Fine Art - Final Touchs

For our final session to complete our installation we wanted to experiment with different elements and see if they would make improvements on our piece or were better to be left out of the piece. The first thing we wanted to change was the head as it was the only part of the piece that we liked the least. We first added tape to the arms so that it could be easier to define the different characters within the painting that are being represented in the installation. We could have used paper but it didn't fold well around the fish-wire and we couldn't remove the fish-wire so we used the more mold-able tape instead.

We tried a real person's head first to see if it would work or add anything to the installation and if live elements would work within our piece. I personally think it looked quite effective as it added a creepy vibe to the installation as well as further cementing the idea that it is a male being slain because you can clearly see that the model is male. However the subject was in a uncomfortable position and it contrasted with the rest of the piece as it was the only live element of it, so we scrapped that notion.

We decided to swap the previous wire sword and instead ue a clear plastic sword so that it would still be a element of the piece but would also blend into the background so that the focus remains on the arms and not on a super detailed, interesting sword. What I like about the sword is that because of the simple yet recognisable shape it instantly becomes apart of the installation thanks its minimalistic appearance that somewhat reflects on to the arms as well. I think this will become a new permanent element of the piece.

Here we tried a upside down plastic skull as the "head" of the piece as we felt it would relate to the theme of death as well as be recognisable as the head element. The shape we found to be the most interesting about the skull since it created a load of intricate and contrasting shadows as well as serving as a natural element within the piece. However it isn't as recognisable when its facing away from the viewer so maybe we should try to get it facing front and the right way up even though its not consistent with the painting. These next two images were tests in the lighting of the installation to see if the installation looked more effective with the lighting in different places. We settled with the light on the right side of the installation pointing upwards to emphasise the arms and draw away attention from the skull.

Here is the skull facing forwards and the right way up as we had previously mentioned how we wanted the skull to be positioned. We believe that this is the most effective position for the skull as it emphasises the theme of death as well as being more visually appealing then strikingly accurate to the original painting.

 Here we tried some red lighting on the installation to see if it would be more effective if it it had a red overtone across the piece. What I like about the red lighting is how it emphasises the violent nature of the themes within the painting and adds a bit more colour to the piece then say with a normal clear light. However it also takes away the subtlety of the violence within the installation and I think it fits too closely with the themes of the original painting which we want to avoid so that it could be interpreted in different way other then the painting.

Here is the final composition of the installation. I think overall this experiment in installations was quite successful as it taught our group to work together and think outside of the box, like when we decided upon the floating arm motif, and then we all constructed an arm each so we could finish faster. If I was to do this production again I would like to draw up a design sheet next time so we have clearer goals to achieve and I would have liked more time to explore the possibilities of different materials so we can produce a higher quality product.

Fine Art - Installation

In today's session we started our large installation in our classroom themed off of the painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes. We decided to focus on the lighting within the piece which was almost theatrical and had a high amount of contrast, the use of cloth within the piece, the use of colour, and the focus on the limbs which cross over each other in a interesting formation. These were our focuses because they were the most prominent in the painting and they were what we found to be the most interesting to explore and reproduce into a 3D Installation.

The arms were made of newspaper, based upon a plastic mannequin hand which we also used in our installation, and were strung up with fish-wire. We positioned them into the places where they are within the painting with mannequin arm at the front of the display. What I like about this formation of limbs is the way they cross and overlap each other in a chaotic and violent way, that is accurate with the picture and the themes within the painting. However it may be too chaotic as you can't differentiate between the arms and at the moment look randomly placed and unorganised. Maybe we should try to find a way of separating the arms into their respective owners without the need of creating large and cumbersome bodies which would forego the focus on the arms and instead just the figures themselves which is not what we wanted to focus on in the first place. Maybe we could used coloured sleeves as they would add much needed colour to the piece and would not draw as much attention away from the arms unlike if we created bodies.

Here we have added the head on a separate box which could be used to represent a executioners block and a head with red, frayed fabric to represent blood. What I like about this part of the installation is the fact that the head is raised on a block so that it makes the meaning and theming behind the installation more obscure and harder to figure out so that it may seem deeper then it intended to be. I also like the way the fabric looks as a representation of blood because of the way it flows down and the frays create streak like patterns that both simulate but yet obscure the use of blood that is used within the piece. However the screwed up ball of paper that is supposed to represent the head does not work in the slightest and really needs replacing ASAP. Maybe we could use a mannequin head instead or something like a skull depending on the range of resources that are available.

Vis Com - Final Piece

In the last session of Vis Com I finished my final piece and have began to think of the different ways that I could present it and how it should definitely look. 

This is the finished William Wallace figure fully painted and textured. What I really like about my final paint job is that its subtly toned so it gives the figure a 3D effect and I also like the texture I used on the chain-mail clothing because it doesn't look to fake that it looks unpolished and inept of skill but it also doesn't look to realistic that it stands out from the rest of the painted figure. If I had to give a criticism to the piece is that If I had the time, I would have foregone the use of line and just have the line come through the tonal aspects so that it could pass for a real painting. What I also don't like is the texture on William Wallace's right arm because it doesn't curve around the bent arm and because of this the chain-mail looks odd and out of place.

Here is the added background that is based upon a photo of the Scottish highlands and painted within Photoshop. What I do like about this background I've created is that it does feel like that the place depicted in the painting has come from Scotland and is not just a random mountain background from any place in the world. I think because it is based off a genuine photo of Scotland that's where the feel of the location is captured from so I'm glad I took the time to find a photo with a distinctive Scottish feel rather then some random British countryside. However it is way to simplistic to be created as good painting and if I had the time to go back I would have taken the time to put some real effort into accurately depicting the distinct Scottish Highlands.

Here is the final version of the poster with the complete text and other ageing effects applied. What I really like about my completed poster is the overall composition and structure of both the text and the image. The composition of it really sells the typical structure of propaganda posters that you would found in the past. What I also like about it is the choice of fonts for the text, for they also sell the style of the era and in general add to the visual appeal of the piece, especially the text at the bottom as the Celtic influence really sells where the propaganda is supposed to come from. the influence of stain glass windows that I have observed in the past and my research on Japanese prints really helped me to create the central image as it both excruciates the influence of the land where it came from and the cultural influence allows it stand out from the rest of the drawings you might have seen. If I was to give some criticisms for the piece its that I feel that the potential of the creativeness I could have had in the image hasn't been fully explored and thus the final product is not full to its potential. So If I was to do it again I would try to do some pre-production sketches of the structure of the image so I would have a better Idea of what sort of the look the final poster would have instead of haphazardly putting all the elements together in hope of reaching some sort of final conclusion. I'm just glad for now it has worked well and hasn't turned out to be too disastrous in its intentions. 

Vis Com - Final Designs

Here is the progress of my final design and the progress of its completion with evaluation. The design of this poster is based upon the historical posters that I have been researching but the subject in the question is based upon the modern event of the vote for Scottish independence from the UK. I chose this subject in particular because it would be still be on everyone's minds and because I lived through it I an more familiar with it then other world events going on currently.

This was the initial sketch of the piece without the white background. It depicts William Wallace holding the Scottish flag with his hand outstretched for the viewer. This pose was inspired by a lot of British patriotic posters during the World Wars of different British patriotic idols (e.g. Winston Churchill, Britannia, etc...) trying to appeal to the viewers patriotic pride by using a famous icon from history. What I like about the sketch is the inspiration that went into it, that inspiration being the Japanese print designs and the stained glass windows you find around Britain because it captures that traditional look and the foreign influence helps to separate it from the other posters you might see. I just wish the proportions were a little better and accurate but I could pass it off as stylisation rather then a mistake.

Here is the start of the colouring of the piece and so far you can see that I have coloured in the face hair and flag. Although it is incomplete at the moment I feel so far that it has gone well and looks visually appealing. I especially like the way I have done the face as its subtly toned and the skin tone has been chosen well for the figure. My main criticism is with the hair as I have still not figured out how to colour hair or how to create shadows and highlights for it. Next time I should try to improve the hair and experiment with the brightness and contrast to make sure the different elements all match up together.

Vis Com - Experiment

In today's session, I used one of my previous sketches as a basis for an experiment based upon WW1 posters. I used Photoshop for this experiment and utilised the website dafont.com to find some suitable fonts to use on my text work.

This is the initial outline of the face. It is based upon the face of General Haig who was a famous English War general in WW1. The reason I chose this face to draw was because I wanted to design a poster that would be used for German propaganda plus he was quite a controversial leader at the Battle of Somme so I thought he would have been suitable to antagonize. I really like the detail that I put in this sketch and the overall style of it, I feel, really fits the time period of WW1 to make it feel authentic. If I had one gripe it would be a desire to draw the body next time so I could work with a lot more material then just the head.

This the same sketch but with paint and colour. This was my first time in using paint in Photoshop and paint mixing tool to create a portrait of this character. For my first time using the paint tool for paint work, I think it went rather well considering I don't really like real paint all too much. I really like the use of the tone on the face because it really makes the image pop out and the red-ness added to the face adds a look of hot flustered anger that I couldn't get across in the normal sketch. Although the hair and moustache really leaves much to be desired as it doesn't really look like hair but just some grey smudge that doesn't look visually appealing. If I was to improve the hair I would try the different range of brushes in the brush tool section to try to find a better look for the hair and next time add some eyebrows because without the colour they just look abnormal.

Here is the text of the final piece and how it looks with the final image. The text at the top reads "This is the face of the enemy" and the text at each side of the face read "Join the Army" which I got from typing the English phrases into Google translate and switching it to German. The reason I used German text rather then English was because I feel it needed it to be authentic as possible even though I don't know the language of Germany, so Google was a great help in making the piece feel more authentic from its time period and its country. I really like the design of the font in this as it really excretes Germanic flair and style whilst also having my inspiration incorporated into it. If there was one gripe I had with the text its that its a bit plain looking in the structural design and having the text repeated can be seen as lazy on my part.
 

Here is the final image that has been aged to look more authentic and grounded in history. Overall I feel that this particular experiment has gone particularly well and has produced some nice results that could have actually come from the WW1 period. I really liked how I aged the piece by fading out slightly and erasing parts of the edges so that it looks worn and battered. I also like the look of the caricature in the centre in the end as it looks like a WW1 political cartoon and the colouration helps to make it look more professional and make it pop out because of the tonal differences. If I had any gripes with the piece is that it looks a little rushed since the ageing of the text is sketchy and lacking in detail. If I was to go back and do this again, I would try to remove the lines next time and just have the portrait in paint to amke it look more professional and I would take more time in designing the surrounding text to make it look better. I would also take more time in ageing the piece so it looks more authentic and less like a fake of a WW1 poster.



Vis Com - Further Researching and Illustrations

In today's session we did a bit more research on my subject, that being historical posters, and have settled on a focus within that category, that being propaganda. The first thing I did in today's session was add more to my sketchbook on historical posters and their significance in history.

What I added to my sketchbook today was a page on propaganda in the BioShock video game franchise and another talking about real-life propaganda posters. The reason I wanted to look at the BioShock posters for inspiration was because of their interesting visual flair and the striking way that they could capture the mood and feel of the era that the game was set in. I could see a lot of tropes in their posters that gave a consistent feel to them, like their fixation on the colour red for the rebel poster and the gold fixation on the religious posters which seem to add to the mood of each poster and so you could instantly tell where each poster came from. The other posters I studied were from various sources that to me had an interesting look. This seems to be a common visual trick with propaganda  to be as eye-catching as possible to gather attention from the surrounding public. 

The second-half of the lesson was dedicated in trying to sketch in the style of these old propaganda posters, so I tried to draw a caricature of General Haig from WW1 (as an idea for a German propaganda poster), and a WW2 cartoon of Britannia kicking Hitler back to Germany. The first sketch I did is probably my favourite one of all because of the extreme detail and the expression on the face. Now I would like to scan the image into a computer so I can edit it and add colour. The second sketch I found to be mostly successful expect for the fact that its way to small to add any meaningful detail. Maybe if I edit it in Photoshop I could make it look a whole lot better after some editing.

The second batch of sketches were based upon 50's cartoons and Winston Churchill's face. The first two sketches were just more of a practice to see how well I would drawing the style of these traditional comics and while some of the details within the sketches are a little off, I believe for the most part that they show that I do have potential to draw within this style but I just need to practice more before I can really feel confident enough to draw in this style casually and skill-fully. The sketch at the bottom is supposed to be a sketch of Winston Churchill but for some reason looks a little off, maybe its the proportions of the face. The sketch isn't bad per say but its just that it doesn't look like the person I'm trying to depict, unlike the General Haig that I drew earlier. Maybe I should try it again and next time concentrate on the features more to get a greater feel for Winston's face. I'll use it for now though since I only have a short amount of time left.

Vis Com - Further Exploration

In today's session, I tried out some photomontage today to explore the range of different techniques and ways of creating posters. The first step was to print off larger versions of images that I have already collected and then I started to cut them up to try out different combinations with my imagery. I first started to stick them down with blu-tack so I didn't have print them off again if I liked one combination over the other.

The first combination I did consisted of three North Korean Anti-American posters combined together to create one long poster. I sort of like this combination because it really shows the sort of hate and malice that North Korea holds towards western civilization, and the blatant use of prejudiced views of the residents of North Korea as a tool for control over the populace. However I feel a black background would be more suited for this composition and this is what I used for the next photomontage to see if it would be more effective.

The second combination uses a black background and features 6 images which include the previous North Korean propaganda, some American propaganda, some Russian propaganda, and one advertising poster for 7-up (just to mix things up. I don't really like the composition of this piece as it is highly mismatched and devoid of any defining form to describe. The ideas while interesting don't really add up to any meaningful conclusions and seems to look like a cluttered mess. However the black ground is the best medium for this propaganda experiment which I learnt from constructing this piece so it isn't all too bad.

This last one, which is my final composition, has a lot more structure then the last one and overall feels a lot better with its theming and its message then the second one but still has that striking black background which was the highlight of the second one. The scene is supposed to depict (metaphorically speaking) the fall of america to the hands of patriotic North Korean soldiers. Again this is reinforcing this irrational hatred of America that North Korea has and its warmongering nature of wanting to start a fight with the USA. I think this my best photomontage yet since it combines interesting themes and good composition. My next experiment was with a on-line app called wordle.

The programme wordle can take any amount of keywords and create a collated image out of it which creates a unique piece of work and can be used for anything to Photoshop, to my photomontage. What I like about this programme is how easy and simple it is to operate it, all you need to do is type in the words and press the "go" button and it instantly generates the wordle. However because of its simplicity there is little room for customization and you can't place the words where you would like them to go but overall I found it to be useful for generating a quick piece of text work which would look good in other projects where the textwork could be used.

Vis Com - Initial Themes

In today's first session, we tried to establish a initial theme that we would tackle for the rest of the two-week period. My chosen theme was historical posters because I found the subject interesting and it allows me to have a definitive focus from the start instead of being too vague and not developing an idea in time for the end of the project.

I first drew an initial mind map of the all of the areas that I could explore within this project and additional notes for further inspiration. I think the mind-map helps me to process all the potential of this concept without trying to remember it all in my head and it also allows me to shake off any early ideas I might have had so that I could possibly use them later on in the project. At this moment in time I am leaning towards the idea of propaganda for my theme, since I could portray a lot of messages about war, politics, and social issues with just one image.

From looking at the different range of propaganda posters, I can very quickly get a feel for the style and culture of it, so much so that I could probably tell where the posters are from without visual clues like text, or flag identities. For example, the American style of propaganda is very grounded in traditional oil on canvas style of artwork with caricatures of enemies depicting them as ugly and spiteful. They also have a knack at stylising the human characters like the artist Norman Rockwell, who influenced a lot of American commercial artwork, in that they always have that painted/cel-shaded look that was a big part of his style. It's quite interesting also that they play the same tactics in trying to scare the viewer into whatever the government wants you to think, like dramatic scenes, symbols of patriotism, shock value, and a lot of bright vivid colour that makes the piece stand out to the public viewers.

3D Design - The Final Session

Today is the final session for the entire 3D segment, I had a lot to get done in the day so I have a lot to talk about and evaluate. Today I finished my final piece, put the finishing touches in my book and evaluated by progress through the evaluation sheet.

Here is my logo design that will go on the acetate on the lid of my final box construction. Its a simple design that was easy to design in Photoshop, so that I wouldn't waste time on designing an overly complicated logo that people wouldn't really pay attention to, and pays homage and inspiration from my study of Muji. Although its a lot more colourful then the Muji logo, the simplistic design philosophy is still there and is designed not to take up so much space and to try to be unnoticeable. I really like the design for the logo because its visually appealing but not to extravagant that it repulses consumers who don't like the tacky, and overly repeated looks of other shopping logos. I really wish I could have explored this part of the project more and create a consistent visual aesthetic but as it is its fine.

Here are the images of the finished product in full view, including the lid. In my opinion the acetate didn't work as well as I wanted it to because the logo on the acetate doesn't show up as clearly as it should, probably because of the dark interior. If I was to do the acetate part again I would have added a white background to bring up the contrast and to show the logo off more for the consumer. However I do like the window that I incorporated into the design, makes it stand out a bit more from the rest of the chocolate boxes. The design has almost a Celtic feel to it which roots it down into a more western style so its not just eastern (Japanese) based. 

The cardboard structure of the bx I feel has been rather successful, since it has that unique, raw visual flair and it meets my quota on eco-friendly and recyclable materials. However there is a bit of an issue with lid that it is too small for the box and thus hard to easily put on the lid for convenience, probably should have made it a little bigger in retrospect but apart from that the box works well. If you look inside the box you'll see a bunch of small notches which are supposed to support the chocolates when placed inside the box, not sure if they work but I think that I least thought of how the chocolates would fit into the box helps to improve how I think about the intricacies of 3D design.

This image illustrates how I would stack my boxes on a shelf in a supposed supermarket. As you can see it stacks in a unique and interesting way that is different from most packaging designs. I really like how well these boixes stack up together because it gives it a unique visual flair, and it can save on a lot of space in stacking shelves. I wish I did a few more boxes to see they would do in larger numbers but as it is its pretty well done.

3D Design - Finalising Designs

In today's session, I've finalised my box design and tried out another material to see if it would work better then the cardboard that I had been recently been using. Tomorrow will be finishing everything off and coming up with a final product that will hopefully come out as a high-quality finalisation of everything I have done.

The first thing I did today was create another version of my triangle box but instead of using cardboard I used corrugated plastic so that I can say I have explored a range of materials that are on offer for use. Personally I dislike the corrugated plastic because its too tough to cut up and it doesn't have the look or feel that I want fro my final product, plus it's not eco-friendly in the slightest made from un-recyclable plastic. Another addition I have added to the box is the addition of a clear acetate window on the lid so that you can look inside the product before purchasing. I really like the idea of this window for the packaging because it gives the consumer a preview of the product in question before purchasing and it makes the packaging stand out a lot more due to visual flair and overall usefulness. Although I didn't take away a new material to use, I have found a little addition to my design idea that will, I hope, make an overall better final product at the end of this project.

At the second half of the lesson, I decided to create my final product my collating all my ideas and designs together to create some sort of conclusion. The only thing I started today was constructing the base with a few little additions at the bottom, so in theory that they can help keep the chocolates in position and to help them stand if being propped up sideways. That little addition will hopefully add to the stock-handler friendliness that my product's ethics are based on. Hopefully, everything will be finished by tomorrow and I can do a few more tests for my ealuation at the end for further reviewing and reflecting. 

3D Design - Further Development

In today's session I developed my ideas further and tried a few experiments to try to get some possible new designs and ideas. I did some clay work first with my plaster mold and then I tried to make some more cardboard boxes to test out designs.

This experiment in design started out as a plaster mold that I had made earlier and ended with a modded design of the original sweet jar that I feel makes it easier to shelf and able to carry more sweets. I think overall the design of the new plastic bottle has gone down well because it still looks visually appealing but as a consequence to all its enhancements it stores a lot more and an fit into smaller shelves if necessary. I think the only thing I could really improve on is to actually add more and maybe change it into some kind of final design, but overall a successful little experiment.

The second thing I did today was another model of a chocolate box design in the triangle shape I used last time but with some improvements added to make it more useful and more refined. I think that this new design on my previous box is such a great improvement over my other one because it actually has a functional lid that goes on top of it, and the fact that its stuck more securely with hot glue instead of just masking tape on the other one. The material is a lot better as well since its much more secure and its a lot more recyclable and eco-friendly. The improvements I need to make on this one is its visual look as its a bit too minimalistic so adding a label or two might make it stand out more, and the quantity of the product so that I can see how well it would do on shelves and in a box. Hopefully this will develop into a final conclusion that will be highly successful.

3D Design - Sketching and Experimenting

Today we achieved quite a lot because we managed to do some test sketches, create some prototype models out of various materials and , casting some chocolate containers that I wish to study and alter to try out my ideas. This a particularly long and arduous day so I have a to talk about.

The first thing I made was a product that I based upon a sketch in my book. This design was based upon a standard chocolate box. The point of this experiment was see if I could construct a box out of scrap materials and cheap adhesive. The box was supposed to be glued with a glue gun but the one I was using was faulty so I improvised with tape which is a very weak adhesive and one I will not be using in the near future. However the design, for all intents and purposes, works and the card board holds well together so it could be a possible material that I would use in the near future. The design will not be my final one but shows what you can do with the cheapest and recyclable materials.

This next piece was based upon another sketch of mine which was to try another geometrical shape apart from a standard box shape. There are some measurements that I would like to alter so that I can make it bigger but apart from that it works relatively well. I'll definitely put it in my future sketches to further enhance the idea and maybe get a real box produced. When I do further experiments and designs I want to cover it with some actual box art because at the moment it looks plain and boring which really isn't my goal. The storage capabilities could be immense for this design if done properly.

The next thing I did for experimentation is to take a cast of an existing product to deconstruct, or to alter it for inspiration. The casting didn't go as planned as one of my items, a plastic sweet jar, collapsed on itself and is now permanently damaged. the future I'll try to avoid plastic objects for casting and to think further ahead in time before I act. If its any consolation, the bottle bent into an interesting shape so maybe its not entirely hopeless, I'll have to see when I take a plaster copy to see if it is truly salvageable.

The next experimentation we did was with plaster to create some molds to experiment with and to learn the basic techniques of mold making. The first item we did was the plastic bottle on its other side (the good side) and the intention was to create a mold so I could make future versions if I wish. The second was a replica using the plastic casting I did earlier. I won't know the results of these experiment till a later date.

3D Design - Research

Today was all pretty much about research and gathering as many sources and/or materials to really get a final idea on what I want to do for the rest of the course. As previously mentioned I've had a deep interest in pacakaging so I decided to stay on that theme and then see what goes from there.

We had to try to decide upon our artists studies and our definitive theme for the rest of the project. The theme of packaging interests me because its challenging enough to satisfy my interests, whilst also beimng easy enough to easily access. From some of the packaging I've seen in my research, I really like the cool designs and the innovative ideas that come from it, especially some of the ornate chocolate boxes. However I want my products to also be sustainable and eco-friendly,  so I've looked at those kinds of packaging as well and found a lot of beauty in their minilism.

I've decided to go into further research on the company Muji because they are all about that minilimist design that I favour and also their environmental friendliness. What I like about them is their design philosophy that is based upon old zen traditions and philosophies. I will definitely take into account these traditions into my own work in the future. Tonight, I will be working on some sketches and attempting some artistic experiments. I will talk about how those go in my next post.



3D Design - Initial Ideas

Today, we watched a presentation on different different directions that we could go in 3D art and then tryed to decide upon our themeing for the the rest of the two weeks we ill be doing this segment.

For the presentation we looked at a bunch of different artists that were all about the many pathways that we could take in 3D design. I found it to be very informative and opened my mind to a lot of possibilities that could be explored in this subject. The trouble is that the subject is rather daunting to me and feel often intimidated by the onslaught of varied activities that we could do in this area.

I think in my themeing I've decided to go on to the theme of packaging although I would like to explore the subject just a little more broadly before i serttle on a final theme. I am really interested in the prospect of researching about confectionery packaging because of the ease to find primary sources and the fact that it could lead to a lot of creative ieas and designs along the line. I just need to be careful not to rush too far otherwise if I change my mind I'm going to be severely hindered later down the line. So for now I'll take it slow before I rush on a head.