St James Cavallier 1st visit

St James Cavalier visits-3/5/14

Moira  Zahra Exhibition

Moira Zahra is a free agent of illustrator, graphic design and movement digital artist and I teach Graphics, interactive Media and Digital art. She studied at Arts London specializing in digital arts.Moira is now a lecturer In Mcast Art and Design. The exhibition she exhibited in is called "Xebgha nies".

The name of the illustration is Downtown and its media are Indian ink, watercolours and pencil. I can see a red clothed woman holding red umbrella with a pointed shoes and red lipstick. There is also an insect besides her. The background is typically Maltese streets because the style of the balconies. The woman has some tones of the same colour and it looks cartoonish because of the really thin legs and neck, rotated face and unrealistic figure. Everything is full of fine contours of pencil and Indian ink. The insect is unrealistic because its proportion and again looks cartoonish. The background looks more realistic than the woman because the artist wanted the women to stand out. Moira used the red on the woman to give importance. She left the background on gray scale to focus on the woman. I observe some shades of gray and left some parts white. The black areas are giving some contrasts. The illustration feels smooth.  The woman looks elegant and over powered because of the pose and the way she is wearing. Red dressed women often symbolize sexuality because the colour draws the eye. I can see straight and curved lines which are giving movement.

Although I like the illustration I would not consider hanging it at my house because it is too simple to be done. It is more like a sketch that a finished drawing.  I would add a soft colour to the sky so I would recognize the weather. Overall the painting is still reflecting the talent of the artist because it is original.

Its name is Encounters and the medium used are pencil and Indian ink. It is another illustration from Moira Zahra. I can see 5 people waiting to cross the road which one of them holding an insect like a pet. The people are cartoonish because of the thin body and unrealistic faces. The legs are exaggerated in proportion.  All face are tall and with serious look. The artist used only black on with. The figures are all contoured with black. There are both thin and thick lines. I can see free flowing lines which are creating movement. There are also stiff lines. I can also see geometrical shapes like rectangles, circles and triangles. There is a lot of negative space around, between legs and between each other.  The surface feels smooth.

The artists managed to create a feeling of fed up of waiting with just contours and some black fillings. The characters she created are original. I like the simplicity in the illustration.

This is another illustration from Moira Zahra. It name is Spots and she used Pencil and Indian ink. I can see a woman with insect look riding a bicycle. It is full of spots on the clothes, backpack, and scarf and also on the bicycle. The woman has facials of insects. In the pack she is carrying an insect which is taking care of him like it was her toddler. The scene is cartoonish because the thin body, unrealistic faces and bicycle.  It is full of contours both thin and thick. I can see geometric shapes which are the circles. There are also straight lines. The curved lines are giving movement. I can observe a lot of negative space around and in the bicycle.

In my opinion it is giving me a message of caring for others because she is taking care of insect like its her baby. I like the simplicity and the original fantasy character.

My thoughts and ideas for future projects:
She gave me a lot of ideas  for future projects one of them is that I can experiment with faces by adding insects of animal facial features. To create a character it is important to research about animal and insects facial expression and pay attention to detail to be able to add into character`s face. The artist also gave me ideas from the repetition f pattern she used on cloths and also on the bicycle wheels. The way she experimented with the scale of shapes inspired me  for future designs. The artist also added a story in her illustrations so it would be nice to think of a story before starting my future projects to be even more interesting to the audience.

Saviour Baldacchino

He emphasis on facial expressions, it is something that attracts him. Baldacchino likes to confront others facial expressions, emotions and state of mind to add them to his paintings. To be able to create these emotions a facial expressions he use a variety of colours , light , curves and even spaces.

It is called Last dinner which is cartoonish of last supper. He used oil on canvas. I can see vaiety of facial expressions. The focal point is the middle person which is with a serious expression. There is free flowing lined which are implied. Some lines are thin and some are tick. The colour scheme is monochrome because of the different shades and tone of black. It is a grayscale painting. some are scared , angry shocked and scandalised. It is like some are against the middle person and only the woman behind him is with him. I can observe a bit of brown colour on the clothes of the two on the left. It is like a violence going to happen because the way he is holding the knife. The middle person is worried maybe because what's going on on the world. The middle person in my opinion is symbolizing god.  The people looks cartoonish because if the ultra curviness on the faces. The painting feels smooth and straight.

In my opinion it is a very detailed painting which gives a message of god worrying about us. I would not change a lot in it. I would add some shades on the back ground.

Its name is breast of Agatha with oil painting on canvas. It is symbolising the story of Agatha tortured with finally her breast cut off.  It is cartoonish and created in humorist way. I can see one with mischievous facial expression holding the woman from the back to be able to cut off her breast. The three of them have a mischievous and suspicious facial expression. Her expression is scared. The Suspicious ones are wearing black like thieves. It is full of curved lines.  The background is Technicolor with tint of red and blue and some with for light. The focal point is the woman because it is the bigger figure. It is a detailed painting with a lot of shades and tones for realistic cartoonish look.

In my opinion it is very talented painting focusing on the facial expressions. I would change her facial expression and make it look scarier. Over all the painting is very well painted.

My own thoughts and ideas for future projects:
This is another humour collection of art works. For future work the artist showed me how important to add humour in some art works and even in 3d designs to transfer a laugh on people`s face. When observing these paintings I noticed a detail scene with not so attractive characters but still interesting to look at because they are artistically painted. I learned that you have to think wisely before starting a project and try your best to  interest people to look at.  In my future projects I will surely be looking at people facial expressions before starting a project. I will also look at other religious/political items and transform them originally with different face expressions. I learned that in the future it will be interesting to experiment with faces shapes.

References:
Moira Zahra (2011). Behance.Malta. [online] Available on:  http://www.behance.net/moirazahra

 Accessed on: 15th March. 2014

Saviour Baldacchino (2004). Gallery last touch. [online]. Available on: http://www.gallerylasttouch.com/Artists/ArtistPage.aspx?Artist=Saviour%20Baldacchino Accessed on: 15th March, 2015