Artists Research: How best to convey my intent?

Although as stated in previous posts, this brief isn't a simple exercise in portraiture, I realise that at least on of my final images will contain some figurative elements even it is just small fractions of Hypatia's face. 

Matt suggested I look at the work of Milton Glaser in how to approach figurative drawing as, although the ink drawings I had used in my collages looked quite striking, they were perhaps not sophisticated and graphic enough in there appearance to effectively fit the more sombre and technical themes I am exploring through this body of work.

I therefore proceeded to withdraw Milton Glaser: Drawing is Thinking, an absolutely fascinating book documenting hundreds of Glaser's drawings. He is an absolutely phenomenal draft man with various different approaches to drawing and visual aesthetics explored through out the book. However the drawings that struck me as being most relevant to my own practice were the much more stripped and rather cynical looking line drawings some of which are shown bellow.

Although obviously the mood in these isn't as sombre as what I am going for but the fine, highly controlled uniform line work combined solid blocks of colour could prove highly effective in creating the striking portraits needed for my collage work.

Milton Glaser

As well as Glaser's work I also happened across the dark, experimental collages of the provocatively titled Adult Art Club. I really like the tension created in these images through the use collaged and cut elements. It is particularly effective how they seem quite chaotic and random in how they've been put together but clearly a lot of consideration and precision has been used in choosing which areas are cut up, blocked out, removed etc. 

They also have a certain ambiguity to the them creating quite an eerie dehumanised feel to them, something we I could use within my own work given that, when talking about people so long ago in the past it is quite hard to directly relate to them on a human level due their historical significance which seems to put them on a level above normal human society.

However when exploring this sort of approach to image making I need to be careful not to create work that is too sinister or violent in its appearance given that the many themes I have highlighted to communicate are scientific/mathematical teachings as well as tragedy in terms of the events that befell Hypatia.

Adult Art Club