COP presentation

Cop presentation notes

superhero idea.

here i wanted to capitalise on the idea that these woman are all our true 'superheros' in the real world. 

below i have played around with creating superheros with there characters. 

 ^ eg Amelia Earhart- bird 'wing woman' or 'the woman with wings'

Marie Curie- 'Radium woman'- could create a superhero that glowed green.

i have used commonly recognisable superwoman outfits to emphasise there superhero persona. 

pro's and con's to this idea:-

cons:

-May be difficult to think of ideas for some women-eg Rosa Parks, what would her superpower or super hero name?

-Controversial- giving them stereotypical sexualized superhero figures?

PRO’S

-Humorous

-Creates strong narrative and links to what they are know for.

because i feel illustrating the woman in sexualised superhero outfits would be to controversial and would contradict my concept, below i have refined the idea to just focus on the heads of the women, like what i have done in past development pieces, as the faces can not be objectified. i have used head wear which would be recognisable to those that superheros wear. 

i like the contrast between block pieces of collage and detailed facial feathers. 

this idea was inspired by the issue of how womens opinions and voices have been ignored in the past- which made me think about a genie trapped in a bottle who are only released when required, e.g. the 1950's housewife- there to attend the needs of her husband and family.

i think this idea will show how strong empowered, independent women have broke free from the 'trape' and have allowed there 'voices'to be heard.

i really like mark Demsteaders technique below,  i think this style would create a effective genie illusion yet still maintain a detailed focal point to the face. 

a quick development piece of the idea. i have used inks here as i think the water added creates the misty illusion which eventually forms the genie. 

 inspired by this piece where text had been added to the clothes or/and around the body.

lately i have working on a combination style of detail portraiture and collage clothing/backgrounds.
i have experimented with this technique here but have instead have used cut up quotes to fill in the collage areas.
to develop further i was thinking about adding colour to appropriate words in the quotes which ass to the narrative.
for example, i would repeat the work 'flawless' in this illustration with a pink colour, a name of one of Beyonce songs where she refers to all woman being 'flawless'

though i feel this would create a strong concept, i would be concerned that people may interpret this message as to mean Beyonce is 'flawless' rather then understanding my concept about all woman and how they are all 'flawless' and equal to men. 

PRO’S

-Allows me to draw in detail

-Gives the women a voice. 

-mix media        

 CON’S

-Not as much innovation?

-Simple?

-Not as interesting?

composition idea

when looking at images of female protesters, i really liked the composition of this photograph. i have composed my own sketch of the layout but instead have added the heads of the empowering woman and included quotes they have made in the signs. i like the idea of all the woman from past to present coming together to make it look like they are all part of the same protest- it shows how though there is a significance of time in-between each of them, they all believed in the same things - self accomplishment. 

 i really like the visual impact of these drawings by 'holyart' which only show the womans facial features yet are still recognisable to the person.
i think this would be a appropriate concept to use for my theme as it focuses on the womans personality (eyes) and their voice (mouth), their body shape and size or their dress sense does not come into it and therefore cannot be judged on.

                                          other piece which focuses on the womans eyes.

i have combined the idea of focusing the womens faces in this sketch underneath and have again adding quotes said by each of the woman. 

however i think the quotes makes the technique less effective, i think the faces alone will work better. 

i would have to play around with the background colour and decided rather i want their faces to be emerging from a dark background or there to be a contrast between a white background and the dark lines of the pen. or do i use colour?  

inspiration for idea composition.

taking inspiration form the Mount Rushmore marmoreal which was created to pay tribute to political patrons, i thought this would be a ideal way to create the portraits of the woman, - recreating the marmoreal, but with the empowering woman that i feel really deserve the recognition.
creating one final piece rather than a collection of many.

developing ideas included more than one independent woman

in these sketches i have focused on the quote idea by adding quotes by the independent/actavist woman and adding them to their portrait. -much like the photograph above.

drawing of beyonce, a active feminist.

i have added more media and colour to this image of beyonce  in comparison to the drawing of Rosa Parks to try and create a stronger visual impact. i feel this and the choice of photo reference show her 'sassy' empowering persona. 

Rosa parks

Rosa parks 

this image of Rosa Parks is controversial to her empowering activist persona she is know for, as the picture is sweet, innocent and shows her as a elderly frail woman.

i like the negative space of the clothing area which i feels focuses the attention more onto her detailed face. 

Discussion with Matt

Matt and  i discussed that i don't necessarily need to make each illustration so obvious to the theme I am trying to convey (feminism/independence/activist) could create a zine - some pages could just be of Amelia, or a plane etc to show I have really looked into her as a person and understand her story/life. - a revised subject that has steamed out and developed from my essay subject matter.

however, i began to find hard and started to loose interest/excitment to think of more ideas and thumbs to develop on after a while, just focusing on the one independent woman. i have started to think that for my project to really reflect a theme in my essay (independent women) i would need to involve more women.

ways forward:

 look at more then one independent woman.

Or look at the 3 representations I talked about in my essay- one woman for each. 

'breadwinners'

 Earhart referred to the marriage as a "partnership" with "dual controls.”

with this information in mind, i wanted to create a illustration idea that would represent her opinions towards marriage. 

i drew them both as 'breadwinners' as this is a term commonly assosiated with the person in a household/marriage that provides the income. 

playing around with tracing paper to represent the plastic wrapping on the bread.

decided to use cling film as this gives a more realistic effect. 

again i have mixed both collage and pencil drawing. 

i really like the bold contrast between the bread and the people. 

i have tried to make the people stand out further in this sketch however i think this does not work as well as the subtle grey tones and the bright colours of the bread in the previous illustrations. 

quick idea sketches

from the information i have found out about Earhart, above i have tried to convey some of this information in illustrations by usings a comic dialogue technique to make the illustrations have a humous effect. (above illustrating how resistance to take on her husbands last name)

here i have tried to represent how she was admired by others for being independent and courageous. 

 (illustrated people behind her with bangers, making them into her 'groupies')

bottom illustration: going back to the dialogue effect i have tried to illustrate her feelings towards marriage: 'She saw marriage as a cage, granted an"attractive" one, but still a cage nonetheless....I cannot guarantee to endure at all the confinements of even an attractive cage.' 

because i felt Earharts outlook on life and the quotes she use to describe it were so appropriate to my concept i have played around with adding text to illustrations. 

 i like the layout and composition of the piece because it gives the impression that image behind her head (the world) combined with her facial expression (looking into the further) is that the back image of the world is what she is thinking about in her head. however i don't think text is needed in this piece, i think it makes it to complicated and i feel the illustration specks for itself.

'The woman had wings, both literally and metaphorically'

Emelia Earhart 

'The woman had wings, both literally and metaphorically' 

here i have played around with line technique, outlining block shape and detail pencil work. iam pleased with the result of this piece, i think the message it subtle and the techniques used have created strong focal points where needed -face an wings.

however after showing this to matt, he advised me not to think about finalised illustrations at this point in development, he suggested creating quick sketches where i can develop and improve on ideas quickly. 

amelia earhart images

information on Amelia Earhart

When she was twelve, the family moved to St. Paul, MN so her father could earn more money as a railroad executive. However, the pressure of the job soon led Edwin to drinking, and in 1914 he was fired. Seeing her father's frustration and unhappiness, Amelia was determined to be an independent woman, sharing responsibilities equally with a man, and not being dependent on him.

Amelia re-located to Boston where she worked as a social worker, became a member of the National Aeronautic Association's Boston chapter, and wrote local newspaper columns on flying. She used her emerging local celebrity status to help market Kinner airplanes (in which she had invested some money), promote flying, and encourage women pilots.

 Earhart referred to the marriage as a "partnership" with "dual controls.”

Putting her passion for aviation and her belief in womens’ rights together, Amelia helped to found the Ninety Nines, a non-profit international organization for women pilots that still runs today.

She changed the way the world viewed women at a time when women themselves were discovering their true potential: she transformed the woman’s image from a passive, submissive, delicate one into one that was able to take charge, actively shape her future, and revolutionize her field.

research into one independent women:Amelia Earhart

narrowing down my area of study 
i have decided to narrow down my focus area further to just one independent woman. Amelia Earhart. i was intrigued to find out more about her life story and determination as a woman. i feel by choosing one woman to focus on will give me a in-depth, personal and deeper understanding of my subject matter.

Research 


So independent, in fact, that when she lectured at colleges she was very adamant that women pursue education and degrees before settling down with a marriage. She saw marriage as a cage, granted an"attractive" one, but still a cage nonetheless.

Earhart wasn't like other girls. Her mother didn't believe in molding her and her sister, "Pidge," into "nice little girls," and because of this, the two dressed and played like boys. It was in those early days that Earhart's sense of adventure was fostered, and her fearlessness to take flight was inevitable

Unlike many relationships of the time, she regarded hers to be one of equal partnership, and it was important to her that they were both "breadwinners," so as avoid any imbalance or unnecessary dependence on each other. She also kept her maiden name, something that was absolutely unheard of in 1930's America.  When she finally, and reluctantly, married Putman in 1931 at the age of 33 (practically old-maid status for that era), she gave him the following letter:

You must know again my reluctance to marry, my feeling that I shatter thereby chances in work which means so much to me . . . . In our life together I shall not hold you to any medieval code of faithfulness to me, nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly. . . . I may have to keep some place where I can go to be myself now and then, for I cannot guarantee to endure at all the confinements of even an attractive cage.

. The woman had wings, both literally and metaphorically, and being trapped on the ground in the conventions of marriage would not do for her. She wanted far more, and succeeded in achieving that more. She wanted to live and love on her terms, and not have anyone, not even a husband, interfere with that.

She encouraged women who, during that time wouldn't have even considered it, to also put themselves, education and successes before all else, especially marriage.

Earhart knew from the start that love may be important to life, but loving a man (or woman) isn't as essential to life as finding your passion, setting goals and reaching them. That's where true love for oneself really lies, and that's the type of love on which you can count.