I've been working in my sketchbook and trying to decide in which direction I want to take my work. I had a tutorial last night which I found to be very helpful. The session opened my eyes to a new way of looking at my work. Maybe I'm trying to say too much in one piece. I think I need to let some of it just speak for itself in a quiet, understated way. And perhaps creating a conversation between two ideas. For example: I've been playing around with images of pin-up girls from the 40s; I want to juxtapose that imagary with symbols of war - grenades, look-out towers, missles. So perhaps the pin-up girls will serve as a sort of wall paper...something that looks sexy and organic but that doesn't reveal straight away the true nature of what they are. And then maybe have a screenprint of a grenade next to it. Everything repeated...like Warhol did in a lot of his work. I want it to be playful and sexy. But with a sinister undertone.
The most important thing I took away from the tutorial is to be careful that the imagery doesn't cancel each other out - to play one image against the other for a greater impact. Don't beat it over the viewer's heads...allow the images to speak for themselves and create their own impact. I should act as a director in a way - determining the order of placement and establishing a hierarchy.
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