Visiting The Tate Modern

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all well! It feels like a while since I've last posted, I've been very busy lately but I have so many ideas for this blog so the posts are going to be  regular again! (Sorry)

This was a photo I took at the entrance, inside the gallery. The triangles were filled with mud so possibly plants will grow there one day.

 

The other day I went to the Tate Modern. For those of you who don't know, the Tate Modern is a popular art gallery with very current art work.

There are a range of Tate galleries, here is a link to the main website http://www.tate.org.uk/

I had been to the Tate Modern before but I was very young and didn't really get it (I'll be honest some of the work is very 'out there'). Going again, now I'm older, was quite refreshing and I found I had even more respect for these works in person.

 

I recommend going along if you're ever in London, even if you are not really into contemporary art, it is definitely worth while visiting as I found it really helped to expand my mind further into the prospects of art and how different people view things so incredibly differently.

 

There is a lot of work exhibited in the gallery and I thought for this post I would just talk about a few of the works and artists that stood out to me. Feel free to just scroll through and pick out what you like, I'll leave links through out to the website so you can check it out!

Here's a link to the Tate modern website http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern


Sam Francis 
Around the blues

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/francis-around-the-blues-t00634

This painting was huge and very striking. This was the first time I saw it through the rooms. It caught my attention straight away.

This was one of the first paintings that really stood out to me in the gallery. The initial feel of the painting is that it is an abstract piece; however, after I did some research, I found that it has personal meaning to the artist.
 

To Francis each colour has a symbolic meaning.

I found out that Sam Francis was a pilot in the Second World war. He was very much inspired by Monet and his 'water lilies' painting ('Water Lillie Pond' is one of my favourite paintings, I have a poster of it on my wall!). I can see from looking at the painting he was also very much effected by his life as a pilot, as the painting has the appearance of an aerial view and "communicates the silence of the skies".

I gained this information from http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/francis-around-the-blues-t00634/text-display-caption  

Lee Bul

Untitled (Carvings White)

 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lee-untitled-cravings-white-t13992

I used a shutter speed of 0"4 and zoomed out when taking the photo to gain this effect. I also slightly enhanced the exposer when editing on Pixlr Express.

 

This work was hanging from the ceiling. I found it very unusual, if you want to see what the sculpture actually looked like then check out the link above. I played around with the shutter speed when taking the photo and I think it came out looking pretty cool!

 

 

Gerhard Richter

Cage 1-6

 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/richter-cage-1-6-l02818

 

The canvases were huge so I took a photo of the bottom left hand corner of one of the paintings.

 

 

I am a huge fan of Gerhard Richter and to it was an honour to finally see his work in person! Being exhibited were his squeegee paintings and they were so much bigger than I had imagined. I love how the colours underneath burst through the block colours. I also love the amount of layers in his paintings, seeing it in person has made me appreciate him so much more and I think I will do a post on Gerhard Richter later on!

 

 

 

Lynda Benglis

Quartered Meteor

 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/benglis-quartered-meteor-t13353

 



 

This sculpture was in the corner of the gallery and I found it a little unnerving. It is made of layers of polyurethane foam and looks a little like cooled lava. I think it is very unusual and striking, let me know in the comments what you think about it, I'd love to hear!

 

 

George Condo

 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/condo-colored-dream-objects-l03343

 

This link is to the main painting shown in the photo but feel free to have a look around on the website as a lot of George Condo's work was exhibited in the Tate Modern.

 

I really loved the aesthetics of his work and I want to stick some of his works up on my wall!

 

Lee Krasner

Gothic Landscape

 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/krasner-gothic-landscape-t03291

 

 

The painting closest to you in the photo is the work of Lee Krasner. I really liked the marks made in this piece and found it really stood out to me.

 

 

Jacques Mahé de la Villeglé

Jazzmen

 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/villegle-jazzmen-t07619

 

I love collage and I loved the bright colours of this work!

 



 

Roy Lichtenstein

Whaam

 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lichtenstein-whaam-t00897

 

The painting in real life is a long rectangle I look the photo at a different angle to try and emphasise the impact this dramatic piece of pop art has.

It was amazing to be able to see this incredibly famous piece in person! I love pop art and Roy Lichtenstein's work, I think it is so iconic.

 

 

Manolo Millares

Painting 150

 



 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/millares-painting-150-t00579

I thought the ripped canvas effect was super dramatic and eye catching and this is something I would love to try!

 Mark Bradford
Riding the cut vein

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bradford-riding-the-cut-vein-l03456

 

I thought this work had a huge impact on the room

I found this work really interesting and different. Mark Bradford uses Paper, varnish, silicone caulk and charcoal on canvas and I love the amount of layers and textures created.

 

This is a close up photo of a section of the painting. I wanted to show the amount of textures and marks made on the canvas.

Eva Rothschild

Riches

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/rothschild-riches-t12576

 



This was a sculpture in the corner of the room. It created great shapes and reflections.

 

 

So there you go!

 

I know this post was very long but I wanted to show as much of the gallery as possible, to hopefully make you feel like you came to the gallery with me!

 

 

I definitely recommend making a visit to the Tate Modern if you are ever in London and feel free to explore the Tate's website to find out more and see if there is a gallery near you.

http://www.tate.org.uk/

 

If you have made it to the bottom then you are the best! Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed visiting the Tate Modern with me (haha).

 

Let me know what you think of the artwork and if there are any other galleries you recommend! Lets share our creativity and make this blog a place of inspiration!

 

Thanks so much, have a brilliant day

Nature Photography!

Hello everyone!

 

The other day I went to my favourite park to take some nature photography with my professional Camera (Canon EOS 1200D).

 

I was pleased with how some of the photos came out and wanted to share them with you to hopefully inspire you!

I used manual focus on the flower in the foreground. I was so lucky to be able to focus on the bee in the flower (I also used zoom because I didn't want to get to close to the bee, haha!)

I used close up settings on my camera, manual and auto focusing and I really tried to think about composition when taking the pictures.

 

I enjoy photography so much! it is just a hobby for me so if you have any tips or tricks please share in the comment and we can all inspire each other!

 

Feel free to dip in and out of this post. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I enjoyed making it!

 

 

Close ups and zoom

 

I was able to use a zoom lens for these photos which was very exciting!

 



I had to stay really quiet when taking this but I managed to take a close up photo of this amazing butterfly. I think butterflies are so beautiful!

I used a zoom lens, for the first time, to take this. I was so amazed at how far it could go and still keep an amazing quality image. I recommend a zoom lens!

There was a vast amount of these tiny flowers so I tried to get a close up to show their beauty. I also used focus to emphasise the flowers even more.

Landscapes of the woods

In the park there is an amazing woods that seems to go on forever! I couldn't leave the park without going in and taking photos! Here are some of the photos I took in the woods.

 



I would love to get a wide angle lens and try this shot again, I think it could look much better!



Theses stairs are my favourite part of the woods! It looks so magical!!





I took this low down on the ground behind a tree stump. I focused in on the background and I'm pleased with how I have captured the light hitting the leaves.



Double exposure/editing

 

I used an app called Pixlr Express to edit my photos. I do not have Photoshop and I've found that this free app it a good replacement (considering it is free).

 

I have used Photoshop at school and I think it really is amazing! I hoping to do a blog post on Photoshop soon!



I edited this photo on Pixlr Express. I used double exposure to contrast a photo of wood grain to bold flowers.



I edited this on Pixlr Express and used double exposure. I also made the flowers appear more florescent to contrast against the bark of the wood.



 

Focusing on a varying composition

 

It can be quite difficult to pick out what to focus on in a busy composition, like a bed of flowers. I keep practising and I think these have turned out quite well!

 

So there we go!

 

I hope you have enjoyed this post! Please let me know of any ways I can improve because I'm only learning and it would be wonderful if we could share our creativity and inspire each other!

 

Thank you so much for reading! Please feel free to check out my other posts and join this creative adventure by following to be told when I make a new post.

 

Thanks again, have a brilliant day, and don't forget to be creative!



Doodle in Progress

Hello everyone!

 

Recently I've noticed a lot of people doing these really cool doodles in really detailed circles! I think they are amazing and I've see so many on Instagram that it inspired me to try for myself.

 

I haven't got the specialist tools and skills but I have got a thin and thick pen and the love of doodling so I thought... why not!?!

 

This is just a quick little post (mainly photos) I hope you enjoy and possibly be inspired to grab a pen and doodle! It doesn't have to be perfect (mine sure isn't) but as long as you enjoy it, that's all that matters.

 



I used a fine 0,4 pen for the smaller, detailed parts.







I've seen a lot of people use special tools, like a compass, to make a perfect circle (which looks amazing!) but I wanted to practise my precision, so I tried out free hand circles. I know it's not perfect but if I keep practising then hopefully I'll get better!

 



 

 



I also used a thicker felt tip pen for any parts with block colour.





I also tried to be fancy with my camera angles! Haha!



 



I tried to overlap circles to make the doodle look more 3D.





This is a section of it.



I'm hoping to fill the whole A3 page with this doodle! Once I've filled the page I was going to scan it and try out washing different colours over it.

I hope you enjoyed this post, when I've finished the whole page I'll do another post to show the finished product!

I also hope that this has inspired you to get creative, pick up a pen and doodle! I doodle all the time in the margins of my books but this was my first time drawing the circle doodles.

 

If you have a go then please feel free to send them to me on Google + https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KatherinePittsBlankKanvas/posts or my Instagram https://instagram.com/_.kxtherine._/ 

I would absolutely love to see your versions!

Feel free to check out the rest of the blog, get inspired and share your creative thoughts!

Thanks for reading, I hope you have a great day and enjoy getting creative!

DIY Tie-Dye!

Hello everyone!

 

I enjoyed making this post so much! It took me a bit longer than usual but I didn't want to rush it.

 

Today's post is all about tie-dye!! I had a lot of fun doing this and I really recommend trying it out.

 

 

Before now, I had never properly tie-dyed anything, so I think for a first attempt it worked out quite well!

 

For this post I will go through step by step on what I did and if you have any further tips then please let me know in the comments and we can shared our ideas!

 

Also if you decide to try out some tie-dye then please share your creations with me on my Google + (link is in the side bar) I would love to see what you've done!

 

So Lets get to it...

 

First of all I set out my tie-dye area, I did mine outside because it saved the risked of staining the floors and it was such a lovely day!

 

This is what I used to tie-dye. You can buy this in many craft shops and there is usually a variety of colours to choose from. I got mine form 'Hobby Craft'.

Above shows the equipment I used to help me tie-dye. I used a small plastic box and a cupcake cooling tray to create my tie-dye station (this worked just as well as a professional tie-dying station!).

 

You will also need:

• Your desired items to tie-dye (preferably 100% cotton) (I used two t-shirts, a vest top, and four  small squares of cotton sheets)
• Your chosen tie-dye colour/colours
• rubber bands
• plastic gloves (the dye stains a lot! Trust me, I learnt the hard way!)
• Wear old clothes that you don't care about getting covered in dye
• Cling film or air tight plastic bags (you will have to put your tie-dyed item into this for the dye to saturate over night)
• Possibly scissors to cut the rubber bands off at the end
• Somewhere to rinse the tie-dyed items with water
• A washing machine (or you could hand wash)
• A small amount of detergent

The dyes I used came with instructions to help. There is coloured powder in the bottle and all you need to do is fill the bottle with water to the line at the top and then shake the bottle well until all the dye is mixed up. For a weaker colour you simply add more water and have less powder.

 

Fire Tie-Dye

I was super excited to try out this fire tie-dye! I was inspired my this YouTube tutorial  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NafkWOJIWyY and I wanted to see if I could do it too.

 

This tie-dye uses no rubber bands, all you do is roll your chosen item up (in my case it was a vest top) and then tie it in a knot. The tutorial I linked above shows how to do this. Make sure the item you are tie-dying is damp.

 

The colours you will need are:

• red
• orange
• yellow
• black

(When I was buying the dyes I couldn't find any orange but I improvised by just using red, yellow, and black and I think it still looked pretty great in the end!)

Here are the colours I used.



First Dye the centre in yellow and work outwards. Don't be afraid to put loads on, the more the merrier I say!

I then covered the edges in red and tried to go over some of the yellow to make up for the fact I didn't have an orange. If you have orange you can put this on before putting on the red.

Now, this bit I was scared I was going to ruin the whole thing but don't worry, if you've saturated the other colours enough the black shouldn't ruin it. Cover the whole thing in black dye. The black is what makes the tie-dye look like a burning fire!

Don't forget to do the other side as you go.

When you have finished, cover the whole thing in cling film or put it into a plastic bag and leave this over night. The instructions said to leave it for 6-8 hours and the longer you leave it the stronger the colours will be.

Spiral Tie-Dye

 

I think this design is a classic for tie-dye! I was inspired for this design by this You Tube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abjpy72Sf6U

 

You can use any and as many colours you like for this design! Be free and get creative!!

I used a damp, white, 100% cotton t-shirt and stared a spiral by pinching the fabric and turning in the same place. Where you start the swirl on your t-shirt will be the centre of your swirl. I did mine in the middle of my t-shirt. You can also use a fork to do this if it is easier.

When you have finished swirling, it should look something like this.

I then added rubber bands and made sure they all crossed in the centre of the spiral. I think I used about 8 rubber bands. You can use as many or as little as you like. The more rubber bands you use the more white spaces there will be.

I used the colours fuchsia and turquoise.

I tried to stay in the lines of the rubber bands but the dye did spread. If you wanted to reduce this you could blot the excess die off with a cloth.

I alternated the two dyes in each section. The colours bled into each other and made this beautiful purple!

When I was done I had to take a few photos! I just thought it looked so pretty! Haha!

Then wrap this in cling film or put it into a plastic bag over night or 6-8 hours. The longer you leave it the deeper the colour will be.

Crumple Tie-Dye

For this tie-dye effect I also wanted to try dyeing a shirt that already had something printed on to it. The dye will not take to the printed area and I think that this makes the shirt look like I bought it like that. Haha, but no, now it is customized and is the only shirt in the world like it! Yaay!

 

For this Crumpled tie-dye effect I just decided to experiment a little. You don't have to use rubber bands for this effect but I did because I wanted more blank spaces in the design.

 



Make sure the shirt is damp and then randomly crumple up the shirt. It doesn't matter where you start on the shirt.

It will look something like this when you are done.

I then decided to cover the crumpled shirt in many rubber bands but you can skip this step if you want to.

Like I said I covered it in many (and I mean many) rubber bands!

I then randomly used all of my dye colours (red, turquoise, fuchsia, yellow and black) and shook the dye all over (don't forget to turn it over and do the other side).

I thought it looked really pretty with all the colours!

Then wrap this in cling film or put in a plastic bag and leave over night or for 6-8 hours. The longer you leave it, the bolder the colours will be.

 

Other Designs

You can also try out some different, amazing tie-dye designs.

I recommend this You Tube channel I found, that really inspired me to try tie-dye for myself https://www.youtube.com/user/hobblephosk

This is a design inspired by the shape of an eye. I tried this out on a square sheet of 100% cotton.

 Arty photos!

 

While I left the tie-dyed items to work their magic over night, I thought that the droplets of colour on the grid and box looked so pretty I had to take photos!

 

The camera I used is a Canon EOS 1200D DSLR. If you want to know more about it, feel free to check out my blog post on my first professional camera http://blank-kanvas.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/my-first-professional-camera.html

 

You can scroll past this, if you're not bothered, to where I talk about rinsing and washing the tie-dye.

 

Hopefully this will inspire you to do some photography while you are waiting for the tie-dye! Let me know what you think!

 









I love the vibrancy of the colours! I did this using the close up setting on my camera.







Here I focused on the inside of the box.



 

This is the droplets against the side of the plastic box.





I took a photo behind the box, of the light through the trees. I thought this looked quite abstract and interesting. 





I thought this looked quite intense considering it's just a plastic box with droplets of dye in it!



Rinsing and washing

 

Once you have left your tie-dyed items for 6-8 hours or more (or overnight like me) then it's time to take them out and rinse them.

 

I rinsed mine in the bath but be careful because the dye will stain. However, I found that if I cleaned up straight away the stain went.

 

Rinse out your tie-dyed items until the water is almost clear.

 

 



This is rinsing out the fire tie-dye.

The more dye you use the longer it will take to rinse out.

Once you have rinsed out your tie-dyed items, squeeze out as much water from them as you can and then put them in the washing machine with a small amount of detergent.

 

I washed my t-shirts separately because it was my first time and I wasn't sure about colours running but I have heard that it is ok to put them all in together. Do what you feel comfortable with.

 

You can then iron them if you want to lock in the colour.

The finished product!

On the far left if the crumpled tie-dye on a printed shirt, in the middle is the fire tie-dye with no rubber bands, and on the far right is the classic spiral tie-dye.

I am so pleased with how these turned out! Especially as this was my first attempt at tie-dye!

Here are some of the other tie-dye designs I tried on small square sheets of 100% cotton.

So there you go! I hope you enjoyed this DIY tie-dye post as much as I did making it!

 

Thank you so much for reading! It means so much to me, you are the best!

 

If you have any questions or further ideas then please feel free to share them in the comments below and we can inspire each other!

 

Also if you make any tie-dye then please share it with me on my Google + https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KatherinePittsBlankKanvas/posts

 

Feel free to follow this creative adventure be told when I make a new post and check out my previous blog posts to hopefully be inspired to get creative!

 

Thank you so much for reading! Have a brilliant day!