Mixed Media – Page 14 – The Consulting Artist

Headliner : Distracted by the jubilee?

This is the second of two mixed media artworks I’ve designed to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

This is the second of two mixed media artworks I’ve designed to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The picture shows the design of the Union Flag overlaid with headlines from the Daily Telegraph published on May 29th and 30th 2012. The picture reflects what was going on in the news in the immediate run up to the Jubilee weekend.

The newspapers were left behind by my father in law after a visit to our house and as I went to throw them away, one of the headlines caught my eye and the picture developed from there. On the reverse of the picture are more headlines and I photographed a further batch which didn’t make the cut (shown below).

The design of the flag is based on the Union Flag, it is twice as wide as it is tall (38cm x 19cm) and all the other lines and angles are in proportion to the original flag. In the picture, the flag is depicted upside down, which indicates a distress signal. It’s clear when you read the headlines that despite all the hype around the Diamond Jubilee, life goes on and our capacity for committing crime and general unpleasantness is the over riding focus for the print media.

The picture was composed using water colour paint (Paynes Grey pan), newspaper cuttings and glue on mould made, acid free 300gsm water colour paper.

Sten Guns in Knightsbridge : Diamond Jubilee

This is the first of two mixed media artworks I’ve designed to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

This is the first of two mixed media artworks I’ve designed to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. This piece is inspired by the song 1977 which first appeared on the B-side of White Riot by The Clash. The lyrics to the second verse of the song are:

“In 1977

Knives in West 11

Ain’t so lucky to be rich

Sten guns in Knightsbridge”

About the picture.

The design of the flag is based on the Union Flag, it is twice as wide as it is tall (38cm x 19cm) and all the other lines and angles are in proportion to the original flag. In the picture, the flag is depicted upside down, which indicates a distress signal. For me and doubtless many others, the punk movement was in a way also a distress signal.

The Sten gun was a World War II sub-machine gun capable of firing nine rounds per second, hence the nine letter k’s in Knightsbridge. The photograph in the picture is a terrace of houses in Knightsbridge and the song 1977 was released in (surprise surprise) 1977, the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.

The picture was composed using water colour paints (Windsor Violet pan and Orange liquid), newspaper cuttings, inkjet printing and glue on mould made, acid free 300gsm water colour paper.

The photos below show the artwork in various stages of completion.

Learning to Paint – Record Sleeve

Last week I recorded a song at Never Records as part of the Merge Festival, two copies of which were then cut to vinyl right in front of my eyes. I’m still pinching myself. I get to keep one copy and the other goes into the Never Records project. Everyone who records at Never Records is invited to decorate the sleeve of their record so this weeks learning to paint is a rare chance to experiment with something which wil end up on display. Pardon me while I pinch myself again.

These pictures show the decorated sleeve front and back with the ‘before’ versions for comparison. I used acrylic paints, glitter paint and marker pens.