Oliver Theobald - Stag

For our Shakespeare project I decided to study a stag as I believe they are interesting and I thought I could create some interesting images with the antlers.

Skeleton of a Stag

Examples of my Stag Weekend T-Shirts and Logos

Lino Print

Photography and Image Manipulation on Photoshop

Pencil Sketch

Hannah Waters - Cat

For my Shakespearean animal I chose a cat. Cats were (and continue to be) common household pets, and Shakespeare referenced to them frequently in his writings.
I began to explore the cats vast history, from the Ancient Egyptians, Persians, Indians and Chinese, to the Ancient Romans and Greeks, during the 15th century Age of Discovery when they were brought to Europe, their association with evil during the Middle Age, and to their affection from Queen Victoria in the Victorian Ages.
I also explored their history within mythology, from Greek and Roman and Norse, and within religion. I eventually found myself exploring the superstition of cats being a form that witches take on (an example of this is in Macbeth). I explored and researched disguises, metamorphosing and transforming.
I explored different ways of working including collage, lino printing, woodwork, paint and ink.

 

Photos from my research sketchbook:

 

 

 



 

Stephanie Holmes- Hedgehog

Stephanie Holmes- Hedgehog 

Fineliner study

Mixing an image of a hedgehog with popular culture. Drawing the highly recognised video game character 'Sonic the Hedgehog' in a realistic style. I was playing with the idea of what he would look like if he were a real hedgehog. 

Character creation 'Mr Needle Mouse'

Focusing on Shakespeare's quote 'The hedgehog hath a sharp throned garment.' I wanted to take this very literally and give a hedgehog like creature a spiked cloak. In this case it ended up being a shrew since they are common ancestors and they also share a strong resemblance to the hedgehog in facial features. 

Acrylic paints study

This started of as a drawing study of a tiny pinecone, but then I noticed the body looks very much like a hedgehogs. So I then painted a hedgehog's head onto the top to complete my vision. 

Fineliner and ink study

This idea popped into my head when thinking of what it would be like if hedgehogs tried to wear clothes. I imagined a hedgehog wearing a wooly top, with the hedgehog's spines poking through the fabric in a comedic fashion. 

Kelly Palfrey - Sperm Whale

I chose to study the Sperm Whale as it is a mammal that is not only present in Shakespeare's work, but also appears frequently in the news for various reasons. I began by researching general facts and exploring the obvious such as size and I created a large wire model of a beached whale.

A few weeks into my project there was a mass beaching of Sperm Whales of the coast of the UK, this influenced where my project went next. I researched what happens to a Sperm Whale when it beaches and found out that they frequently explode due to a build up of gasses. This led me to create a multimedia model of an exploding beached whale.

 From this I also looked into phrases and sayings surrounding the issue and created a cartoon based on the phrase "As fat as a beached whale".

The quote from Shakespeare that inspired me to study the Sperm Whale was "as white as whale his bone" from Love's labour's Lost. This refers to the whaling industry that was prominent in Shakespeare's time. Sperm Whales were hunted for ivory and spermaceti. Whaling is still a problem with countries such as Japan today, so for my final piece I created a Lino cut of a whale's tail entangled in a harpoon.

Candy Smith- Fox.

'I was as lazy as a hog, sneaky as a fox, as greedy as a wolf, as mad as a dog and as ruthless as a lion.' King Lear, Act 3, Scene 4.

I chose a fox as the animal for my research methodology unit. I was particularly interested in the effect of Fox hunting on the fox population and to raise awareness of keeping the ban intact. I wanted to reverse the roles of the fox and the hound, instead the fox would be hunting the hounds. I first decided to look at the fox itself and different aspects that make it distinctive as a species.

Fine Liner Study. 

I then decided to look more into fox hunting and reversing the roles by placing the fox himself in the traditional British fox hunting uniform.

Watercolour and Fine liner Study. 

Finally for my final piece I wanted to show my chosen words; Agile, Handsome, Elegant, Regal and Cunning. For this I created a watercolour piece as well as additions of fine liner and coloured pencil as well as a salt and watercolour wash background.

This project allowed me to look at the anatomy of the animal and look at more social issues concerning the species as well as looking at more cultural references. I found this uni very helpful in allowing me to divide my time between research and visual working. 

Mantis Shrimp

The Mantis Shrimp

 This crazy little crustacean can pack a punch equivalent to a 22 caliber gun. It can also see 16 colours, which we can't!

Embroidered tote bag

Wire Model

Kathryn Howard - Owl

The Shakespearean animal that I explored was the owl; I researched into the different species, how they move and the connotations surrounding them. I used my sketchbook to collect findings and experiment mark making in order to give an effective representation. 

I specifically used ‘Act 2 Scene 2’ from Macbeth in order to thoroughly engage with the metaphorical meaning behind the animal.

“It was the owl that shrieked the fatal bellman.” 

My development carried my work on a journey, from topics surrounding beauty, behaviour and symbolism.

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Continuously changing between my chosen key words encouraged me to combine ideas; I produced a pop up book in order to express a number of an owl’s qualities. The main focus was to illustrate the owl’s nocturnal behaviour, and how it is an omen in Macbeth. 

I used colour to reinforce the time of day and it was progressively effective because I restricted my whole project into a 5-page book. I used this opportunity to learn how to paper fold and I utilised these skills in order to understand and visualise my concept.

Minotaur menajerry

1. Mino lino,  first cut.

 2,  Illustrated Picasso bull head into mino-man.

3. Mishmash collage of research and mino-features

4.  Ink test for pensive bullman

5.  Sketch of gentlemanly bull on A smoke break

Kathryn Hopkins. Ostrich!

After searching through 'The Animal Lore of Shakespeare's Time' I decided to focus on the ostrich as it seems an unusual choice of animal to use in literature. I found quotes in Shakespeare's plays 'Cleopatra and Antony' and 'Henry IV' where the ostrich is being referred to as strong and ready for battle using metaphors which compare it to a ship and a sword eating knight. These unusual comparisons, the birds historical facts and my own related words created an array of unique ostrich characters including a half camel - half ostrich, Egyptian sword eating ostrich and many contorting ostriches. I explored a range of media to match each of the different personalities such as water paints for the half camel - half ostrich, to show its historical connection through their shared ability to hold water for many weeks gaining its scientific name 'Struthio Camelus' - ostrich camel. After developing each of these characters, I decided to celebrate Shakespeare by placing them all on a stage as though preparing for a play. My mix of inspiration worked well to create a variety of fun and theatrical characters.

                 

                                                    

Manticore- James Kirby (megababe53) #eggs

I chose the manticore for my research methodology project, basically because i think mythical creatures are interesting. The Manticore consists of the head of a man, body of a lion and sometimes a scorpions tail and bat wings depending on its origins. I decided to go into acrylics and oil paints as i wanted to give an air of the old but also the dark, as the Manticore is an ancient mythical creature but also a man eater. What really interested me was morphing human features with that of a lion, but keeping it sinister. I also like making the woodblock print, as it looks like it could be in an old book about mythical beasts in some crazy bookshop. Thanks for looking at my Manticores, you're a true friend.

Alexandra Farley - Elephants

 Elephants

For this project I chose elephants as the animal from one of Shakespeare's plays. I find the animal both elegant and graceful despite its size. Yet its playful side reminds me of our innocence as mammals, the joys of the simple things in life like water or sand. However, there are also issues around elephants such as ivory trade from their tusks and entertainment in circuses. 

I attempted to show these issues by excessively adding colours, fabrics and embroidery to the point where it may become uncomfortable with the juxtaposition of a simple, but elegant, image of an elephants in its simplest form beside it. 

During the process of creating this piece, i was able to experimented with print, digital and embroidery. The mixing of these mediums and techniques was exciting and helped me capture certain elements of elephants. For example, the shape of an elephant using Lino, the possibility of exaggeration of features within digital and the line and colour in embroidery. 

Final Piece - fabric, paint, print and embroidery

Lino print - Black ink on paper

Digital trials - Using a scanned drawing on Illustrator 

Alex Sodinca - Shark

For my project I have studied sharks and their voracious character. I approached the subject in a traditional manner experimenting with techniques and materials.I focused on the animal's violent nature ,emphasized by Shakespeare in his works:
   
"Would shark on you, And men like ravenous fishes
 Would feed on one another..."

Watercolors and acrylic markers on paper

Coffee and Markers

Pen and Watercolor

My final piece was a series of prints with ranging colors and layers.

Emilia Royal: Blue Whale

In this unit is decided to research and visually investigate the Blue Whale. I based my findings on the mammals skull structure and baleen plates. With a lot of experimentation with different media and techniques I decided on a clay like substance to create my final piece showing the depth of my research in a sculpture. In this blog I would like to share some of my works.

Wire Whale

This is an experiment I did where I created a basice silhouette of a Blue Whale made completely out of one flowing piece of wire. For this I used a reasonably thin piece of wire and bent it into shape using tools so that the outline is smoother and the corners are as sharp as I need them to be. I included the main features in the silhouette such as the tail and the largest based body.

Tin Can Whale

I created this tin beer can Whale when we had a very eye opening visit from 'My Dog Sighs'. I searched the streets of Portsmouth to find a squished or battered up piece of litter, I found this slightly crushed beer can and brought it back to the studio. After looking at the can and thinking of how I can transform it ino a Whale, then the idea came to mensure to make the large flat end it's mouth with all the balien plates showing as if it has its mouth wide open. I created it by painting with acrylic pains on top of the can.

Lino Print Blue Whale

To create this lino print it took a lot of thought as to which technique I need to use in which to have the whale be manly ink. I used the technique where I scrapped away all of the water areas and the details so that the only parts that got inked up was the whales skin and the sky. I wanted the water to look like it was moving around the Whale so it didn't look motionless and I did that by leaving in some areas of lino that could pick up ink, it turned out exactly how I wanted it to.

Clay Skull

This is my final piece that I created to represent my findings, it is a clay like material that has been shaped into a Blue Whale skull and then I added paper strips to create the baleen plates. I decided to do this as it is something most people are unaware of how it really looks, so I decided to show them the deep down look of a Whale skull and how the baleen plates look attached to it without the rest of the whales featureskin there to distracted you. This turned out exactly how I wanted it to.