Wind In the Willows Project!

This project is to create a new book cover for the well known children's book- Wind in the Willows, they want it looking traditional but original, so we need to make up our own characters etc but still keep some of its traditional look....good luck me!!
So far I've sketched a few drawings from reference and got a sense of where the animals live and what there personalities are like, then I made some drawings of the characters! And because I love plasticine so much I thought I'd make my characters out of that too! So I traced the characters that I drew in my book onto a piece of card and really went to town on the colour and detail of Mr Toads Jacket...but thats the great thing about plasticine, you can add as much detail as you like or take it away etc...the problem is, like what Barbara Reid say's "its knowing when to stop"! And I don't think I've quite got the hang of that just yet!!

Mr Toad

Ratty

Mole

Badger

I was intending to do a lot more plasticine work and then combine it all on photoshop, however as well as that I also wanted to make the characters again in 3D and make a little scene to stand them in....and I got carried away with that so I haven't done much plasticine since.

So here is what I have been making for the book cover...

        I made this scene first as at the time I wanted to get started on something for the cover but I had only made Mr Toad, and I didn't know if I would have time to make any of the other characters, so I just concentrated on making a scene for him. I wanted to portray that he was quite a wealthy little toad, who loves himself, so I thought showing the interior of his home etc would do that. I thought having the scene at night time with the light switched on would have a nice affect and draw you in. So I got the camera out and took loads of pictures until I was happy with what I got!

I have it in a frame because I liked the idea of that being on the cover as boarder. However in the end I got rid of it as I decided it looked to boxed in.

I then decided as I had the time in the end, to make the rest of the characters and another scene. So I made badgers home with the door open and the lights switched on again for that nice warm homely look. I didn't want to make it, to look like your looking at the scene from an angle, I just simply wanted to have a full front on view, as I think it has more of an inviting look.

Without the light on

With the light on....but needs to be a bit more dark!

So this is the cover the cover I did, except I don't like the type or that strip of green across, so I'll be redoing that! And I will also be using Mr Toads scene for the back cover just to see how that will look.

So I have redone the type on illustrator and I have taken away the netted bit at the top as I think that was taking your eye off the type. I did do my own type in a sketch book and I did think to maybe make 3d type to go in it but I felt the image needed something completely different and something that stands out but works with the image rather than fight with it which is what made 3d type would have done.

I do think the back needs more work done to it as the words don't stand out all that great, so I will be working on what I can do with it that now.

Well I have had to leave it as it is because I had no time to change it as I was entering it into the puffin competition which has been and gone now. So thats that...never mind! 

A bit about me

A bit about me and the projects I loved doing!

 That messy desk is my work space at home ( the bureau ) I have all kinds things on top of it and under it and in it.. I just see a gap and fill it with something, most of its things that I've made or things that inspire me!
I do try to be a bit more organised but when I do tidy up...I then get things back out again to do some work and end up creating a mess again, what can I say!

Looking at these pictures though has made me think I should probably get rid of a few things and tidy it  up a bit more! 

There was a project last year (in my first year) where we had to make up a story using the dada technique of cutting up words and putting it back together any old way, so it didn't particularly have to make any sense..and then we were to illustrate the story..and I just wanted to put it on here because it was a project that I absolutely thourougly enjoyed doing! And why I enjoyed doing it so much was because there was no pressure of the story having to sound perfect, with a beggining middle and end and the same with the illustrations! And that made me realise that if you just let yourself play with ideas and not think into the final image and the story too much then you end up having loads of fun with it! I have fun illustrating and story telling anyway but using the dada technique really helps get the ball going ...especially when your stuck for ideas! So if your stuck on what to do etc just let yourself play with ideas, don't edit yourself and don't worry about how you think it should look...because when you let yourself have fun it will just come together naturally!!

This scene in a jar was the very first project I was given at the start of my degree and it was to illustrate or create in anyway we wanted, four personal memories that stand out!! And so I made this scene in a jar of what is meant to be me and my friend in the park on the swings.. this particular memory stands out to me because it was where me and my friend would go most weekends when we were young and we would non stop laugh and at everything and anything .....they were the best days ever!

I illustrated the rest of the memories and made them look 3dish which I'll pop on and show you when I can!

This is one of the illustrations I did

Summer project continuation 
Animation 

There was a continuation to this project when we started back and we could make a scarf, wallpaper or an make an animation and I grabbed the oppurtunity of doing an animation using i stop. I am a huge fan Wallace and Gromit, Creature comforts and Morph etc.... for me theres nothing more thrilling then watching something come to life, and now I finally get to make my own story come life.

I got to work on my story board so that I knew what camera angles I wanted and how much scene was going to be in the background. And after doing that I got started on making my characters and making the set which was really exciting.

I had a look at Wallace and Gromit behind the scenes to see how big there sets were and blimey there amazing. To think how much hard work would have gone in to making it all.....they truly are perfectionists.

www.wallaceandgromit.com/

My behind the scene is quite small and lets face it...its not a patch on the Wallace and Gromit scenes but I new I was mainly going to be focusing on filming the characters so I didn't want to make a massive detailed set that would have taken up the time I needed to start filming! I new from doing the story board that most of my scenes will be close up but I think if I ever get the chance to do another short little animation again, I would work harder on putting extra added detail in the background because it's worth doing!! 

Even though I knew using i stop was going be time consuming and even more so with it being the first i stop animation I've ever done, it really test your patients because if you do something wrong you have to start again. And I really appreciate Wallace and Gromit a whole lot more now because there are so many little things that can go wrong, so you have to make sure everything is perfect before each click. And you also have to be very prepared before filming with plasticine as it melts under the hot lights, so you have to know its movements and try not to handle too much as you could lose its form and it may end up looking squished.

I haven't finished my animation just yet as I need to pop it on after affects to add sound etc to it but I thought I'd pop a few clips.

Me and my camera!!

I love to get out and about with my camera and take pictures of everything and anything and zoom in on things to see all the detail. It's mainly flowers and plants that I've popped on here... I get carried away taking pictures of them because flowers stay still and I can choose my angle but insects and birds etc are a little harder but I'm determined to get lots good close up pictures of animals to pop on here!

                                   

                                   

                                               

Teenage Market

For those of you that don't know what the Teenage market is than check out what its all about on there Facebook page www.facebook.com/theteenagemarket

Its a really fun day out and on the market stalls you'll see all kinds of one off unique creations from paintings to deigned t-shirts etc. I think the Teenage market is a great idea because it brings towns that are suffering from shops closing down back to life and its something new and exciting to be involved in, whether your selling or just pondering because there will be live music and good food too!.
I'll give you an example of what I will be making here..

This shadow box was made for a project I did last year, and we had to make up a new persona and give them a name and explain what they did for a living etc..and the character I made up was a little girl that lived in the late 1900's and so to give people a sense of the era she grew up in and the toys and things she would of had growing up, I made this box of her room! I got great feed back from peers and tutors with it, which was great because I love making things, so when I heard about the teenage market it gave me an excuse to make more of this kind of stuff.. and all kinds of other things that I'll be painting and sticking and glueing together for the market! :) But it won't just be me who will be getting their hands covered in paint and glue, there will be lots of other artists and designers who will be making their own unique things to put on the market, so it's a must that you come to Stockport and have a look for yourself!!

This is what I will be selling and there will be more to see on the day...

Cards

3D pictures

Scenes in a jar

Fairy fridge magnets and more