The Mandarin Goby

I chose to look at the Mandarin for my project as I used to admire them so much in my job in a local aquatic retail shop where I live. Their delicate fins and striking colours make them to be one of the prettiest fish in the ocean. However they are at risk from being kept in captivity and the methods in catching them for pets. Small spears shot through their tail catches the poor fish which is then transported into a bare tank to be selected and sent to retailers across the world. Many marine fish suffer from this exhausting method of transportation and many die during. The fish also lose their colour when being caught or under any sort of stress. I found this a very interesting element to my chosen fish and decided to take a look further into why they do such a thing. Below are images of  a small selection of work i picked out from my unit. 

The Peregrine Falcon

During my Research Methodology unit I chose to study the Peregrine Falcon, a powerful bird of prey that is recovering from the crippling effect of the pesticide DDT. I chose the Peregrine because I have always been fascinated with the way birds fly, so the fastest bird in the world seemed like a good base for my research. I wanted to focus this project on what set the peregrine apart from the other birds in the sky namely its speed, beak, eyesight and talons. Included below are a sketch of a falcon preforming a stoop, two development pieces and the Info-graphic that they became a part of. 

The Big Horned Sheep

I chose to look at the big horned sheep because I was interested by the horns of the animal. I once heard that when the big horned sheep has become a skeleton the weight of the horns outweigh the bones of the whole animal put together. This fact was the first thing that sprung to mind when being asked to choose an animal.

I think when people originally think of sheep with big horns they automatically think of them bashing their heads together, from great run ups. So on first thought the words stupid and aggressive came to mind when picking this animal. But soon I realised how nimble on their feet they are when climbing up very steep mountains. And also how strong and military they are when it comes to protecting the herd against predators.

After looking at the big horned sheep for a while, I started to focus far more in on the scull. I think the way the scull looks with the horns is quite sinister. It didn’t take long before I started to look at more satanic imagery, as the big horned sheep/ ram are well known for sacrifice. Also there are connotations and links of the horns of the devil and the horns or a big honed sheep/ ram.

These are some of the images gathered from my Research Methodology project.

Becca Henderson

The Rat

For this unit I chose to research the rat, an animal I have always been fond of and believe to be widely misunderstood. I informed myself on both the positive and negative attributes of the animal; the part they played in the spread of the Black Death, symbolism and representations in popular culture, the pet or 'fancy rat' and the creature as vermin. As part of the project, I created a cute rat from knitted carrier bags and discarded materials to address the comparison between 'pest' and 'pet'.

Below are a selection of sketchbook pages, my wire sculpture and knitted rat:

Green Sea Turtles

For my Research Methodology unit I decided to look at Turtles, specifically the Green Sea Turtle. One thing I was particularly interested in was how they navigate themselves around the Earth using an "internal compass". This led on to me studying geomagnetic fields and reading physics books, which no art student should ever have to do! Leading on from this I added my own personal interest of graphic novels and made a short story relating to pollution, with the turtles taking their revenge on the human race for destroying their habitat. I then took a different audience approach and made a suitable version for young children, ultimately ending up with a colouring book that could be reproduced by WWF.

Below are sample images of what I was working on throughout the project.

Lino cut prepped for printing

Lino Print

Polluted Turtle idea

Page from the short Graphic Novel story

Example pages from the Colouring Book

Asian Short Clawed Otter

The animal I selected to study was the Otter as I believe them to be one of the happiest and most playful creatures in the animal kingdom, and I thought that a happy animal would make for a happy project. Once I started studying them I found that they are more complex creatures than I first thought.

The Asian Short Clawed Otter happens to be one of the few animals that are monogamous, meaning that they mate for life, they are also extremely intelligent, being one of the limited amount of animals that can create and use tools. I chose to try and illustrate these facts along with their playfulness, as there were to many facts to focus on I found it hard only choosing one.

The Indian Elephant

Elephants have always been my favourite animal, so I was sure about using them in this project. Through further research into Elephants I chose to look at the Indian Elephant, where I found about their incredible intelligence and their use in symbolism (both religiously and aesthetically). Elephants are strong and big but also playful. They are also symbols of wisdom and stability; something that I wanted to try and convey in my work as well as the fact that they are easily recognisable creatures.