For this exercise we were asked to work inuitively which, according to Cambridge Dictionary means
based on feelings rather than facts or proof.
Flora Bowley is a modern painter who employes intuition in the production of her beautiful paintings. Abstract art, on the other hand, may be thoroughly planned on concepts of composition, colour theory, repetition, etc.
I listened to the track “So What?” by Miles Davis while I was painting and tried to represent what I heard with colours, shapes and lines. I started with Inktense pencils and made wavy lines that represented the undulation in the track. I added collage of bright orange patterned monoprints to reflect the upbeat tempo and used circles to show the sudden notes that are interjected in the track. I added a bright green, zingy flower which, I feel depicts the sentiment of the track of carrying on regardless.
On reflection I decided that the blue circles at the edge of the piece didn’t really work, so I covered these over with teal paint, creating further flowers in the process. I wanted to create a sense of contrast using this negative painting technique to emphasise the contrasty sound of the track.
I scanned the finished piece in and cropped to a square format, as directed, and then added a title and artist to see how it would work as a cd cover. I made three colour versions of this design.
Being biased, I feel the image does work as a cover for this track but that is mainly because it is based on my own interpretation of the music. And, after all appreciation of art and music is all about interpretation. I think though that it doesn’t represent the artist very well, having looked at covers he already has. Possibly the third colourway would be the best option and maybe with slightly less colour and more contrast.
Update Following Feedback
As my tutor pointed out I had missed part of the instructions; to choose an adjective for my intuitive response to the music. Looking at the piece before I cropped it I felt that ‘Hazy’ described it for me. I think that the blue adjustment in the final piece emphasises this aspect.
