WORKSHOP 6:

todays workshop time was spent creating final pieces for the laverton art festival on november the 14th. i decided to do a large-scale character freehand with cans, my work was based on a sketch i did in the paste up artists book [pictured in workshop4]. My final piece can be picutred above, in the middle. i'd never used a spray can freehand before and felt overwhelmed at first. but after playing around a bit i quivkly learned quite a bit of can control and am extremely proud of the outcome.

i must admit i was outshined by a young gentleman attending today who sprayed the image above on the left, its simply beautiful and raw.

and here we have two of the stencil final pieces, the first being an enormous 2 layer stencil of britney spears crying. the sheer size of the piece amazes me, a very successful piece. the mutli-coloured owls shows the great variety you can get out of a single stencil, so many beautiful and vibrant colours in this piece.

overall, there were some powerful works created for the festival today. over the duration of this workshop i've learned so much about the different aspects of street art and further developed my skills, opening my mind to alternative non-traditional mediums.

undertaking a professional work placement at the laverton youth centre has also given me an invaluable insight into working with children and young adults. i am now more confident with my career choice to undertake a diploma of education.

WORKSHOP 5:

in the fifth laverton street art project workshop the focus was again shifted to stenciling. as usual i began the day with helping to set up all the tables, lay drop sheets and prepare the necesary materials for the day. todays workshop was quite productive but small in attendance, th regulars did not come in on the school holidays.

i brought in a design sketch i did over a year ago, it was always intended to be stencil'd or used in screen printing at the very least. i re-vamped the old design, fixing alot of its shortfalls. the final result can be pictured above, "iron proj" or 'iron projects' is a melbourne hiphop crew. http://www.myspace.com/ironprojects

the kids enjoyed todays workshop, cutting out quite a few stencils. the artist then introduced how to use stencils in combination by putting a ballon in the baseball players hands [pictured below].
one of the children attending had stenciled a karate figure doing a head high kick, he then proceeded to spray the karate character kicking all the other figures people had stenciled and was quite pleased when i assisted him in placing it in such a way that it kicked a crane figure in the neck.

towards the end of the day the attending children were asked what they wanted to do in the next workshop so katherine could organise materials.

WORKSHOP 4:

Todays workshop was on cartooning and paste ups. the artist gave me a very insightful look at paste ups which is an artform i'd previously had no personal experience with. using the lion sketch i did in the previous workshop as inspiration i created this sticker [pictured above] i wouldve liked to colour it 'better' to say the least but didnt have the necessary colours.


[pictured above] are some characters pasted up by todays practicing artist. he makes his paste up art with a very professional aesthetic and method. i was astounded to find that the 'glue' they use is made simply from water and flour and in ideal situations a touch of heat. the mixture is then beat into a glazed substance that offers waterproof protection of the art. if not beat correctly the paste ups are likely to go moldy in a very short time.


At the end of the workshop the artist asked me to draw in his ‘book’. I replied with “yeah for sure, but why? He then explained how he gets interesting artists he meets to leave something in his book, I was honoured that he asked me, and also recognized me as an ‘artist’. [pictured below] is what I drew in his book.

WORKSHOP 3:

i apologise for the late entry, this blog completely vacated from my mind for a few weeks. during the third workshop of the laverton street art project the focus was on text in street art and the more commonly known graffiti.

as much as i love this art form it really isnt something i have the knack for so i began working on a character for next fornights paste ups and cartooning workshop [pictured above] i began with the notion of a grimey stylised lion and ended up with this character here which was very well recieved by the participants of the project.

The artist explained the history and fundamentals of graffiti writing from sketching, to outlining, fills, shinies [white highlighting] and gave general tips for better can control. pictured below is an impressive sketch by 13 year old jake whos final piece can be seen just below.

i was especially honoured when he asked me to sketch a 'gangsta' type character for him to use accompanying his text for next time. overall today was quite a successfull workshop with alot of local interest shown and also the highest attendance so far.

WORKSHOP 2:

After the planned excursion had to be cancelled because of lack of interest i was keen on working with some kids in todays workshop and i wasnt dissapointed.

i arrived and helped unload the materials and organise the furiniture in the centre for some stencil creation! i was also informed that there would be three year 8 boys participating today and also a 20 yr old who showed interest in the project, its good to see the work put into advertising was not in vain.


we got into the swing of things right away, i began cutting out the above stencil which originated as an internet image which i then made a few modifications to.

the young people showed real interest for the project, cutting out their stencils and spraying them onto a large board out the front of the youth centre as pictured below. i tried to make them feel welcome and comfortable and i believe i was successful in doing that. i look forward to the next productive workshop.

WORKSHOP 1:

I am undertaking a professional work placement at the Laverton Community Centre where street art workshops are being held for local young people. The workshop aims to engage young people with their community via art.

I met with Katherine at the youth centres shopfront and had time to chat with her and meet a stencil artist who had been organised to speak with the kids today. Unfortunately the program had not been advertised locally and young people failed to arrive at the workshops starting time.

Once the youth centre was opened we had a look at what eqipment we had to work with and also have a look through what materials katherine had brought today.

The artist whos name has evaded me at the moment planned to give an introduction to street art styles and techniques and also run a stenciling workshop. Even though participants failed to show, we, along with a gentleman that was on the board that approved funding for the project, proceeded to create stencils and spray them onto board at the front of the shop to try and attract local interest.

i learned quite a bit in the way of can control and street stencil creation in todays workshop, after we finished the stencil board katherine and i installed the work in the youth centres window to help bring further attention for the program.