This collage was created following a vintage collage tutorial.
The original image of the cowgirl is taken from an illustration of Gil Elvgren, a renowned pin up artist of the 40s and 50s. Gil's paintings are famous to this day and are an influence to lot of artists.

I cut out the girl from the background using the pen and magic wand tools in photoshop. The composition felt a bit empty with her just standing, so I added a horse in the background. I cropped the horse out of a picture I found on google. I lowered the opacity on it a bit so the focus was still on the girl.

This collage relates to what I want to do for my final piece a lot. I also want to use 40s artwork and photographs to create my collages, and I'll probably end up using this technique.

1. What are your 3 initial ideas? (Explain them and include visual examples - scan your drawings!)

 I made 3 initial zines using different sized paper and some vintage photographs.

This is the plainest one I did, just experimenting with the paper and layering. The one aspect I might develop is the first page. The triangles are split on two different pages and can be used as a puzzle of sorts.

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For this one I decided to look for a picture online and then edit it. The tractor looks old enough already so I focused on the color/mood of the photo. I explained the steps on the picture above.

When I made the booklet I thought it needed something extra, so I drew over it with a brush pen. I tried to vary the line weight and emphasis. I ended up using the same technique on the next one.

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This booklet probably turned out best, because it combined elements from the previous two. The paper layering is more organized, but still interesting to look at, and the photo is genuine, unlike the tractor.

2. What are you planning to do to create them? Think materials, equipment, techniques...

Paper of different size, color and texture + vintage 40's-50's photographs. I'll use photoshop to edit the photos that need it. Also I might draw over them with the brush pen again.

3. Who have you researched to develop your ideas?

The "Perspective on Collage" exhibition gave me some inspiration, but mainly the photographs themselves. 
Also I researched vintage collages and found some very inspiring blogs and reference pictures.

Defrosting the cold war | Sally Edelstein

retrorama, great vintage flickr gallery

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I also have two WW2 books of my own, mainly with pictures of aircrafts and war scenes but still useful.

4. How have you explored a range of ideas around your theme within your experiments? What are they? How have they informed your ideas?

Before the booklets I looked into the work of Geraldine Georges and did some experiments imitating his style and technique.

It was the first time I attempted to make a collage digitally. It turned out well, so I'll try using it again for other booklets.

5. Have you refined/developed your ideas through experimentation? How?

Yes, as I explained in the first question, I tested different ideas and developed the ones I liked.

6. Have you annotated, in detail, your experiments and developments in your sketchbook/blog and used this information to help you improve? (include imagery if relevant!)

I've annotated my sketchbook and also included several process pictures on my blog.

7. Which idea has been the most successful? Why?

The last zine I did was most successful because I combined the best aspects of the previous two.

8. Which idea has been the least successful? Why?

The first one, because it was the first one I did. The paper was badly arranged and too torn up, and even then it looked very plain.

9. Which idea do you think you will choose for your final outcome? Why?

I'll most likely keep the vintage theme. If I had to pick one to develop right now, it would probably be the last booklet I did - I like the old family album look. I can also draw on top of it more, make certain parts completely black  so it can fit more in the covert and obscured theme.

10. What else could you do to further develop this idea? Think techniques and experiments!

I can try adding more photos and less colored paper. I can also try drawing things on the blank paper, instead of drawing over the photos. Also I might use photoshop again to change the colors/mood of a picture; e.g. take a color photo and make some parts black and white.

1. Original photo of an actress, off google

2. Turned it black and white, turned up the contrast

3. Turned up the contrast more. Looked at some of Geraldine's artwork and edited the image to fit his style (rougher edges, floral motives)

4. Continued adding things. Covered eyes are a recurring pattern in his art

5. Hot pink layer on multiply and 85%

1. Briefly explain the exhibition info, i.e. who was exhibiting? Where was it?

The exhibition's name is "Perspective on Collage", and it was exhibited in The Photographers Gallery, Soho. 

2. Include photographs that you have taken yourself at the exhibitions

3. Find some information about the artists/designers you liked - find information on the internet and in your exhibition guides/leaflets you collected

I liked Anna Parkina's work. She's a russian artist, born in Moscow in 1979. She's had a lot of exhibitions around the world and her work is pretty well known.

Roy Arden is a canadian artist born in 1957. He's taught photography is vancouver and is currently a guest teacher in germany. 

4. Select your 2 favourite pieces of work and write about them explaining what they were about and why you liked them

Roy Arden's "Sweeper" was interesting to hear about. I liked it because the artist sweeped up the trash from his floor and put together a collage. A method you wouldn't normally think of using, so he's thinking out of the box.

sweeper

I also liked Anna Parkina's collage, untitled 6. It's very creative and looks, at first glance, very organised. When you look at the picture carefully however, you'll notice a lot of interesting details. It took me a while to figure out what the base picture was.

untitled 6

5. Select your 2 least favourite pieces of work 
I disliked Clunie Reed's work, because it was too random and a bit pointless. It was surpring to see them in a photography gallery. It was surprising to see them in any gallery.

clunie reed

6. Conclude with a paragraph about the overall impression of the exhibition.  Did you enjoy it? Has it given you ideas and inspiration for what you might study at University? or as a career? How relevant was it to your exam project? What ideas will you take forward in your own work? etc. 

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