December Targets:

This month I have decided to set myself some specific targets to improve my workflow and to experience and experiment with different styles and techniques:

TARGETS:

1. I will aim to use more digital software as to accustom myself with the techniques of creating digital artwork, the more I experiment the more I will be more experienced with creating digital pieces.
2. Experiment with various different coloured inks and pro markers so that I may become more experienced with creating a realistic shade within my traditional work.
3. Get written work for digital Skills wrote up and read over it.

Module 2: Alternative Techniques

Within this Module we learnt ways on how to become more flexible with our style and how to adapt a project to different types of styles and techniques as this is to show that there are various ways of creating things and there are various ways of promoting an artist by showing their fluidity of adapting to certain techniques, this is considered as a valuable trait in the creative industry as for employers this mean that an artist who is adaptable can work on many different types of work for contractors and clients. 

For this module I created 3 variations of my work in different techniques I used traditional inkwork, Digital work and I also used collage work I created a mind map to show my transition between all of these techniques and what I was considering for my options I explored how I could create them, what it could do for me and why I would use that specific technique.

Within this module I could have done better as I feel that I only limited myself to my comfort zone of artwork and I did not challenge myself enough to try new techniques if I wish to become a much more experience artist I should begin to experiment a lot more with new techniques.

Module 1: Self Assessment of entire module

From the summer to the beginning of our first module, I haven't really devoted much time to writing on this blog for my reflection of what I have managed to get done in preparation for the new term and on how I've been progressing throughout the first module. 

Specifically throughout the summer I came up with several ideas for my summer project, I wanted to project the concept of reincarnation and death into my project, I was mainly inspired through imagery of artists such as Frank Miller and Vera Brosgill, within their graphic novels with black and grey imagery however Sin City and Anya's Ghost are complete contrasts in tones as Sin City is extremely serious and various themes relate to violence and corruption when Ayana's Ghost is more focus on identity issues and  social outcasts.

I wanted to work with the concept of mixing a light

hearted with a serious tone, essentially creating a character who is light hearted yet have certain aspects of their personality serious or certain traumatic experiences which shift and change the characters  from the audiences perspective. 

Overall throughout my summer I set myself targets of creating a structured script and relevant backstories for my characters. 

END OF YEAR REFLECTION REPORT:

CONCRETE EXPERIENCE:

As I began this course in the year of 2014 in September I will remember how inexperienced I really was in the world of art as all of the practical work and various modules hit me like a brick, except this brick didn’t hurt but made me burst from excitement for the duration of the course. I have had various experiences with different types of formats within the first year of this course, from illustration to animation, from 2D, 3D, pixilation and stop motion. During this time I found that my major strengths were with 2D and coursework and research however through these experience I found one of my major weaknesses lies with development work as I find it rather difficult and most likely forget to produce notes based around my production depending on module. During the entirety of this year I feel that I am much more motivated to practice my artwork. Overall throughout the entire year we have done a various amount of work ranging from 3D models and rigging body models to producing various types of illustrations through life drawing sessions to metamorphosis. Throughout all of this practical work I have produced in my opinion mediocre work and over the summer I plan to practice in the subjects that I am most passionate about this mainly consists of illustrations and story telling so this will delve mainly into script writing and producing various illustrations and designs and different techniques and methods. Overall I believe that I can improve my skills through practice development.

REFLECTIVE OBSERVATION:

Overall throughout the entire year I believe that I have done okay and I haven’t really pushed myself to the limit and tried as hard as I can so I believe that most of the work that I have produced during this year is valuable experience for me and I believe that it is important to learn from these experiences and work harder within the second year, mainly for each module I believe that I had given the bear minimum to pass, to improve on this I believe I should produce as much development as I can and follow the criteria as much as  I can and schedule my time so that I have a structured time table for work. I believe that my timetable of my work over the year definitely needed improvement and that I did not structure my work schedule well enough. Mainly through all of the modules I felt that these experiences are readying me for the animation and illustration industry and through these modules I understand that there are delicate and important processes that we must go through to create a good animation or illustration. I believe that my main weaknesses throughout these modules were the 3D and animatics modules; if I wish to improve on these tactics I believe that I must practice creating storyboards and attempting to review various 3D techniques using cinema 4D, Mainly I believe that if I tried hard enough I would reach my real potential and as I was rather unfocused this year due to various factors I believe that I couldn’t put in as much effort as I hoped.

ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALISATION:

If I wish to improve on my main weakness and get better at my strengths I believe that I must practice various different animation and Illustration techniques over the summer. I have various different ideas for my summer project and I am incredibly eager to dive in and explore ideas such as creating an illustrated story and creating a comic etc. However to really improve on my weakness such as 3D and storyboards I must practice these, with improving on storyboards I must just practice creating stories and setting scenes for them. With improving on 3D I believe that watching online tutorials will be extremely helpful for my, although I do not wish to follow 3D as my particular style however I believe that it will be incredibly useful to know how to create 3D models and how to rig them, overall I believe that my main weakness is with modelling 3D models and creating a concrete model I believe that over the summer I must at least try to create a simple model in cinema 4D. Most importantly I must try to organise a well structured work time table to fit in and around my daily life, if I construct and follow this time table then I hopefully will have a well structured pattern to follow so that I can accomplish as much work as I can and use my time efficiently and correctly so that I can produce the most work within the specified amount of time, time management skills are my major concern at the moment as this will effect how much work is produced and how well it is produced.

ACTIVE EXPERIMENTATION:

To put all of my ideas into practice I believe that it is important that I do look at tutorials for 3D modelling and that I attempt to create a simple 3D model within cinema 4D, I believe that a good idea for this is a stick figure body or a slender one legged body as I feel that it will become more difficult the more appendages that are involved the more difficult that I will find it, furthermore I hope to add more experience in creating story boards as within our summer project we are supposed to create storyboards I will used this to my advantage and practice various different scenarios so that I can get better at creating story boards. And finally to improve on one of my main concerns of time management I believe that it is important for me to create a schedule time table for me to follow over the summer and mainly create a well structure time table that can work around my personal time table, I believe that if I work hard in a certain amount of time each day I will be able to improve drastically.

Artist Research:

Birdo:

Birdo is the name of a street artist based in Toronto his work is various and he started out like any other graffiti artist by spraying his name on other properties, his work is colourful and vibrant it catches the eye instantly if you were walking past. The creation of the work that he has done all varied types of designs:

As you can see this artist uses various colours and various different styles and a wide range of designs, such as mammals to sea creatures his style varies from each street art that he performs.

Brosmind:


Brosmind is the group of illustrators and they provide a variety of work, their style within each of their illustrations is very vibrant and colourful. The line work of the illustrations is very neat and smooth.

Each of their work provides a variety of concepts and a variety of colours and themes, I enjoy this as their work is not just limited to certain concepts or features.

Joan Cornella:

Joan Cornella is a famous comic strip artist, usually Joan Cornella's work is rather offensive and delves into the depths of the weird. Usually Joan Cornella's pieces in my opinion addresses certain controversies within society.

Although he does address certain issues however most of his work is generally filled with weird humour. 

Hikari Shimoda:

Hikari Shimoda provides a various amount of different work, within her work she uses a various amount of colours giving a vibrant look to the illustrations, hikari states that she is mainly inspired by the events of chernobyl and includes facts about it within her illustrations, for example she includes the incident of removing radiation within the childs neck.

However her work is still very vibrant and contains innocent concepts although most of her work is based around a horrific event in history, in my opinion I really love her work and I think that its beautiful and I am so inspired that something so beautiful is inspired through a horrific effect.

Nicolas Menard: 

Nicolas Menard work in my opinion is rather simple or a collection of simple drawings making the overall illustration appear complex. Nicolas Menard uses very vibrant colours and this stands out to the  audiences eyes. I like his work as it is rather colourful and simple and there is more direct attention towards the characters of the illustration as it has simple backgrounds and features.

Mr Kat:

Mr Kat mainly works with 3D models, he works with various shapes from snakes to cats and tigers, within pictoplasma Mr Kat had various types of exhibitions. In my honest opinion I like the style of the 3D models however the 3D format does not really interest me, so I would not know the formats of the 3D models were made however his style is very nice and it is obvious that he has various concepts.

Andy Ristaino:


Andy Ristaino is an illustrator who works within the project of Adventure Time, his illustrations are filled with colour and are highly vibrant and pleasant to the eye. He draws various kinds figures within his illustration although some may be terrifying however the use of vibrant and neon colour makes the illustrations appear lively and creates a positive atmosphere.

Tado:

Tado work with various types of materials, they produce 2D work, 3D and even produce vinyl toys. Tados work is very vibrant and colourful and I am really inspired by this group of artists as they use very colourful designs, and they have also designed various things that are rather cartoonish and child like, Tado has produced designs for red nose and they have also produced designs for astro boy and hello kitty.

CAAD Session: Auto Rigging

During this thursdays CAAD session we learned how to auto rig a ready made mesh and make it move. Within the CAAD session we learned that within the character menu we could chose an attribute called character and then we chose a template for auto rigging a mesh.

We added various joints and components for the character we chose a bird and then we added the joints for the wings and the legs and the neck etc, and it was effortless to insert these factors to affect the body structure. Each button inserted a wing, legs etc to create the body structure. 

We then used pre made body models and then set up a character rig for the model. We inserted the auto rig and then we moved certain parts of the rig to match the body model, we then took the skin and the mesh and we moulded the rig to the character model. We then began to animate the body mesh. However within my animated 3D model as the root was difficult to move so the mesh began to be affect mainly within the tail area, as the root was based within the tail area.

All 8 Modules Reflection and Evaluation (Part 2):

Module 5:
During the course of this module (Digital Skills Acquisition) I found the 2D sections of the module really fun and I feel that I had put the most effort into this side of the module more than the 3D section of the module, although I found it hard during the design process of the 3D module however with the rig and creating the controls I found it very exciting and interesting to create them and also within my practice module I was able to create the rig rather easily. Furthermore I feel that I should have documented more on the process of 3D and 2D design however I only limited myself to 3D design. I feel that if I were to do this module again I would focus on the design of the 3D character as I found this the most difficult furthermore I would also add into the work with development surrounded about the 2D and 3D combined instead of just focusing on the 3D alone. My animation used for the character rig can be seen on the animation post.
Module 6:
This module (Contextual Studies) was highly interesting for me as I found and researched a range of artists which I believe have opened up my interests into various different animation and illustration techniques from this module I found that I really like the concept of using rotoscoping for illustration and animation and I would really like to practice this into the second year and even on personal work too. In my opinion I believe that written communication is my strong point and also essay writing and I feel that I have improved with my research skills also as I researched various people and various animation techniques, overall I believe I would like another contextual module in the second year as I believe it expands my knowledge on animations and illustrations and I believe that this knowledge is valuable in developing myself as an artist. 
Module 7:
As This Module is essentially the creation of the blog and the posting onto the blog I actually do not see this module as a module, however that is a good thing as this blog is a way to focus on a particular students personal and professional development, of as this module is not finished yet I really cannot reflect on my progress or my grade as I am treading water on the last 2 modules as I only know my progress and not the particular marks of the work. however I believe that through the duration of the blog I can improve and that I can post more information onto the blog, another thing I believe I can do is that I can link other parts of my personal work into the blog such as my Instagram with all of my personal work on there to show and develop my portfolio and to expand on my work. however as I cannot not asses this module after I have handed in 
Module 8:
As this module is the last module of the year and I find that within this module I feel that I am really within my element of course that I feel under pressure but that is due to time really I have produced most of my written work it is now a case of writing up development and producing the last 2 illustrations as I have finished my first illustration, I believe my progress within this module is steadily growing faster as I work within my spare time, of course as I have not handed in the project on the deadline yet that does not mean I can asses this module thoroughly through reference of marks. However I feel that I am close to finishing this module and I feel confident that I will have enough time to finish the work and also have enough time to review the module and improve on my work before hand in.

Texturing 3D models- UV Mapping

During Todays CAAD Session we learnt how to texture a 3D object within cinema 4. We started the exercise by creating a sphere and making the 3D model's mesh simpler and then making the object editable. We add a UV mapping tag onto the 3D model to make it editable.We then changed the view mode of cinema 4D to UV Mapping edit and this shows mesh of the 3D model flattened out on the side of the 3D model here is the process of creating the mesh. The main tool that we used was the line tool and selected various lines to create a lotus mesh to surround the sphere.

Here is the mesh outline through the outline of pink to give it a more natural look.

We transfer the mesh over into photoshop and we paint over the mesh and the outlines help keep the design nice and neat on the 3D model in cinema 4D. 

Here is the design on the mesh obviously it is messy however on the 3D model it is very neat and appears to look like a beach ball.

Now that we started to work on a simply version of creating an organised mesh then we decided to do a more complicated approach and use a 3D body model to do it, we used to line tool and selected certain lines on how certain body parts would unfold flat if they were being turned into a flat mesh.

Here is the result of outlining the 3D model and creating separate pieces of mesh for various different body parts, if we wish to design it then we3 would do the same process and drag it into a design software and colour it up.

Second Last week Update:

During the second last week of the term we are all rushing to get our work done. Those who are going to Berlin are working harder and feaster than those who aren't however even though I am not going to berlin. What I have mainly got through are all of the tasks that I have assigned myself all research is done, my proposal and treatment are finished and I have also finished my first illustration and I am beginning to work and sketch out my illustrations onto paper and then I am going to scan them in. 

I have my reference material for the second illustration and it is in the perfect position for it and also I will be able to use the concept of using a silver outline for each individual piece of glass. Overall my main targets for this week are:

1. Complete traditional illustrations and scan in and add detail using photoshop. follow time table so deadline for this will be wednesday
2. Start to print out research proposal and all written documentation for this course and organise them all into a file ready for hand in.
3. Update the blog as much as I can and write about my personal work along with my coursework.

All Animations Produced during the course of the year:

Here are all of the animations that I have created so far within my course. 

Module 8 current research:

I would like to post my current research onto my blog as its on my target to do list and I know that if I don't do it straight away then I will forget completely and then will hit myself  constantly after hand in so here is my current research:

Jaw Cooper

Jaw Cooper is known for her picturesque creepy style, Jaw Cooper makes a living as a freelance illustrator she was born in the UK and lived in various places in Europe. Jaw Coopers style is very semi realistic while at the same time has a sense of a surreal aspect to her illustrations, she mainly illustrates a variety of animals and female figures, Jaw cooper is very talented for highlighting and defining the features of women and various animals.

Within this piece Cooper has made she centres the female character within this piece and also the various use of animation limbs to compliment the female features and physique.

This piece is very similar to the previous illustration the combination of the feminine figure and the mountain goat both complement each other giving a deeper concept to the illustration the subtle use of colours makes the illustration stand out more as the faint use of red can be detected much more easily either giving of the concept of lust, anger, age, love etc.

The combination of animals and feminine figures within illustration is mainly Jaw Coopers Forte, within this piece Jaw signifies the fact that the woman and the tiger are connected, or so the tiger is the women’s spirit animals. The main concept that I believe that Jaw Cooper is trying to interpret is the fact that we all have a subtle connection to nature and no matter what we will always go back to our animalistic routes eventually and the fact that it will happen has a certain elegance and beauty to it through the use of Cooper’s illustrations.

Creep Machine (Magazine)

Creep Machine are a famous American illustration magazine, they show various illustrations from various artists and the various creepy styles of work that they produce, I will show 2 various artists that have been shown within this magazine.

Allison Sommers:

Allison Sommers is a Brooklyn Based artist she mainly promotes her work through the internet and magazines creep machine features some of her work from time to time.

Allison’s style is very dark and this is obvious through the use of colour scheme within the illustration, she uses a large amount of grey and pain colours and emphasises other colours on this pallet through contrast so the red will be significantly noticeable within the illustration so her main concern is to emphasise a dark tone and nature within her artwork.

Tyler Lamph:

Tyler Lamph is one of the artists that is featured in Creep Machine Magazine, Tyler Lamph’s work is also very dark, I believe that Tyler Lamph’s main concept for his work revolves around his perception of humanity as he mainly illustrates figures, for example this illustration shows the balance of man’s inner nature their human nature, the balance between the right and wrong, basically this illustration is emphasising that within every human there is a constant battle of conscious.

Hell ‘o’ Monsters

Hello Monster are a group of illustrators and the majority of their work is cartoonish based and contain rather dark themes the group of illustrators emerged in the late 1990s, and have grown quite popular ever since. All members of hello monsters were originally graffiti artists and it is said that when the group met each other they quickly abandoned their trade and moved on to try various different illustrative techniques such as inking which a popular choice was for hello monsters.