've experienced loss that birds have more of a meaning to me, & more beauty. You find beauty in things that remind you of other people you love. Sometimes the beauty isn't appreciated until what you have is gone. I definitely want to represent this idea through my personal project. The way in which such a sad thing such as loss can also bring such hidden beauty. The way we latch onto things that hold memories. 

When I first started looking into ideas around my personal project, I began producing a biro drawing predominantly for my tattoo portfolio, exploring ideas around Christianity. A few Christians i've met before told me that religion is like an outlet & a therapy, saying with God, you will never be alone. I found some comfort in this idea & the thought of there being someone looking over me, supporting me. However, I am not religious. At low times, we all hold onto something that makes us feel better. Some things worse than others. Religion to me always seemed like a safe & comfortable thing to hold onto, even though personally, I don't believe there is a God, but I appreciate the practices within religion & the laws they follow. I find religion really interesting & am always open to hearing different perspectives & learning new things.
 I wanted to create a piece expressing the bibles idea of what an angel looks like, in my own perspective. I drew a face within two wings, with doves flying around it as they symbolise peace with God, innocence, purity, & love. I also included the symbol for the holy trinity which expresses the connection between the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit. Christians believe there is only one God, who is experienced as three persons. God is the father, God is the son, God is the holy spirit. However, the holy spirit is not the father, the father is not the son, etc...


This piece took me approximately 10 hours in total (bare in mind my short attention span so unsure of how many of them hours I actually spent drawing). During this time, over two weeks, I was having some of the hardest 2 weeks I have had in a while. I was mentally struggling & going through personal issues I was finding hard to manage & balance / keep under control. As I said, religion helps in many ways, & for me, just learning about it & expressing it through art really helped me. It kept me motivated, & got me out the house. A lot of this piece I did on my journeys to college, or at parks where I live. Spending time drawing outside of my house was a nice experience for me & needed at the time. Hearing the birds and sitting under shelter in the rain, I felt closer to nature & appreciated it a lot more. It helped me keep calm & keep a positive mindset. Fresh air really does help.
I also got to speak to some strangers during this time. I met a man who was curious as to what I was doing & he said he loved it & we spoke about birds & religion for a short time. This is one thing I highly appreciate from this FDA. I have met so many people, spoken to so many strangers on my journeys to & from college, & I remember them all. Some people are just really lovely & putting a smile on someone elses face definitely makes my day better. Art brings more opportunity to connect with those around you. This piece made me realise how special those interactions are, & made me acknowledge how everyone shares something with everyone, even if it's the smallest of interests, it's still a connection.
Overall, I really love the way this piece turned out. This is not the best picture, but I really love the shading I did on the face. It is the most realistic looking face I've ever done & definitely hints towards tattooing in my opinion. I used many different techniques & types of shading for this piece & really focused on the small things, such as the brighter line underneath the eyes, small highlights & smaller areas of shading in the wings of the angel. Unfortunately, I drew the Holy Trinity symbol a little wrong in the sense the circles inside it aren't all the same size. It isn't that noticeable, but I should have checked the width of the Trinity all around.

This piece relates to my project as the whole piece is symbolism for other things, in this case, Christianity. Doves are a symbol of peace & love, the angel is a symbol for heaven, the shape in the back is a symbol for the Holy Trinity. The birds are important as they make up my whole project.


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