Farideh

Farnham UCA is now on blogger

2011-02-07T12:52:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a certain tutor talking to my tutor Farnham UCA is now switching from wiki spaces to blogger ! =D So I will be updating my new blog alot more feel free to have a look http://farideh-soraya.blogspot.com/ Hope you guys are doing great ^_^

Animation in Farnham

2010-11-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

Hey guys hope everyone's doing ok, just posting a link to my wiki its basically like blogger but that what we've gotta use here.

http://farideh-soraya.wikispaces.com/

Feel free to look round

Farnham interview today

2010-03-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

Well looks like me and Jade will be the newest students at UCA Farnham starting in September after we've both been offered a place there ^_^ looks like I'll be learning all kinds of animation while enjoying the fact that they are now getting Maya n scaring old people, while missing UCA Rochester and the wonderful people I met on CG Arts course. Thank you to Phil, Alan n Photoshop Phil for all their help ^_^ and everyone on the course, you were the reason why I didn't wanna leave but wish you all the best in the future and dont worry I'll still be blogging x

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

2010-03-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B7s01DpBTg&feature=channel

This film was truly amazing. I take my hat off to the actors for their fantastic job, seeing as most of the film was green screened and the actors were working with nothing they did an amazing job of making you believe the world was real. In the film Alice revisits wonderland as a teenager and finds out how wonderland has changed alot since her last visit as a child. The Red Queen has taken over wonderland leaving it a very dark place so Alice must help them to get the White Queen back on her throne. I did decide to see this film in 3D and it was worth seeing it in 3D, everything stood out alot more. Watching the film I was just amazed by the costumes and the sets and the wonderful acting. Johnny Depp did a wonderful job playing the Mad Hatter watching this man slowly going mad and changing within his own head. Although straight away you can tell that this is a Tim Burton film because of the usual soundtrack and the obvious fact that Johnny Depp and his wife is in the film (like many of his others) it's weird watching the film knowing that it is also by Disney but seeing as its wonderland after distruction I think Tim Burton's dark look to his films fits well.

Crit 2moro

2010-03-04T10:15:00.000-08:00

Just wanna wish everyone good luck at your crit 2moro ^_^ I'm sure you'll all do great! =D have fun xxx

Maidstone UCA

2010-02-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

I am proud to say that me and Jade have been offered a place in Animation Arts at Maidstone UCA! I am extremely happy and thank you to everyone that gave me advice and wished me luck x

FMP animation

2010-02-07T08:22:00.001-08:00

Harlequin Mini Project

2010-02-03T13:34:00.000-08:00

Escape The Fate - It's just me

"Just a little more, come on and satisfy me,
Just a little more, come on and terrify me,

Just a little more and I'll be done with it,

Take my life and then I'll feel okay."

These were the images that got me inspired.

This is just one of the costumes that I have been doing for the photoshoot. I didn't end up using the white belt in the end, I originally made it to make this outfit look different from the other outfit that was made.

This was an idea that I got from an Escape the Fate song. (above) First I did some quick sketches of Harlequin's and then after that my ideas started flowing thinking about where you might possibly find a harlequin and this image of a harlequin hanging upside on the monkey bars like a trapeze artist came into my head and couldn't get it out of my head. I then decided to look at different images of harlequins online but I got these weird images up of these gruesome babies but I kept looking. After looking at all the different costumes and stereotypes for harlequins I then started thinking up ideas for a modern day harlequin costume. Alot of the costumes I recyled from things I already had but other things I had to make: The tights were a pair of plain white tights that I painted on using fabric paint to create the pattern. The cuff I sewed by hand. The dress I painted white diamonds on the side to go with the harlequin theme and the white top was a top I already had that I cut sorter. I then decided on what the makeup was going to be like. I had decided that became Jade had a very symetrical face that I would break that by giving her one bold eye like the makeup from "Clockwork Orange". In contrast I gave my eyes quite symettrical makeup. I enjoyed doing this little idea I had and bringing it to life but I wish I could have used a proper model instead of myself so I could take all the photographs rather than just directing them. I also would have like to do alot more to the costumes so straight away when you look at the photographs you think harlequin.

NEEDS HELP: Interview on February 10th

2010-01-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone I have in interview for Animation Arts in Maidstone on the February 10th and was wondering if anyone could give me any advice because as you know I'm always cool as a cucumber (in otherwise im very scared). Coming into CG Arts I didn't have to have an interview so I really don't know what to do any advice? maybe portfolio wise etc would really help

Thank You x

Photoshoot for Dion (DONT LOOK MATT)

2010-01-14T15:06:00.000-08:00

Despite leaving the course I'm still set on using my blog as a way of getting work out because it's easier to show people your work. This is just a photoshoot I've done for a mate of mine, he goes UCA Maidstone and his project was to show what people do over xmas and rather than show everyone sitting at a table having fun he decided to show the scenarios that get covered up cause of xmas. His other shoots consisited of a man drinking too much and being sick, and also someone homeless on the street. Mine was just to show the high suicide rate over xmas. A couple of friends of mine who have seen these pictures don't really like them just for the fact they don't like seeing me dead.

The Poltergeist

2010-01-11T13:37:00.000-08:00

Right the Poltergeist has completely put a stop to me ever wanting kids because they are weird and creepy. However as a film it was interesting to watch but even though I have never see it personally I knew what was happening because it's been ripped so much.

Rip number 1 and probably the biggest rip was from family guy. This whole episode was based around this movie for instance at the end when you think it's all over because they have carol-anne back well from watching this I was wondering if the house collapses in on itself or not. However it has made it abit more comical.

Rip number 2 was from South Park but unfortunately I couldnt find a clip of this women on youtube but found a still instead. I do apologise to everyone for how much I started giggling when that women came on to help the family out because in family guy she does the same thing and even has the strange voice however when I 1st saw this episode I just thought they gave her a weird voice for comical effect so when she actually spoke like that in the film I couldnt help myself sorry.

Rip number 3 was from Scary Movie 2. At the part when the women is being pushed up against all the different walls in poltergeist scary movie did the same scene but made it look as if the women and ghost were making love. So really in theory this movie was kind of ruined for me because I found myself laughing at it rather then taking it seriously.

Evian Babies

2010-01-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

Does anyone else find this advert either very cute or extremely creepy? I thought I'd post this because I think it has an uncanny feel to it I don't know what your thoughts are?

Maya Modelling

2009-12-15T17:34:00.001-08:00

This is my first attempt at modelling some stairs seeing as I didn't complete the maya building last project. I think at the moment it looks too maya built it needs more shapes but atleast I have a basic version to begin with at play with. I did base these stairs alot on my own because I could see them from my computer and my own stairs, as you can see from my earlier posts, the banister and railings are quite square.

Scene Research Photos

2009-12-15T12:44:00.000-08:00

I like this photograph where it's taken from a crouched down position looking through the bars. I like how it restricts your view making you want to look round the bars to see but you can't, however there are no local points and not much going on.

I also like this photograph because it was taken with me crouching down again but peering round the banister. It also restricts the viewer but has more going on.

To try and get more of a feel of what I want my scene to be and feel like I decided to get my camera out and start taking my own primary research images. I explored using different camera angles to get a different feel, some I've done peering out from behind the banister or looking through them to frame the scene. After Phil's comments I'm debating whether to drop the shadow part or just play about with it making it more abstract and cropped rather than the falling one.

2009-12-13T16:57:00.000-08:00

This was my original drawing. I thought that if I'm having a shadow of someone in mid jump there needs to be somewhere for them to jump from, it needs to be logical. So I drew this layout to show that they can jump off the banister.
These are just some thumbnails of the same scene but from different angles and also trying to make the scene interesting composition wise while also placing the shadow within the scene to make it seem real.

In the last photoshop lesson with Phil I started these from the 1st sketch just to add more persception within it.

These are some images of different staircases so I can refference them, I also researched them to see what kind of houses these more grand stair cases would look like seeing as my house must reflect that.

Further Shadow Tests

2009-12-11T10:36:00.001-08:00

After my shadow attempts didn't go so well I spoke to Alan today and he said how I'm on the right track just needed to try some more things to get it looking better.

The shadow on the right has been painted on the wall and the shadow on the left was a plane with the outline of a person falling on and a light projected behind it.

I added this box in to test out how the shadow would act and the one that has been painted doesn't bend round the objects and therefore doesn't make a realistic looking shadow.

The shadow that is on a plane semed to work the best because it would bend round and object as you can see above.

I think I might use the plane with the shadow image on to make my shadow. The plane has been made to not be shown in the scene so once its rendered all your left with is the shadow it leaves.

Shadow test in Maya

2009-12-09T18:40:00.000-08:00

For my Maya scene I thought I might try and use shadows because although we can't model humans yet I though using shadows to suggest there is a human might be an option. So, I have done a couple tests in Maya using the skills I've learnt to try and create a shadow, I then figured out it was harder than I thought so I need to ask for help on how I can do it, however this is only a test and I'm still debating whether to use it or not yet.

I got the idea of my shadow shape from this image Phil showed us, Russell I Sorgi, Suicide. However I didn't want to look at images of suicide so I looked at images of free falling and used that image for my outline of the shadow. I thought that if I import the shadow into my final scene it can look like someone's jump off the landing to either escape or commit suicide.

Pirate cove texture task

2009-12-09T16:36:00.000-08:00

I have just finished doing this week's texturing task, I did have some problems though because my Maya was playing up and I ended up loosing the while scene and having a blank one. Unfortunately for some reason myUCA wasn't working on me either so couldn't get it off there however Leo managed to send me the original one so I could start again.

2009-12-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

After the last crit I have realised that I can't draw that well so trying to get my point across is hard and also means that my final pieces aren't that dynamic, so I decided to look at refreshing my perspective skills.

These images are just some quick ideas on what I can do in Maya. I want to make something simple but then crop so that it doesn't give too much information, however the drawings seem a little flat but in Maya I will be making it a more interesting by using different camera angles.

Stepford wives

2009-12-08T15:37:00.000-08:00

The Stepford wives is one of those films which exploits the whole sexist views on women being the house wife. In the film the women who first go to Stepford are quite out spoken and have different personalities and hobbies. The men on the other hand have different opinions and want to change their wives into something you would find off a commercial and make exact robots of them with the perfect figure, big breasts and make them the perfect house wife. In the end the women are living only to serve their husbands, they wear make up and look pretty and clean the house to please their husbands and don't think of themselves. I can see this film as being a man's perfect dream while it's a women's worst nightmare. Although even as a women myself I can say yes I wouldn't mind looking after the kids and being a house wife, there is no way in hell that I'm going to stop being who I am and only live to please a husband, so I can see why the women were scared of the Stepford wives at first. When the Stepford wives were talking in a group they did sound like they were in a commercial rather than having an every day conversation.

Repulsion

2009-12-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

The film repulsion was a hard film to understand. Your not quite sure whats going on in her mind, if she's getting OCD or just going out of her mind. It was also this big question whether she was raped or it was just a metaphor, either way it could be read both ways. I saw it as she went through a horrible rape and it kept replaying in her head, hence why she didn't like men however looking back now it can be that she didn't want to have sex with men unlike the rest of society. This wasn't an average film where you have the story and you watch it unfold it was more like have this window into someone's life and seeing how their mind works. I felt like the house reflected her mind cause these cracks started to appear in the walls as she was going mad. I know how it is when your in your house alone your mind does start to play tricks on you and nothings always straight on sometimes the room moves and you do these weird things. I did enjoy how it was shot from all these different angles it did give me loads of ideas for my own scene. For instance what view I'd have if I was a painting on the wall who's frame was tilted.

Unit 3- Research into Tableauz Vivants and the Uncanny

2009-12-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

After the two lecture I thought I might go back over what we explored just to make sure I'm on the right track.

Tableaux Vivant:
By my understanding means, a living image. Divitonary definition: 'A scene presented on stage by costumed actors who remain silent and motionless as if in a picture.' Tableaux vivant is quite theatrical.

(Edgar Degas)

Mise-en-scène:

Dictionary definition-

1. the process of setting a stage, with regard to placement of actors, scenery, properties, etc.
2. the stage setting or scenery of a play.
3. surroundings; environment.

My understanding of the term, mise-en-scène, is that it's staging an arrangement using costumes, lighting and human movement. Also by using certain camera work and editing you can crop that scene into what you want it to be. Just like in Edgar Degas' paintings (above), we are only shown glimpses of what's going on, not an overall view.

(Edward Hopper)

The work of Edward Hopper shows glimpses into people's lives only leaving slight clues within his paintings to guide you along, however you can never really know what's going on. His pieces of show tend to tell a story to some degree but usually let you make that story up for yourself. In the image above we can see a women sitting on her bed, on one hand she could have just woken up to a nice morning and is looking out the window to a nice view. On the other hand she could have just had an argument with a partner and has been left there sitting alone, possibly fighting back tears. Either way you look at it we'll never know. We also will never know what she is looking at outside the window either, we can see a glimpse of a building but it's not what she's looking at.

Ambiguity:

Dictionary definition-

1. doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention: to speak with ambiguity; an ambiguity of manner.
2. an unclear, indefinite, or equivocal word, expression, meaning, etc.: a contract free of ambiguities; the ambiguities of modern poetry.

The term to me means, images that cannot be defined or are vague or have an unclear meaning. I think if something have a touch of ambiguity to it then it is something that you just can't put your finger on but you know something is not right.

The Uncanny:

The uncanny Dictionary definition-
1. having or seeming to have a supernatural or inexplicable basis; beyond the ordinary or normal; extraordinary: uncanny accuracy; an uncanny knack of foreseeing trouble.
2. mysterious; arousing superstitious fear or dread; uncomfortably strange: Uncanny sounds filled the house.

I feel that the uncanny is easy to describe if you say what it isn't rather than what it is. It's hard to explain exactly what the uncanny is but I think it's like a feeling. It's different from what you would feel in a horror film because you know the feeling of fear, however I think it is something quite close because if you are unfamiliar with something that makes you fearful of it.

Here is an image of the "uncanny valley". It is a graph that helps us to understand what is more uncanny than something else. Things like stuffed animals aren't uncanny because they bare no resemeblance to humans while on the other hand a prosthetic hand or a corpse, while having no life of it's own, looks extremely human.

Important quote from the lecture: "The uncanny is.... a species of the familiar"

(Bernard Faucon)

Bernard Faucon uses ventriloquist dummys to play with the whole meaning of uncanny. These dolls unsettle us in a way because although they are harmless inanimate objects they can be brought to "life" with the aid of a human. Faucon places them in his scenes in such a way that they seem like ordinary humans from a distance but they're not alive, however they look as though they are going about their everday lives just like us.

Unheimlich:

Unheimlich basically means, unhomely. Objects such as, waxworks, dolls, and mirrors can be seen as eerie. The unheimlich can give you this doubt in the back of your mind whether an inanimate object is alive. The unheimlich is something that is lifeless but has an excessive likeness to the living. I feel that in the film, invasion of the body snatchers, what the people were feeling towards their loved ones was something similar to the unheimlich, while the "aliens" looked exactly like their loved one and bared a likeless to them. it wasn't them. These unheimlich things can unhinged your mind and play tricks.

Doppelgänger:

Dicitonary definition: 'a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person.'

Quote found from: http://www.crystalinks.com/doppelganger.html

'The term has, in the vernacular, come to refer to any double or look-alike of a person, most commonly in reference to a so-called evil twin, or to bilocation. Alternatively, the word is used to describe a phenomenon where you catch your own image out of the corner of your eye. In some traditions, seeing one's own doppelganger is an omen of death. A doppelganger seen by friends or relatives of a person may sometimes bring bad luck, or indicate an approaching illness or health problem.'

Waxworks, dolls, and even twins can come under this phrase. I believe it is something that bares the same likeness to you while it is not you, somehow like your reflection in the mirror.

The image above is of, David walliams and Matt Lucas standing next to their waxwork counter parts at Madame Tussauds. Although the waxworks show how far we have come in creating a likeless to humans it is also unsettling to see.

This is an image from the film, 'The Shining'. Within the film these twins have been used to be quite creepy and unnerve you. I have not watched the film myself but this scene is quite famous that without seeing the film I know what's it's about to some degree.

The two images above are just some example of a dopplegänger. The baby dolls is one of many realistic looking baby dolls you can now buy, you can even get special perfumes so that they smell like a real baby. I myself find it quite unnerving looking at the baby dolls because they just remind me of a dead baby corspe. They are a bit too realistic looking for my liking and I didnt spend long on the (www.reborn-baby.com) website looking for an image because I didn't really want to look at them. The China doll is another thing that I have found give people "the creeps". I don't know whether it's their eyes that stare or their smoothe porcelain faces but I have personally known a few people who are scared of them.

I decided to find some images of mirrors and shadows because I feel that they could be used within my maya scene to give it that uncanny feel. Shadows bare an exact silhouette of the human being stand in front of a light, they also can play tricks on your mind, for instance when you were a kid some shadows would scare you because you didn't know what they belonged to and therefore frightened you. Mirrors can also be quiet uncanny because they have your reflection within them, so although you are look at yourself you have to remember that it's not you in the mirror it's a reflection.

Invaders from Mars

2009-12-03T15:46:00.000-08:00

Invaders from Mars is just one of these cheesy that you know what's going on from the beggining. I did enjoy the ending when the boy wakes up and it's a dream cause then you wonder whether it's going to repeat itself or he just saw into the future. At the end it did also start getting a bit repetative and the guys in green suits ended up ruining it for me although just goes with the feel of the film, it was abit exaggerated.

Invasion of the body snatchers

2009-12-03T15:28:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed this film because it wasn't your everyday film where you new exactly what was happening you where left in suspence wondering what was going on. At the end of the film you still don't know what happens to the original bodies all you know is that these aliens or things have taken over your memories but have no emotion. It does demonstrate the uncanny though when the people have noticed the difference but can't put their finger on it.

Short and Sweet

2009-12-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

Went to another short & sweet last night, some of the films weren't too bad but one film that stuck out in my head was a short called "cashback". I couldn't find any of the other videos (I'm sure leo might be able to) but I did get a link to cashback.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k2IIn3I3jwpXpU4UUO

Alex and I enjoyed this video a lot, I think we enjoyed this so much because we can relate because we both work in a super market, however I think anyone who has ever had a boring job can relate and being artists you can see the narraters point.

Gregory Crewdson

2009-11-28T12:25:00.000-08:00

Gregory Crewdson's work is strange, the photographs seem like the worlds inside them are calm however there's still this feeling that something it not right. Crewdson uses quite theatrical lighting for his pieces with the lights highlighting the focus points. I feel like these photographs seem more like films still from a horror film where everything seem ok when it's not.

Sandy Skoglund

2009-11-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

Sandy Skoglund is a fine art photographer who builds these sets as paints them in one colour but adds in probs and actors to her photographs. In the photographs, you can see a normal house but there's something not right, theirs these weird characters and everythings one colour but with the actors it brings you back to real life again.

Anna Gaskell

2009-11-27T12:16:00.001-08:00

It's funny how things in life go fulls circle, earlier today Phil said to look up the artists on the sheet and said how he thought I liked Anna Gaskell. Once I googled her I realised that I used her photographs in my FMP for National Diploma when I was doing fairy tales. I love that fairy tale like quality these imahes have and how silent they all feel like they wanted to tell you a secret but have been told not to, therefore leaving us as an audience wondering and wanting more. I enjoy how she never really shows the person's face within the photograph either, (it's something I use in my personal art work), it leave the story telling to the body language instead.

Unit 3: Environment

2009-11-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

I had a little world with Phil to see what, tableaux vivants meant and got from him that it's a still image that tells a story. I searched online and they said tableaux vivants is: "a representation of a scene, picture, etc. by a person or group in costume, posing silently without moving". And also apparently it's french for "living picture" but I'm not sure if that's right or not. I also talked to Phil about "the uncanny" which is a term by Freud but looking online so far I haven't found any versions that are in layman's terms so that I can understand but what I understood was that it's a kind of suggested thing, like to suggest something is alive when it's not, or that a house is haunted when it's not. I suppose our final piece will look like a film still, therefore having to tell the story without anything being animated.

End of Unit 2

2009-11-27T11:49:00.000-08:00

Looking back on this project I'm kind of glad it's over, to be honest the most fun I had was writing the essay because I found it interesting. I will admit that that this project has taught me alot, thanks to Digital Phil, I have come away with all these new skills for photoshop. I have also realised that coming from a 3D model background I need to get my drawings skills in order and start teaching my self about perspective drawings. At the end of the day being able to model plastercene won't help me with animation I need to be able to show my ideas through 2D mediums. I have also realised that I need to get myself into gear for this next project and up my game, I don't want to be my next crit dreading what people think I want to be confident in my work which won't happen unless I put that time in.

Final Silver City

2009-11-26T18:49:00.000-08:00

I went with this image in the end because I wasn't comfortable presenting the previous one. I did however change the city by using the new buildings I had created and putting them into this scene. In the book it describes an acid blue/purple lake with a silver city on it surrounded by wooded hills. If I were to do this image again I would change the way I look at the city and explore more shapes of the buildings.

Final Desert of Colours

2009-11-26T18:44:00.000-08:00

This image I struggled with at first because I found it hard to get the hills looking right. I also found it hard to get the texture right and to indicate that it is sand hills. In the book it describes the night forest crumbling into sand and how the main character, Bastian, goes wondering through the desert for a while and can't find a way out so I wanted it to look like the desert went on for miles. If I were to do this again I would try some different techniques to create the sand dunes and also try a different perspective.

Final Fantastica

2009-11-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

After going over and over this image I have finally finished it. I'm still not too sure on the moutains but I am proud of my maze. There were certain things that I left out of the original text to make the image look better. For instance it describes the maze being made of flowers however the flowers in this image would look tiny and in the end just look like a mesh of colours. I wanted to get an overall feel of Fantastica by piecing together what the book describes. If I had a chance to go over this again I might try using a different angle.

Desert of colours (new image)

2009-11-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

I wasn't happy with my desert of colours composition so I took Ruben's advice and took my sketch image and came up with this.

Silver City (again)

2009-11-26T18:30:00.000-08:00

Right I decided to take Simon's advice and do a new silver city from a different perspective however I'm not keen on this image. I do however prefer the buidlings.

Maya work

2009-11-26T09:11:00.001-08:00

Sorry it's taken so long to blog my Maya work, I know it's not much but I've been having trouble with beveling the edges and my Uv layouts.

Silver city (NEW)

2009-11-26T08:36:00.000-08:00

I've done some more concept drawings on the silver city buildings so they do not look like mushrooms anymore. I also looked at different compositions to change the "camera angle". Below are some images that I used as a refference when doing the new thumbnails.

Silver City (attempt 3)

2009-11-26T06:59:00.000-08:00

I've done the city again trying to make it look better, however I've just read simon's comment about my city looking like a cluster of mushrooms and to do it from another angle so I am going back to the drawing board.

Silver City (attempt 2)

2009-11-26T06:29:00.001-08:00

I've attempted the silver city before but I didn't like the hills in the background.

Here Flipped the image to see if the composition was better.

Fantastica (again)

2009-11-25T11:38:00.000-08:00

Here I did a quick skecth to look at the composition and see what how to make the maze stand out more.

This was what Phil had done quickly during my last digital lesson to show me what I should do.

In this image I added some more detail into the mountains to make them look more 3 dimensional and stand out.

This this images I've added more to the mountians and moved the trees back so that the maze can come forward more.

Here I've finished the mountains althought I'm still not too happy with them, and I've made the maze higher and added some shading. I wanted to go over the mountains alot more and also add more into the hill in the foreground.

Desert of colours studies

2009-11-24T07:39:00.000-08:00

I've decided to look over my desert of colours scene because I'm not too happy with the composition, I think it's abit boring and needs to be mixed up more. Here are just some quick studies in grey to see what it could look like.
This is my earlier painting that I edited abit more and changed the hills around after taking Phil's advice.

This painting I did from scratch rather than trying to polish up my painting before I thought it might be best to start again. I want my drawing to have alot more depth into it and some more texture.

Silver City (attempt 1)

2009-11-22T16:02:00.000-08:00

Here I was testing out composition for my final painting. I'm not so sure on the back ground and the purple lake at the moment.

Digital Painting with Phil (early days)

2009-11-19T05:34:00.000-08:00

Here is one of my earlier paintings on the room in which Bastain is taken too after the deserts of colours. This was just to lay out what bits go inside the room and the colour palet. I just got this image off of one of the computer because I had done this a few weeks ago. After planning this room out I decided against it, i wasnt keen on the layout and feel.

Fantastica (again)

2009-11-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

Ok so I keep coming back to this painting and changing it over and over again because I'm still not happy with it there's something missing but not sure what at the moment. I'm not sure whether to add flowers in the maze and stick to the text or leave them out so it stays within my colour palet.

The cook, The theif, His wife and Her lover

2009-11-17T12:39:00.000-08:00

Well this film made me feel sick, literally. I did want to walk out just watching the first scene however I stuck it out. I can't say I would watch this film or ever recommend it to a friend but there were some qualities I admired it for. I loved how during the film I forgot I was watching a film I thought I was watching a play on stage. I will admit though I felt for Georgina, she was getting beaten and abused and brought me back to my last portrait, it did make me cry when she was lying there next to her lover in denile that he had been killed stilled expecting him to give her a kiss in the morning like it was a bad dream. Then when she was saying to her lover all the things her husband did to her I just teared up. All I can say is that it reminds me alot of the theatre, it used the same sets over and over again and even the colours and lighting was theatrical. While doing drama we learnt about using different coloured lights to create moods and that's exactly what the film has done, it isn't realistic.

Short and Sweet 2

2009-11-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I went yet again to london to watch short film. This week was abit more light hearted then last week but unfortunately their last week will be the 7th December and wont be running again until February. One of the films I really enjoyed was one called "full circle" which was about two people living in Ireland who work opposite each other, and despite loving everyting about each other, have never spoken. Another good one was "Le bell boy" which was quite strange but this little man starts running up n down stairs with this funny hat on and he's running to get to work on time and his job is to be the button on an alarm clock n he's hit on the head. Unfortunately I couldn't find these short films but we're beautifully done live action films.

This short film is called "Spider", and although I didn't take to it Leo and Jade seemed to love it, however there is a nice little scene with them in the car and the guy is feeding her chocolates playfully.

Edward Scissorhands

2009-11-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

What can I really say about this film. I've watched it so many times it's up there as one of my favourites, the contrast between the two different "worlds" is typical in Tim Burton films. This film however is just a typical "beauty and the beast" story where the leading lady at first doesnt like the main character because of the way he looks but learns to love him anyway. It's a beautiful story told in quite a strange way, the pastel colours of the houses with matching cars and even their clothes are from a similar palet.

These are some pictures of the stage production of Edward Scissorhands, I watched it about a year ago in london. I thought I'd add it in because it was strange how well it carried the story within the film and the set were quite similar. The stage version had no words within it at all it was purely dancing but gave the same magical feel to it and the same romance. The houses on stage had the same pastel colours and the feel as the film with the mayjor contrast of the castle on the hill which Edward lives in. It was portrayed very well on stage with snow falling on the audience at the end that just brung the audience into the story.

Night Forest

2009-11-15T16:30:00.001-08:00

This is not one of my finished scenes at all this digital painting is just one of my thumbnails being brought to life. I liked reading the part about the night forest with its giant flowers that Bastian can sit inside them. This is also quite important to the story in the "Desert of colors" chapter because this is where it all starts and also finished with. The night forest turns to sand during the day creating the desert of colours hence why the sand is all different colours in my earlier tablet drawing.

Desert of Colours (new)

2009-11-15T15:30:00.001-08:00

Right I went back to this drawing and tried adding in more texture to the sand. I also changed the sky because I really didn't like the sky I had before. I've also added Bastain standing on the sand looking out at it to show you that he's standing on hills of sand although I'm beggining to think that my sand hills resemble serbert however coloured sand hills are fantasty so it's a challenge to make them look real. I still want to discuss it with Phil about this painting just to see if we can make it any better.

More Digital Painting

2009-11-14T10:09:00.001-08:00

Here I've added more trees into the background to seperate the moutains and the maze.

Here I've put some texture into the maze to make it stand out and round it off.

Here I've added in lighting to give it more realistic feel. I still need to add some tiny flowers into the maze, edit the sky and change the hill in front: I don't like the shape.

Digital Painting with Phil

2009-11-14T07:07:00.000-08:00

After talking with Phil I've decided to change to composition of my original painting. I would like to change it some more I dont like the hill at the front too much at the moment and the trees in the background are going to come forward alot more too and just general detail.

Silver City

2009-11-13T05:35:00.001-08:00

Here are some thumbnail drawings of The silver city which sits on the lake of tears.
Here is a picture of Venice. I decided to looks at it to see how the water and buidlings come together.

My friend suggested I look at Stargate Atlantis because it has a city floating on top of water as well. He also pointed out that if everythings made of silver it won't have proper right angles but with be quite curved. Here are just some drawings I did of the silver city exploring making it round. The drawings on the right I tried adding itn the town square where everyone gathers for the tournament.

Night Forest

2009-11-13T04:58:00.000-08:00

At the beggining of the chapter, "Desert of colours", it describes the night forest which has gigantic trees and plants within in. Bastian is even sitting in one of the flowers during the scene. I looked at the film Quest for camelot to see how I want my trees to look, the trees within the film seem alive and have moment to them, so I drew some of my trees with different angles and twist to give them life.

Magic Sword: Quest for Camelot

2009-11-12T15:48:00.001-08:00

I decided to look at this film because of the forest scenes within it. Although you can't really change a forest too much this film makes it comes alive. It's basically a fantasy story based around the kind Arthur books and they go into an enchanted forest. I also like how the film stills look like digital paintings them giving me an idea on how to go about my tablet work. It also features quite a few scenes with lakes in them with should help when doing the silver city and the lake of tears scene.

Never Ending Story History and Sources

2009-11-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

The never ending story was written by Michael Ende and first published in 1979. It's a German Fantasy novel about this parrallel world that's being destroyed. Most of the story takes place in Fantastica which features mainly forest areas.

These are just some source images I've found to look at to get some realism for my paintings. However being a fantasy forest I don't image it to be exactly realistic.

Desert of Colours Tablet Work

2009-11-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

This photo I took and put it into photoshop and by editing the curves made the sands different colours. I feel that I can use it as a refference.

This is a picture of moon sand. It's this colour sand for kids to play with that comes in different colours. I thought it would be good to look at considering the desert of colours is made up of different coloured sands which looks unrealistic.

This is another drawing tablet piece that I want to work into more to make it more realistic. I put an extra layer between some of the hills to make them look more in the distance.

Desert of Colours Thumbnails

2009-11-12T03:08:00.001-08:00

The desert of colours is basically the night forest that has crumbled leaving behind different colours mounds of sand. Although you cannot see from the thumbnails but the deset will be all different colours.

I've been looking at different deserts with hills to get a more realistic feel to the horizon line and to also look at how sand behaves.

Drawing tablet work

2009-11-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

This is my new thumbnail skecthes on how I want the first scene to look I've added in all the different descriptions and pieced them together to get the over all look of Fantastica.

Here I was looking at different styles to do for the Ivory Tower. It's described as being like a snail shell.

I've started to block in different parts of my drawing to get a feel of what it's going to be like. Once the colours goes in and I start adding detail and atmosphere hopefully it will look alot better. At the moment I just want to see how it looks perspective wise. I didn't end up adding in the Ivory Tower because I felt in was not neccesary to sum up the feel of Fantastica even though I did look at different shapes and sizes for the Tower. I'm still unsure whether to add it in or keep it out for the moment.

Short and Sweet

2009-11-10T14:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday me Leo and Jade went up to London to watch some short films. It takes place in this bar with sofas in it and everyone just gathers round to watch these short films ranging from 2D and 3D animations to live action etc. Everyone's really friendly and it's nice to interact with people who are also into animation or appreciate short films too.

This video is called "Princess Margaret Blvd". Unfortunately this is only a teaser I couldn't find the whole video but it's about an old women those mind is going and ended up sending our wonderful hostess to tears. We ended up all lighting candles for her.

This video is called "Stand up". Yet again I couldn't find the full version but I wanted to blog it because the animator was there last night at Short & Sweet to talk to. He got up and said that he originally recorded that performance and then drew over the top of actors, frame by frame, to get this animation.

We're all going again next week so hopefully it might be a more happy week because leo said how the short films are usually alot more upbeat then the dark ones we watched (lets hope so).

The Silver City of Amarganth

2009-11-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

In this chapter Bastian starts off in the Temple of a Thousand Doors and ends up in alot of different hexagonal rooms with different doors. Then after that goes to the city of Amarganth which is this city built of of different floating houses and a palace which float on barges to protect the city, so everything is made from silver because the lake is sits on dissolves every other material. These were just quick sketches to basically put what idea I had in my head onto paper.

The Desert of Colours

2009-11-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

In this chapter it describes how the night forest turns into like sand and creates a multicoloured desert, which this lion creature stand on and changes colour depending on what colour sand he's on. Then he takes Bastian to his kind of home into this very grand room although his house it very cave like.

Fantastica in Danger

2009-11-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

These are some quick thumbnails I've done while reading this chapter. It sets the scene in a forest and describes different characters all going to the Ivory Castle. These are just some of the images I had while reading the chapter. It doesnt really go into too much depth describing the surroundings, so you have to just piece stuff together with little descriptions like Ivory castle and flower maze.

Jesse Van Dijk

2009-11-08T13:54:00.000-08:00

I found this artitst while looking through a book called "Exposé 6". When I saw the top image of the maze it caught my eye, it just look very realistic. Jesse Van Dijk mainly does very detailed digital art.

The Haunting

2009-11-05T08:33:00.000-08:00

The Haunting is another film I enjoyed watching. I loved the subtlety of it, I'd hate to see the remake. After watching the film it reminded me alot of a play I saw in London with my old drama group called "The women in black". It performed by two men and it's very much like a ghost story. I was fortunate enough with my Drama group to go there early when noone was in and got a quick drama lesson on scarying people. They showed us how a door can create an atmosphere. The play is incredible with only two characters on stage everything is suggested, there is nothing obvious about it which I feel scares people alot more. I think that when something is all in someones mind it scares them more than seeing things in front of them because they can proves that exists, when its in your mind its alot more scarier. I feel that the haunting has used quite theatrical techniques like the women in black to suggest there being something there when there isn't.

The Night of the Hunter

2009-11-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed this film quite alot, it had a very unusual feel to it. I feel like it was best that it was in black and white because it gave the film a painting quality. The nursery rhymes within the film gave it quite an eery feel, although the movie in an old film I never really crossed my mind during the film that I was watching a black and white movie. I know this may sound odd but the scene with the mother underwater was just so beautiful and graceful it was such a silent image but I was shocked at how much it looked like the actress especially when more modern day films that use the same shots, for example in Harry Potter and the goblet of fire they do an underwater scene quite similar, aren't as realistic. I also loved the scene with the kids on the boat it was so calming watching them float down the river. The most amusing part of the film was how the children seemed to be the only ones talking sense seeing as all the adults were being brainwashed.

Essay Film

2009-11-05T07:22:00.000-08:00

Okay so some people might think it's typical that I would choose the Nightmare before Christmas as the film I want to explore in my essay but I have my reasons. Just like Edward Scissor hands there are two different sets with very different atmospheres. Most of the film is set in Halloween town which is very dark, the buildings aren't straight just like in The Cabinet of Caligari, it has a more expressive feel. In comparisson when Jack gets lost and ends up in Christmas town the atmosphere changes dramatically. Christmas town is full of bright light and colour and has an all round happy feel to it. The beauty of the film is that the sets are built from scratch, they're not CG.

Labyrinth

2009-11-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

Right, I decided to look at the film the Labyrinth because the beggining chapter in my book describes a maze of flowers before getting to the ivory tower. Another reason for looking at this film is because I love the alternative world amongst our own which the never ending story has. I dont really want to look at stills from the never ending story because I want my art work to look completely different and I dont want anything to influence my imgination, so my solution is too look at similar films instead.

The Labyrinth has these sets that gives each part of the film a different feel to it. From the start to the bog to the forest and even then at the beggining in the home. I was trying to see if I could find some concept drawings or film stills but I didn't have much luck.

James Clyne

2009-11-03T11:53:00.000-08:00

Right I love the concept art that James Clyne did for the film "Fountain", it's full of forest scenes which I think is quite relevant to the never ending story. The concept art for Fountain seems to come from another world although keeping this realistic feel that we do have forest it's not futuristic but also not natural in some sense. I do wanna find some images from the film "The magic sword: quest for camelot" because the forest scenes from that film are also other worldly but I'll keep posting but I need to read the other chapters.

Unit 2: Space

2009-11-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

Right lately I've been neglecting my blog (not good) and scarying Phill lol but I just didnt wanna clash projects but here it goes. I've finally managed to print out my chapters of my book and I have got the never ending story. I've managed to read the first chapter so far and describes alot of forest scenes and labirynths etc so I've been trying to find some concept drawings from the film Labirynth but was unsuccessful and because of the film finding info on the never ending story is abit hard because this from the film come up so may have to resort to the library.

animations and pokerchips

2009-10-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

Common Materials

2009-10-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

Final Piece

2009-10-28T04:11:00.000-07:00

I did this portrait to show the abuse I've gotten from men just like the other women in my family but despite all that we still remain strong. The bruises are a metaphor for the abuse and the man in the portrait being the abuser but although he's trying to still comfort me I'm not looking at him to show im seperate still. I wanted the guys face to be hidden so it doesnt take the focus away from the fact its a portrait about me.

Prep Portraits

2009-10-28T03:35:00.001-07:00

I booked the photography studio and tried out different poses, my aim was to compare men and women against each other showing how women can be strong despite being destroyed by men. The whole idea came from this myth about having a "Prince Charming" when we all know real life isn't like that just like I have found out from my own experiences. I prefer the images in black and white because I feel they become more silence and rather using colour symbolism to tell the story you use just the image itself.

Style Lighting 2

2009-10-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

Life Drawing

2009-10-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

More Portrait Ideas

2009-10-20T07:07:00.000-07:00

Here is one of my portrait ideas where I've put together pictures of all the strong women in my life. I over feathered the two women in the middle because they are no longer with us I wanted to give them a ghost like quality. In this portrait there are quite a range of different generations.

Here I wanted to explore using words within a portrait to help get the point across

These two portraits were just experiments to see how brightness and backgrounds change

Maya Style Lighting

2009-10-17T07:46:00.001-07:00

Right ok I didnt have enough time on thursday to finish the style lighting and unfortunately dont have maya at home so will have to do the rest when im back but in the mean time gonna blog as much as I can

Point Lighting in Maya

2009-10-17T07:40:00.000-07:00

Digital Manipulation

2009-10-15T05:17:00.000-07:00

Here I thought I'd explore photoshop and try out manipulating my imaghes digitally. I wanted, in this photograph, to distort my face so I turned this black and white and then added red to where my nails are to look like im bleeding. Unfortunately you cannot see the red very clearly unless it is enlarged.

Here I try smoothing out my skin, getting rid of spots and blemishes so I look as if I've been airbrushed but using curves I've seem to come out quite shiny.

Here is the same image in colour giving a weird futuristic feel to the same photograph, and even though it's a photograph it deceiving.

2009-10-14T05:42:00.000-07:00

Here I was just trying out using black and white and then editing the brightness to use shadows to hide my face.
Here I was trying out ruining my image by adding cuts to my skin and scratching out my eyes

Here I used the colour selecter to pick out shades of my skin and then using my graphic tablet to paint over the original photograph

Here I edited the brightness and contrast to create just an outline image of myself with no background

Maya Models

2009-10-14T05:33:00.000-07:00

Essay Ideas

2009-10-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

My computer has been messing up alot lately so havent been able to blog at home as much. My idea for my essay was too explore your face being a logo either that or females in portrait. I feel that women can seem very strong in more modern portraits compared to the old traditional where women where just a thing of beauty and to be looked at. I really want to get my teeth stuck into the essay but have no idea where to start at the moment.

Francess Wood

2009-10-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

Love, love, love this photograph. I found it so inspiring the hidden identity, the simplicity, the eeriness of the black and white image, her being suspended. Just gave me loads of ideas to where I want to go with my final piece.
This image I found to be simple yet effective the blood stain on the floor making you wonder about the story behind the image. The women sitting down naked but clean from blood makes you wonder even more; did she kill someone? Was it from her?
This image is yet again very simple and after researching her and Nan Goldin I have loads of ideas going on in my head:

One of my ideas was to get images of the strong women in my life like my aunt and nan and my mum and collage them together to look like a traditional family portrait.

Another idea was to be in a room but use shadows to hide my face.

The main idea I have was to use a man within my portraits to show how I've been hurt by men but I come out strong. I want to play with the whole prince charming idea and how your search for him can destory you.

Nan Goldin

2009-10-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

This is quite a beautiful picture of Nan Goldin it's so natural, calm and peaceful. Compared to the picture bellow where she has been beaten.
When researching this I found out that the person who beat her was her boyfriend, now im not quite sure if it's exactly true but it hit me hard. I've had such bad experiences with men and can relate to some degree, my own aunt had a black eye on her wedding day and my nan had an arranged marriage at 12 years old. Most of my inner scars are male related and I even spoke to Jade about them and gave her goosebumps. It's partly why I want to explore the whole "Prince Charming" view we have with men.
This photo I love the whole calm and natural side to it. Being naked is the most naturalist thing you can do when we are born we're born naked and this picture portrays that. The way the women is laying on the horse seems quite innocent and relaxed while also reminding me of fairy tales and the whole running off into the sunset on a white horse.
This photograph can be seen as quite sexual but I see it as quite romantic. It's as close as a couple can get without sex. Nan Goldin often documented her life by taking pictures of her friends but I'm not sure why this picture was taken. Nan Goldin's photos have influenced me quite alot after researching her felt quite touched and gave me quite a few ideas.

Jo Spence

2009-10-10T07:15:00.000-07:00

Jo Spence is a photographer who doctuments her experience of having cancer through photographs. The images can seem a bit shocking to some people because it's a subject that people don't tend to talk about. I particularly like the top image with the collage of photographs I feel it's quite touching.

Jenny Saville

2009-10-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

Jenny Saville I have noticed doesn't do her portraits for beauty but does the complete opposite. She shows her body in unflattering ways.
This portrait I remember from one of my lectures on national diploma and we were told how she did this portrait from a very unflattering angle which makes the women's legs look bigger and her breasts look smaller.

This series of portraits show her distorting her own body reminds me alot of another artist we looked at who hated his body so he distorted it.

self protraits in pen

2009-10-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

These portraits I did using pen and water just to use a different media to study my face in. I wanted them to seem quite dark. In this portrait I decided to not use full eyes to make it a lil more uncomfortable to look at.
This portrait was kind of a test piece for an idea I have for a photography portrait. The idea came from wearing your scars on the outside and plastic surgery.

Fairy Tale Identities

2009-10-03T09:05:00.001-07:00

As a lil girl you get told about these amazing fairy tales and then you spend your whole life waiting for the prince charming that will never come. Well for my FMP I looked to expose all that and looked at how Cindy Sherman dressed up as certain characters to documented that through photography. I did the same last year and thought I best mention it because this was the most fun I had in a project because I didnt have to be myself I could dress up n play a different role and have fun and I liked not being me for a day. I really enjoy not being recognised by people maybe because I tend to get more compliments when I'm not being me or maybe because I don't feel the need to live up to other people's ideas of me.

Playing with identity

2009-10-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

This drawing was meant to be confrontational while hiding my identity as a kind of safety measure. I really enjoy the idea of revealing everything while hiding everything at the same time.
This drawing was supposed to project my identity as much as I could. You cannot recognise me by my hair or face so how would you even know this is me in the portrait?
Here I did some photography work just to explore ideas so they're not done very proffessionallly. Here I was trying to distort my face manually some how while showing a emotion of anger to what they see in the mirror.

These are just two more photos exploring my 1st concept of hiding my identity while showing nothing of myself but leaving everyone to judge for themselves.

Using Emotion

2009-09-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

Ok so been feel quite down lately and not sure why tbh but think it's got something to do with this project and just been thinking about who I really am and do I even like who I am. Anyways my mate who does model making got talking to me and said instead of getting down by what you see in your portraits why not put how you feel into them, so I decided to do this drawing just after having a good old cry like girls do smudged my make up abit more and started on this. My teacher ages ago told me how rubbish I was as portraits so said either treace or use photos as a guideline but this is one I just drew straight from looking at the mirror.
This portrait was quite weird because as I was taking pics of it the expression on its face seemed to change from photo to photo and even know this portrait may not resemble what I look like on the outside I'm certain it reflects my inner self.

couple portraits so far

2009-09-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

Ok with this portrait I kinda decided against putting any real eyes in there although there is a suggestion of some I dont know how my audience might find it if it even makes a difference but i wanted to explore using a mask for day one
for this one I wanted it to be quite confrontational while also having the comfort and security of being hidden away from the world too.
Sticking with the theme of the mask I tried to use it to hide myself in a none tradtional way. I partically like the idea that you seem to be drawn to the mask's eyes rather then my own.
This is a classic "caught by the camere" kind of pose but I feel it goes alot deeper tbh. When investigating crime scene ect if they dont have a face to go by then tend to look for hand prints or finger prints to find the identity of the person so why im hiding my face im also showing a part of me that would lead you to it with the right equipment of course.
This I just thought I'd do a rather close close-up so close that you cant even tell who it is.
This was kind of a metaphore for me taking off the mask I wear to reveal my true self.
Right, these two drawings were done to really show that this is me basically. I've been judged by the clothes I wear and what I look like my whole life. I've gone through bullys and strangers driving past me throw things at me or shout at me just based on the way I looked, well I just thought if I took away those clothes what would they say. The picture on the right was supposed to be quite dominating to show how I'm in control now not them I was also thinking of using that particular pose for another idea I have.
These two were more revealed drawings were they look quite opposite. One looks insecure while the other proud and just shows the way someone stand or poses can change the feel of a portrait so its something to consider.
Right I'm abit weary about putting this one up but f**k it it's not as bad as Robert Mapplethorpe. I did quite a few self portraits using my camera of poses like this one I happened to draw this cause it was more covered up. However I didnt just do this picture for no reason I just feel like even clothing can be worn as a mask. I like many other teenage girls hate my body and I use clothes as a way to cover up and misguide you to what shape my body is really like, so here I just decided to bare all. When we study life drawing we start by drawing the naked body and I went back to basics for a reason, I dont want to hide anything.

2009-09-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

I have a couple ideas in my said but sticking to the same theme which is that I want my portraiy to shock. Like when Dorian Gray reveals his portrait people are shocked to see the real him and usually when people mett me im nothing like what they think im going to be.Kind of still like the mask idea but trying to ditch actually wearing a real mask. I've taken quite a few photos that I will not be posting up but will be drawings from instead.

I've also got this idea of how some people "wear their heart on their sleeve" and got me thinking what if you wore your soul on the outside? Thinking about it I have 3 scars on my face alone nut emotional scars you cant see.....what if they came to the surface?

Another idea I've had is about hiding who I am while also revealing everything I am. (still working on that but got a good idea in my head and photos to help)

I have a couple more idead but not sure whether to share them or keep them to myself for a while otherwise they wont come as a shock when you see them.

Orlan (don't look if you squimish!)

2009-09-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

Ok so I decided to look at Orlan after Phil recommended her to me. It's strange seeing as we looked at her slightly on National Diploma and never really thought that her pictures are technically portraits. She's a performance artist who's undergone some plastic surgery and to be honest I don't understand why there are grapes in the top picture.

Anyways I'm fascinated by the idea of making my portrait shock people I find when people first meet me they see this innocent little girl and are shocked to find that I have tattoos are are shocked by my dirty mind etc. Some people instantly judge me by my clothes and the way I look and I dont want that in my portrait so I have a couple ideas of what I want in my head but no idea on the final piece yet.

Dorian Gray

2009-09-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

Ok so I went to see Dorian Gray today and it was strange to say the least. The main storyline is how this portrait of himself brings a curse to him as well. It has like the opposite effect that portraits have, while a portrait will capture your youth and stay the same while you yourself get older, the portrait of Dorian Gray gets older while he stays the same and is tempted by pleasure. He looses the love of his life, looses his morals and is tempted by a close friend, the same friend who makes and destroys him. When you watch the film you think its mainly about sex and murder, but has more deeper meaning. It's like Dorian Gray is tempted by the devil and sells his soul for youth, until finally realising that things are only supposed to last a short time so you appreciate them more.

This film has just given me a couple more ideas on how I can take this project. I think I've decided early on that I either wanna show myself in a vunerable state putting my head on the chopping board to be judged or editing myself so I'm hardly recognisable. Everyone wears a mask, some people it's obvious that they're wearing a mask, where they act a different way round different people and some people do it subtly by the clothes they wear and I wanna strip it down. Also something Phil said in Tuesday's lecture about women feeling the need to chop bits of themselves off well I'm one of those women and I wanna expose that.

Unit 1- Anatomy

2009-09-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

Ok so we've got the new breif and i've got lots of ideas running through my head n luckily today just set me on the right track I now have loads more ideas after the lecture. The position in which a person is facing can portray you in different ways. So I have to really think on how I want people to see me. If I want someone to see me as an object of beauty or to be looked at I should be looking to the side or if I want the viewer to interact with me and be forced to engage in the portait I should be looking straight on. Also whats in the background of my portrait will also reveal what kind of person I am or want people to think.

I decided to look at Cindy Sherman after I've used her before in my projects but never really looked deeply into why she does what she does or even what you find out about her. I feel that at first look you think that you can never really know the real her because she dresses up all the time or maybe she enjoys escaping real life we dont know. How ever I feel like these portraits show alot about her like she's trying to say she is who she is because of all these other types of women. For example if it wasn't for the old house wives we wouldn't be as independant now etc.

Andy Worhol makes our faces into our own label if you will. When people look at advertising they can instantly look at a logo and know what it is, well you can do the same with someone's face in a way. Your face is your own logo it's what people recognise you by. Andy Worhol also did a self portrait where he used camouflage to hide himself and got me thinking about ways for it to be a self portrait but people cant recognise you.

I had an idea where you can use like a mask to hide your true identity but it's also a self portrait. I had the idea when I was thinking about how I want to be portrayed. I use to have a habit of hiding half my face by my hair because I was ashamed of what I look like so being the subject of my art work doens't apply to me but it fascinates me. I started thinking about phantom of the oper and how he only hides half of his face by a mask which then got me thinking about the masquerade scene in the show. It seems like a very odd way to hide yourself behind a very elebroate mask colourful that stands out, I just find how it contradicts itself in a way. I think of a mask as wanting to hide but the mask is what gets the attention.

I also looked at Robert Mapplethorpe and got the shock of my life. I couldn't really find an image that I was willing to post on my blog but anyways I find his work to speak more of the truth than anything. Talking about sex is still abit of a taboo and therefore people don't want it to be right there in front of them but his art work shows more truth. The most revealing thing someone can do is to be naked is makes them some what vunerable because there's no where to hide, no clothes to make your body look better no sleeves to pull down when you feel shy. So I feel that his portraits really show you the real him, warts and all.

2009-09-11T06:04:00.000-07:00

Ok so I took Phil's advice and collaged the images and then traced over them to get an outline and then saw what I could make from them. I hope I'm more on the right track now.

These images I got from just using the outlines and drawing what I thought they could be.

I like having this weird lil space hopper thing on this guy's feet as a mode of transport but I'm not too sure on some of the other sketches. I basically used the same outline to create all three of these drawings.

I liked drawings the unusual plant on the right hand side as if the plant wasn't really from this planet or something. The two-headed alien was abit confusing cause I had a thought about it being made from feathers and scales.

These two sketches are one of the few I feel ok about putting up here. I like the idea of rather than a robot having more of a machine that can beat the ground for you when gardening and maybe keeping compost in it's "belly" compartment. I also like the idea of having a compartment in the hot air balloon, maybe for dining purposes or something but slowly realised this doesn't really come under any of the catergories as it isn't really a proper structure.

I'm not really keen on these sketches but I did have an idea about the top left's alien's eyes rolling round that circle part like a spira graph.

The dinosarus/dog creature I just thought about being quite smoothe scales on his body or like blubber to make it shine, I also thought about the way it would walk most likely ressembling a snake.

My last sketches I feel are abit stronger but abit simple. They seem more for decoration then purpose. I'm still unsure on what drawings I would want to present on A2 sheets seeing as I dont think any of the above can really be strong enough to be shown from all sides, however I just hope I'm on the right track now.

2009-09-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

ok so this is kinda what I've got so far, and I'm not entirely sure I'm even on the right track to be honest. I just started by looking at the more literal side to things and then morphing my images into something else. Some of my drawings I have done have just been a thought in my head that I needed to put onto paper and I'm not sure what else to write here because I'm never really a fan of my own art work.

2009-08-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

Yay I actually have the breif thanks for the help matt ^_^ this is my blog so I can record all the lil weird thoughts going on in my head during my projects n to share all my thoughts cant wait to get started