without being seen

Drawings from this week of drawing, at the dentist with my younger brothers, hospital waiting room with lots of stylish grannies, and meal with friends.

screen prints

Here are some screen printing tests of my drawings in colour. I found it really easy to do and produces great results for finished piece. The top ones are of the underground ghost station, blocked off. I printed it on a tube seat type fabric which works quite well as a repeated print.

object 3

The brief set for over Christmas and few weeks after was to make narrative images of something we found particularly interesting on the project of the chair. When I was researching the London underground history I found out about Ghost stations. That are un-used stations that still exist but are blocked off, and were closed because they weren't needed as they were too close to other stations so it made journeys longer.

I really liked the photos I found of the Ghost stations in books in Camberwell library and on the internet. So I decided to base my story on these ghost stations.

The story is about a man who gets a tube to work and back everyday and always feels like he is being pushed around by everybody else. He goes through the same routine of being shoved and squished in the tube and want he wants is for them to leave him alone for once. He wishes he didn't have to be in the London scramble.
This one day when Mr Robinson (my character for the story) is off to work sets off to the tube he unexpectedly falls asleep on the underground.
Two young men opposite Mr Robinson are discussing about the ghost stations, one of the guys explains to his friend that there are ghost still wandering through the different stations stuck for eternity to go from train to train.
They always banter with each other so nothing too serious becomes of it.
The train stops at London St Pancreas, most of the carriage gets off here.
Mr Robinson is still asleep. This was he stop to get off at also.
The next stations are called out and Mr Robinson is still fast asleep.
Until the next station called out is "unknown."
Its the last stop and Mr Robinson quickly jumps up and runs out.
The station looks like nobody has used it for over 50 years. The tunnel is blocked off and Mr Robinson notices old maps of the tube and doesn't recognise the name of the station which is almost completely covered in dust.
All of a sudden a train rushes past on the opposite platform.
Mr Robinson quickly jumps on. He sees that nobody is on the train.
A couple of stops down the line he is trying to work out where this train is going to.
Looks around and then suddenly sees two men who look very old, not just old in age, old in era. They're Victorian ghosts stuck on the underground.
However Mr Robinson doesn't think too much about how spooky the Victorians look, he wouldn't believe in such nonsense. He thinks they're probably dressed up.
He asks them politely which line the train is and where it is heading.
The Victorians say nothing. They can't hear him.
Mr Robinson feels they are being very rude.
Just then the train stops at Bank. A station that Mr Robinson knows!
He sees the hundreds of people trying to cram on the train.
People start to get on and all walk right through the Victorians who were standing as if they weren't even there.
Mr Robinson is so shocked, he screams asks people what just happened! ?
He gets no response.
People start to walk right through his legs as if he wasn't even there too.
People are sat in-between him yet he can't feel a thing, nor can they. They can't hear him, nudge him, or shove him.
He is left alone, what he had always wished for.
Yet its not what he wanted, he stands up stretches out his arms and pleads for somebody to notice him.
Suddendly he hears a "Ouch" by the man sat opposite him, he feels he has his hand right by his face.
Everybody is looking at him at annoyance for disrupting them all.
He breaths a sign of relief.
Mr Robinson has never felt so happy to be feel squished and be part of the underground even with the nudges and shoves every so often.

object 2

Train in a Bag. I chose to use bright water colours to give a excitement that wouldn't necessary be seen in other people's view point of the tube.
Man's mind about to pop.

Here are selection of developed drawings from observational drawings from the underground people. I thought about the colours that would show a busy atmosphere and also give a idea of where they might be going.

Object -Chair

I found out that because it used to smell so bad in the underground when it first started in 1900's, due to the fact people were allowed to smoke in the underground. So for the train driver's to withstand the smell they were allowed to grow really long beards.
This was the man who first had the idea for the underground railway. Very clever man. Nobody at first believed him that it would be a good idea, but he kept pursuing it.
























Our breif was to find out about a chair of our choice, think who sits on it, the history, making, and uses of this specific chair. As I had enjoyed drawing from life so much I wanted to draw people as much as I had the week before on the drawing trip. So my chair I chose was the London underground tube seat. so to start the brief I went from train to train and drew mostly line drawings of anybody travelling on the tube. I had to be quite quick with my drawings because people can quickly realise you're drawing them and get suspicious. This was really fun for me and I produced lots of drawings.

London Drawing Week- more to come!

Here are a mixture of the last two days of the drawing week. On the Wednesday we went to Brick Lane, drew from observation, then got a train from liverpool street station, drew around the station and on the train. From the train station we went to a huge cementary where thorn hedges and branches had overgrown on the gravestones. It was really interesting to walk around and draw from. Also is a huge contrast from drawing in the busy streets to a cementary where everything is still and the nature is overgrowing not so much about the people.
Thursday we met Geoff at Vauxhall station and went to Els Pie Island. A bizarre wonderful cold island in the river Thames. I'll upload some photos that will explain more soon.