IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES
Mindmap
Statement of intent
Artists of particular interest
Seb Jarnot
http://www.sebjarnot.com- Seb Jarnot was born in 1970 by the banks of the Loire. he studied visual communication and worked in advertising agencies for a few years and then in 1998 his career as a freelance illustrator began. The illustrations of Jarnot are all about creating a certain feeling, mood and energy more than creating actual scenes or telling a story. While his style is very minimal, he can make forms out of a few well-placed lines that radiate dynamism and movement. He creates fresh illustrations that are simultaneously contemporary and timeless.
I like his use of bold lines the most, See the way he hasn't drawn the entire detail of each person in the picture on the left, He has merely implied some markings and the rest is left to imagination, This simple technique works very well because the mind is left to fill in the gaps and he is able to create many pictures quickly with such a simple technique. |
dadaism
Henry moore's sheep |
The Dada movement began in 1916, Dadaism was a Chaotic and erratic Art movement that was conceived out of the distaste and disgust for Cultural, Social, and political values at the time. it embraced several different aspects of art at the time such as theatre, politics, Music and dance. Dadaism wasn't exactly a traditional style of art like Fauvism or Cubism was, however it was more of protest movement with an anti-establishment manifesto.
Hannah Hötch, who was born in 1889 was one of many famous Dada artists, who strived to put forward the message that she didn't like what was going on in the world at the time, her work shows her pleas for justice and change, form her work, you can see distortions and mutations from regular photographs She cuts and sticks other photographs together to make something entirely new. this would be important to my work because these pictures tell a story.the expressions and shapes are very obvious which is why I would like to incorporate this into my own research and work. |
Henry more works primarily in sculpture, however is also well known for drawing very simplistic-in-techniqie but very effective 3D looking- sheep using bold and thing black lines and nothing more. His sheep sketches are very accurate and first look solid in form when standing from a distance, yet when you get closer to the imagery you start to notice his style. Zig-zags and rushed ball point pen lines dominate the drawings, thicker and more panicked scratches where there is less light and softer yet still sudden and vigorous on the brighter parts of the scene. Moore also rarely started his sketches by outlining his sheep, but started shading straight away, a risky strategy especially with the use of ball point pen but nonetheless effective.
Angela gram
Angela gram is an environmentalist and deconstruction artist. as you can see from her art, she deconstructs and pulls the very form of the animal that she is focusing on. her work has been shown in new work and extensively throughout the east coast. the new series of fragmented animal bodies is directly informed by her previous work in a reactionary sense. she decided to embrace the contemporary discourse on animals instead of challenging it as a hierarchy between humanity and nature that can be reversed. what i like most about her work is the fact that despite fragmenting the animal into several unrecognisable pieces and the colour pallet and certain features of the animal give it away, we recognise what it is because of that. like a wing or a leg.
"Gelada" 2017 https://www.angelagramart.com/
|
Claire morgan
http://www.claire-morgan.co.uk/home Claire Morgan is a Taxytermy artist who delicately hangs her creations amongst finely hung material such as feathers and other small objects. these obscurities tend to convey the message about how these animals died, and the scenarios they were put in is revealed in the detailed layering and specifics of the positioning of each object.
I like Morgans art because it brings the dead back to life. It turns death into something to be seen in real time, or seeing an animal at the zoo, it feels natural looking at these pieces of work because of how lightly it is handled, quite literally, everything is suspended and feels like it is hanging in the delicate balance of the elements - gravity, the air around it and the earthy colours that are used, which could perhaps represent the environment its in. |
SHEDULE/ TIME PLAN FOR THE WEEK 06/03/17
Primary research- Photography at London zoo
I wanted to get a range of different animal textures and forms, So I travelled to London zoo to see real animals and see what kind of creature I want to create form what parts. i wanted to capture as many different kind of animals as possible, in my opinion my art is a lot more raw and ugly looking, i want to focus on inventing my own style within this unit, mixing over-exaggerated proportions with obscure textures and fetures on the animals in question, these are ALL of the photographs i've taken, see the section underneath this one
Selected photographs
these photos are there's that i think are the most important to my project, capturing the best textures and body parts of various animals. they're more important to me over the other pictures because these pictures are most in focus and show off the different features of the animals the best, often showing their scales or fur in high definition, their eyes and scales show off their unique details off the best, these designs are the ones i will be taking forward into a more developmental stage
Primary observations
there's are my primary observations from when i was at the zoo. i used a thin and thick lined pens for different drawings, i also practised doing quick sketches in pencil, these sketches were a success because i was able to quickly gather impressions from the animals i was seeing, from here, i can most likely take some of these key features and bring them forward into my fragmented, Distorted designs.
Ceramics- Working from photographs
I had taken a look at some of my photographs and have made two samples out of Clay, focusing on the details of fish scales and a bug Thorax, one I was thinking about some of the textures on my creature, the other I was thinking of possible body ideas or anatomy practise to see what I'm going to take forward from my primary research. this experiment was a success because I learned a new technique, I used different parts of the etching tool to make a 3d shape, after initally using it to calve straight down into my clay, which didn't demonstrate the kind of 3d impression i had intended, my teacher however suggested calving inwards at an angle to slowly slope the clay inwards towards the edges, which proved to be a much more effective way of communicating form in the clay for me. this evolution in my skill matches how I've been doing with my lines, slowly getting darker around the edges. this makes it look a lot more 3D.
What next? - secondary research
I don't just want to investigate the anatomy of regular animals, I was to combine them, distort them, mix them together and create something entirely new, To do this, I will be taking a closer look at well known Mythical creatures from a vast variety of cultures, to see what makes them so unique, and why they are often used as statues or gardens to the human world. The pictures below show some mythological creatures I've seen in Museums and parks which seem to resemble a protector or servant of some kind.
ink experimentthis was an experiment with sticks and ink, i tried to copy the statue of the griffin, in my artists style of Henry moore. I attempted to use bold lines and quick strokes to make the image look more sculptural. that was my intent, however i personally feel like this experiment wasn't very successful, the image is weaker to my other work because the lines are more clumsy, i didn't have a clear vision as to what kind of line i wanted to create, because there are thick lines and thin lies and they don't look good together. also large blotches of black i used to try and create shadow didn't look very good either, from this failure I have learned that taking an artist impression from this angle doesn't work. it is important to recognise that the over-use of thick lines on parts of a piece that do not call for it show lack of care or attenuation to the work. I have gone back into my sketchbook and have revised my use of line, In these drawings i proved that i can use line to cleverly show form through sculpture.
|
European Mythology
The Basilisk Takes the Form of 3 very different animals, The Snake, Rooster, and a bat. A legendary monster that was held responsible for a lot of murders and sicknesses breaking out in the mid 1400's. The creature was to bring Venom and misfortune wherever it may tread. What I like most about this creature is how the different parts work well together, they sort of look unnatural, I personally wouldn't design a monster to look so disproportionate to the rest of its body but this particular example works on a nightmarish level. It gives off the feeling like it was simply sews together and left to wander. http://mentalfloss.com/article/12685/10-legendary-monsters-europe
Bugbear- A. Bugbear is a legendary creature which is kind of similar to a hobgoblin or some variation of boogeyman. Its name is derived from the Middle English word "bugge" (a frightening thing), or perhaps the old Welsh word bwg (evil spirit or goblin), or old Scots bogill (goblin), and has cognates in German bögge or böggel-mann (goblin), and most probably also English "bogeyman" and American English "bugaboo".
In medieval England, the Bugbear was depicted as a creepy bear that lurked in the woods to scare children. It was described in this manner in an English translation of a 1565 Italian play The Buggbear. In a modern context, the term bugbear may also mean Pet peeve. |
Greek Mythology.
The Chimera is a beast manifesting with the body of a lion, connected to a goats head, and a snake's head as a tail. is best known for its role in the legend of Bellerophon. A hero born to the city of Corinth, Bellerophon would be ordered by king Lobates of Lycia to slay the monster in order to atone for his past sins. Bellerophon, knowing he would need assistance for such a task, prayed and then slept in the temple of Athena. Upon waking he saw the goddess before him, leading the mythical horse Pegasus, who possessed the ability of flight.
With Pegasus saddled, Bellerophon flew to the lair of the Chimera in Lycia. Knowing that the creature was ferocious and would not easily be defeated, Bellerophon devised a plan. He attached a large chunk of lead to the end of his spear. Riding Pegasus, he flew towards the monster. Just as the Chimera opened it’s mouth to scorch the hero with fire, Bellerophon drove the lead into the creatures mouth. The fiery breath of the Chimera melted the lead and caused the creature to suffocate and die. |
The Pegasus is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythological history, it is depicted as a horse with bird like wings. unlike any other greek monster it has appeared the most in pop culture after its intial introduction in greek mythology. possibly because of its non-threatening design and it's more good-hearted and innocent appearance. The symbolism of Pegasus varies with time. Symbol of wisdom and especially of fame from the Middle Ages until the Renaissance, he became one symbol of the poetry and the creator of sources in which the poets come to draw inspiration, particularly in the 19th century. Pegasus is the subject of a very rich iconography, especially through the ancient Greek pottery and paintings and sculptures of the Renaissance.
|
Norse Mythology
Sarkany - Dragon
the Sarkany is a Dragon of Hungarian origin, This is a dragon from Hungarian myths. Sarkany is also known as a creature that rides in thunder clouds.Before the 18th century, dragons were part of the ancient Hungarian belief system. According to their oldest, universal function, dragons originally symbolized the unity of the material and spiritual world, and they had a transcendental meaning as they had the role of being the transmitter between two realms. |
timeplan 14/13/17
Dadaism
hand made photo manipulation, I cut out the pictures I had taken at the zoo and re arranged them before re-sticking. I have created some peculiar creatures by mixing reptile with mamal, and invertebrate. some of these designs I will take forward, to develop in various media and to place in my final piece. some I will leave behind in this preliminary stage.
Deconstructing the meerkat
the meerkat was one of the photos I had taken from my research at the zoo, I've drawn it several times, deconstructed in different ways, simplified and scattered. using different elements of photoshop to take apart the animal, focusing on it as a jigsaw, an object made up of several parts rather than one singular organism.
Developmental sketches
these are my developmental sketches, I have looked my the photographs that I have re-arranged and sketched them out very very briefly to have a look and see what kind of designs I would like to take further. I have 5 good concepts from my drawings. so far the drawing I liked the most from my obscure dad-photographs is the Tiger/donkey/comodo dragon creature, I have decided its features complement themselves just enough in a strange unfitting way that it just might work as a piece to push forward. these pieces of work are more successful as standalone drawings because i am able to cleverly work use of line to show sculpture, particularly in the last few pieces. the work that i am most proud of is in the boulder line pieces. I have been able to exaggerate different parts of the animals very well with my pens, as im able to go over some lines more times than others or leave c3ertain areas blank to show light.
my chosen designs.
In its preliminary design, these designs are my vision. It's not refined and I still need to work on the Proper proportioning. in my opinion, in this particular creature's neck is much too long, even for a longer-necked creature like the donkey. I plan on tweaking that part of it to make it smaller, and to work more on the comodo dragon legs to make them more apparent and feel natural. overall, I like this design the most because it has the most interesting parts from 3 very interesting animals. The powerful jaws of the tiger, the lanky and strong arms of an Equine, and its body, where the head and legs seem to rest easy upon. and the legs of a comodo dragon, which add some menacing edge to the design, topped with a tigers tail. this design was inspired by my time experimenting with fragmenting animals, artist influence was Angela gram as i like her approach to minimalist animal features being distorted and changed, i hope to reflect this in my own work, showing as i have misxed other body parts together.
turtle penguin
the turtle penguin is one of my favourite designs over all, combining the parts of only two animals, the turtle penguin is the perfect combination of propotion and form, the shell hangs heavy on the back and is sported by the legs, well balanced with the large fins at the side. the style i have drawn it is inspired by Henry moore's sheep, and how he uses line to imply a sculptural approach to drawing, making it look more 3 Dimensional, i really liked that about his work and want to incorporate it in my own work as much as i can.
reflective writing
Distortions
I have scanned my sketch of a tiger into a photocopier, It is an experiment to see how I could distort the features of this creature, and while it's not entirely obvious what is effective about this piece, I have focussed on the minor details that have been chanted like the posture and the features have been stretched.
Re-Arrangements
today I had gathered various plastic organisms, as you can see we have two lizards and an insect. I wanted to fragment, distort and twist the features of these creatures. They're not just pictures however, so I am working with a 3D space to create a manipulated form, my first sets of 3D impossible creatures. Working with a saw and using a glue gun was effective because the properties of the plastics were meltable. I was able to use this to my advantage to help weld the new parts together. This was an experiment with working with tangible parts. From this I have learned what parts work together and what doesn't work so well. They all were successful in my opinion, however if we're speaking objectively I would have to say the chameleon body, lizard head and Grasshopper legs looks the creepiest and therefore the coolest. That one is my most successful price of the three.
Lizards and Lines
i wet a large length of paper and coloured it with inks and waited for it to dry. I then sketched the silhouette of a lizard over the top, making sure to keep the lines ticker at the edges and thinner in the middle to make it look more sculptural and solid. from this i learned more about Henry moore's approach to creating shapes and using line, ive really enjoyed using this style and may even bring it forward to influence some of my own work more.
Textures
I practised creating some Textures as part of my experimental work. I used several different techniques and tools, working to create different feelings when touches, some of them feel scaly, and leathery like lizard skin, others feel grainy and rough like the ground, which could be good for giving the feeling of a shell or a tusk of some kind on an animal. I think this was a success because it opened my mind to some of the possibilities in creating my creatures, My favourite piece consists of the half green and half black page, i managed to layer up both pastel and paint to create the rough skin effect. i hope to create fish scales or something out of this. I will most likely be bringing that technique forward over the rest.
I've also been creating some textures made out of fabric, I used scrap material to create a scaly-like texture, and worked on layering different fabrics with each other, alongside form tissue paper because of its gluing properties and its draw-able surface. I found this useful because I wanted to see what kind of surface I could create fro this, and hat I descovered is that althrough it was easy to work with it doesn't create the scaly or versatile surface I was oping to work with, so I may not take this material forward.
I've also been creating some textures made out of fabric, I used scrap material to create a scaly-like texture, and worked on layering different fabrics with each other, alongside form tissue paper because of its gluing properties and its draw-able surface. I found this useful because I wanted to see what kind of surface I could create fro this, and hat I descovered is that althrough it was easy to work with it doesn't create the scaly or versatile surface I was oping to work with, so I may not take this material forward.
timetable 27/3/17
pathway reflection
what have I taken away from my time in my pathway project was some of the techniques, as for one example, I used my digital art, mixed with other media to experiment and create a new media, in my final piece I combine my art into the use of film, what I have decided is to take forward the idea of a moving image, though I will not be with a camera, I did like creating a short film and will be taking this idea forward, hover, what I don't want to take forward is too much digital work, I would
I house a few traditional techniques, so for the product action of my final project I will be leaving behind the use off too much digital art, I really liked what "loving Vincent" has produced- a hand painted animation and I would like to do my best to attempt my own.
A few things have changed since I compiled my project proposal. for example the mediums and scale I had chosen to do my project in. an example would be the visual style, initially i had planned to do quite large frames to scan in but as it turns out the project would have taken a lot longer so i scaled it down, i've also mixed up the materials i've been using a lot more, changing the tools and colours used every other frame which should make for a visually changing piece.
the previous pathway project has informed this one because it allowed me to explore new media, and things i may have not tried before. it allowed me to try out the digital side of art and using technology based tools and techniques. i really enjoyed it but also wanted to try out something new again for this project so i tried to move away from it.
the aims for this project is to get this animation done and finished, looking as textural as possible while at the same time experimenting with different colours and materials, it might look jumpy and experimental but that is sort of the point. the point is not to have a perfectly smooth animation
my aims for this projects is so expedient with the medium of animation and with different parts of animals, creating my own unique creature. my target audience would be younger children, as the character is quite basic in design and brightly coloured and the action sequence is quite simplified. my work is aimed for the conceptual area of the animation industry, while not a polished piece it could be used for a pitch or concept work. the animation industry has informed my work via creating ideas, it is well known within the community to utilise places like the zoo and ancient history to inform their own work.
in this project the skills that I have developed have been mainly my use of bold line, being inspired by my artists see artists) that draw animals using bold lines and my own skill has been improved as a result of mimicking their style, I've learned that implied line does a lot of work for you when used properly. another technique is working with textures., using scraping and pressing to create certain textures like scales , fur, or other rough skin.
I could demonstrate these better in my projected by using what I've learned in my final Piece, i will do this by using scratching techniques and use of bold lines in my animation.
what has been the most challenging is working on the actual animation itself. making sure that the deadline doesn't come to quick and getting all the right work done on time while trying to be consistent with my work is really hard. main issues is keeping up the motivation and working consistently. keeping my work to the same standard while mixing up the style can be really hard so I've had to combat that with planning my weeks out as they come as you've seen with my time plan.
technical difficulties so far have been trying to get the projector to work with my laptop. there currently is no cable that will successfully connect to my laptop. hopefully i will be able to fix this by checking at home to see if i have the correct cable or buy one, or borrow one from henley college media department if they have a spare, though that might be a little harder than usual they are also doing exhibition work around this time.
i have developed my primary research skills the most in this project, i have been outside of my hometown and travelled to London which is quite a lot of effort for a project. I spent money on travel and tickets to London zoo where I did my research, I spent a lot of time observing the animals there which i think really shows in my project.
I have received critical analysis from my tutors which has really pulled me up on my work, helping me question my choices and debate my uses of material. this has been useful as it is hard to step back and review your own work so critically. i have picked up a few new artists and styles becvause of this feedback ive recieved.
I house a few traditional techniques, so for the product action of my final project I will be leaving behind the use off too much digital art, I really liked what "loving Vincent" has produced- a hand painted animation and I would like to do my best to attempt my own.
A few things have changed since I compiled my project proposal. for example the mediums and scale I had chosen to do my project in. an example would be the visual style, initially i had planned to do quite large frames to scan in but as it turns out the project would have taken a lot longer so i scaled it down, i've also mixed up the materials i've been using a lot more, changing the tools and colours used every other frame which should make for a visually changing piece.
the previous pathway project has informed this one because it allowed me to explore new media, and things i may have not tried before. it allowed me to try out the digital side of art and using technology based tools and techniques. i really enjoyed it but also wanted to try out something new again for this project so i tried to move away from it.
the aims for this project is to get this animation done and finished, looking as textural as possible while at the same time experimenting with different colours and materials, it might look jumpy and experimental but that is sort of the point. the point is not to have a perfectly smooth animation
my aims for this projects is so expedient with the medium of animation and with different parts of animals, creating my own unique creature. my target audience would be younger children, as the character is quite basic in design and brightly coloured and the action sequence is quite simplified. my work is aimed for the conceptual area of the animation industry, while not a polished piece it could be used for a pitch or concept work. the animation industry has informed my work via creating ideas, it is well known within the community to utilise places like the zoo and ancient history to inform their own work.
in this project the skills that I have developed have been mainly my use of bold line, being inspired by my artists see artists) that draw animals using bold lines and my own skill has been improved as a result of mimicking their style, I've learned that implied line does a lot of work for you when used properly. another technique is working with textures., using scraping and pressing to create certain textures like scales , fur, or other rough skin.
I could demonstrate these better in my projected by using what I've learned in my final Piece, i will do this by using scratching techniques and use of bold lines in my animation.
what has been the most challenging is working on the actual animation itself. making sure that the deadline doesn't come to quick and getting all the right work done on time while trying to be consistent with my work is really hard. main issues is keeping up the motivation and working consistently. keeping my work to the same standard while mixing up the style can be really hard so I've had to combat that with planning my weeks out as they come as you've seen with my time plan.
technical difficulties so far have been trying to get the projector to work with my laptop. there currently is no cable that will successfully connect to my laptop. hopefully i will be able to fix this by checking at home to see if i have the correct cable or buy one, or borrow one from henley college media department if they have a spare, though that might be a little harder than usual they are also doing exhibition work around this time.
i have developed my primary research skills the most in this project, i have been outside of my hometown and travelled to London which is quite a lot of effort for a project. I spent money on travel and tickets to London zoo where I did my research, I spent a lot of time observing the animals there which i think really shows in my project.
I have received critical analysis from my tutors which has really pulled me up on my work, helping me question my choices and debate my uses of material. this has been useful as it is hard to step back and review your own work so critically. i have picked up a few new artists and styles becvause of this feedback ive recieved.
Snake impressions
So on the left you can see I've done a bold lines snake in my own personal style, informed by Seb Jarnot's use of implied line and Richard more's sculptural line. I thought the experiment was. personal success because it achieves my ideas of of there different uses of bold line, you can see how the snake gets darker around the edges, however there's a little extra I found. as I was pressing into the paper it created a print on the other side of the paper, as you can see the snake was transferred into the page below as a result, which I think looks very good too, you can see some of the thicker lines I left have left a strong impression of the lines of the eyes and body, which although not intended looks very good as a print.
ANIMATION RESEARCH: Loving Vincent- a collaborative piece http://lovingvincent.com
|
|
and the fact that it is a hand-painted animation. My research for animation takes place in Loving Vincent- a collaborative art piece drawn by multiple artists, working together to create an entire animated piece in the same style as Vincent's work. what I like most is the realism of the proportions, it still feels like you're watching a piece captured on film rather than just watching individual frames go by. each frame was hand painted by the artists involved and I really appreciate the concept of creating moving piece by involving multiple ideas. in my case it would be mediums - I would like to change the style and media used in the animation to make it look like the creature is ever changing and evolving as the material used changes. much like the colours in "loving Vincent" are constantly moving like they're Alive. in my case I want a creature I've made up to look real and and alive also. my plan is to churn out a lot of frames for this every day. Loving Vincent is the upcoming first fully painted animated film. It tells the story of painter Vincent van Gogh. It is written and directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, and is being produced by Hugh Welchman and Sean Bobbitt of BreakThru Films and Ivan Mactaggart of Trademark Films. The development was funded by the Polish Film Institute, and re-training of professional oil painters to become painting-animators on the film was partially funded through a Kickstarter campaign. The film is being sold by Cinema Management Group and financiers include RBF Productions, Silver Reel, Doha Film Institute, Polish Film Institute, Sevenex Capital Partners and City of Wrocław, European Capital of Culture in 2016.
Each of the film's 65,000 frames is an oil painting on canvas, using the same technique as Van Gogh, created by a team of 115 painters
Each of the film's 65,000 frames is an oil painting on canvas, using the same technique as Van Gogh, created by a team of 115 painters
Percy.
PRE- PRODUCTION:
I have decided to name my final animation Percy, the nicname I Decided to give to the penguin-turtle. I'm going to draft any ideas i have for a story or situation Percy might be in, what environments i have in mind and any sketches or experiments i will record with him until my final production is made.
I have decided to name my final animation Percy, the nicname I Decided to give to the penguin-turtle. I'm going to draft any ideas i have for a story or situation Percy might be in, what environments i have in mind and any sketches or experiments i will record with him until my final production is made.
Free writing
to get some ideas generated i decided to do some free writing, jotting down ideas of anything that came into my head that i thought about when thinking of Percy and the world he lives in, what has come of this is a cold and unforgiving place that he dwells in, maybe an iceberg or the arctic. being a seemingly lazy and sluggish creature on the land, hiding in his shell and being slow, yet in the water he darts about quickly and can swim about gracefully.
Percy the Turtle penguin- Ceramics
here is the penguin turtle I made using Clay and acrylic paint, Focussing on more sculptural features, using tools in creative news ways, such as dragging it up and down the penguin fins to create lines which I thought mimics the current drawing style I had taken akin to over the last couple of weeks. what I like the most about this piece is how well the two animal blend, it doesn't seem to alien when I look at it, so it was say to create this creature. what I have taken away from this is to not be afraid to try out new media in a more serious and committed way like ceramics, I'm not as afraid to try out new things quickly for the sake of experimentation, I'm going it try and include lots of new media in my final piece. the purpose of this experiment was to visualise my character in 3 dimensions, though am not sure if I want to take it forward into my final piece, though can use it as a reference in the gallery show. whats next for this? i am going to create a character profile in Digital 2D and plotting my story.
these are some fast concept sketches of the kind of character i would like to create, I'd like to Have Percy more versatile and graceful in the water like a penguin, but a little more slow and steady on the surface world like a Tortoise. i have looked at both of these animals in their separate environments in London zoo and have decided to take these traits and mannerisms forward.
storyboards and animatics.
here is a storyboard idea for my final piece, short and to the point, I wanted to show Percy emerging from his shell and making his way into the water, I had a play with how he wakes up, (snow on his back) and jumping into the the small hole in the ice that is much too small for him, instead, He breaks through the hole and creates a large disturbance in the ice, before making his way into the watery depths to catch a fish which he had spotted moments before on the surface.
what I like about this story
I like how it consistently flows from one environment to another, Percy is an antarctic creature and struggles to keep himself out of the snow unless he hides in his shell, in the water it's another story, he can easily glide down to get what he wants at speed. a smooth transition from surface to water takes place in the form of a sort of comedic 'leap'
what I can improve on
so far, this is only in the developmental stages but potential problems I can see arising is keeping the action consistent as I animate it. I imagine the snow and movements of Percy could be problematic and will push my skill to its limits, it will be a learning curve for me if I mamange to pull it off. will return to critically looking at my work further down the line.
what I like about this story
I like how it consistently flows from one environment to another, Percy is an antarctic creature and struggles to keep himself out of the snow unless he hides in his shell, in the water it's another story, he can easily glide down to get what he wants at speed. a smooth transition from surface to water takes place in the form of a sort of comedic 'leap'
what I can improve on
so far, this is only in the developmental stages but potential problems I can see arising is keeping the action consistent as I animate it. I imagine the snow and movements of Percy could be problematic and will push my skill to its limits, it will be a learning curve for me if I mamange to pull it off. will return to critically looking at my work further down the line.
Techniques in storyboarding
I use Photoshop and Adobe premiere pro when storyboarding. it is a simple process really, and is very useful because it is extremely efficient to use when creating quick, rapid fire sketches to tell a story. all I have to do is quickly express the essentials of my ideas on several panels, and then line them up on a timeline in premier pro. including my tablet I have two usable screens when working, this makes it easier to quickly switch between programs and tweak what I have created if something needs to change for whatever reason.
|
this is the animatic version of my storyboard, where i run them through a timeline to see how the action flows and if the story makes sense. after showing it to my lecturers they seem to be happy with what I have done so far, this being a skeleton of my final piece so far. its hard to tell at this stage because of the simplicity of the work and the fact that it is still in its planning stage, I am happy with what I have created so far.
character profile for Percy.
colours used: blues, browns and blacks.
height: stands 9ft tall
diet: likes to eat fish.
movement: clumsy on land and walks very slowly, in water, very easy to move at speed because of his fins.
environment: cold and icy terrain.
height: stands 9ft tall
diet: likes to eat fish.
movement: clumsy on land and walks very slowly, in water, very easy to move at speed because of his fins.
environment: cold and icy terrain.
Wire stop motion test
I worked with wire because to visualise the forms structurally, so get an understanding for spacial awareness, and to have a physical creature in the real world and wire was the best way to demonstrate that. it was important to understand the form in this medium, and if 0percy translated well in this way. after the mild successful test with my storyboard and showing off my storytelling skills, I was encouraged to approach this from a stop motion angle and users my primary material, using my stop motion app I tried to take pictures one of the other of my wire figure of Percy. although the structure of Percy was solid and could sit upright, it was not a very versatile material and was very hard to manipulate after I had wrapped it around itself. it struggled to stand and I couldn't move it as freely as I would have liked to, if I had to redo this I would try and make it more flexible. I don't think I will be taking this further into my project, but it was a positive experiment as it lead me to a new medium.
potential backgrounds
- the real world and cartoons work together in contrast because the bold lines and bright colours pop against the plainer background of the real world. this is important because the real world is dull, too grounded to reality and has barriers and physical limits in how things are formed. it is square. juxtaposed with cartoons over the top brings a new life to the real world by introducing bouncy and vibrant characters with forms and physical attributes that are not of this reality, fusing the two together brings a new flavor to cartoons. the amazing world of gumball is an excellent example of such a tradition because they achieve just this, through layering their characters over a realistic backdrop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxLoVkqLkuM
another good example is charlie and lola, created by lauren child. while there are versions of it
( the books) that is not an animation is still utilises the real and the fake. it uses real sky and other backdrops that have real world textures, with a cartoon over the top to make it pop.
another good example is charlie and lola, created by lauren child. while there are versions of it
( the books) that is not an animation is still utilises the real and the fake. it uses real sky and other backdrops that have real world textures, with a cartoon over the top to make it pop.
Here is a potential background i could use for my final piece, it is my pond in my garden that i could use for Percy, he could jump into that pond. there is a good light source that allows me to make the most of the very organic colours of the landscape which have a constant value. the colours in the garden on a cloudy day are dull and lack contrast, they're much flatter than usual, which will benefit my character because it will make the character pop out even more. if i were to use a colourful background on my characters it wouldn't be as bold.
|
Feedback
we have looked at the storyline. we have checked that i have thought about the development of the character. Repercussions of eating so many fish, makes the character very sleepy and fat. struggles to get out of the pond and promptly falls asleep. another thing we talked about is that you showed me chowder; a cartoon whos textures do not move. try and experiment with this on the shell of my character to evoke a more random style, chowder is a silly character that makes silly decisions and that is reflected in his visual style, so it is important to try and replicate that in Percy. Make sure that i am analysing in depth using the formal element words. images i use and experiments I do, from that initial analysis you make an interpretation of what impact that makes on mood, feeling, the Dynamics. and ultimately when i evaluate, why is this a useful experiment, or piece of research or image, and if not, why not. remember to upload and document all working processes, ideas and experiments. even ones that did not work.
EDITING PROCESS
My editing process was simple and easily manageable. i had a system that allowed me to put lots of work out quickly; it worked by me drawing the images on scraps of paper, not worrying about the size being the same of each piece, so long as I could draw percy in the right dimensions. I scanned in the pictures in which creates a clear impression of the image into photoshop for me. I did this because it helps to hi-light the traditional techniques I used such as scratching into pastels and paint and using inks with biro pen. I would crop the image using the magic wand tool in photoshop which is the best tool for me to use in that instance because it snaps to the lines of the image, ignoring any paper, so I can crop Percy easily, next dragging each image individually onto a premiere pro timeline, where I constructed the flow of the animation. for the background as you may know I used footage from my own garden. I simply recorded empty space for about 30 seconds, making sure to capture the wind rustling the bushes and trees to record the garden with life and movement. this made for an interesting background as it was contrasting to Percy's colour scheme, the blue and brown colours of his skin and shell popped against the green backdrop of my garden. I used two different angles, one of the garden and one looking down onto the pond, the second angle being that of Percy's personal viewpoint, it was important I showed this to imply he is looking at a body of water and the audience to know that is where he is going to jump.
personal evaluation
FINAL MAJOR PROJECT: ILLUSTRATION -
IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES
My time plan hasn’t changed much. I know this because I was quite clear with my intentions and how I would use my time, as you can see from the updates on my website, I haven’t needed to change any dates or re-arrange my schedule as I have stuck to what I originally put there. This was good for my progression because it allowed me to have a clear mind for my project, being able to look up where I needed to be on what days, pushed my project on very smoothy which didn’t cause any panic of confusion during my time working on it.
Previous exploratory and pathway work has informed my final project because it has allowed me to learn how to plan correctly and how to utilise my blog to its fullest potential. I started off my last pathway project using a book and bits of my blog here and there, my teachers gave me feedback which said that my presentation on the blog is a lot better than my sketchbook work. From this I learned to work with my strengths in focusing on the blog
My aims for this project was to try my hand at animation, to create a short 30 second production to see if I could achieve it. I have achieved these aims because I have indeed created a 30 second animation project before the deadline was over.
My target audience would be children, as I could imagine my project appearing in children’s TV as the colours are vibrant and the character is quite goofy looking. To get the resources I required for this project I Researched different animals to combine together, for this, I Travelled to London zoo to look at many different kinds of mammals, Reptiles birds and Bugs, Photographing them and taking primary sketches. This research was important and informed my work because it provided a large range of sources for me to test out ideas as to creating my impossible creatures. I came out with many test-creatures but in the end the Turtle/Penguin was my favourite.
I have developed a range of practical skills during this project, I have worked with Ceramics to develop my turtle penguin, one of the challenges I faced while using clay was getting the proportions right and also making sure it didn’t break, panting it and finding the right colour scheme was also a challenge, I decided not to continue on with clay but I still found it an interesting way to express my character. My animation consisted of lots of little drawings, a challenged I faced with developing the animation was choosing a style I could replicate quickly and efficiently whilst still looking presentable. I researched a few styles that can be found on my blog, and found some I liked and could produce my animation with. If I could demonstrate these better, I would tofus on them more if I had more time which was my main issue. I reckon if I had some more insight into ceramics and a bit more time I could have produced something of a higher quality.
I have faced many challenges during my project. One such challenge was deciding how I was going to animate my piece. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go digital, or Traditional, as both have their pros and cons. For instance, traditional would allow me to work more with texture and line, combining multi media together to create a piece with more soul, however, It is very time consuming and not very easy to produce, meaning I would have had to sidestep any modern techniques that have become so useful in todays world. And as for modern Digital animation it would have been a lot easier to produce the piece as everything is handled in data; drawing quick sketches which are saved as PNG files, and compiling those files into and easy to digest format such as premier pro would make the whole process so much easier. However digital has proven to be quite a flat medium, not allowing for much intimate details and more focusing on bold lines and black colours. It was then I decided to combine the convenience of both techniques, using pen and paint to draw my characters in different positions, while using photo shop and premiere pro to animate the drawings together, so although it was hard to produce too many drawings quickly, I was able to catch up by compiling the drawings together quickly.
Technical difficulties that have arisen is finding a way to show my project in a nice way, Currently I’m looking for a projector that can link up to my Mac with ease, I’ve been struggling to find a wire that can do that job. I’m hoping to solve it soon by finding the correct kind of wire.
My practical research skills have improved most on this project, I find that going out, seeing and doing is what I’ve enjoyed most about my final project, bringing together all that you’ve seen and photographed is really great payoff when you come to reference research and makes your work feel a lot more organic and well sourced. My research has impacted my own ideas because seeing so many different kinds of animals opened my mind to new ideas, new combinations of animals, and really made me think about evolution, why animals need these features in order to survive, and how it would effect them if they were to be combined with parts they’ve never had before. Crucial analysis was used when evaluating my research and y work, what works and what didn’t. I went through each creature creation I had invented as of that point in the project, Seeing the flaws in some of the creatures like the tiger bird lizard it is important to understand this creature didn’t work as it was simply too bulky, and animating it would have taken up way too much time, I decided to go with he turtle penguin as it was received a lot better by peers and is a lot easier to draw
If I had to improve anything it would be to possibly explore more mediums to have my creature in, I looked at Ceramics, wire, paint, illustration and digital, though I could also have tried it in felt or other textiles which would have made for an interesting texture for my animation, a soft, plush like animal. As I Sid before, I wanted to display my work in the gallery via projector. Displaying my work via projector has been hard as its not exactly easy to find all the parts you need. Scouting and hunting down each. Part required to make it function has not been easy, and will require the most attention towards the end of the project.
The only constraints I suffered in my line of work was the reception of my digital work. Working with digital elements in a predominantly traditional environment comes with mixed responses at times, though I have let my peers rest assured that I can still get the work done and finalised to a quality the same as or near to the other work. My professional presentation used to be terrible. I tried working on a sketchbook like everyone else, but I’m too messy and disorganised, constantly changing how I want things arranged and written. I decided I’m not quite like everyone else, and I have to do things my own way, I’m very happy switching to the blog as it has critically improved my presentation skills, which brings up the quality of my work as a whole. I have judged and identified successes in my final major project by seeking out and removing that which did not succeed from my final piece, allowing me to fully appreciate my successes, for example If I reference back to a design that didn’t work, the tiger bird lizard was an instance where I received my feedback and was told that a certain part of my work wasn’t as good as the rest, at that point I understand that if it donut work there is no need to force a design into my project, I need to step back and reform my goal. I have engaged in critical debate to inform and extend my work via talking to my class, most Wednesdays we are to go around the class and provide feedback and tips for every single person in foundation art, we analysed what we’ve accomplished so far, and what we can change in our work to go forward, and example of this for me was given t me by a classmate, to perhaps add a background to my animation rather than keeping it a blank ice world like I had originally intended. I prefer the newer version of my work and am grateful for the discussion and debate we had about it.
If I had to approach the project again I would use the time more efficiently, we had a lot of time for our project but for animation it just wasn’t quite enough, it is by no means the fault of the course but my ambition for my work that got the better of me, it took a while to research and reference my influences. And on top of that planning the production left little time to actually animate to a higher standard. I got the job done but there are fewer frames than expected and a lot of implied movement that I just didn’t have time to complete fully. Aside form that I feel like my project was. Success and is unique in both style and use of techniques, combining both uses of traditional and digital forms.
IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES
My time plan hasn’t changed much. I know this because I was quite clear with my intentions and how I would use my time, as you can see from the updates on my website, I haven’t needed to change any dates or re-arrange my schedule as I have stuck to what I originally put there. This was good for my progression because it allowed me to have a clear mind for my project, being able to look up where I needed to be on what days, pushed my project on very smoothy which didn’t cause any panic of confusion during my time working on it.
Previous exploratory and pathway work has informed my final project because it has allowed me to learn how to plan correctly and how to utilise my blog to its fullest potential. I started off my last pathway project using a book and bits of my blog here and there, my teachers gave me feedback which said that my presentation on the blog is a lot better than my sketchbook work. From this I learned to work with my strengths in focusing on the blog
My aims for this project was to try my hand at animation, to create a short 30 second production to see if I could achieve it. I have achieved these aims because I have indeed created a 30 second animation project before the deadline was over.
My target audience would be children, as I could imagine my project appearing in children’s TV as the colours are vibrant and the character is quite goofy looking. To get the resources I required for this project I Researched different animals to combine together, for this, I Travelled to London zoo to look at many different kinds of mammals, Reptiles birds and Bugs, Photographing them and taking primary sketches. This research was important and informed my work because it provided a large range of sources for me to test out ideas as to creating my impossible creatures. I came out with many test-creatures but in the end the Turtle/Penguin was my favourite.
I have developed a range of practical skills during this project, I have worked with Ceramics to develop my turtle penguin, one of the challenges I faced while using clay was getting the proportions right and also making sure it didn’t break, panting it and finding the right colour scheme was also a challenge, I decided not to continue on with clay but I still found it an interesting way to express my character. My animation consisted of lots of little drawings, a challenged I faced with developing the animation was choosing a style I could replicate quickly and efficiently whilst still looking presentable. I researched a few styles that can be found on my blog, and found some I liked and could produce my animation with. If I could demonstrate these better, I would tofus on them more if I had more time which was my main issue. I reckon if I had some more insight into ceramics and a bit more time I could have produced something of a higher quality.
I have faced many challenges during my project. One such challenge was deciding how I was going to animate my piece. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go digital, or Traditional, as both have their pros and cons. For instance, traditional would allow me to work more with texture and line, combining multi media together to create a piece with more soul, however, It is very time consuming and not very easy to produce, meaning I would have had to sidestep any modern techniques that have become so useful in todays world. And as for modern Digital animation it would have been a lot easier to produce the piece as everything is handled in data; drawing quick sketches which are saved as PNG files, and compiling those files into and easy to digest format such as premier pro would make the whole process so much easier. However digital has proven to be quite a flat medium, not allowing for much intimate details and more focusing on bold lines and black colours. It was then I decided to combine the convenience of both techniques, using pen and paint to draw my characters in different positions, while using photo shop and premiere pro to animate the drawings together, so although it was hard to produce too many drawings quickly, I was able to catch up by compiling the drawings together quickly.
Technical difficulties that have arisen is finding a way to show my project in a nice way, Currently I’m looking for a projector that can link up to my Mac with ease, I’ve been struggling to find a wire that can do that job. I’m hoping to solve it soon by finding the correct kind of wire.
My practical research skills have improved most on this project, I find that going out, seeing and doing is what I’ve enjoyed most about my final project, bringing together all that you’ve seen and photographed is really great payoff when you come to reference research and makes your work feel a lot more organic and well sourced. My research has impacted my own ideas because seeing so many different kinds of animals opened my mind to new ideas, new combinations of animals, and really made me think about evolution, why animals need these features in order to survive, and how it would effect them if they were to be combined with parts they’ve never had before. Crucial analysis was used when evaluating my research and y work, what works and what didn’t. I went through each creature creation I had invented as of that point in the project, Seeing the flaws in some of the creatures like the tiger bird lizard it is important to understand this creature didn’t work as it was simply too bulky, and animating it would have taken up way too much time, I decided to go with he turtle penguin as it was received a lot better by peers and is a lot easier to draw
If I had to improve anything it would be to possibly explore more mediums to have my creature in, I looked at Ceramics, wire, paint, illustration and digital, though I could also have tried it in felt or other textiles which would have made for an interesting texture for my animation, a soft, plush like animal. As I Sid before, I wanted to display my work in the gallery via projector. Displaying my work via projector has been hard as its not exactly easy to find all the parts you need. Scouting and hunting down each. Part required to make it function has not been easy, and will require the most attention towards the end of the project.
The only constraints I suffered in my line of work was the reception of my digital work. Working with digital elements in a predominantly traditional environment comes with mixed responses at times, though I have let my peers rest assured that I can still get the work done and finalised to a quality the same as or near to the other work. My professional presentation used to be terrible. I tried working on a sketchbook like everyone else, but I’m too messy and disorganised, constantly changing how I want things arranged and written. I decided I’m not quite like everyone else, and I have to do things my own way, I’m very happy switching to the blog as it has critically improved my presentation skills, which brings up the quality of my work as a whole. I have judged and identified successes in my final major project by seeking out and removing that which did not succeed from my final piece, allowing me to fully appreciate my successes, for example If I reference back to a design that didn’t work, the tiger bird lizard was an instance where I received my feedback and was told that a certain part of my work wasn’t as good as the rest, at that point I understand that if it donut work there is no need to force a design into my project, I need to step back and reform my goal. I have engaged in critical debate to inform and extend my work via talking to my class, most Wednesdays we are to go around the class and provide feedback and tips for every single person in foundation art, we analysed what we’ve accomplished so far, and what we can change in our work to go forward, and example of this for me was given t me by a classmate, to perhaps add a background to my animation rather than keeping it a blank ice world like I had originally intended. I prefer the newer version of my work and am grateful for the discussion and debate we had about it.
If I had to approach the project again I would use the time more efficiently, we had a lot of time for our project but for animation it just wasn’t quite enough, it is by no means the fault of the course but my ambition for my work that got the better of me, it took a while to research and reference my influences. And on top of that planning the production left little time to actually animate to a higher standard. I got the job done but there are fewer frames than expected and a lot of implied movement that I just didn’t have time to complete fully. Aside form that I feel like my project was. Success and is unique in both style and use of techniques, combining both uses of traditional and digital forms.
EXHIBITION STATEMENT
My name is Scarlett Coates and this is my final production for my foundation art course: Impossible Creatures, which is a Labour of love that came into being through my love of animals and mythology. I have been inspired by the Marvellous inventions of Greek and European Mythological creatures and that is what drove me to create my own. I travelled to London Zoo to look at many different kinds of animals, what grabbed me most were the Turtles, Tortoises and the Penguins. Experimenting with Animal anatomy was a great experience, Re-arranging parts of different animals makes me really question why we evolve in certain ways and what makes us unique.
I had worked with many different parts of artwork and media to get to this point, each time working closely with form, structure and proportions of different animals, Expanding, Shrinking, Contorting and fragmenting animals Using photography, Ceramics , Painting and sketching. looking at 3D artists such as Claire Morgan, and fine artists such as Angela Gram, and illustrators such as Henry Moore to inspire my work.
i decided to settle on animation as my medium. I have never done animation before in my life, Not in a real, professional sense. My character, Percy is an experiment. To see how well I can bring things to life. Of course I have a long way to go yet, But spending time with Percy whilst trying to animate him has taught me a lot about the process that does into producing an animation however short.
I had worked with many different parts of artwork and media to get to this point, each time working closely with form, structure and proportions of different animals, Expanding, Shrinking, Contorting and fragmenting animals Using photography, Ceramics , Painting and sketching. looking at 3D artists such as Claire Morgan, and fine artists such as Angela Gram, and illustrators such as Henry Moore to inspire my work.
i decided to settle on animation as my medium. I have never done animation before in my life, Not in a real, professional sense. My character, Percy is an experiment. To see how well I can bring things to life. Of course I have a long way to go yet, But spending time with Percy whilst trying to animate him has taught me a lot about the process that does into producing an animation however short.