Developing artwork

After looking at the work of Depero, I have been inspired to create my own abstract artwork that uses the features of Depero's futurist style. The angles, geometry and colour scheme have all been used to great effect in Depero's work and this is something that I want to explore in my work for Fedrigoni. I am not sure exactly where this idea will take me, perhaps the work could then be made out of paper and displayed on printers walls like they did in my research? Either way I want to produce these pieces of art. They will be abstract shapes and patterns and use contrasting colours to the background so that areas of shape stand out.

First Attempt

This is my first attempt of the pattern. I am using a typeface which has been developed for futurism, called p22. I really like the angles in the typeface, the construction of the typeface using sharp lines and triangles etc. The colour scheme for this image derives from the depero work. I have used dark red, red, blue, orange, greens and yellows. Some are pastel colours, the colours that arnt really stand out from the pastel coloured background. However, I have used too many colours in this image and so it is not working as a whole yet. I need to work simplifying my designs, using bolder shapes with more dynamism. Some of the shapes that I am using here look more appologetic than dynamic. However, I do like the triangle shapes that cut into some of the blue and black areas. I want the shapes to look like they affect one another more, for instance if a shape is on the path of another shape then the colours invert etc. 

Construction and Development of new idea

This was my starting point to this idea. I really like it, I love the colour scheme, the central image really stands out proud from the light blue background. Also, I have played with perspective so that areas are more pronounced than others etc, much like Depero did. I think it works effectively as a piece of artwork. I want to continue the development of this idea so that I have a design that I am completely satisfied with. At the moment, I am unsure of the semi-circles and also the general composition of the piece. 

Playing about with the background and extending it into the forground image. Further experimentation with perspective. 

Change in overall composition of piece. I have made the image less light and airy, now it looks more like a futurist piece of art. I think that the diagonal shapes coming in from the top left to the bottom right are really effective  they give the piece dynamism. 

This is my first final art piece. It includes some of the colour scheme colours that I have chosen. I want each piece of art work that I design to subtly use different colours. Everything about this piece suggests dynamism and construction. The strong diagonals contrast with the curves in the background.  

Idea 2

This is my initial idea for my second Fedrigoni art piece. I am getting more confident now with using the elements of futurism to construct artwork, and so I think that the pieces are looking more competent. Here, the abstract shapes that I have created are suspended in the middle of the piece. I quite like the composition of this piece, it looks really balanced. However, I do not think that it is dynamic enough. Therefore I want to experiment with rotation of the piece. I really dislike the positioning of text in the top left hand corner, but it was just a really quick idea that does in fact devalue the piece as a whole. If I was to turn these into posters, I need to explore text in great depth for it to work with the overall composition of the pieces I am creating. For now, I am happy with creating abstract art. 

This is the piece rotated. I am fairly happy with it. It a vibrant piece and the shapes project outwards from the page because of the light pastel background that the art sits on. 

Idea 3

This idea is based around dividing up the space within a circle. Diagonals and circles are used heavily in Depero's work, therefore I have come up with the idea of combining the two. I really like the aesymetry of the diagonals and the colours that I have used, however I do not like the way that I have made it bleed of the page. This was an experiment with layout that is not sucessful, I need to bring the whole design upwards. I do however like the way that the circle splits in the middle in a diagonal. It disjoints the circle and looks more visually interesting than simply dividing up the circle space. 

I have moved the circle down so that it bleeds of both the top and bottom. Again, I do not think that this is as effective as if I made the whole circle visible. I am trying to make it look like I havent simply divided up a circle as my thoughts were that the piece should be more complex than this. However, simplicity is sometimes effective. Instead I believe I should just embrace simplistic construction of these artworks. 

Here I have created a dark blue background for my abstract art. Instantly, the piece looks more visually striking. It is bolder and the shapes contrast more with the background. I also prefer circle in the position that it is in now, I prefer it only bleeding of the page very slightly. However, I have tried dividing the two semi circles and I do not think that this has worked effectively. It creates two separate images and the lozenges of shapes within the circle no longer come to a central point. 

This is the 3rd final artpiece. I am happy with the overall composition and colours used. Its bold and reflects Futurism and Depero. 

Idea 4 development 

This is the initial concept for this idea. At the moment it is very basic, but should form the background layer to what I want to produce. Again, the key features to the composition are strong diagonal lines and colour. 

I quite like the shape in the middle of this composition. It gives the piece a central focus point, however the top part of the shape darts your eye off to the top right of the image creating dynamism. However, I am not sure about the direction that these points point in. i want to edit this. Also, there needs to be a focus down the left hand side of the image because at the moment, the abstract shapes do not have any focus point. 

I am more happy with the direction that the points are directing your eye in this image. Also, I have rotated the rectangle that was down the centre of the image. I decided that this was not as dynamic as it should be, and rotating it and creating a diagonal has definately created the dynamism that I require. 

I am not convinced by these two compositions. I do not like the shapes that I have created in the red areas bellow. Also, the left hand side of the image is not working. I need a stronger colour in the background, and i also need to get rid of the shapes in the red area. 

The final 4th design

This is the fourth final design. I think it now looks complete as an abstract piece of art. There is interesting perspective created with overlapping shapes, and there is a lot of dynamism created with the multiple directions of diagonals. 

I am not sure yet what I want to do with these pieces of art. They could be created out of Fedrigoni paper and used as advertisement as they are, but I do not think that this will do them justice. I think that they need to perhaps form part of a poster, or a series of posters. However, I do want to do a mock up of the posters as if they are in a gallery so that I can see them all together to see if anything is not working with them. 

This is the first layout attempt. I think that they all look good together, however the first poster on the left has a different feel to the rest of the posters because of the colour of the background. Therefore I am going to change the background colour to the colour of the background in the image on its right. 

This is the final layout of my posters. I think that they work great as a set. They have their own personality and are dynamic. I do not think that they would look out of place in a contemporary art gallery or a gallery of Futurism. Now I need to figure out what exactly I wish to do with them. My next stage is to experiment with futurist waistcoats, using a similar way of working to that which I have explored in these pieces of artwork.