The Frog

It's something about the way they jump about from place to place. Their slimy skin. Big eyes. The patterns they make when their bodies hit the water. The ripples. And all the different, rich earthy colours that they are associated with. The animal I am describing is the frog. Above are just a few reasons I chose this animal for my Research Methodology project.

One of the facts that overwhelmed me was that after every year of hibernation a circle is formed around the bones of a frog. This means that when a frog dies the age of the frog is easily discovered just by counting the amount of rings that have formed. This is a similar process to that of a tree and above is a quick illustration playing around with that idea. I have added cut and paste to the initial illustration using an image that I previously photographed, trying to capture the idea of light and water. 

This image was created by placing a clear glass of water over the top of coloured balloons. I then added drops of oil to the water and photographed from a birds-eye angle. 

Owl - Research Methodology.

The animal I chose to illustrate for the Research Methodology project was the owl. The reason I wanted to draw this animal is because of their ability to hunt silently and their incredible eyesight.

This piece was made during a cut and paste workshop where we were given scraps of paper with mechanical components printed on them. By using these scraps the animals we created became industrial robots with cogs and flywheels. This made the owl's anatomy and abilities appear superhuman.

This was just a little experiment with more cut and paste, at this point I was still focussing on the owl's eyesight.

These two were part of my final piece for the project. I researched various facts about the owl's anatomy and created collages to illustrate them. I'm pleased with the effect of the white pen on the cardboard and on the black and white image. However there could be improvement on the composition of the typography.

Crocodile

The animal I selected to research and illustrate for the research methodology unit was the Crocodile. This was an easy choice because of my love for reptiles, in particular the Nile Crocodile. 

The opportunity to hold a 'living dinosaur' during my research was an absolute thrill and provided me with an unexpected direction in which I took my project. 

I produced a series of illustrations giving facts and information, with a touch of humour, for children and adults alike. I hoped for these to be used at the Crocodiles Of The World Centre I visited. 

The images were made into six A1 display sheets and also formed a hand printed and bound book. 

The centre has been in contact to express an interest in using the work at their new site. I am in the process of following this up.

The Chameleon

I chose the chameleon primarily because I knew little about this animal and have always been intrigued by its ability to change colour.  My research led me to African and Madagascan proverbs.

The chameleon represents wisdom, caution and adaptation; I have used this to highlight environmental awareness.  Maybe we could learn from the chameleon's ability to adapt and change in order to live more harmoniously on the planet?

I decided to create some illustrated proverbs and print them on T-shirts.  I spent a few hours making a linocut for the text below.  The result was not so much disappointing as exciting.  It was my first attempt at a linocut for typo.  I am looking forward to doing many more.

 

Komodo Dragon

For this project I studied the Komodo Dragon. What interested me about Komodo Dragons were their size, I looked into why they were so big which lead me to the movie 'King Kong' which was inspired by the expedition of W. Douglas Burden to Komodo Island and his account of the trip to find out about the giant lizards.

The Emperor Dragonfly

I chose to look at the emperor dragonfly. Dragonflies are such a beautiful animal, what I found particularly interesting about them was the process of metamorphosis they go through and it was this idea that inspired my final pieces, I chose to explore the idea of the transformation of a person into a dragonfly as I felt it would really make people engage with the process of metamorphosis.

Eagle Owl

I studied the Eagle Owl for this project, focusing mainly on their (and owls in general) role in ancient mythologies. I especially looked at the Roman Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, who had a companion owl perched on her shoulder who would reveal unseen truths to her. The Eagle Owl is normally the top predator and has been know to take down foxes and small deer. These are some of the drawings and prints I did for this project.