Ordinary and Extraordinary by Michael
It’s great when we can look at a project that really shows a sustained investigation. ‘Ordinary and Extraordinary’ by Michael, does just that. This was Michael’s Personal Investigation for A Level.
This outstanding component (project) was taught by art teacher Lyanne Fellows, and I can highly recommend following her on LinkedIn to see the inspiring student work that she shares.
Lynne has also shared the essay that Michael wrote which is so helpful to see his thought process. Many students struggle with many aspects of writing the essay for the Personal Investigation, and this is a great example to show.
Above each picture in this article is a quote from Michael’s essay.
“I found that my initial responses focused on exploring the appearances and behaviours of animals in order to compare how they have adapted and evolved to exist as they are today.”
“Moving onto my first contextual source, my aims whilst researching artist Nunzio Paci included: experimenting with unconventional mediums, dramatic compositions, encoded messages, and challenging imagery.”
“To create my first response (see figure 3) I used graphite pencils. This choice in media was appropriate as I was able to replicate the strong contrast Paci generates within his artwork, I also used coloured pencil as I knew these would allow for a high level of detail, and some beetroot juice for a base wash
beneath the coloured pencil.”
“I decided to portray that what humans and nature are made of are one and the same, bonding humanity and the natural world together and emphasising the connection and care we should feel for it.”
“From conducting a photoshoot, I selected a photo which I believed to be personal and appropriate to my intentions. With this photoshoot I intended to build on the concept of my initial photoshoot which focused on the daily life of domestic cats, furthering this idea by introducing a second subject. This would allow me to present how species affect each other, for example how humans and domestic cats enhance each other’s lives.”
“Looking at my most successful outcomes, I analysed the ways in which I adressed my theme, and considered posibilities which I had yet to investigate fully. Focusing on the personal connection
portrayed within my pieces, I concluded that taking inspiration from my mock outcome which featured both my dad and cat together would allow for another successful realisation of my intentions.”
“Moving onto exploring another technique, I came across lino printing and was very pleased with the outcome (see figure 11). The bold lines forming the designs excellently imitated the line art style I was aiming for, and image remained crisp when applying the prints to a layer of oil paint on canvas.”
“Drawing upon all of my research and exploration of ideas, I then produced a final response to my
project and the theme of Ordinary and Extraordinary. Combining the styles of Paci
and Da Vinci with my own, I produced a well-developed concept with high quality use of materials.”
“To conclude, throughout my project I worked to create a piece which celebrates and showcases the
extraordinary reality of evolution and adaptation within nature, and how this has allowed for
meaningful connections to be formed between species.”
If you’ve been inspired by this post ‘Ordinary and Extraordinary by Michael’ please comment below, or if you’d like to be kept informed about posts from The Arty Teacher, click the image below!
