Photography And A Bit Of Therapy

So if you keep up with my Live Diary blog then you would know that i`ve been ill recently and have came off of some mediation. I hardly ever leave the house nowadays, so since i was feeling down in the dumps, i went for a little walk with David down to a very isolated area that is pretty tucked away.
But it`s awesome, so i`m gonna show you!

 So where i live, there`s this huge industrial estate behind me; it`s mainly for recycling but there is a safe distance in-between the houses and the factories. Every now and then, there are explosions and loud disturbing noises; but since it`s a wonderful place to live we really don`t mind.

But if you walk down the main road that leads straight down between the factories. At the end of the road there is a row of bushes and there is a small dirt path that leads down to this little section of water.
You have to go down into a dip and there, there is a small stream then you go up the dip on the other side. The only thing is that when it rains, the path floods and when we went down the water had just settled back down.

 So when you get out of this little dip surrounded by tress, you end up on the nut-brook trail. These trails go all around england and i think they`re all supposed to be connected together (I think); but they go on for miles and miles so it`s hard to walk down them for a few hours. Everything looks the same so you never know how far down the Trail you are.

So the area that i go down is actually part of an old coal mining industry, the factories that run along the back of this place are quite old and used to belong to the miners as storage space. However, it`s completely mined out... There is another place in Ilkeston that has an abandoned coal mining section (We used to be famous for mining), but that was bombed by the Germans 7 times as the Viaduct ran across the edge of; luckily for Ilkeston, every bomb missed the Viaduct and hit the mining areas, meaning that there are still huge holes in the ground that are filled up with water as a place for local wildlife.
Luckily, this area of mining was never targeted so it`s flat and very stony and tracks ran through it. One side is completely fenced off but someone has obviously been down and torn a hole in another fence to get in. Then you can walk down the other side which leads you behind factories and then runs through a place called Stanton.

But it`s lovely to walk down there, it goes on for a long time and it`s quite and out of the way. Obviously it`s bumpy and stuff but it`s out of the way, it`s quite and it`s just nice to be by yourself and go for a walk every now and then. Since i was ill (at the time, late upload) It was nice to get out of the house, but the next morning i was sick so i had to have a day off of Sixth Form... :/


You can also follow me on these links down below if you want to keep up with me on other forms of social media! Go ahead and give it a try :p

Anime Reviews:   http://melonheadamy-animereviews.blogspot.co.uk
Live Diary Blog:   http://melonheadamy-livediaryblogging.blogspot.co.uk
Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/melonheadamy
Wattpad:    http://www.wattpad.com/user/AmyWatkinson
Instagram:    amy_marshy_melons

Holiday To Wales! (No Updates)!

So i`m going on Holiday this Saturday, to Wales!

The island i`m going too has no electricity and no Wifi, so i can`t upload anything for the whole week. So hopefully if i go off of the island and into a public place, i could always update off of my phone? But i`ve never done it off of my phone, so i have no idea as to how that will turn out.

But just a quick heads up, there won`t be any uploads and then when i`m back there will probably just be a giant spam of wales pictures from my little holiday!
I am taking my HTC phone, LG phone and my Camera for pictures. I can charge things, but i have to go to the main building and they charge you a ridiculous amount per hour... 

I think i`m gonna die this week... 

Also, check out my other blogs if you want to keep yourself occupied whilst i`m gone!

Anime Reviews:    http://melonheadamy-animereviews.blogspot.co.uk
Art Blog:    http://melonheadamy-artblogging.blogspot.co.uk
Live Diary:    http://melonheadamy-livediaryblogging.blogspot.co.uk
facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/melonheadamy
watpad:    http://www.wattpad.com/user/AmyWatkinson
Instagram:    amy_marshy_melons

Lazer Cutting Work!

Okie, so i`ve never used this thing before and this is probably going to be the only time i`m going to use this technique because it can get quite expensive after a few times. 

So this may be a long story to some but this is the best way to explain it:
There where two schools in the area and both hated each other, so when it came to us merging and us wanting to use their equipment... They hated it so much and all of the students wanted us dead really, so i never got th chance to use this super awesome funtastic machine! But it`s also the kind of machine my dad got his hand stuck and got extreme burns and nerve damage (Check out my live Diary Blog for info on that matter). 

So The machine was a super awesome amazing Lazer cutting machine.
So the machine has to be hooked up to a computer, You create a document on a program called 2Design. Then you have to make designs out of black white and red lines. so the machine picks up different lines and colors and does different things with them. I got very, very confused when i was setting it all up to be honest with you XD . 

 So i put through a sheet of these Geotic demonic symbols. My work is all based of demons and Angels so it suits the theme perfectly. But i got these tiny little circles with cute, yet demonic, designs inside of them. These are going to be hung up on my final piece and scraps of wood are going to be used to be mixed in with other materials. So it should all be fun and games when it comes to that aspect of my exam, but this is practically all i have ready for the exam so i really do need to get a move on now.

There isn`t really to much to write about this, it`s all computer based and then the machine did all of the work. But if you have any designs or ideas as to what i can put through, then feel free to tell me!

If i ever do use the Lazer cutter again, then i will be doing some of my own small designs; but for now i`ve just used these. I realize that they aren`t as complex as they could be, but they are incredibly fragile! So just the other day I dipped the whole symbol in a fixative glue and then hung it up, so i`m really hoping that the don`t break or fall apart now.

So one of the main reasons i`ve been behind on updating is mainly due to the fact that i`ve been so busy lately with trying to catch up with work and sketchbook work. So i`ve kind of been all over the place at the moment. But if you really want to find out what`s been going on then go over to the Live Diary Blog. It`s kind of late and i have work tomorrow so i was just gonna go to bed instead of uploading this quick update; but then again i thought that it might be a while until i get around to doing this again, so here ya go! 

I`ll try to do a more detailed update soon, but it`ll probably be on creating those creepy and strange looking backgrounds again since i went around and got loads of pictures of the stuff i use/used. 

if you want to follow me on different platforms of social media, or are just interested in what i could possibly be getting up to. Then follow these links down below to find out some more about my not so interesting life! yayy, i guess! 

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/melonheadamy

Live Diary:    http://melonheadamy-livediaryblogging.blogspot.co.uk

Anime Reviews:   http://melonheadamy-animereviews.blogspot.co.uk

Wattpad:    http://www.wattpad.com/user/AmyWatkinson

Instagram:    amy_marshy_melons

3D Textured Backdrops.

Sine we`ve been back at sixth form, i think i have been rather lazy when it comes to producing work. So, to go towards Experimentations and Materials; i`ve been using all sorts of different things to create weird looking and rather sharp backgrounds for my work.
Here`s the end results and how to create weird and interesting backgrounds. 

I haven`t currently got pictures of every single backdrop that i`ve made, but here are a few pictures of how to build up materials and a few explanations as to how to get the best outcome for them.

This canvas is only quite small but it`s layered up to hell with different things. 

So i just threw everything into one bowl to do this.
First off i only used a small amount of plaster, then watered it down a ton. Then you just add anything you want, like literally anything! As long as you can create a consistency like a paste once everything is in there, then add whatever you want.

So for my textured backdrop paste i used; watered down plaster to keep it all together, then i added sand and a little bit of dirt, then crushed up small leaves, (don`t mix anything yet), then i added broken glass, little bits of crushed up tree bark and small parts of crushed dried seaweed.

Then to make it into more of a paste like substance, i added PVA glue on top of it all, (and if you have it, also add Binder on top), then i added some water and began to mix it all up.
But don`t just add loads and work from however that worked out, add small amounts of water at a time and make sure all of it has been mixed together each time.

Also, using chalks and pastels can be equally as interesting; as long as a large amount is used to equal out the lack of other materials. So to crush mine, i put old chalks and pastels in an envelope and sealed it; then i used a hammer and just smashed it up, quite fun actually.






Another good texture to use is wax.
So in sixth form we have a bunch of wax pots to use, but i chose the one that leaks out of the sides and ends up turning wax yellow. It just leaks slowly out of the sides and for some reason turns this yellowy color, and wax does come out clear when normally used.
So since this leaked everywhere, i broke up parts and got the hammer again to crush them into smaller bits to be added to different mixtures that i was using. It mainly added a lot of smooth bumps to the textures, but it`s hard to see if there are a lot of different materials added.

 if you don`t want to make the textures that thick, then come up with a bright background that will come through the textured paste you`re making for the main backdrop.
So to do this background; i soaked some thick A4 and A3 paper for a few hours. Then i laid it down whilst it was still soaking wet and dropped Batik ink over the top of it, and because it had been soaked in water for a few hours; the ink bleeds out and crates some really cool different patterns.
But to finish mine off, i also dropped Bleach over the top of it which bled out and created some cool looking shades. If you read any of my other art blog posts, then you should know by now that i love using bleach.



Here`s another quick bleach and ink backdrop that can shine through and make quite thin layers of texture look awesome. This one is a lot more basic aswell; Just some dark batik ink, then if you use a small paint brush and just add some small lines here and there it can look a lot more interesting.
If you also add th bleach whilst it`s still wet, it`ll bleed out quite a bit and become messier.

But when it comes to using materials, just use whatever you can find and see what it turns out like afterwards. I just chose materials that i had to hand at the time, but if you plan out what you`re doing and what should happen with the textures trying to create... Then stop. 

Be spontaneous and try whatever, don`t plan it out as planning can produce boring and bland work; try something that you`ve never done before and take as much time as you need to do it! 

also try using sand and paints. i`ve kept the original sandy color and then
added paint and ink over the top of it.
Don`t add thick layers of paint! Light applications only!

Also; follow these links down below to find out some more about me, and to keep up with my regular updates! 

facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/melonheadamy

Wattpad:   http://www.wattpad.com/user/AmyWatkinson

Live diary Blog:    http://melonheadamy-livediaryblogging.blogspot.co.uk

Anime reviews:   http://melonheadamy-animereviews.blogspot.co.uk

Instagram:    amy_marshy_melons

Slower Updates.

So it`s the Easter holidays...

Now it`s the Easter holidays for two weeks, which means that there aren`t going to be many updates on this blog for probably the whole two weeks. 

I have bought the majority of my work that needs doing home though, so there might be a mini update during the week somewhere, but overall it should be pretty dead on here for a while.

If you do want some more regular updates, then you`ll have to go over to my Live Diary Blogging Blog to keep up with me. There should be updates every 3-4 days on there so just keep on checking back to see if anything has appeared. If you don`t want to keep on checking back then go and leave a Like on my facebook page so you`ll receive an update when something new is uploaded. 

This Is Also a Real Bird
Wing. I Love Taxidermy :3 

Thanks for keeping up with me so far, for sending me some really supportive messages and for the lovely feedback that some of you send me! 

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/melonheadamy

Live Dary:    http://melonheadamy-livediaryblogging.blogspot.co.uk

Anime Reviews:    http://melonheadamy-animereviews.blogspot.co.uk

wattpad;    http://www.wattpad.com/user/AmyWatkinson

Instagram:    amy_marshy_melons

The A1 Work... Experimentation Collection!

Since we have to experiment more with new materials and because we`re aloud to do what we want with our work now... I`ve been using a very large scale for almost all of my work the past week or so. 

i know that they don`t look that good right now, but these are only two pieces out of the collection i`m gathering up right now.
There are loads more random pieces that i`ve done, but the only reason i`ve done them is to just experiment some more with applying new techniques and materials.
Also, my work so far for this project has been marked and all of it is at a B grade... Which means that going out of my way to get work done and all of the extra hours i`ve put in after school has actually begun to start paying off . I usually stay behind to get the huge backgrounds done, they take a while since they are all A1 size and by the morning they`re actually dry enough to begin working on.


This background was done by splashing bleach on to the paper, before anything else! Whilst it was almost dry i got a sponge, painted half of it blue and the other half a dark red. In the end it came out this purpley color. To get the background a little bit darker; i got a squirty bottle and added gray paint, gave it a good shake and then sprayed it on to the paper, but at a distance. If you spray it too close then it kind of makes a patch of coloured water in one area. If you spray from a distance then it pans out quit a bit and separates evenly on to the paper.
Then i got a large bowl and drew around that for the circle and added the star pattern. I only started to draw on the design when it had fully dried and i used a thick black marker pen to draw it on with; using a pencil meant that i couldn`t see a thing that i was drawing and the fineliners that i had where so hard to make out.
I went around the design with black ink that i had applied using a stick; sounds weird just using a stick to draw with but if you like scratchy and rough looking drawings then use a stick but don`t just drop it in the ink and then start... Only use small amounts at a time and keep on dipping it in regularly for the full effect.
The outline that i did though for this piece is actually very neat and tidy; to be honest i just wanted to see what it would look like if i kept it tidy for once. Usually i jump straight in there and make a huge mess with whatever it is i`ve chosen to do. So i thought i`d just try to keep this one a bit neater for my first time doing the design.


This design of an animal skull was actually just taken off of a necklace i was wearing that day. It happens to of belonged to my mum, and it reminds me of the kind of thing a biker would have on the back of his jacket or something; i just chose to do because i thought it would be fun to do. It isn`t finished yet.

The background is done by using a normal tea bag, i waited for it to dry completely before working on top; but i did use a sponge to separate evenly around the page. Then the edges are done by using the same sponge whilst that was a little damp; i painted half purple and half a darker red and then just simply sponged it on to the edges quite quickly. This is my first time using simple things like this though so it was good to just do it that quickly to get it over and done with.
The skull itself is done by using stick and ink again, i tried to be a bit messier with this one but you can only tell when you look at it up close.

i left it un-finished as i wanted to go ahead and try doing some other techniques whilst i was waiting for it to dry. But eventually i got sick of it just being on the floor the whole time so i stuck it up on to the wall and it`s been there ever since just waiting for some attention.
I should hopefully get around to finishing it some time this week along with lots of other un-finished pieces that are now just laying around my table.


This piece has to be the quickest one i`ve done so far. I just simply did this one with the same sponging method as the other two but with blue and a light pink. Then black ink to do the pattern with and then i dripped black ink from the top and whilst it was still wet i added bleach and then another layer of black ink. After those three layers had dried i added another layer of black so it looked a lot more solid then a running orangey colour and black.
This one was just a test for what would look good with this symbol; this symbol, according to my research so far, is supposed to be an angel sealing symbol. I`m not quite sure as to what i can do with this symbol as i can`t make it as dark as all of the other work i`m doing... It needs to have a lighter ton added to it but i have no idea as to what i should do for it... I always get confused and stuck when it comes to things like this; believe it or not, just the simplest things can  get me absolutely stumped when it comes to layering up and adding bulk to my work.
So currently i`m working with screen prints; if you don`t know what scree prints are then it`s best that you don`t know... I completely hate the process and even the way you print them. Especially if i want to print one design; my screen has six different designs on it so i have to tape paper o the underside so nothing else will print.
i`m just using the screens to see what the designs look like when overlapped and when they have different coloured inks or paints sprayed over the top of them. I`ve always hated screen printing; the first time i did a screen print was about two years ago and i instantly hated it. 

I`ve also tried out using PVA glue and coloured inks. I personally think that they make a cool pattern when the PVA Glue is still there, but when it dries up it doesn`t look that cool. I took thes pictures whilst they where still wet and i had to lave them over night to dry. When they do dry though they appear slightly darker and the patterns aren`t as clear and crisp as they are when wet.
Also, when mixing colours or using multiple colours it can go a bit wrong; they won`t bleed into each other as easily but sometimes they can come out very weird looking and without a distinctive pattern.

The background for this one was done with a light brown spray paint, then i just added drops of black ink into the mixture to make it get darker in some areas. This one was just a practice one with black spray paint.
It clearly didn`t turn out right and i need to practice some more when it comes to using the black spray paint. I used the same skull design as the first one... but you can clearly tell that they`ve came out very differently.

This was just a quick update on what you might see uploaded soon. I`m basically just working with different materials and different methods of applying materials.
I`m still not sure if i`ll be updating often on what i`m making/producing, they might be slow as creating backgrounds,etc, takes time and the processes that i use take so long to dry that i`m falling behind a tiny bit when it comes to uploading.

Want to keep up with me a little bit more? Interested in some of the other things that i do outside of art? Then check out these links down below to keep up with me some more! 

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/melonheadamy

Live diary:   http://melonheadamy-livediaryblogging.blogspot.co.uk

Anime Reviewing:   http://melonheadamyanimereviews.blogspot.co.uk

wattpad:    http://www.wattpad.com/user/AmyWatkinson

Instagram:   amy_marshy_melons

Small Mono Prints.

So for experimentation with printing techniques... The teachers decided to make use produce some Mono Printing work. 

 Out of every form of print making and producing art. I seriously hate this one out of all of them.
Mono printing and Lino printing have to be two of the worst forms of printing. The main reason i hate this method is because you have to coat the table in the ink, get some paper and take off an excess ink and then put the paper down to draw on so the ink transfers underneath. But then you have to remember that if you print any numbers or letters they have to be backwards because when they print it`ll come out backwards.
That`s the main way that we arrange the printing. We also use plastic sheets or think cartridge paper to put the ink on. But they are always being used up by kids in the lower years who are studying art.

 So i based my Mono prints off of the Stanton Cemetery photography that i did, no one else has been using primary sources for their prints so at the minute i seem to be in the Art Teachers good books.
I just thought it would be a good idea t use something so morbidly depressing and then turn it into a print that doesn`t have to be as depressing as the original image.
With two of these prints i`ve changed the colour of the inks so they look a little brighter. The original ink colour was actually way to bright though so i added just a little bit of black and then rolled it into together.
Then on one of the prints i used different coloured inks to fill in the blank spaces.

 The best way to add the coloured inks without messing it up is by using a light box and drawing on the back, filling in the blank spaces and then flipping back over for printing.
I know a lot of people who just use different coloured paper or they just use one colour ink and the coat the whole sheet in the ink. But to me that just seems way to plain... if you want to experiment with printing then it`s best to try and make a lot of random looking backgrounds with different colours.
if i was to go back and make my prints again the i think i would make some more random-er looking backgrounds and then add the depressing imagery on top of them to add a clashing effect.







Want to keep up with me some more? The follow these links for more information about me and to keep up with just some of the boring stuff i do!
In the last Live Diary Blogging update; i talked about my dad`s work injury and the new braces that i currently have right now... The pain!!

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/melonheadamy

Live Diary Blogging:   http://melonheadamy-livediaryblogging.blogspot.co.uk

Wattpad:   http://www.wattpad.com/user/AmyWatkinson

Instagram:   amy_marshy_melons