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.

Bears - Elizabeth Moore

For the Research Methodology Unit I decided to look at a bears as they have always been an animal that I have found appealing and intriguing. I wanted to explore the more playful side to the bear as opposed to their wild nature, so I looked into children's stories and media that featured them. I looked at different Disney films including Brother Bear and Brave, but ended up focusing a lot on Winnie the Pooh. What interested me the most about Winnie the Pooh was how the whole story was based upon A.A.Milne's son's childhood toys; so I started to collect images from friend's and family's own childhood toys to create my own characters.

To do this I firstly did some character designs and developed them a little before drawing them up for my final piece. To make my images I used watercolour as a base and drew on top in fine liner, and then using a scalpel I cut out the bear shapes. I did this in several layers as experimentation but ended up liking the effect enough to use the bears as my final image. Lastly I scanned them in together to photoshop to adjust the colours a little and to edit the background; I ended up using several plain pastel coloured backgrounds as a small series for my final piece to complement the child-like theme I was going for.

Pine Marten

For my research methodology project I decided to look at the Pine Marten. Pine Martens are shy, nocturnal animals that have been extinct from England since the 18th century due to hunting and deforestation. They are still found in Scotland and Ireland and in recent years have been reintroduced to Wales. My research started off with looking at the conservation of these animals and the efforts that are being taken into reintroducing them to Wales and possibly England.

During my research I looked at if the Pine Marten had any myths or legends behind it and found very few, but I did find some Native American creation stories that involved the Pine Marten. Pine Martens are seen within Native American beliefs as a brave warrior and protector especially with the Ojibwe/ Ojibway who had a clan named after it, which had their warriors, builders and strategists in.

One of the stories really stood out to me, Pine Marten's quest for Moon's Daughter, in the story different animals are trying to become Moon's daughters suitors, but to do this they have to pass Moon's challenges. Pine Marten is the only one who completes the first challenge and goes on to the others. The part of the story that caught my attention was the ending were Moon is sent into the sky by Pine Marten were he becomes the Moon. As the original story is a direct translation of  a spoken tale there are quite a few sentences that don't make sense in English. After having a tutorial with Karen Anne we discussed about transfiguring and rewriting the story to fit Irish animals and making it into a children's story book.

My new version of the story went through lots of changes and versions. I made it so Pine Marten is the protagonist of the story whilst Moon is the antagonist, as in the original both of them seemed to be as bad as each other with no messages of good. I made it so the story showed how much Pine Marten loved moon's daughter (Kyna), and how he would do any number of challenges to be able to marry her. In the end during a challenge pine marten is exhausted and fed up and sends Moon into the sky.

For the double page spreads I made thumbnails of every scene and picked three to illustrate along with a map for the index papers. When designing the characters for the story I got a bit carried away and did roughs of all the characters involved, so I used them and made them into a page introducing the characters to go at the start of the book. I did all of my drawings in black fine liner and scanned them into Photoshop were I then coloured them and added in the text.

Frogs

For my Research Methodology project, I chose to study frogs. I found them intriguing in the sense that they were considered either cute pets or horrible creatures - there is no in-between. Aside from their reputation, they are very interesting animals and have so many variations. This post shows a sample of my project and my exploration of frogs.

In my research I investigated the things most commonly associated with frogs. I looked at their patterns, their movements and their noises in an attempt to understand them better to find a way to represent them. First, I looked at the distinctive markings of the common frog, the kind you're likely to find in your garden. I experimented with different mediums to find the best way to represent the texture and patterning of a frogs skin. I found watercolour to work particularly well as it had a softer effect that suited the subject.




I also experimented with etching to create the patterns of frog skin. I tried the standard form of etching and found that the pattern edges were too harsh and bold. In the example shown, I used diluted watercolour paint over the dried ink to add a green tint to the etch, adding a little colour. Despite this, the darker patches of the pattern still look harsh. My second etching attempt was much more successful and had a more natural-looking finish. For this plate, I removed the ground for the patterning with a pencil eraser which removed it unevenly and gave the faded outline to the marks. I then treated and inked up the plate as normal and found that the ink collected in the uneven patterns, then forming darker areas on the print which looked great. The print shown is my favourite of those taken from the second plate as it showcases the pattern brilliantly but still maintains as an overall image of a frog.

This next image is of my piece from the mechanical animals workshop. In this session, we were encouraged to create a representation of our chosen animal created out of mechanical elements. In my piece I really wanted to convey the frogs hopping movement in the springs under its feet and the powerful legs crammed with gears and other machinery. The springs might look comical, but they communicate my message well.

In the last image, you can see my piece from the workshop led by guest lecturer My Dog Sighs, inspired by his Free Art Friday initiative. The workshop encouraged students to find a piece of litter and to rework it as a piece of art. Students used cans, bottle caps and scraps of paper for their work. I found a seed from a sycamore tree and thought it looked a lot like a tadpole. I then used acrylic paints to paint the seed as a tadpole, with the markings and a little eye. I think this piece is very effective, and is a good representation of a tadpole.

Jaguar - Lucy Ward

Research Methodology on the Jaguar

Continuous Line

For Research Mythology I chose the Jaguar as I wanted to focus on the fur and their tendency to eat the Yage vine which causes them to hallucinate, I combined the two main focuses for my final outcome by making a psychedelic felt piece representing how the jaguar sees itself and its surroundings.

Koi fish - Sergi Traverso

For research methodology I chose koi fish due their vibrant colours and patterns and my fascination with the waterfall legend.

Mechanical Animal workshop work - Koi fish

Bears - Florence Mackintosh

For the Research Methodology project I chose to look at bears. To begin the project I did some research into all eight species of bears, before focusing more specifically on the two species I was particularly interested in - the grizzly bear and the moon bear. I was interested in the bear's habitat and did some research on Yellowstone National Park, which involved reading articles and watching documentaries to familiarise myself with the visuals of the landscape and the way in which bears move and behave, as well as visiting the Natural History Museum in London to gather some first-hand research. 

My findings from my research into Yellowstone led me to explore further the relationship between bears and humans. I looked at the long history of bear cruelty, learning about dancing bears within the Romani culture and how, in some parts of the world, the practice of training bears for circuses and the capturing of bears for bile farms is ongoing. I thought about how I could portray the stories of these captured bears and an initial idea I had was to write and illustrate a book for children.

During the process of developing my idea I thought about how some children's books illustrators expand their product further by creating merchandise along side their book. My idea was to create a brand, inspired by the name 'Moon Bear', which had appealed to me visually, particularly for a brand targeted at children. I went on to develop ideas for products I could make for a nursery collection - cushions, babygrows, wallpapers and framed prints. I realised this idea through fabric printing for the cushions and babygrow, and using photoshop to develop designs for the print and wallpaper samples. 

Towards the end of the project my focus became much more visual than contextual. I was interested in the aesthetics of the products I was making - the lines and colours as well as the media and materials. Although the story book was not my final outcome, it was an important part of the process in developing the 'Moon Bear' collection. I would not have been able to do this as successfully without thoroughly researching the subject of bears.

Tegan Meredith - Research Methodology - The Hedgehog

For my Research Methodology project I wanted to research hedgehogs. I found them quite gentle creatures that feature often in children's stories as well as being one of the most recognisable woodland creatures in our British wildlife.

                                         

('The Fox and the Hedgehog' stop motion animation I created with Helena Sepehr)

Through thorough research I discovered that the hedgehog is declining quickly in population due to many environmental factors, including fatal attacks from predators.

                                                 

(Created using Charcoal and Adobe Photoshop)

Hedgehogs are vulnerable animals that are only armored by their spines. I wanted to look into how hedgehogs are protected as well as how they are seen in children's story books . This lead me to look into fairy tales and how the Enchanted forest is a place where the vulnerable, innocent character gets lost and found again. 

(Pastel drawing of my interpretation of the Brother's Grimm fairy tale, Hans My Hedgehog)

(Etching of a hedgehog and his Uncanny shadow)

I was inspired by the work of Tim Burton and Dave Mckean to create illustrations that narrate the Uncanny and fear that the hedgehog faces in a world where they are weak, and may perhaps be seen as an unusual creature alone in a frightening habitat.

(Final Piece created from acrylic paint print, clay sculpture, photography and Adobe Photoshop)