Magpie - Dylan Botting

For this project I decided to focus on magpies as I have always found them interesting and I already knew a few facts about them before hand which would help with my starting point. As I developed my research I focused on the riddle connected with magpies and began to talk about the meaning of it.

I made a series of images for each section of the riddle, these are a few examples. I started these by taking photos of magpies then sketched them out. I then put them onto Photoshop and began experimenting, with inspiration from artists such as Kathryn Webster and work from Magpie studios. I then experimented with colours linking to my focused theme. 

Hedgehog - Madeline Bugden

For my Research Methodology unit I decided to research the Hedgehog. I chose this because I found it an interesting animal and an animal that I liked. Once I started researching I found good information about it, however I did struggle to find ways of illustrating this and the Hedgehog in general.

I first started looking at general information about the Hedgehog and I found out that there are more than one species of the Hedgehog and that they originate from Europe and around the UK. And other information like the are born blind and can carry up to 5,000 parasites and fleas on just one Hedgehog. I found that the best information when researching came from the website 'hedgehog street'.
Once finding general information, I found it difficult to find any inspiration to illustrate my research. Although when experimenting I found that using fine line pen and watercolour really worked with the outcome I wanted.  I also used the idea of using materials to represent the softness of a Hedgehog's belly.

Chameleon - Amy Tainsh

I chose to study chameleons for my Research Methodology project, I was interested to find out more about them as their ability to camouflage fascinates me.

I started with taking a closer look at it and did a few sketches, I started researching about their behavior and ability to camouflage and catch insects with their tongues at an incredibly fast speed. Chameleons visual abilities are also a huge part of what makes them so unique and successful, I wanted to focus on just an eye, so did a piece in fine liner. I also experimented with adobe illustrator putting together a digital piece that looks like chameleon scales.

I then experimented more with this my fine liner drawing as a starting point and reproduced the image in several screen prints. I looked at artists who use screen printing as a medium, such as Bicicleta sem Freio. I started experimented with a messier approach, but for my final piece I wanted to create something that was really clean and bold.

Crow- Amir gurung

Mixed media piece, I have used charcoal for the skull, cut out silhouette for the crow and torn cardboard for the background. Crows are also a scavenger which is why i have drawn a skull and crow on top of the skull.  

Charcoal drawing of a crow catching a frog and ready to eat.

Crow on a branch, I have used a watercolor for this work and used black as it is the color of the crow. Splashed lots of different colors for the background to see the outcome.

Crow is intelligent ! This is a continuous line drawing of a crow on top of the tree so it can drop the nut from top so it breaks into pieces for the crow to eat.

Wolf - Oliver Theobald

For my Research Methodology Unit I chose to research the Wolf. I chose the wolf because I think it is a really interesting animal, and its an animal that is rarely brought up. As I began my research I found out many weird facts about this fascinating animal.


For my 1st Image, I replicated the style of an artist that I had found Luke Dixon as I also like working in intense detail as it really reveals the details of the image. I used a black fine-liner pen so that the fur of the wolf was crisp and sharp.


As I started experimenting with a wide range of materials, I thought that water colour would give me the change in fur colour that I was trying to accomplish. I really like the outcome of this image as I consider water colour painting to be one of my major weaknesses.


A4 pencil of a wolf standing in the snow, found on a wildlife documentary and drawn from a still image.


On this my final image I thought about my animal and its habitat and realised that the animal would disappear if the environment around it were to vanish/be destroyed. So I created this image using Photoshop so that people can see if you take away the image of the wolves habitat then there would no longer be a wolf.

Praying Mantis

I chose the Praying Mantis as I wanted to choose a creature that is unique looking so I could experiment more with different materials and medias.

For this image I wanted to see how human and Mantises differ I used eyes to show this as they are a very distinctive features.  I used an A4 pencil and drew from memory I then paired the images together to show make a comparison of the two.

whilst I was experimenting with materials I found using green leaves to create a mantis is a very fun and unique way of experimenting and links back to the mantises original habitat.

For this image I created a stencil using Stanley knife I made the image a basic outline of a mantis because it is very unique and distinctive.

For this image I used an image of a mantis from and old book I found and used Photoshop to add more colours and more detail.

Jellyfish - Megan Bull

For my research methodology project i chose to look into Jellyfish. I chose this because i found them fascinating, in the way that something whom has no brain can still survive, breed, eat etc. I used a variety of materials and visuals. 

After a few hours of research, i found that they are quite troublesome, in the sense that they can cause quite a lot of damage when in large quantities. They are also victims of ocean pollution. This has a knock on effect to other sea life that are predators to Jellyfish. Turtles being the main ones for mistaking plastic bags for jellyfish. This gave me the idea to use plastic bags as my primary material, and how i can perceive jellyfish as plastic bags.

I also did a variety of experiments using jelly as a primary material, wrapping up lumps of jelly in cling film and pushing them round the sink with the tap on full to act like a current. These weren't too successful as the jellyfish became very top heavy. I tried another with cotton wool as the head wrapped up in clingfilm and this wouldn't submerge into the water because of the trapped air.

I found this unit quite interesting in the way of how I can create jellyfish using unconventional materials and percieve them in a different way relating to current issues we are facing in the sense of pollution.

Black Bear - Ben Stroud

For my Research Methodology project I looked at Black Bears as I thought they would be an interesting animal to research and study and I knew I had some good starting points for my research.  As my research went on the theme I liked the most was the relationship the bears have with the Native Americans and the respect the Native Americans have for these animals and how they portray it in their art.

The Native American art always featured block, bold colours that made up the bear as well as fill it and I took this stye and created my own pieces with the side profile of a Black Bear.  I experimented with the colouring of my bear as the Native American pieces feature patterned colouring and I wanted to include that.  Then for my final piece I used bright colours for the background for each bear which has given it a Pop Art feel to it.   

Killer Whale

For my Research Methodology project,  I chose to look at the Killer Whale (Orca) because I have always been intrigued by them and knew that there would be so many aspects and research to experiment with.

 

 

I took some pictures of ice and rain which I thought looked like the skin of the killer whale up  close, the details of the water on their shiny skin and the scars from other sea creatures. I researched further about why they are black and white, and experimented with acrylic paints on black card, making symmetrical patterns which I hoped would represent the patterns on the killer whale. 

 

 

I looked at artists like Dave White, who produces pieces of animals in acrylic paint. It encouraged me to experiment with acrylics and watercolours, the image above is in response to my artist research on Dave White. I really like the effect of the paint dripping, it could represent something falling apart making the meaning of the image more powerful.

 

 I experimented with marbling using inks and black nail varnish to try and portray the texture and look of a killer whales' skin. I found that the nail varnish made it really smooth and shiny which contrasted really well against the coloured inks.

 

 For my final piece I used the marbling technique on pieces of card, and individually cut out the pieces to make the killer whale and the background. In this piece I focused on the patterns made by killer whales when they move in the water, looking back on the experimentation I did I decided that the marbling technique would be the best way to create that effect. I was pleased with the way each pattern turned out, especially the vibrancy of the colours which made it exciting to look at.

 

 

 

Satanic Leaf Gecko

For my project I decided to choose The Satanic Leaf Gecko when I stated this projects I decided I wanted to try a more third dimensional approach to the design, I bought some materials and crafted together a rather simplistic reptile shape imaged above, After completing the base design I bough some liquid latex and applied layers of "skin" to the design, building up a perfect leathery feeling skin and texture.
Before starting any of the 3D designs I simply looked at the name of the Creature I decided to portray, Satanic Leaf Gecko, with that name I already had quite a lot to look into and expand upon, first I came up with a rather simplistic sketch and added very minor details such as the eyes having upside down crosses in them to signify the satanic aspects.

After finishing the design I coloured it with different shades of water colour Ink, scanned it into Photoshop, separated the shades into layered and screen printed the results into the blue imaged above. After that design was done I moved over to focusing more on how to represent the satanic aspect, whilst researching I found many satanic symbols and shapes, the two images below take the design of my animal and combined them with satanic symbols, the two finals I feel give a really well received affect with understandable symbolism.  
At the end of my project I had a well rounded amount of materials and effects used, 2D satanic images, Screen printed versions, Large 3D puppet doll design as well a two Short gifs I had created one hand draw the other a 3d model shedding the 'Skin' pasted over it.

Ben Westlake- Snakes

For my research methodology project I chose to focus on snakes, as they are an animal that most people are not too fond of.
because of this I wanted to illustrate that in my opinion snakes are not all that bad which I ran with and was the basis for my my research trying to find things about snakes that they do well.

below are my two final outcome posters and two more of the process.

Parrots - Annabelle Scott

At the beginning of this project I wasn’t too sure how I was going to Illustrate my chosen animal as I have never really illustrated anything apart from people before. However I have, in the past, done projects based on colour and pattern for the human form. I decided that through my initial research of looking at the different species, I could incorporate this idea of colour and pattern into some small paintings of these birds. Parrots are themselves so colourful that creating some small colourful paintings was quite easy. However I felt these were too simple and not well thought out. I decided to do some secondary research at Bird World and get some first hand images of these birds.

After going to Bird World, I realised there was so much movement with these birds and trying to get precise and detailed drawings was never going to happen. I wanted a way to come up with quick, fun was of depicting the beautiful splashes of colour I saw when I saw them flying around in real life. I decided to use finger prints as this was a very quick and quirky way of showing off these birds who are quick and quirky themselves.

After coming up with my repeated patterns I decided to use them in a commercial way by creating some carton designs for tropical juice. I decided to go down this path as two of my key words to describe parrots were ‘Exotic’ and ‘Endangered’ and this way I could create some exotic juices and raise money for the organisations that are trying to help them. I am really glad I went down this path as I think it created some interesting final outcomes. I based all the information off other juice cartons that I bought from Tesco’s, I tried to include all the correct information and include fun facts so that it would look authentic.

These are my final cartons from this project. I think making the cartons was effective and each flavour together was unique and interesting to look at.

Lions - Louise Tagg

For my Research Methodology project, I chose to look at lions as I wanted to research an animal that I was interested in. I was inspired in this piece by mandala artwork such as Ben Kwok's work, which includes a lot of fine and repetitive detail, something I admire and love to work in myself, I wanted to put in my own interpretation and create an interesting and mesmerizing piece in fine liners.

As my project went on, I looked in depth into the well being of animals and the ways in which their lives can be influenced, especially by humans. This is a topic that I feel very passionate about for all animals, and the safety of lions became a very important and interesting subject matter for me. I used this passion to essentially create a campaign that advertised the lives of lions and inspire people to think about what humans do to lions and can do to help. I was inspired hugely by my research and wanted to show a clear and precise message as simply as possible. These two images along with one other, ultimately became my final pieces to demonstrate this topic.

Throughout the project, I also experimented with different media to find what worked for me and this topic, and to demonstrate the art of the lion in as many different ways as possible. This is a piece I completed, inspired by my own previous work that I had completed in the same media of black and white acrylic paint. This is a medium I am used to and love to use because of the layers I work in, making the piece enjoyable and my own.