28/09/2015 - Moodboards

Week 04

Moodboards

Icarus Moodboards

Icarus:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This is a moodboard consisting of various depictions of Icarus. I thought about straying away from looking at other depictions of him but realised that I need to know whats out there and what has already be done so I can try and improve on it and not directly copy it either.

Built Wings:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

I thought it would be helpful to look at how inventors have physically built wing like flying devices since Icarus' father built theirs.

Bird Wings:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This is literally a moodboard of a lot of types of birds. I have noticed that there are a wide range of shapes when it comes to wings. In The book, it does not directly say which feathers Daedalus used (probably that of a gulls) so I have tried to explore the more interesting shapes. In the book, Daedalus bends the wing structure he makes back a little bit to resemble that of a birds wings. That is where this moodboard comes in.

Wings in other mediums:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This is just a moodboard for wings (on things other than birds) created in a different context than that of Icarus. A lot of them seem to be very angelic, There are however some really nice shapes in here Which could come in useful possible exaggeration in my own character designs. 

Greek Attire:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This is a moodboard for Greek attire. This is simply for the clothes of Icarus as he wont be naked, unfortunately. There was a style I imagined in my head when first reading "The Fall of Icarus" (Ovid) but for development purposes I have included a variety of styles to draw inspiration from. 

The Minotaur Moodboards:

The Minotaur:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This is a moodboard for The Minotaur. Here are a wide variety of  The Minotaur's many depictions in several platforms. There are some more traditional depictions with a bull like man wielding an axe who has big muscles and big horns, but then there are more original ones with a proper hybrid of human and bull. The image top centre is a perfect example of this hybrid because he almost looks like a hairless bull which is really disturbing. 

Bulls in other mediums:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This is  a moodboard of cartoon bulls. This moodboard I will use for sketching from to get to grips with the proportions of a bull, I will use this moodboard equally with the moodbaord below to use as reference for this purpose. They also show a range of different styles used to depict bulls. 

Real bulls:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This is a moodboard for real life bulls, I will use this as reference to draw the bull part of my depiction of The Minotaur. I've noticed most horns tend to go in the same direction but there are subtle differences between the Spanish bulls and the Highland bulls, although I'm reasonably confident that they didn't have Highland bulls in Crete...but The Minotaur is a hybrid, so thus, the rules change. So I wont restrict myself to only more traditional bulls.

"Hunger" Moodboard:

Skinny representations in other mediums:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This is a moodbaord of skinny/malnourished people. This sort of moodbaord is essential for "Hunger" as she is described as such. Here I have a number of different images from different mediums. They help me to visualise the body structure underneath the skin since I'm not used to seeing the human body in such a way.

Skinny women:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This is a moodboard of skinny women. I tried to focus this one on women since "Hunger" is a woman and the female structure is different than that of a mans. I will be using this moodboard to get the frame correct while using the next moodboard to help me get the organs in the correct place...if I decide to place them in the conventional places.

Organ Diagrams:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This is simply a moodboard to help me place the organs for "Hunger".

Kitta Grau Moodboard:

Witches:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This is a moodboard of witches for Kitta Grau, the strongest image I had when reading her story was that of a witch looking woman. I'm not saying she is a witch, but they are known for not looking particularly nice and neither is Kitta Grau as described in the fairytale. 

Old Medieval Women/Paintings:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This moodboard is to help influence the clothes of Kitta Grau. My initial vision for Kitta Grau is an old woman with a medieval style.

The Arch Rogue Moodboard:

Hooded Men:

I do not own these images or hold the copyright for them, they have been purely put together in this moodboard for educational purposes.

This moodboard is for The Arch Rogue. I only have one for him but there really isn't much to go on for his appearance other than he is tall, stout and dark whiskered. I have only portrayed him in a hood in my mind while reading the fairy tale because of his cunning ways. I will explore him with out a hood of course as well.

24/09/2015 - Character Profiles

Week 03

Character Profiles

Icarus:

For Icarus there is no physical description but that of the wings he and his dad, Daedalus, used to fly from the island Crete.

"He laid down a row of feathers, beginning with tiny ones, and gradually increasing their length, so that the edge seemed to slope upwards. In the same way, the pipe which shepherds used to play is built up from reeds, each slightly longer than the last. Then he fastened the feathers together in the middle with thread, and at the bottom with wax; when he had arranged them in this way, he bent them around into a gentle curve, to look like a real birds' wings." (Innes, M. Ovid: The Fall of Icarus, p 12, Penguin Classics. 1955)

This is the description of the wings that Daedalus creates and is the only physical description I have for Icarus.

Minotaur:

The Minotaur was a creation of a queen who had "relations" with a white bull and "bore a child half animal, half human". There isn't much of a physical description of The Minotaur here but half bull, half man still has countless possibilities.

After looking through some images for moodboards for him though, I have had more grotesque images of him in my mind. This "Minotaur" lets not forget is a monster and has been shunned by his family for being so. I have also come across images of bull head gear which I find an interesting idea and conjures up the idea that The Minotaur is not so glorious as his many depictions of a huge beast that could rip a man apart but of maybe something more frail and horrifying who wears a bull mask to hide his deformities. I am basing my initial images of him as a more disfigured half man half bull, rather than the muscular beast we often see. Although, the aim of character development is to of course explore every avenue possible to get the most out of it so I will thoroughly explore the more muscular and fantastical side of The Minotaur.

"Hunger":

"The creature's face was colourless, hollow-eyed, her hair uncared for, her lips bleached and cracked. Scabrous sores encrusted her throat, her skin was hard and transparent, revealing her inner organs. The brittle bones stuck out beneath her hollow loins, and instead of a stomach she had only a place for one. Her breast, hanging loose, looked as if it were held in position only by the framework of her spine. Her joints seemed large in contrast to her skinny limbs, the curve of her knees made a real swelling, and her ankle-bones formed protuberances that were out of all proportion." (Innes, M. Ovid: The Fall of Icarus, p 45-46, Penguin Classics 1955)

This passage gives a lengthy description of Hunger but there is still a lot of imagining to bring her to life.

Kitta Grau :

There really is no physical description of Kitta Grau in the fairy-tail that I have read.  All my designs and development for her will be purely based on her personality in the fairy-tail. Based on the fairy-tail though, I imagine that she is an older woman but for development I will of course explore a young Kitta Grau as well to cover all aspects possible.The idea though is that Kitta Grau scares even the devil. My interpretation is a combination of a witch (more the facial appearance, not the magic) and an old woman who lives a simple life in a village.

The Arch Rogue: 

"Looking round he discovered a very tall, stout, dark-whiskered man"

Apart from this there is no other physical description of The Arch Rogue. Even the way he holds himself is little hinted at. On this basis though I have more freedom to attack with new ideas.

Summary:

I have a good point of which to begin my research into visuals for this project, even if some of the characters will involve a little bit more creativity to get anything from. Now that I have found all the physical descriptions of the characters I will move onto mood boards and character sketches for my next post.

21/09/2015 - Story - Summeries

Week 03

Story Summaries 

The Fall of Icarus:

"The Fall of Icarus" is the story of a man named Daedalus and his son, Icarus. The father invents a flying machine and makes one for his son as well and warns him not to fly too high for fear of burning his wings nor too low for fear of getting them wet. Icarus, mid-flight, gets a bit too confident and soars up into the sky but he flies too close to the sun and his wings burn and he falls into the ocean.

My first image while reading this was of a scruffy haired teenager with flaming wings. The image of Icarus is usually of him falling but I would want to capture him soaring up with burning wings, right before they lose their structure and send him to his death.

The Minotaur:

The Minotaur's story is told in the background of "The Fall of Icarus". His mum, Pasiphae, was made to fall deeply in love with a bull by a god, in her lust she tasked Daedalus, Icarus's father, to build her a wooden cow of which she climbed into and made love to the bull, thus The Minotaur was conceived.

"Hunger":

Achelous at the beginning of a story, enjoys the company of a few fine warriors as they wait out a flood which I can assume Achelous, the river god, has caused. So Achelous hosts the warriors in a cave to shelter them and they tell stories.

The story in this that I have chosen is to do with "Hunger" who is portrayed as a person of higher being. There was a man named Erysichthon who scorned the gods and never left any offerings to them. The goddess, Ceres, had a sacred forest and there was a tree bigger than all the rest. One day Erysichthon ordered his servants to chop down the tree but they hesitated, he grabbed an axe from one of them and proceeded to chop down the tree himself. The tree cursed him and Ceres sent one of her servants to get "Hunger" to curse the man and consume him so he would be stalked by hunger for the rest of his life. This meant that no matter how much he ate he was still hungry.

The reason I have chosen "Hunger" is because there is an eerie, beautiful description of her that really captures the imagination and I love how "Hunger" has been personified.

Kitta Grau :

http://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Swedish_folktale_23.html

The base folklore of Kitta Grau is that she is a woman whom even the devil is a bit scared of. She can also recognise the devil in his human form revealing her to be clever.

The premise of the story is that the devil confides in her that he cannot separate a newly wedded couple who are madly in love with one another, no matter what methods he adopts. Kitta Grau then boasts that she could split them on her first time going there, and so she does at the end of the first part of the story. the second part of the story involves Kitta Grau out smarting the devil.

Kitta Grau is an evil woman who incites fear in the devil himself but she also has the mean streak in her to attempt to even interfere with his dealings with other humans. My initial vision for her is an old hunched over woman who is quite rotund (but even as I type this I could imagine her being frail and skinny) with many spots and pimples giving her a repulsive look.

The Arch Rogue:

http://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/German_folktale_13.html

The story of The Arch Rogue is about a man who is a sort of conjurer and sorcerer who enjoys playing upon mankind and stealing/tricking people of their property. A king sends troops after him as he sees the people being robbed but, none of his dispatched soldiers find any trace of him. The King changes his tactic and invites someone of his calibre to join his court and not too long after, The Arch Rogue appears in the Kings courtroom unannounced. After that, the Kings plan is to set him three impossible challenges to which he could not possibly complete but The Arch Rogue manages to accomplish them all with great trickery and cunning and in the end is on the court of the King and the King forgives him for his previous crimes.

My first image of The Arch Rogue was of a tall hooded man with a lot of mysterious to him.

20/09/2015 - Stories Picked

Week 02

Stories Picked

Final Stories

My first three stories are from Ovid's "The Fall of Icarus" which has many tales other than the one of Icarus. The second tale is one to do with The Minotaur, the reason I picked this one is because the back story is more interesting than I thought and The Minotaur seems more relatable. My third and final tale from this book is about "Hunger", she is the human personification of hunger.

My fourth short story is a character from Scandinavian folklore named "Kitta Grau", and my last short story is an old German tale, "The Arch Rogue".

My next post will involve me briefly describing the stories and the characters I will be developing in my sketchbook.

16/09/2015 - Update

Week 02

Update

After researching lots of short stories over the last few days I quickly realised that I was more looking for folklore and fairy tales and a bit of mythology. I had some reasonable success with looking into Scandinavian and eastern/central European folklore and I have several short stories from both areas which I will select one from each to bring my total short stories to 3 out of 5. For my other two I will look into more Roman/Greek mythology and short stories and by Monday of Week 3 I will have my 5 short stories that I will give a breakdown of and include some character profiles for the characters based on the story and my interpretation of it and their role in that story.

http://www.worldoftales.com/

This is the website I have used for looking at the Scandinavian and eastern/central European folklore. I also looked at the Indian and Chinese folklore here but I couldn't really visualise many of the characters and that is why I chose to focus more on mythology for my other two short stories. This website (above) has been a great resource for me and it has allowed me to move onto the next stage of research for my short stories. It has a wide variety of other nation's folklore as well which is worth a look.

14/09/2015 - Grayson Perry

Week 02

Grayson Perry

In today's lecture we watched the first part of Grayson Perry's channel 4 documentary titled "Who Are You?". the task is to write a critical response to this.

Critical Response:  To sum up this documentary, Grayson Perry gets a few different people and his aim at the start was to do a "portrait" of them. The way he goes about this is the particularly interesting part, he gets to know the person in front of him and the information he gathers from his time with them will determine the final outcome of the piece of work he provides. The best, and clearest example from this first part was a politician who Grayson could not find any vulnerability with so the final piece was a large vase that Grayson Perry smashed and put back together so the cracks were clearly visible. This was to show the vulnerabilities of the politician but also the vase was decorated to show the life and history of him. I have not come across this kind of thinking for an art piece before but I find it an almost satisfying resolution as the final piece is personal and does not just draw on the physical form of the subject but also their life and personality. Too often there are portraits that just represent a figure, lifeless poses that may hide the true state of that individual, but, what Grayson has done, is inject some much needed humanity to his pieces to correctly reflect the individual.

Also: after a talk with a lecturer on my chosen theme, it has now been slightly altered. I will now pick 5 short stories which I will pick from 5 separate areas of mainly mythological history. More on this later in the post. I will then design and develop a character from each of the stories to improve upon my character design and drawing ability. The idea behind this is to also show potential employers that I can design a character based on someone else's work which is a core skill for character designers as they often work to someone else's ideas. Along with this I will also work up my own concept for a world using professional guidelines and also create story beats for a story set in this world. By the end of term 2 I would like to have done some character designs for my own characters in my world.

My first thought for a short story to use is "The Fall of Icarus" (Ovid, 43 B.C - 17 AD). I first thought of this because I have read it recently and Ovid manages to invoke powerful images of his characters onto his readers and I was particularly captivated by how I imagined "Hunger" in this tale. I have also decided that since "The Fall of Icarus" is Greek mythology that I will choose other areas of the world to find a short story from, such areas I will search into are Scandinavia, Eastern Europe (Slavic tribes), the Roman Empire, China and India. Of course I will be selecting only 5 short stories and preferably one short story from different areas. This could all change though as I may change my criteria for the short stories to more modern/classical time periods but I feel these time periods would limit the fantastic characters I can create.

07/09/2015 - Fist Impressions

Week 01

First Impressions

My thoughts after first lecture and practical for Creative Research:

This is an open module based on the lecture of today. I have to pick an area of passion for myself to create a project. This project can be as simple as wanting to improve my digital painting skills therefore creating a digital painting at the start of this semester and analyse my weaknesses and hopefully have an improved version at the end of the first semester that is greatly improved. It could however be more complex and I could want to look into different styles of animation and therefore I could end up with a variety of different animation tests using 2D, 3D, stop motion, flip book etc. All this I have gathered from the information in the lecture today. I also have to look where I am right now in my creative field and think about where I would like to go after university and it has been highly recommended that we choose a project that will benefit us in that chosen area.

My initial idea for this project is something along the lines of building up a fictitious world and creating a story within this world and also doing development for the characters and environments for the story. All this would be the research and development side of an animation (which would not be created for this project). This idea has stemmed from my dissatisfaction of my drawing/sketching abilities and my passion of storytelling, this idea will therefore allow me to develop my drawings in the development of the characters and environments and also allow me to pursue my interests in narrative and plot and step up my understanding of this field to give myself a better foundation of which to explore further. Another note to make is my desire to be able to sketch characters that I have in my head, but at the moment, I don't have the ability to make them reality on paper. I believe that being able to bring characters and environments to life on paper is essential for creating a convincing narrative and is a core aspect of the animation process to then create final characters in what ever medium is chosen.

The sort of pieces I would create is development sketches for a number of characters and environments and also various documents relating to the narrative, these include character sheets detailing character traits, story beats that will be re-iterated through out and also a premise. I also believe that scene layout/composition is a key story telling device and I should look into this if this idea is favoured as it would allow me to really immerse myself in film studies.