Political Poster

Stop the Slaughter
Issue: Whaling
I have created my poster in a traditional political poster style, using a strong slogan and minimal text. It uses identifiable visual images such as stylized wave prints and a samurai to signify the connection to Japan, rather than more obvious text references.

Photomontage assignment - Self Portrait as Machine

When creating a visual representation of myself as a machine I decided to focus on one particular side of my personality, the physical/worker, inspired by my recent work experience as a builder’s labourer. Therefore my machine only uses materials found on a construction site, primarily tools or materials that I had experience using during this time. It also represents other aspects of my personality such as my liking to be active, being very hard working and the desire to achieve results from what I do. Furthermore, the machine represents what I aspire to be.
I chose a yellow and black colour scheme as these are common colours in the construction industry. The background was chosen as the cranes in the background blend well with my image giving the machine a sense of movement and that it is flying through the air. It has also been darkened in order to help my image stand out.

Parts used include:

• A jackhammer as the machine body


• Hammers and spanners as the arms


• Scaffolding as wings


• Protective head gear (ear muffs, safety glasses and dust mask)
  A saw blade as the head/hair

Background ideas for self portrait

Decided against the above image as the colour scheme clashed too much with that of my machine.

Had an idea to use a background image of concrete cracking as it is symbolic of the power of a jackhammer. However due to the scale of the image it made the machine look too small.

This image was ok as the colours matched that of my machine, the quality of the image was not too low therefore appeared pixelated and could not be used.

Decided that this background suited my machine best as allowed the machine to appear as flying. The lines of the crane and bulidings also lined up well with the wings of my machine making the image look good composition wise. The image was darkened to allow my machine to stand out.

Machine Self portrait

Basic Structure for self-portrait. Uses a jackhammer and scaffolding which to me represents hard work. Both parts are also significant to me as during my time of work i had experience using both.
The yellow and black colour scheme was chosen as it reflects the theme e.g. signs on a construction site.


I wasn't 100% happy with the above machine. Believed that the machine needed have more of a shine to it. Also the hammer was not in line with the spanner and scaffolding. I also wanted the glasses to stand out more.

Sketches for political poster

Above is the basic composition i want to use for my political poster. Uses traditional japenese images such as the great wave at Kanagawa and a Samurai to identify the topic (Japenese Whaling).

• Yet to think of a slogan
• Will use a white, blue and light brown colour scheme. Samurai will stand out being black. Also to reinforce the concept of death/slaugher red blood will spill from whale as seen in the above sketch.

Transmorgrified Exhibition by Will Holt

Went and had a look at the exhibition opening last Thursday. The latest in a series of exhibitions i have seen by this artist. The paintings are developed using a distinctive technique in which multiple layers of paint are baked in the sun, allowing the paint to crack gaining very interesting textures. These paintings often resemble landscapes/sea scapes such as the ocean but are abstract therefore could be interpreted in many ways.

Sketches for mechanical self-portrait

Decided that i wanted to create my machine-self portrait entirely out of tools, or construction related materials.

Sketch1: Uses safety gear worn when on-site such as ear muffs,
safety goggles etc.

Sketch 2: Uses the structure of a jackhammer and scaffolding wings
give the machine a structure similar to an insect such as a bee.