Accreditation Application - Open College of the Arts

APEL
Accreditation
Application
Harriet Johnson
Chosen Degree and Pathway
BA Honors Degree in Painting
Level 4:
Drawing 1: Drawing Skills
Painting 1: The Practice of Painting
Printmaking1: Introduction to Printmaking
Level 5:
Painting 2: Exploring Concepts
Painting 2: Mixed Media
Level 6:
Painting 3: Advanced
Painting 3: Your Own Portfolio
Professional work and Education
Recently (July 2012) I have become fully
qualified as an Art and Design Teacher at
secondary level having completed a Graduate
Teacher Training Programme (GTTP) at Reading
University. Prior to this training I was fortunate
enough to work in the same thriving art
department as an assistant teacher.
During my experience over these past four
years I have learned and practised a wide range
of processes and techniques in painting,
drawing, printmaking, digital media and textiles.
I am now also developing a strong
understanding of ceramics.
In my free time I have built up a growing
portfolio of work, helped by regular attendance
on tutored short courses at Falmouth College of
Arts, Oxford Brookes and Cheltenham School of
Art. This will hopefully mark the start of my
further education in the visual arts, specifically
painting, and also my development as an artist.
Previously I attended Durham University and in
2008 was awarded BA Hons in Sport Science.
To this end I have found interacting with
materials, works, artists and books truly
liberating. I now feel an overwhelming need to
devote more time and energy to discovering
and developing my own visual language through
painting. This is clearly necessary for my
development as an artist but is also very
important for my planning and teaching of Art in
years to come.
Such refinement takes time and I acknowledge
that development through practice is critical to
the growth of my understanding and practical
work. This said I would be delighted if in the
following examples of my work there is evidence
of learning that is equivalent to the level four
module outcomes of my selection. I am
therefore looking to accelerate through the
aforementioned modules at level 4.
Wider Reading and Lectures
I am extremely lucky to have access to a large
library of art books at work and enjoy reading
around the subject very much. Recently I read
‘7 Days in The Art World’ by Sarah Thornton,
which was a candid insight about the ‘Art
World’, and the people in it. A gripping read
about auctions, values and attitudes.
Furthermore, when the opportunity arises I
enjoy attending lectures. Recently I heard
Grayson Perry discuss his work ahead of his
most recent exhibition at the British Museum. It
was an amazing opportunity to ask questions
about his belief in craft and appreciate the
politics that drive his work. I have also enjoyed
listening to Martin Gayford speak about Van
Gogh’s painting and Stephen Farthing discuss
‘what is drawing?’ in the past year.
Tutored Courses
July 2009 – An Introduction to Printmaking.
Falmouth College of Art (Two weeks)
April 2010 – Expressive Drawing. Cheltenham
School of Art (3days)
August 2011 – Expressive Life Drawing.
Oxford Brookes (5days)
Weekly attendance at life drawing classes.
The Jam Factory, Oxford (weekly)
In addition to the following examples of
complete work I maintain a series of
sketchbooks to support each project. Below I
also show examples of these to help illustrate
my way of working in more detail.

APEL Application
Details of Selected Works
Drawing and Painting
The following images have been selected to
demonstrate the various ways I believe I have
met the learning objectives and outcomes at
level four in my chosen disciplines. The
concepts and ideas that have informed my
practical work are discussed alongside the
methods and processes used. These reflections
are carefully considered and personal but I
have also tried to maintain a sufficient degree
of objectivity as well. I have included examples
of preparatory drawings, final pieces and
examples of sketchbook work here.
The beauty of organic objects has inspired
much of my work; seeds, fruit, pods and flowers
to name a few. Drawing allows me to
permanently record the shape, tone (at that
given moment) and texture of such objects. This
lets me make more sense of what I am
observing and strengthens the relationship I
have with that piece of work. These images are
examples of observational drawing made using
pencil on cartridge paper. All are underpinned
by my belief in the importance of accurate
observation in the early stages of a project.
Pencil on cartridge paper
Pencil on cartridge paper
Pencil on cartridge paper
Page 2

APEL Application
In addition I feel it is also extremely rewarding
to experiment with a greater degree of
expression and interpretation in drawing. The
following images demonstrate instances where
I have enjoyed drawing for its own sake, without
using it as a starting block for future work. I am
particularly pleased with my use of colour in
these drawings and would like to experiment
further with more unusual combinations.
Indian ink and watercolor
Oil pastel on tissue paper
Indian ink and acrylic on a Monoprint background
Blind drawing using pen on paper
One technique I have become fascinated in is
Blind Drawing. In particular I enjoy the feeling of
deception when you have no idea what your
drawing looks like and the unedited response to
what you are drawing. This led me to produce
the following ‘captions’ made from blind selfportraits,
embroidered on cotton and paper
freehand on a sewing machine.
Page 3

APEL Application
As my work began to develop I started to
become less interested in the quality of line
used and more driven by the challenge of
demonstrating the form of the face. On
reflection this was a pivotal point that led me to
a large body of portraiture, and a much deeper
understanding of how to use tone effectively in
my work. Looking at the work of Marlena
Dumas and Jesse Leroy-Smith (example of a
sketchbook page below) prompted me to create
the following self-portrait using watercolour and
inks because of their fluid properties.
Watercolour and ink on paper
Working in this way prompted me to look at the
work of Schiele. I was inspired by the
combination of his manic mark making but
gentle application of colour. The strength of line
and the style of Calder’s work also captured my
attention when making these drawings.
(Sketchbook page responding to Dumas’ work)
Page 4

APEL Application
A natural progression from here was to consider
the properties of other materials and how they
could be used in a similar way. I played with oil
paint investigating how it reacted to being
diluted and combined with turpentine. I wanted
to see if a similar effect could be achieved
using this heavier more robust material and
produced the following two portraits, taking only
4 hours to create each one.
Oil on canvass with newspaper cuttings
Both oil on canvass with an acrylic ground
This experimentation was interesting and
certainly a lot of fun but I was not totally
satisfied with the disjointed transition from the
fluid hair and shoulders to the more precise
detail on the face. I soon started to return to a
more traditional style of oil painting but made
them more contemporary by incorporating
different materials within the painting. This
included collaging paper cuttings and luggage
tags onto the canvasses as demonstrated
above, or giving the painting’s ground a more
prominent part in the overall image like the
painting below.
Both oil on canvass with an acrylic ground
Acrylic on paper with collage
Page 5

APEL Application
Printmaking
In July 2009 I completed a two-week
Printmaking course run by Falmouth College of
Arts. In this body of work named ‘Fruition’ I
wanted to mutate the meaning and expectation
of natural structures that we encounter
everyday. This was my attempt of highlighting
how unfamiliar we actually are with the shapes,
textures and patterns of objects that we think
we know very well.
Looking specifically at fruits I turned my
observational drawings (some are shown on
page 2) into microscopic cellular structures that
look foreign and unfamiliar. During this process
I enjoyed marrying the tight graphic effect of
drypoint etching with more fluid layers of
monoprints.
Inspired by my painting experiments I loved
working with turpentine again, dripping it onto a
lightly inked plate. The oil-based ink made
delicate rosettes of colour as it reacted with the
turpentine. Printing the residual pattern once
the turpentine had evaporated allowed me to
capture the temporary nature of this and
complement the harsh drypoint lines with soft
fleshy marks. The following prints are samples
of this technique.
Drypoint Etching with Monoprint background
Page 6

APEL Application
During the course I was also able to practice
limestone lithography, silkscreen printing and
monoprinting using an offset roller. All work
made by these techniques developed the
concept further and were used in the later
stages of the course. Colour, pattern and shape
became the focus of my work as the resulting
prints became further removed from the
original drawings and more abstract as you can
see below.
Lithograph
Monoprint using an offset roller
To conclude this body of work I felt it was
appropriate to take the development just one
step further. I have always admired the work of
the Abstract Expressionists, particularly
Rothko’s early ‘Multiforms’ with such lavish use
of colour and fragile forms. My prints also
began to remind me of Gillian Ayres’ paintings.
Looking at her work in more depth I became
curious as to how she would fill her
compositions with patterns of dancing shapes. I
found that this ‘naïve’ style of painting actually
required much more precision and delicacy
than first thought.
Silkscreen Print with machine embroidery drawing
Acrylic on canvas
Page 7

APEL Application
Painting and Drawing Continued
The most recent project that I have been
working on is based on the English East India
Company in the 18 th century, specifically its tea
trade. I wanted to comment on how the English
gentry used tea as an indication of their
financial and social status with probably very
little appreciation for the workers in India who
would pick, prepare and transport the tea.
In an attempt to demonstrate that without
these workers the trade and social
demonstrations would stop I took the following
photographs. I began to gradually bind an
original Edwardian teacup with images of
women transporting the tea on their backs.
Interestingly when I smashed the teacup in
order to show the fragility of the porcelain (a
reflection of the weaknesses in valuing social
importance) the fragments were held together
tightly by the workers. I took the following
photographs at different stages of the process.
Pencil on cartridge paper
Oil on canvass
Above are a drawing study from one of the
photographs and an oil painting from another I
decided to use a very precise way of painting
and muted tones with a few accents of warm
colour having been inspired by 16 th Century
Dutch Still Life paintings. Below is an example
of a quick mixed media study made in the
beginning of this project.
Page 8

APEL Application
An area that I would like to investigate further is
landscape painting and drawing. I am looking to
attend a short course during the summer
holiday. Having learned the basis of measuring I
wanted to apply the same strategy to
landscapes. The paintings I have produced rely
on linear perspective to maintain correct
proportions. Each perspective is slightly
different and the subject matter varies from
urban to rural.
contrast the texture of the work. I am very
pleased with the outcome and look forward to
creating many more like it.
Sketchbook work
As previously mentioned I feel it is important to
keep working sketchbooks when developing my
ideas to document my findings. Below are a
couple of pages taken from the sketchbooks
that supports the work outlined on page 5.
Watercolour on paper
In this painting I was inspired by John Piper’s
work, in particular his use of non-naturalistic
colour. I am pleased with the overall effect of
this piece but feel that I could have achieved a
greater contrast between the building and its
surrounds like Piper does. Oxford was a
wonderful place to work and this was made
from direct observation of Christ Church
College.
Oil on Canvas
This painting depicts my favorite holiday
destination in Cornwall. It is a place where I feel
at peace; an emotion that I wanted to portray in
this painting. Using oils on an acrylic ground I
enjoyed layering the paint spontaneously,
making impasto marks in certain areas to
Page 9

APEL Application
Life Drawing
Regular attendance at Life Drawing classes has
allowed me to practise measuring techniques to
maintain scale and proportion in my drawing.
Recreating distance and foreshortening has
been one of the main challenges in my work.
Continuing along the same vein the image
below was made using inks, water and pastel. It
was a direct response the textures of the skin.
The portrait was also observed from life but
alternatively focuses on effective use of tone in
portraiture.
Line drawing in pencil on Fabriano paper
I have also enjoyed approaching life drawing in
a less conventional way. By using my nondominant
hand I was able to make looser more
unusual marks.
Page 10