Influence Map 1



Film Review: La Belle et la Bête (1946)

Film Review: La Belle et la Bête (1946)

Initial Thumbnails

Since doing my skeleton studies for my animal and the human I have been creating thumbnails for how my hybrid could look. The skeletons helped me identify important parts of both lifeforms that I do not want to lose in my final hybrid otherwise it wouldn't look well..hybrid!

Below I was looking further at the skeleton but I took parts of both to create a hybrid skeleton. I then tried to create poses for my hybrid.





Photoshop: Week 1

I thoroughly enjoyed last week's photoshop class and even though I've had past experience using it I still picked up some things that would help make my use of it much easier which was an added bonus!
Phil asked us to give silhouettes a go with starting off our hybridisation process. I decided to look at how the Komondor's coat creates its outer form as this is an important and distinctive part of my animal I feel I need to bring forward...but maybe not necessarily all over though.

Internal Structures

Below I have drawn a dog skeleton that is of similar appearance to the Komondor as well as the female human skeleton. I found this really useful as it helped me learn the structure of a dog more so I should bring across the dog in my final portrait with this in mind. Also, I can see key similarities and differences between the two skeletons that I could bring forward into my portrait.

I then took my drawings into Photoshop and created silhouettes with them. I think this was really effective as the silhouettes help me focus more on proportions and outer shape and size rather than the detail for parts such as the ribs. I'm going to use this silhouettes in another way though. I will be taking parts of them and combining them together to start the hybridisation and then connecting them properly so that it doesn't look like some unnatural skeleton.



Life Drawing: Week 2

Life drawing was really good this week, we experimented with a new technique where you had to draw using one line never taking your pencil off the paper unless you needed to rub something out but then you would have to go straight back to where you left off. Once you had got the basic form down you could go back to refine the proportions and could even continue this using the one line method if you wanted. Here are my results from the session.

 

I was really pleased that I managed to fit the whole figure on the page for the first one but the 2nd one, so close! I like how I did the hand the model was resting on in the 1st image which shows practicing hand studies really does pay off! Just gotta sort out my dodgy foreshortening of her feet.

  

I'm not very happy with how the 3rd one line sketch came out, the proportions are out all over so I will have to practice more with unusual poses like the one the model had. I like how the one line work for the 4th sketch came out, it was extremely useful for the fabric folds.



Hand Studies

Well here are my studies of well.. my hand! Took me quite a while doing these as I was being very picky with getting proportions right especially foreshortening which I find likes to trick my eyes into making them see something completely wrong but HA you will not defeat me! I found Andrew Loomis' Heads and Hands as well as Figure Drawing For All It's Worth extremely useful for this exercise as he keeps things simple which I think has really helped with my outcomes.

I started off by drawing fingers from different angles to loosen up and get their tricky proportions right, I then started off my 1st hand observations with a basic flat hand pose which I am really pleased with especially proportion wise. After I experimented with diffent media such as biro and charcoal to see how this affected my drawings.

I am also really pleased with the fist type pose I did in charcoal. I like how the charcoal expresses the creases the clench of the fist makes. I also like my pointing pose as I think the foreshortening went quite well. I think there is something out of proportion in the middle drawing but am not sure quite what but other than that I'm happy with my outcomes.

Komondor research (2)

I decided a few days ago that the best way to start producing ideas for my hybrid was to look into the skeletal structure of my animal so that I have the basic form to work from and can tell how the animal works rather than relying on instinct and ending up with some mushed up hybrid that looks like it came across a Gilderoy Lockhart wannabe only to have all its bones removed.
                I will use this research along with my knowledge and some extra research into the human skeletal structure to lead me on my way with my portrait development. I think this could be really useful as I would combine key parts of both skeletons to form a hybrid skeletal structure as well as silhouettes to build my work on top of.

It wasn’t a success finding an exact skeletal structure for my breed of dog but I did find the basic skeleton for a general dog form.

  

I did however find a skeletal structure for a similar sized dog which references to the Komondor.

I am going to do some drawings of the skeleton to help me develop my knowledge of it as I feel that just looking at it will not familiarise myself with the form as much.

Perception: Week 1

My first lecture and seminar for the perception unit was really interesting as I’ve never delved so deep into the realms of how we perceive everything…and I mean everything including tables! Yes I’ve looked at audience response theories and other media theories but it was very interesting looking further into how we perceive, past the theories and media language and sometimes looking at something so simple but so effective such as the “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”…this is not a pipe painting by René Magritte.

  

We looked at two clips of two very different but also very similar films, Orson Welles’ ‘Touch of Evil’ (1958) and Tetsuya Nakashima’s ‘Memories of Matsuko’ (2006).

We discussed each clip looking at similarities and differences but also especially looking at how the clips differently guided influence and lead the viewer’s perceptions, how cinematic ideas and conventions were used, and how the form, such as sound and lighting affected how we perceive.

Some differences we noticed were how in ‘Touch of Evil’ everyone seems arrogant of their surroundings and living the dream until it comes crashing down whereas, ‘Memories of Matsuko’ is perceived as living reality…but is it real as the edits blur together different events similarly to how we search our memories for the correct one.
                Another idea was how the music and sound allowed us to perceive the time and atmospheres of both film clips but also hint at and foreshadow later events such as in ‘Touch of Evil’ where you can hear the ticking mixed in with the music which is then revealed later to be the bomb counting down.

This idea of perceiving could really come in useful with my metamorphosis essay for unit 1 as I could ask myself how the difference of human and animal physiognomy is perceived and defined through metamorphosis in particular texts. Also, how characters’ metamorphoses are perceived by those and their environment around them.

@ Phil

Hi Phil I've re uploaded my two reviews on Scribd after double checking there was definitely not a problem with the reviews elsewhere. Could you possibly let me know if they are showing up correctly now. :)

Film Review: The Fly (1986)

Film Review 'The Fly' 1986

Life Drawing: Week 1

It was great getting back into some life drawing this week, it's been a while since I've done it and I feel rusty. Definately going to crack open some books for reference and keep practicing practicing practicing!

The aim was to try and fit the whole figure on the page which I just about managed to do here. I'm quite happy with this one as I think it shows the form ok but the proportions are still a bit dodgy especially around the head.

I've never done a proper life drawing session with a clothed figure before so was quite nervous with how to approach it which can proberly be seen through the beheaded figure (Sorry Freddie!) as I became more focused on getting the clothing to actually look like they encased body parts. I'm actually quite pleased with the jeans!

The last one unfortunately went back to my used to drawing big on big paper days making my figure headless, armless and feetless. I've never felt so sorry for a figure I've drawn and aim to next time... get more of the figure finished and get more of it on the page! Less is not more in this case.

Film Review: The Fly (1958)

Film Review 'The Fly' 1958

Canis Familiaris 'Komondor'

That's the Komondor dog to us!

I'm taking it that this dog just couldn't stand to see me leave and decided it wanted to come with, well it sure did...opps!

Some research into this what I'm nicknaming the mop dog led me to find out that...

• The Komondor is a large Hungarian guardian dog.
• It has a long corded coat which is predominately white in colour but can discolour easily from it's surroundings.
• The Komondor coat is especially useful to protect against very hot and cold climates aswell as evading wild predators as it can easily blend into a flock of sheep and have the element of surprise. It also protects against wolf bites.
• It is one of the largest common breeds of dog and has a strong body/muscles, long legs and short back. It's tail is carried low.
• Body length is slightly longer than the height.
• From it's side the body suggests the shape of a rectangle.
• The muzzle is just shy of half the length of the head.
• They are very quick and responsive.
• It's coat can grow up to approximately 27cm long!

Images of the Komondor

 

 

Final Lifeform Turnaround

Well here it is, my finished lifeform! :D I mixed together my favourite colour schemes from the last post to come up with some greeny grey colour scheme that to me looks slimey and as far as I know slimey creatures don't tend to be peoples' favourites which makes it perfect!

I also made the texture on my creature lighter as when looking back I felt it stood out too much against its skin and so didn't look like it fitted there. When I got to painting on the spikes I started to question whether the lifeform actually needed them. I didn't want it to become over full so I gave them a try but quickly lost them as they did what I feared they would.

With the eyes I settled on a blackened out glassy look as this is not my strong point so didn't want to draw 'proper' eyes that looked unrealistic and didn't fit the creature's characteristics. I think these eyes work well alongside the texture I chose and overall I am very happy with the final result considering that this was the turnaround I was least confident with.



Lifeform Development

Now that I've finished my structure and machine it's time to move onto that lifeform that is the reason for all the disturbance. Throughout developing one of my inital concepts into this refined design I kept my structure and machine in mind as I didn't want to accidently drift away from the lifeform's purpose.
I had to especially consider how the 'molten matter' would be contained in the lifeform and then released as this plays a big part in how my machine works and the environmental effects on my structure.

Above is my refined concept where I figured out how this lifeform acted, however I have not yet decided where it's eyes will be or whether it will have eyes.. could it use it's other senses to navigate?

I have however been looking at colour schemes and textures for it.

I really like the textures of #1 and #3 however I think that #1's texture may already be too recognised as sea life whereas, #3 isn't. Also, I like the scaley, creepy effect #3's texture has and I could picture these scales as very solid and cold which I feel would represent evil well.

#2 reminds me a bit too much of fish scales but I like #4's texture as it is sort of leathery skin. I am not too keen on #4's colour scheme compared to the others as I feel it is too warm for an evil creature.

I would like to try mixing the colour schemes of #1 and #3 to get something in between as I feel these colours connote evil quite well.





Final Machine Turnaround

Here is my machine turnaround. I wanted it to link well with the futuristic/fantasy feel of my structure so I thought about how the creature's matter could be shown at use in my concept. I think this was also a good way to bring the busy atmosphere of the factory into the painting.

 I also researched into industrial machines to look at possible scales and colour schemes, later settling on a scale much greater that an average human being (just look at how far down the buttons are compared to the top). To further get across my futuristic world I looked at existing futuristic films and games especially Portal 2 to help me with texture and material. I'm really pleased with the smooth chromatic finish that I settled on and I think the wheels and tubing add a nice touch to show how the machine functions.

Now all I have to do is create the evil creature that is causing so much havoc to these humans' lives.



Machine Development

Having finished my structure turnaround I found it much easier to continue on with my machine as I had already created my background/world. Now it was about getting my favourite rough machine concept to fit inside this world.

I had already been thinking about more ways the humans could live around this creature and its molten matter and was asking myself is there a way they could make use of it? Thinking about the regularly brought up worry of global warming and how we are going to eventually run out of fossil fuels, meaning we will need to find other means to use for energy I thought well what if the creature's matter could be used instead? With this thought in mind I looked at how I could fit it to my concept and have come up with the below idea.

When thinking about the materials my machine would be made from I liked the idea of having transparent parts either made from glass or some sort of thick heat resistant plastic so that what is happening inside is on display. I will have to have a play with this before I move on to see what effects it has.