Some Images That Caught My Eye

     I really struggled to find some images of pregnant women illustrated in a pop art style, however by trying to find them i found some other images that caught my eye and i think they give a fresh, more contemporary look on pregnancy. 

     This first image of four ladies all pregnant and it is called 'Las Vegas Moms'. I like this image because all of the colours being all florescent. However, i dont think they give a realistic image of a pregnant woman. The rest of their bodys other than there stomach doesn't look like it is in proportion. It reminds me of clip art.

     This second image is from www.flickr.com. It is a one off and i love it! It is an image based on a photograph and its is called 'Maya pregnant'. I think this image looks really graphical and i love the small use of colour that contasts the black and white figure. This image looks like it has been stencilled, and the style of it really reminds me of the work that Banksy did.  I went to have a look to see if Banksy had done any work that relates to my pregnancy theme and this is what i found. This is called 'Danger Monkey Pregnant Woman'. I do like this image because it is so different from everything I have looked at so far. The body of a woman and the face resembling the features of a cartoon style monkey, i would really like to know how and why Banksy did this piece. I cannot find any information on this piece of work, but I like it because of its originality.  All of these images have given me ideas for the next stages of my project. Before I went to continue this on, I found an image called 'Medicine and Pregnant Woman'. This image looks just like my paintings showing a woman at five and seven months pregnant!   Even the  colours are very similar. However I do still like my paintings better and I don't like the blue background on this image. This image is showing a lot of the medical sides to pregnancy.

The Development of Pregnancy

    I have looked at the development of pregnancy, what happens when the baby grows and how it effects the mothers figure.

  

     These four images show what I have learnt  from finding out at what stages have the biggest changes over the nine months of pregnancy. The first image and the last image were made from screen prints, and the middle two i painted using acrylic paints.

   

     This screen print shows the baby's growth and the mothers figure at 3 months pregnant. This is when you can first notice the bump. It varies on different people but this is when I can see the most significant changes to the growth of the baby.  However, the piece of work was unsuccessful in my opinion! The outline is not neat, I think this was due to me applying too much paint. Also, because the foetus at this stage is so small, it was hard to create a small, neat print.

     I painted this with acrylic paints and it shows the mother at five months pregnant. I much prefer the painting more than the screen print because it looks much neater and the colours are brighter. The baby is also a lot more developed over just two months.

     This image is showing the seventh month of pregnancy. The figure is a lot more 'curvy' than earlier in the pregnancy. Also, again i am a lot happier with the painting than the first screen print. The baby is a lot bigger, making the mothers stomach bigger, and also the breasts enlarge.

     This is showing the mother in her final stage of pregnancy, the nineth month. I created this using screen printing, and I think it is much more successful than my first screen print. the outline of the figure is very neat, even the foetus is clear and you can really see the shape of its body. The foetus is almost ready to be born and the mothers figure is at its most curvatious.

     By doing this sequence i have learnt more about the ways the body changes throughout pregnancy. I think the colour of the paintings is very important to me.  The reason I chose blue in the back ground of the image and the background of the womb is to show a relaxing enviroment for the foetus and the portection it has in the mothers body. I think it could be interesting if I was to play around with the colours more, because especially from the screen prints I think my images have a slight cartoon feel to them.

     I found a DVD in the student library called 'The Truth about Super Skinny Pregnancies' starring Louise Redknapp.  Louise Redknapp rose to fame while in the girl band 'Eternal' and since then she has hosted t.v programmes and she knows all about fashion and how much pressure people are under to look good.         She made a documentary while she was 8 months pregnant right up to a photo shoot she had in her underwear just 6 weeks after giving birth.  She investigates the pressure on women to maintain a glamorous pregnancy, and the reasons people want to get rid of the changes to their body by pregnancy so quickly.  She met new mums, and mums-to-be  that have been influenced by the stories they read in magazines and the pressures they face to get their original body shape back.
     Louise Redknapp met one lady who had 'pregorexia' and interviewed her. 'Pregorexia' is a name doctors have given to women who suffer eating disorders during their pregnancy. This lady in particular had only gained 8 pounds throughout her 9 months, and the average woman puts on 1.5 - 2 stone. Approximately one in twenty women will suffer from pregorexia. She also met with another woman from America who under went surgery to get her figure back. This just shows how important it is to some women to be a 'yummy mummy'!
     I felt that this DVD has related to my project because a lot of the images I have looked at, and are going to look at will be focusing on the 'perfect' pregnant figure, and maybe some unrealistic ones. Louise Redknapp showed the viewers that it is possible to get your figure back, or very nearly back to normal after just 6 weeks.
     Although I really enjoyed watching this DVD and finding out about the pressures some women feel they are under, I would like to move away from the serious aspects of pregnancy, and look at some of the fun, enjoyable illstrations and images.