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.

Marine Iguana - Ştefan Munteanu

My project revolves around the majestic existence of marine iguanas. I consider these creatures an endless source of inspiration as they are dark, rough and they always seem eager for a bloody confrontation, when in fact they are masters of psychological warfare. I have depicted in my work below a scene where a battle of this kind takes place. The iguanas seem ready to jump at each other's throats, but it never comes to that. The two only stare each other in the eye until one bows its head and lays on the ground, surrendering and recognising the dominance of its opponent. I have illustrated the mental frequencies of the two iguanas engaged in a fight, and painted two golden halos as helmets to underline their attempt to stay immune to the other's mental attack.

This image consists of three separately drawn layers which I brought together using Photoshop, achieving my desired result. The buildings in the water represent the iguana's natural habitat from which it is brutally plucked by the sick man who desperately wanted to take a closer look at the creature.

I chose to bring the marine iguana to life by putting together a wire frame and covering it with wire dish sponges to represent its nervous system, as the iron conducts the low frequencies it needs in order to gain the upper hand and finally achieve dominance against its opponent.

Thank you for watching!