Friday 15 September 2017

Creating interesing compositions using Depth of Field



You can use the Aperture of the Camera to control how much is in focus. The higher the Aperture the longer the depth of field and the more that is in focus closer to and further away than the object you are focused on.


Low or short depth of field

Only the hand that the camera lens is focused on is in focus. Everything firther away is out of focus. This photograph is taken using a low aperture 


classic portrait photograph where the person is in focus and the less important background is out of focus




These three photographs use a low depth of field and a low aperture to draw the viewers attention to one element of the photograph



These two photographs use a low aperture but the person focused on is far away so that the foreground and the background are both out of focus



It is harder to find examples of work of high aperture photography on the internet. It is easier to find examples of people using a low aperture to push things out of focus. The image above found using a google search shows the different between a low aperture ( f2.8 on the left) and a higher aperture (f16) on the right. It shows how changing the aperture changes the photograph








Monday 20 February 2017

Edexcel GCSE Art Exam 2017 Beginning And End Self Portraits

Paintings that show a beginning and an end - Self Portraits


MC Escher Hand drawing a hand 1948


Pieter Bruegel - The Artist and The Buyer 1565

A self portrait of a very grumpy looking Bruegel irritated by a potential buyer or art lover watching him work


Norman Rockwell American Illustrator - Self Portrait Painted for a magazine cover and article where Rockwell discusses his career



Image may contain: cat and indoor 

Lucia Heffernan interesting homage to Norman Rockwell with the copied composition

Wednesday 1 February 2017

Edexcel A Level Art Exam 'Environment' War Art Austin Osman Spare paintings


Austin Spare, Operating in a Regimental Aid Post (1918)

Unpleasant environments. First World War Trenches. A number of Artists were comissioned, or produced for themselves while they were serving as soldiers, They produced paintings and drawings that recorded the intense claustrophobic atmosphere of the trenches. Austin Osman Spare is one of the least well known war artists, but his paintings capture the dark surreal atmosphere of the environment in the trenches.

A Level Art Exam 2017 Edexcel - Environment

2017 Edexcel Art, Graphics, Photography & Textiles Exam title is Environment

These are screen grabs from the Exam Paper. We have a digital copy in school you can download it here (Student Shared\Art\A Level Exam 2017). Sadly this is only available to SJL students, A Level students from other schools will be able to collect their coy from their school from today






Monday 30 January 2017

Edexcel GCSE Art Exam 2017 Beginning And End - Graves



Images from the internet spookily of an open grave from the perspective of the person in it





Dont Panic Paul Robert Turner

series of paintings called 'Dont Panic' by Paul Robert Turner. Images from the perspective of someone who is lying on the pavement with people around them who are helping and checking they are ok

His Website

Thursday 26 January 2017

Edexcel GCSE Art Exam Beginning And or End - Steampunk

Steampunk is a fantasy idea where Artists and Writers pretend that technology stopped in the late 19th Century and produce Modern devices that look like they were made in the Victorian age



Steampunk Laptop


Steampunk Laptop


Steampunk Laptop


Steampunk MP3 Player


Steampunk MP3 Player (this is actually a skin that fits over your Ipod)




What if Dr Who has to hide the Tardis in the Victorian Age

 Wind up Record Player entirely acoustic no electronic amplification


Somethings that we think of as Modern existed during the late Victorian early 20th Century era and so do not need to be reimagined


Steampunk enthusiasts also dress up like Victorian Hi Tech Explorers








Tuesday 24 January 2017

Edexcel GCSE Art Exam 2017 Beginning And Or End Henry Moore Bones Drawings


Henry Moore was an english sculptor. Henry worked in stone. He built in clay and had his work cast into metal. Henry Moore controversially at the time worked on small pieces which he had scaled up at the foundary into huge pieces in Bronze and other materials


Henry Moore produced thousands of drawings in sketchbooks, playing with ideas and recording interesting forms and shapes that he saw around him. He worked a lot with watercolour wash over oil pastel, using the resist of the wax and water to create interesting effects and textures


The white oil pastel against the soft inks or watercolours creates an interesting effect on this sketchbook page







Edexcel GCSE Art Exam 2017 Beginning and End Mexican Day Of The Day

Mexican festival where family members who have died are remembered. It is now celebrated around 31st October when All Saints Day or Halloween is celebrated. In Mexico the celebration lasts up to three days and is a remembrance of ancestors, children and adults who have died. The use of the skulls and the link to death and life make strong links to the Beginning and End  theme