Once again, I plod on...

A warm room, fresh coffee, fruit and a cold and soggy view out the window.  These are the only things I need for another day back to university work.  I'm super happy though as I have most of my paperwork list ticked off for this week and its only Tuesday!  Just got to get updated on line then I'm back to drawing, the main reason I began this academic year in the first place.  So this makes me happy!
I have been researching a lot whilst I've been out of action.  I had a car accident at the end of November last year and at last I'm finally getting back to it with university work.  Its been a while and I'm so hyped to get back and catch up with everyone.  Everyone keeps telling me to slow down, but I've been so slow for the last two and a half months and now I'm ready to rock, so slowing down isn't really on the cards!

During my time researching my new project, I've found some incredible artists.  Some that made me wow, others that where huge inspirations and made me brim with ideas.  I thought I would write a few up on here because I feel they have a lot to answer for in my work!

ROA

 This guy is a Belgium street artist who has his art work all over Europe and the world.  I saw the above piece by the Thames when I went up to London last summer and was blown away by the detail in the size.  He gets permission to use the walls and uses them to make artwork that juxtapose nature with the urban site its at.  He does a lot of rats and small mammals such as rabbits and squirrels.

 His media is paint but when I first saw it I thought he was a wheatpaster because of the white background he uses on all his pieces.  It's an effective way of making his pictures stand out because of the contrast between the white background and the dark lines that make up the detail of the animals.

 I found his work hugely inspiring as it makes a statement being street art (similar to the ideas I carry out) and deals with juxtaposing nature and urbanisation, something that I have already thought of doing for my next project.

I also found Colin See-Paynton, an engraver who commonly looks at wildlife.  The markings and his style are so beautiful and they make you see the beauty in the animals he tries to capture.

I love how he uses an old technique of engraving and brings it back to fashion by making 'pieces' with it rather than the stereotypical engraving.  I would happily have one of his pieces on my wall!

Jamie Mills and one of my favourite artsits Sandra Dieckmann, joined together to make pieces on endangered species of animal.

 I love the idea of working on pictures of endangered species like they have, but I would like to be slightly more specific so it speaks to the audience clearly.

 I love Sandras work because of the detail and again, like the top two artists, she makes each picture of the animal seem iconic by the way she adds her own beauty to them.

So, yeah, these are just a splattering of my mostly inspiring artists that I've found.  Also I've used the app of pinterest to search for a lot of artists as it is easy and you can save the images of interest.  Also the pictures usually are linked to a related website, making researching stuff like this really easy and fun.

After looking and these artists and many others, I've have plenty of time to think about my next practical move.  I would like to look at endangered species within the British Isles and place them in Urban areas.  I think when people are surrounded by cities and urban landscapes, they can easily forget what natural habitats exist and what ecosystems and animals we also depend on outside of the city.  I want to look at animals we depend on or have wiped out because of our modern way of life and what the landscape used to look like before we became the lead race.