Saffron Wain- Deer

This project was focused around animals within the theme of Shakespeare. I focused on deer because of the mythos and themes surrounding them and I was interested to know what kind of direction Shakespeare use them in.

I discovered that Shakespeares focus on deer was the hunting of stags, as that was a common sorting event of the time. However, the hunting lead to other themes, such as the pity one gets for the hunting of a deer; for example in Hamlet the line "let the stricken deer go weep" references the great pity that comes from a deer's tears.

Deer's tears were actually seen as quite powerful and to actually catch and kill a deer was a great feat. To see a deer shot was fascinating to women of the time and when a hunt had caught their prey it was tradition to cover your hands in the creatures blood (which is used by Shakespeare for reasons other than hunting). All these things come together to show a reverence for deer, an awe almost that is still carried on in modern times as seeing a deer much more rare; probably because they are hunted considerably less.

 This project was also a good way to research the anatomy and build of an animal, as before I had focused my studies on people. I used paper as a way to separate and analyse the body parts of a stag.

I also found it important to study into forested environments, and this was for two important reasons. One, obviously this is where deer live and are found so giving context to the animal was crucial. Secondly, this environment would not have changed since Shakespeare's time, so whether you see deer as rarely seen ethereal creatures or targets for a hunt, you'll be seeing them in the same surroundings that the people of Shakespeare's day did.

Shakespeare’s Animals.

Ruth Alderton 

Bears,bears,bears,in this unit its was all about bears. I had overheard that ‘the bears’ were the most frequently quoted animal in all of Shakespeare’s repertoire, however after a few hours of internet searches all i found was a stage direction ‘exited pursued the bear’ from the dark comedy ‘A Winters Tale’. A winters tales explores many themes of love, lust and most of all jealousy(to me) amongst many different characters .I began to look into the emotion jealousy as i suddenly realised how strange and powerful jealousy is. The part of the brain which makes us feel  jealousy is near to the part of the brain which makes us feel anger and arousal this maybe why we sometimes get confused and even fall into denial about how we feel. Anyway, it got me thinking that maybe i could personify this emotion by using the bear.

Lino cut Workshop

During this unit i also explored different types of mediums and really enjoyed Lino print and felt i understood the different techniques that i had never been bothered to try before,it was a good way of getting me out of my comfort zone. For my final piece I illustrated a range of characters from Shakespeare’s plays which are known for their jealousy with the characteristics of bear, using watercolours . I often used watercolours as they a great to blend with and i feel that they fit comfortably in with my style of drawing. I thought this was a interesting way to round up my project as it portrayed both the bear and what the bear represents in the appropriate setting.

- First stages of my final piece -  'A winters tale' (Leonte,Polixenes and Archidamus) 

                        Personifying a bear into 21st Century teen, drawn then edited on Photoshop  

Holly Seymour - Hummingbirds

For the Research Methodology I decided to look at Hummingbirds, within my work I wanted to depict it in a way to portray the animal in its naturally beautiful and intricate way. I used the quote from Shakespeare's play The Twelfth Night, Chapter 4 (Mistress Mary) "And, like a hummingbird, she flutters, a sparkling fleck, sportive and seemingly insouciant"

I experimented with printing as a technique for the project, Overall I made around 7 different lino and woodcut designs of Hummingbird also including a large square lino with a series of birds hovering together.

 As another experiment, I looked at mark making and creating pattern within the birds feathers and body.

For my sparkling fleck element in my project, I hand beaded this humming bird on a embroidery hoop, This is to reflect the iridescent look most hummingbirds have and wanted to capture that with this method.

Skye Jackson-Smith - Barn Owl

For the Research Methodology Unit, I decided to focus on the elusive Barn Owl.

I was drawn to studying the Barn Owl as I felt they tied in nicely with Shakespearian literature as owls have a reputation throughout the 15th & 16th century as being omens of death. 

I researched into the meaning/symbolism of the barn Owl in different cultures and they are mostly considered a sign of bad luck and quite frequently they are seen as a warning sign that someone is going to imminently die.

I found a reference to an Owl in Macbeth "It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman (2.2.5-6)" which supposedly relates to ringing of "the dead bells", which was a form of hand bell used in Scotland and northern England in conjunction with deaths and funerals up until the 19th century.

The owl is therefore referred to as the fatal bellman as it shrieked upon the murder of Duncan.

For my final piece I decided to design a Tarot cards to represent the fortune telling of the owl, I decorated them with silver & copper foil - one to represent night and the other to represent day.

Adam Davenport - Snake

Adam Davenport - Snake.

For my 'Shakespeare's Animals' project, I decided too choose the snake. The reason behind this choice was because of my knowledge of Shakespeare quotes that represent the snake in a vicious way. I started with research into the anatomy, environment, logos, artists that influence me and certain styles of snake designs. I went onto researching into Tattoo styled work on snakes, that went onto linking too symbolism as my main visual research. 

Whilst this research was going on, I was continuing with drawings of the snake that later on went onto being my final piece. I was drawing/experimenting in different styles that influenced me in my studies including ; Op Art, Tattoo, Symbolism, Continuous Line, Monochromatic, 3D Modelling and Pop Art. I will now show you some of the examples of my drawings, experiments and final piece.

Lino Print - Here I have one of five Lino prints
that came out the best. I chose to re-print these five
more times to sell in the end of year show. 

Photoshop Airbrush - This experiment was influenced through
my first initial drawing of the snake that I wanted to
develop further. However, this becomes a useful experiment
because the technique is used for the final piece.

Pop Art experiment - In the opening statement I mentioned
that I was drawing/experimenting in different styles. This
was a mixture of three; Pop Art, Monochromatic and Airbrush.

Final Piece - This piece was a development from my experiment
of Pop Art style, inspired by Andy Warhol. I then had a idea of the
snake biting into a can of drink, this drink was later called
'Snakebite'. 

My Dog Sighs - #FreeArtFriday. This was the experiment that I
chose to do during our workshop with My Dog Sighs.

Karen Li - Dragon

For my Research Methodology Project I decided to do it on Dragon, As they are very fierce and scary features recorded from myths and legends. I looked into the history of cultures stories of dragons, from this I found that origin of the legends of dragon emerged in the course of Chinese history. The Chinese believed that dragon was a benevolent creatures with powers to bring rain and good luck to the people.

In this project I experiment from wire modelling, origami dragons, Lino prints and 3D clay modelling. From those I found that my Lino prints came out very successful, which I decide to use my continuous line drawing made from my clay modelling into Lino as a little illustrated book.

Two pages of fold up book (Final Piece) 

Unicorn - Darcie Couch (784365)

                                         Unicorn - Darcie Couch (UP784365)

 Choosing an animal for this project proved difficult as many of the animals I had considered had a range of possibilities in regards to producing a final outcome. In the end I decided to study my project on a Unicorn because although finding primary resources would be difficult, I would have had a fluid approach to experimentation.

I began to work on the unicorns appearance, studying its poise and characteristics. As the Unicorn is a mythical animal it wasn't surprising to see that there were many varying illustrations/photos, showing different features in each; such as having wings or horns. These were initial studies I made using the references of what a Unicorn is described to look like. The varied mediums used and mark making explored what I felt would best successfully represent the Unicorn image.

I closely looked into comparing Horses and Unicorns. I made a study of a Horse using only white ink on brown paper. Making this study made it easier to compare the appearances of both animals, especially with their similarities in facial features.

Later on in the project I looked into more than the similarities and made both mathematical and scientific diagrams on their hooves, skulls and torsos. In the picture above I've included the hooves and shoes with their diagram labels and angular measurements. I found studying the contrast between the myth and the math fascinating because it dipped into key points of the broad projects spectrum.