Finished: Drawings to start panel one

These are the drawings the fill the top row of my first panel on my painting folio. They're establishing the subject matter I plan to use throughout my whole folio, of dainty and delicate objects like flowers and small animals, as well as the human anatomy. I'm really happy with how they came out, so now I'm onto starting the actual paintings.

First drawing: Bluebells

This is the first drawing that will go on my painting folio, at the top of panel 1. I'm going to have three drawings to start off my folio: along with this pencil drawing of bluebells, I also want to do a charcoal drawing of the human hand bones and an indian ink drawing of a swallowtail butterfly. I haven't drawn with charcoal or indian ink in a while, so I might switch to just pencil drawings if it doesn't work out after a bit of practice.

Artist models: Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo used her art as a way of expressing the pain she suffered in her life. This is what I hope to express through my painting folio, but for the pain women suffer from the beauty expectations that are forced upon them. Her works have an element of surrealism to them, which is what I'd like to incorporate into my work, like replacing the head of the deer with her own, and the roots of the leaves running through her body. Her paintings are also heavy on symbolism, through imagery like nature, animals and anatomy. These are things that I'm using as subject matter for my own work, so I hope to introduce similar forms of symbolism as in Frida's paintings.

The Broken Column (1944)

Self Portrait with Monkey (1940)

The Wounded Deer (1946)

Roots (1943)

Henry Ford Hospital (1932)

Artist models: Leonardo da Vinci

With Leonardo da Vinco, I specifically want to look at his anatomical drawings, as the human anatomy is something I would like to use as subject matter in my work. The drawings are highly detailed, focusing on bones and muscles, an aspect I could look at -- depicting insides on the outside, on display. I could also introduce an aspect of surrealism, combining the flower imagery from Rozi Demant's paintings with the anatomical imagery from da Vinci's drawings. The annotation around the drawings is also something I could possibly use in my paintings, but in a way that pertains to my concept, like critical comments of the female body and the way it's presented.

Vitruvian Man (1490)

Studies of the Arm showing the Movements made by the Biceps  (1510)

View of a Skull (1489)

Studies of the Shoulder and Neck (c. 1509-1510)

The Principal Organs and Vascular and Urino-Genital Systems of a Woman  (1507)

Artist models: Rozi Demant

Rozi Demant's work is highly influenced by other surrealist artists like Dali and Magritte. Her paintings depict female figures, nude or dressed in burlesque attire with elongated legs, and feature imagery of birds and flowers. These are the aspects of her work that I'd like to focus on to include in my painting work; the manipulation of the female figure, and use of birds and flowers in a symbolic way, relating to womanhood. I feel like Rozi Demant's paintings are expressing femininity and sexuality in a dark yet whimsical way, turning sweet and dainty imagery into something more sinister, which is a concept I'd like to incorporate into my own work.

Painting folio: concept & plan

The concept for my painting folio this year is the harmful beauty expectations for women, and how they hurt, distort and destroy us, with emphasis on femininity, sexuality and dehumanisation.

Some of the imagery I want to include throughout my painting is:

• Painful clothing - high heel shoes, corsets, etc.
• Makeup
• Mannequins
• Models - especially the recent trend of putting full-face masks on runway models
• Flowers - to represent being feminine, delicate, weak
• Human anatomy - organs, veins, bones, etc.
• Small, dainty animals - birds, butterflies, dragonflies, etc.
• Surgical-type tools
• Hands - to show the influence of others on our own image

Some other aspects I want to use are:

• Art within art - showing hands using paint, sculpture, etc. to manipulate the figures and objects in the paintings -- eg. painting blood on the ties of a corset, sculpting a female form into the same shape as a mannequin, etc.
• The evolution of beauty throughout the centuries, from the muses of classical art to today
• Combining and swapping flowers and objects of the human anatomy

Some of the artist models I'm looking at so far are:

• Rozi Demant
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Frida Kahlo

Research: Guerilla art

Guerrilla art, also known as street art, is the concept of anonymous art being placed in a public setting, by anonymous artists, with the intention of making a statement of their own views or opinions, share ideas, or simply have some fun. The Guerrilla art movement began in the UK but has since spread across the world, becoming a popular way to make a public statement to capture the attention of the people. One of the most popular forms of Guerrilla art is spray paint, a medium utilised by one of the most famous street artists today, Banksy. But Guerrilla art has spread into other art forms as well, such as sculpture and video.

Unnamed street art by Banksy

The anonymous British street artist known as Banksy is one of the most well-known and sought-after Guerrilla artists today. His spray-painted stencil works are featured all over the world. Banksy's work is quite controversial, not only because it is considered vandalism on public property by some, but because he comments on social and political issues that have often been swept under the rug. His work has been compared to fellow stenciller, Blec le Rat, who worked in Paris in the 1980's, while Banksy claims he was inspired by the street artist known as '3D'.

Charging Bull (1989)

Arturo Di Modica

The Charging Bull statue is an icon of Wall Street, standing in Bowling Green Park in Manhattan, New York. Arturo Di Modica constructed the bull in 1989, as a symbol of virility and courage after the Wall Street crash. It was made to separate bronze pieces and welded together to create the whole sculpture, weighing over 3 and a half tons and measuring 18 feet long. When completed, it was placed in front of the New York Stock Echange overnight, and had drawn much worldwide attention by the next day. It was eventually removed by the end of the day by the NYSE, but has since found a permanent home Bowling Green Park.