EXPERIMENT 3- SURREALISM + NARRATIVE

For this experiment I want to explore image and mark making, and how they can be used within a narrative. I will be looking at how surrealist artists created images and pattern using surreal processes and automatic techniques.

THE IMAGE + ARTIST  Forest and Dove by Max Ernst

[a]

Max Ernst used many automatic processes within his work such as frottage, grattage and decalcomania [1] to create heavily textured images. How does the texture and grattage used in 'Forest and Dove' enhance and inform the image?

THE EXPERIMENTS

These expertly drawn and very professional line drawings show the simplicity of the composition and hand drawn element in the image- once the textured background is removed we lose all the detail and beauty that is in the image 

If I still keep the background but blur the texture away the warmth of the image is still there but again the complexity of the texture is missed. The shapes within the grattage suggest shapes and details of the forest, and without it we are left with a flat image.


THE IMAGE + ARTIST Illustration from 'Visions dans le Cristal' by Dolfi Trost

[b]

Dolfi Trost developed the surrealist technique of entopic graphomania, where points are made on the imperfections on a piece of paper and joined up with curved or straight lines. [2] The above illustration is one of nine from his book, 'Visions dans le Cristal. Oniromancie obsessionelle. Et neuf graphomanies entoptiques'.

THE EXPERIMENTS

I added colours with tone to see if it emphasised different aspects of the shape, trying to create shadows and highlights.

Using colour without line creates a more abstract image, and suddenly the areas that were once incased in a black border almost swim around together, creating a more fluid image.

No lines altogether with just block colour has now created something that could be a solid illustration, and by using a light, dark and medium tone we can now see more within the image and what 3D shapes have been created. Now I look at this and see crumpled paper, rock face, some kind of microscopic, science thing...

As I want to transfer these techniques to a narrative, I started by picking out an object or fugue within the original lines. I saw a dinosaur, so I added a few details to inform this:

 I then coloured it, again to define areas and to suggest some kind of shadow/highlights, still using some of the entopic graphomania lines to add to the detail and again to suggest some texture/form.

To complete the full transition to look close to a type of illustration I would do- I removed the lines and used a colour palette I find appealing- adding small line details.

I also used the technique myself, first going by the classic instructions:

and secondly altering the process by marking specific points on the page instead of using the points of imperfections. I used dots that spell out my name for each illustration below.

Compared to the original ectopic graphomania, I think these are more rigid and follow a similar pattern, which is what you would expect by using non random dots to join. Part of the joy of the original technique is turning imperfections into part of the technique, and also creating a non predicted pattern. Without this the images are more stilted and lose the kind of fluidity that the other illustrations possess. 

As using dots I chose myself made an image that was too rigid, I tried using 'pre-made' dots on a free dot-to-dot activity sheet.

[c]

By following the similar method that I used to make the dinosaur, I made an image that has been influenced by the entopic graphomania to create shapes that I would have never considered for a unique illustration. 

As the impurities on the paper are what influence the lines made, instead of imperfections on the paper I decided to use random photos and pick out points in the images then joining them up. By doing this there is now a relationship between the hand drawn lines and the pre-existing image. 

From three randomly picked images we can now apply narratives to them just by adding the entopic graphomania method: The dog now caged, the girl broken like the egg, a building thats covered in cobwebs. 

I also briefly explored how found objects could be used to create surreal landscapes:


THE IMAGE + ARTIST The Mushroom Picker by David Robinson 

[d]

David Robinson's intriguing and ghostly images are made from his 'Fungi  Luminograms' [3]- an original techniques combined of mushrooms and specialised photography. Not only has Robinson used found objects to tell a story, he has used a method which captures them in a beautiful and unexpected way.

Here what would usually be a row of mushrooms is transformed into a luminous and eery forest thanks to the particular method Robinson has created. Using the found objects of mushrooms means that the imagery is also up to interpretation, as well as creating an organic and original illustration.

THE EXPERIMENTS

By taking the silhouettes of the objects we can see a clear and dynamic composition of the mushrooms and the giant hand of the dreaded Mushroom Picker.

The forms made by the mushrooms create intriguing images, and these organic 'structures' now look slightly more rigid when drawn compared to the fluid shapes of the fungi luminograms. We also lose the 'glow-y' effect that is in the photography, and the silouhette creates a bolder image rather than the dreamy effect that the luminogram provides.

Using the original image from 'The Mushroom Picker' I rearranged some of the forms to create a new illustration- without altering the 'parts' too much. By moving around the mushrooms again I think a successful illustration has been made- showing that objects can be moved and arranged to create atmospheric scenes.


MY RESPONSE

Part 3. The Fight

Using decalcomania I created two faces of the quarrelling giants. I also wanted to create a response using the entopic graphomania technique, so broke a biscuit over a page and make a point where each crumb was- and joined up those marks. 

From those I sketched images I could see in the pattern on top using the light box- but mainly a could see an image of the two giants fighting.

Using the decalcomania I coloured the line image, using the greens and browns to suggest a forest and the reds to suggest the giants. Then rearranging the entopic graphomania I created a less abstract version of the giants about to fight.

REFERENCES

[1] TATE, 2016.
[2] CHAMBERS, BROOKS. 2016
[3] ROBINSON, DAVID. 2012

IMAGE REFERENCES

[a] ERNST, MAX. 1927
[b] TROST, DOLPHI. 1945
[c] RAISING OUR KIDS. 2017
[d] ROBINSON, DAVID. 2012

Bibliography

Tate Gallery. 2016. Grattage. [Online]. [Accessed 5 Jan 2017]. Available from:
http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/g/grattage

CreativeLive Blogs. 2016. What is Entopic Graphomania? Weekly Project 3 with Brooks Chambers. [Online]. [Accessed 12 Jan 2017]. Available from:
http://blog.creativelive.com/surrealist-drawing-entopic-graphomania-weekly-project-3-with-brooks-chambers/

Robinson, David. 2017. About. [Online]. [Accessed 5 Jan 2017] Available from:
http://www.davidrobinson.org/about.html

Ernst, M. 1927. Forest and Dove. [Online]. [Accessed 5 Jan 2017]. Available from:
http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/g/grattage

Trost, D. 1945. Visions dans le Cristal. Oniromancie obsessionnelle. [Online]. [Accessed 11 Jan 2017]. Available from:
http://50watts.com/filter/dolfi-trost/Dolfi-s-Graphomania

Raising our Kids. 2017. Dot to dot worksheets. [Online] [Accessed 11 Jan 2017]. Available from:
http://activities.raisingourkids.com/connect-dot-to-dot/index-02.html

Robinson, David. 2017. The Mushroom Picker [Online]. [Accessed 5 Jan 2017] Available from:
http://www.davidrobinson.org/the-mushroom-picker.html