Lighty-up Circles

I've up to now only been using pen and paper for my drawings, so today I decided to try and work out of my comfort zone slightly.  I thought it might be interesting to project circles, instead of just drawing them on paper, so I made a holey lampshade type thing to go over my lamp (yes, a lampshade for a lamp, who'da thunk it?), sat in the dark for a while and attempted to get shapes on the paper.

(Epic lampshade making skills)

(Smallest holes)

The lamp had to be pretty much touching the paper in order to get any shapes forming.  I don't think the bulb was bright enough (damn energy saving bulbs).  The photographs actually make the patterns look much better than they did in reality, but the photographs were also Photoshopped very slightly.  The outcome wasn't what I'd hoped for at all, I was hoping for clearer shapes really.

(Some holes larger)

Making some holes bigger made it worse, as more light came out.  The image on the paper just became blurry.

(All larger holes - no inuendo please, ta)

The only reason the image on the paper for the larger holes looked quite good was because the lamp was basically against it.  I thought the holey paper looked more interesting with the light shining through.  It reminded me of pollen under the microscope:

What have I learnt today?

I don't like projecting.

The Petits Pois

The Petits Pois

The official Pois page.

Research: Bridget Riley

(Blaze, 1964)

(Blaze, 1962)

Wall Circles at The National Gallery

I really like the way Riley's used different lines for the different images in the 'Blaze' series, yet they're all similar, so can be instantly recognised.

I have no intention of trying to create Op Art for my project, but I admire the structure of Riley's shapes, and the fact she has stuck to black and white.

Ho Ho Ho Green Giant! (cont.)

...the Jolly Green Giant does not do peas as well as sweetcorn.  So quite why ol' Tennessee's album's named 'When Pea-Pickers Get Together' I do not know.

Ho Ho Ho Green Giant!

Thinking about peas, I couldn't remember if Green Giant did peas as well as sweetcorn (he's green, therefore he should do!), so researched him.

Discovered possibly the most brilliant thing ever:

'When Pea-Pickers Get Together:  Tennessee Ernie Ford Sings The Green Giant's (And Everybody's) Favourite Folk Songs'.  From 1963 - records like that could only be from that period.  Came across a blog about country music that had a link to download the songs, and they are fantastic.  Beautiful in an awfully twee way.

Allen's Archive of Early and Old Country Music

It's not really relevant, but it is research, and it is WORTH IT.  The children on the record sleeve clearly agree with me.  I like the novelty titles, for example 'How the Jolly Green Giant Found His Song (And Almost Lost His Ho!  Ho!  Ho!)', as The Petits Pois's songs are all novelty with ridiculous names.

This is what white ink on black paper would look like (only this has been Photoshopped).  I am definitely going to use this method more often.  It looks really good.

The Petits Pois

Continuing with the circles (and actually forming circles rather than stars like last time..) I wanted to create the band name without using solid outlines.  I like the outcome, though people think I'm mental for spending the time drawing each circle.  I enjoy the repetition.  I'd like to see how these images look inversely - white ink on black paper.
This design could work well for a t-shirt, as it's bold and would catch the eye from a distance, which is always necessary if a t-shirt is on display at a gig.

After writing the history of The Petits Pois, including a discography, I am designing sleeves for all the releases, in order to have a back catalogue for the fake band to feel more real.  This idea incorporates my love for Art Nouveau and Psychedelic writing styles - forming the letters to fit a shape.  It isn't finished, but I think it looks too sparse.  I'd like to see what it would look like with a patterned background, to make it really over the top.  It might be too much and end up blinding me, or it could be too much in an op-art way.  It does desperately need something in the background though, perhaps just plain black if pattern is too much.