A Drawing I Forgot I Did

This is a drawing I found on my mac. I completely forgot about it, but I really like it. I want touse it in something but I'm quite sure what for yet.

Second Pig Man

This is the second pig man I have done. He will be leaning right over a table, gorging into the food on it. I'm not sure whether I like this one. I'll experiment a bit more and see what happens.

Me Messing Around with Spray Paint

This was just me messing around a bit. My can of black spray paint got blocked so I was trying to obviously unblock it and it started to look like a face. So I worked into it a bit more. It's weird, there's no reason for it, but I quite like it.

Pig Man

This is a pig/man I created. It's for something I'm working on with Rikki Hewitt. He'll be sitting at a table with a few others like him eating something. It looks a bit weird without anything in his hands yet, but its just an idea for the style of working. We're just drawing up some ideas at the moment so I'll be putting more stuff on here to see how it develops. Rikki will be putting stuff on his too I'm sure. You should check him out. He's really good!! http://rikkihewitt.blogspot.com/ .

For My Own Entertainment

These are a couple of double pages from my sketchbook. I haven't been given my brief yet for my summer project but I thought I'd just start messing around, experimenting and this is what happened. I didn't really have any aims or ideas when I started these, I just started, and saw where it went. They're a bit weird but I like them. They're both from the same image source - an image on the BBC homepage. I'm not sure who it was but it was about the Antarctic.

Self defined Brief - Abu Ghraib Second Final Image

This is the second and final print I will be making for Abu Ghraib and the entire project. I'm really pleased with this! Again, quite simple, but, I think, effective. I used an image from Abu Ghraib of a prisoner made to stand on a box with their arms out. They have wires attached to their hands, so if they fall off the box (normally they're on it for about 72 hours) they will be electrocuted. This is a lie, there is not electricity running through the wires - its a psychological thing. I thought this is good as with their arms out it not only shows this torture technique, but with their arms out, its a pose you associate welcoming someone with.

I've tried to make the images on it a bit blurred or pixelated to increase the sense that these are documented. All the negative sources for this prison that made it to the media were like this, as they were taken quickly, or on standard digital cameras, without the army knowing, so I tried to keep this idea in the print.

The children's slides are there as they were trying to claim this prison is so nice, prisoners won't want to leave, so I thought 'what is the object furthest away from a dark, threatening environment?' and I thought of a child's playground. It's a bit random, but its a personal response, and I think it works. Also, it should make the viewer think about it more.

Self defined Brief - Abu Ghraib - 'Standard Operating Procedure'

These are some photos that I took from when watching 'Standard Operating Procedure'. It's a documentary I think by Errol Morris. It's about the state of Abu Ghraib prison and how the prisoners were treated, and ended up in the prison. Most of them hadn't committed crimes, they were there to be 'interviewed' and interrogated. It's quite shocking at times but really interesting how a lot of the soldiers working there are interviewed trying to defend what they did to the prisoners. This has been a big inspiration for my prints on Abu Ghraib (I just forgot to post this earlier!).

I definitely recommend watching this. The way the soldiers took degrading photos of the prisoners was in all the newspapers when it happened, but you don't realise exactly what they did to these people until you watch something like this.

Self defined Brief - Abu Ghraib First Final Print

This is the first final print of the abuse at Abu Ghraib. I'm pretty pleased with it. It's quite simple, but I think that's what makes it work. It's supposed to look fairly dark, but sort of clinical, like an institution - basically the opposite to what the americans described it as when it first opened. I watched a documentary on this prison, so I've taken my notes from it and tried to transfer what I described into the image. The figure in the foreground is a mixture of drawn and the original image. The photograph (which I took off my computer screen) wasn't too clear, so I drew it as well, and then merged the two together.

Again, to fit in with the other images in this project, I've used mainly collage. I think this works so much better. It's a more powerful method of getting across what happened there. Its like a more realistic form of documentation. Also, this project is self defined so I wanted to do something which allowed me to practice my collage skills. It sounds like a really easy method to use, but its actually quite hard to make it work.

The patterning and typography on the floor of the image is an old bookmark I found in a second-hand book I brought, explaining what to do if you get burnt, electrocuted, poisoned etc, which is really weird but somehow relevant! I've drawn doodles in between all the type which helps adds to its aesthetic.

Self defined Brief - Abu Ghraib

This is what I have been working on tonight. I'm pretty pleased with it. It's just a background idea, but I'm pretty sure I'll be using it. It's not enough I don't think to use as an image in itself but its a good starting point. I took a photo of it at a bit of a funny angle, because it was an awkward size, but I think it adds to it. It gives it more perspective, and makes it look a bit weirder, than the original which is good. It's supposed to look like a bit of a scary place. A bit like something you'd see in 'Saw' or 'Hostel' so I think it works.

Self Defined Brief - Butlins

These are just some old postcards of Butlins I found on the internet. I'm thinking of using them as inspiration for my prints on Abu Ghraib. The american soldiers, once they had reopened the prison, said the only worry they have with the place is that it is so nice inside the inmates won't want to leave, as living conditions in the prison are better than normal life in Iraq, which is ridiculous! So I want one side to be like one of these postcards, as if it is a great place to live, and then the other side will be the reality. The complete opposite to this.

Self defined Brief - Watergate Final Two

This is the second Nixon image done. I was a bit worried with how this one was going to turn out, but I'm actually pleased with it. I think it sums it up pretty well. I tried to keep the colours looking a bit seventies-ish which I think it is. Only the images for the Abu Ghraib prison. These will hopefully be uploaded by wednesday. I'm giving myself a personal deadline of thursday 5th for them to be done so I can go and get them printed.

Self defined Brief - Watergate Final One

I think this is pretty much one of the Nixon prints done. It's quite simple but I like it. I tried to give it the energy the original Nixon image I've used had. As if He's just got into power and he can do anything. I got the idea for it from watching one of Nixon's interviews where he admits he believes that nothing the president does can be called 'illegal'. They have the right to do anything, as if he can play god. It's worth watching, the look on Nixon's face as the words are coming out are priceless - the look of a man who has realised he probably shouldn't have just said that!

I'm still not too sure about the type. It's ok, but could be better, so I'll get on with my other final images and come back to it. The clouds are a bit too cut off from the rest of the image aswell, so I will probably bring them down a bit so they overlap with the grey.