Sinead Lau | Art | Film | Design

Vicissitudes

2011-10-26T18:49:00.000-07:00

As my final accomplishment at University, I wrote and directed this short film, 'Vicissitudes'. The script was written and workshopped over the first semester, and after being chosen for production, my crew and I brought my script to life!

Shot beautifully on RED EPIC, (courtesy of Deakin University), the post-production process has been long and I only FINALLY handed over my completed film yesterday.

Will be screened at VISIONNAIRE, a Deakin event which screens all the third year short films. Held at the Astor Theatre in Melbourne on November 20th 2011, this is going to be an exciting event as the films will be projected in glorious 4K! Higher resolution than just about everything you've ever seen!

For the record, Vicissitudes is about.... change.
'When William Creighton meets a mysterious lady in red three times in his life, he comes to understand the neccessity for human vicissitude.'

I Return!

2011-10-03T23:32:00.000-07:00

So! It's been a while since I posted, but now that I've revamped the whole thing, I decided to do another post.

The drawings above are ooold. Last Christmas in fact, but I realised I never posted them here. So here they are! I based last year's Christmas card on my character Seraphim 9 from my fan film.

Speaking of films, there are a few I haven't yet posted on here!
Now let's try this insert video thing...

This is SERAPHIM 10. A sequel to Seraphim 9 that I released a while back. Enjoy this piece of DSLR work, shot with 7D, under my house.

For those interested in something more arty, this is Cycle of Providence. This is an experimental film... interpret how you will. ;)

And finally, my showreel of previous work. Not too impressive at the moment, but look out for more stuff very soon.

I'm sorry I've forgotten about this blog! I hope I'll be writing back here soon enough!

Filmography

2011-04-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

It occured to me that although my main art is filmmaking, I haven't posted any of my films on this blog. Therefore I decided it was most neccessary to link my YouTube Channel to this blog. For your viewing pleasure. :)

I haven't done any particularly extraordinary films at the moment, but I trust that some of you may enjoy 'Seraphim 9', which I've posted some of the concept art of on this blog. And 'Legion Street Antiques' (though a terrible film) was a good learning experience. The Motion Capture clip might also be insightful to anyone interested in mocap and keyframe animation.

Help and Fairy Tale are some of my earlier film works, which are way cheesy in retrospect, but seemed deep and meaningful at the time.

Anyway, enjoy!

Unheeded Devastation

2011-03-14T20:18:00.001-07:00

An illustration for my good friend Rohan's 22nd birthday (and Valerie's 3rd birthday). I combined three things that he loves - nuclear apocalypses, his car Valerie, and a chick with a big gun.

I have to admit that this illustration was largely kitbashed from photos - particularly the car, and the composition and colours were almost entirely inspired by a Stephen Crowe illustration (Very obvious which one, if you know anything about the NZ artist).

I had a few problems with perspective. The photo of the car which I was copying was taken at a very peculiar low angle, also on a Dutch slant. I modified it a little in Photoshop, but it was difficult to draw the girl at the same bizarre angle. In the end, I decided not to attempt drawing the girl from a low angle at all, and instead, drew a big crack in the ground to suggest that she is standing in a ditch, and much closer to the viewer than the car is - therefore at a more regular angle.

Now whether the girl is an anthropomorphic representation of the car is totally up to interpretation. Initially that had been the intention, but I realised that the costume design didn't really have the same shapes as Valerie, and I could definitely do a better job trying to personify Valerie. Maybe some other day.

The Light of Doriath: Beren and Luthien

2011-02-23T14:16:00.000-08:00

So I've wanted to do an illustration of Beren and Luthien from Tolkien's 'The Silmarillion' for a very long time, and as my friend Luke's birthday approached, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to at last draw these two fateful characters.

Now rather than the traditional romantic and classical style that you most often see Beren and Luthien illustrated in, I went for a high fantasy, heroic/enchanting style. (Shhh.... it has nothing to do with how I am incapable of drawing classically). Lighting is obviously dramatic, and I suppose it was somewhat inspired by the works of Ben Wootten and Jerry Vanderstelt, who are both masters in fantasy illustration.

I chose to depict Luthien as the powerful enchantress who weaves a cloak of deception out of her hair. Blue is her raiment, and her hair follows like a shadow. She was somewhat modelled on an illustration by Gus Hunter in 'White Cloud Worlds'.

Beren is depicted as a warrior... and just happens to look a bit like an Aragorn/Prince Caspian cross-over. But I wanted him to have the look of a travelled ranger, although there is some royalty about him. He bears the Ring of Barahir (hardly visible), and his armour is patterned with snakes, which was inspired by the Ring of Barahir. He was somewhat modelled on an illustration by Sacha Lees in 'White Cloud Worlds'.

As for the lighting, the forest and the mist, that was largely Jerry Vanderstelt inspired. I knew I wanted the characters to be set in a beech wood forest (of Doriath), and I wanted a light to be coming out from behind the trees. In my mind, it is the light of a Silmaril.... although that hardly makes sense narrative-wise. It can also be interpreted as the light of Luthien.

This illustration is very close to my heart, so it was an absolute delight to accomplish. Perhaps not the best 'technically', but I am still relatively happy with it.

Mandragora: Pyrrhic Dream

2010-10-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

I created a graphic novel for one of my uni classes. Now when it comes to stories, I have a tendency to make up incredibly detailed backstories to support the presented material. I actually think my backstory is more intriguing than the story I have here illustrated,but I'm not going to tell you about it, because hopefully this story makes sense without needing to know all that back-story stuff. The written dialogue in this isn't great, as I was trying to hint at the backstory through diaogue (and did so poorly). And the illustrations got sloppy after a while, but nonetheless, without further ado, I present MANDRAGORA: Pyrrhic Dream.

Superheroes!

2010-08-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

So I've been doing a lot of comic book research lately - mostly into Marvel characters, and I've even been reading comic books - namely 'The Sandman', 'X-Men', and some of 'Justice League of America'. I think I'm turning more and more into a stereotypical nerd daily, but I love it!!

The chief reason for all my comic book research is because I'm creating a graphic novel for an assignment. More on that later. My research also came in handy when a friend asked me to sketch a superhero character for a pitch!

This is Ryder. Bad-ass. A relatively quick sketch done in pencils and heavily modified in Photoshop. In retrospect, I think I should have used less grainy paper. It's a little too rough. However, I like the general design, and especially the mask! He was inspired by a collection of superheroes - The Black Panther, Gambit (X-Men), Batman, Neo (The Matrix) and Nite Owl (Watchmen).

Now onto my comic book (which does not yet have a name). My idea somewhat inspired by 'Inception' and 'The Sandman'. I've come up with a rather complicated plot about 'Dreamweavers' who are servants of the great Dream Lord Morpheus (nothing to do with 'The Sandman' however). Dreamweavers are responsible for creating the dreams of humans, and each Dreamweaver specialises in different kinds of dreams.

This is 'The Evolo'. She is the creator of escapist dreams. The idea is that these dreamweavers are made of 'dreamstuff' and only exist in dreams - thus why her legs are part of her skirt which is actually the ground. They weave the material around them to create landscapes for dreams. I wanted lots of billowing fabrics for my Dreamweavers. Like the Sandman, their clothes are constantly changing in size and shape because the material is transitory and always shifting - such are dreams. This design was inspired by Storm (X-Men), Emma Frost (X-Men) and Dream (The Sandman). I like the background of this illustration. It has a nice flow.

This is the juxtaposition of The Evolo. This is The Marre. He is the creator of the inescapable nightmare. The darkest and cruellest illusions that you cannot wake up from - those are the work of this dreamweaver. Although he is a juxtaposition of The Evolo, I wanted his clothes and his face to somewhat have a resemblence to The Evolo, to suggest that they two are infact not so different. He too has the billowing fabrics which he weaves nightmares out of. I originaly planned for him to be a very beautiful character, as his personality is going to be charming, witty and sweeping. By accident, I made him too manly. Now he appears as a fierce brute, though that wasn't my intention. Inspirations were Dream (The Sandman), Sephiroth (Final Fantasy) and Quinlan Vos (Star Wars). And yes, he has some weird-looking abs.

These are the faces of The Evolo and The Marre. As superhero characters, I wanted them to have masks of some kind, but I disliked the idea of hiding too much of their faces, so I went with tattoos instead. The Evolo's tattoos are largely Art Nouveau inspired, whereas The Marre's has sharper-edges.

N'oubliez Jamais

2010-08-02T06:33:00.000-07:00

In 2009, I did this illustration for my good friend, David Taylor. It was in response to a piece of music that he wrote named 'Rappel d'un Souvenir', or 'Recalling a Memory' in French. Upon listening to that piece of music, imagery of a girl jumping into darkness with white cloth rippling around her burst into my mind, and thus did I feel compelled to illustrate it. I named this illustration 'Grace a des Souvenirs', or 'Thanks for Memories' in French.

A year later, 2010. I was still intrigued by the idea of what happened after the girl jumped, and so I did this illustration as a kind of sequel. I think it's apparent that my drawing technique has improved - if only slightly. This is one of the fastest full illustrations that I've ever done. I believe it only took me about 8 hours all up, which is pretty fast for me!
I named this piece 'N'oubliez Jamais', or 'Never Forget'. Whether you see this piece full of despair or full of hope is up to your interpretation. ;)

Comic Strips and Telephones

2010-07-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

So for homework one night, we were asked to draw a mundane scene in a comic strip style.

I chose answering the phone.... AND MADE IT EPICLY CINEMATIC!

Originally, this was just supposed to be a crappy little excercise, but by the second frame I realised I was putting too much effort into it! So I decided to actually make it a decent work of art.

And yeah, I realise the boxes are slanted. That wasn't intentional. I should learn to use a set square.

Seraphim 9

2010-06-30T02:15:00.001-07:00

So it occured to me that it's been a while since I did a digital illustration. My pen tablet was getting dusty! So I decided to do a quick sketch (quick for me anyway) of a character that I'm making a film about- Seraphim 9. Yes... both the character and the film are called Seraphim 9.

Because of my DIY mantra, this film is going to be made by, and starring ME. So this illustration is actually of me... in clothes that I do in fact own. And with a raygun I modded myself.

Taking a leaf from Greg Broadmore's book, I painted the quick sketch in PS and digitally 'pasted' it back onto the journal page where it was originally drawn. Around the illustration, you can see a rough sketch for an alien arm and some iconography for the film.

Overall this is nothing special. Just some good old fun.

Happy with- the hair, the raygun, the sash, the bandage

Unhappy with - the face, the lighting, the anatomy

Storyboards

2010-06-15T01:22:00.001-07:00

A form of art that is often forgotten is storyboarding. Being a filmmaker, it's something that I do regularly, and it's taught me to draw fast. However, unlike most people, I tend to go into extreme detail when it comes to storyboarding, and I often try to indicate not only the shot size and angle, but also the lighting and mise-en-scene.

The following storyboard, which was produced as an assignment, should not need accompanying notes for it to be understood:

These next few pages are from my last film, 'Legion Street Antiques' (2010). These pages aren't consecutive so they won't make sense, but they display my initial ideas for the film's visual look. That's right... in my mind, Detective McGuinness looked a heck of a lot like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Sea Longing

2010-04-04T10:25:00.001-07:00

For Kristal's 21st, I promised her a drawing of epic proportions. 4 months later, I finally delivered! The drawing actually only took me about 7 days of solid work, there was just a lot of procrastination.

For the first time, I tried to draw a full artwork rather than just a character in a sketchy background. For this epic task, I drew on a lot of inspirations:

- The enitre composition is based on Jerry Vanderstelt's 'Homeward'.

- The man is based on Alan Lee's Orpheus in 'Shapeshifters'.

- The underwater seascape was inspired by photos I found on Google. Good old google.

- The wings and bubbles were inspired by Daniel Falconer's mermaid.

- The background mountains were shaped after the silhouette of the White Witch's castle from 'The Chronicles of Narnia' concept art by Weta Workshop.

- The almost expressionistic style of the rocks was drawn from Greg Broadmore.

So this melting pot of inspirations makes this illustration something special, and overall, I'm rather fond of it.

Sniper Chick

2010-03-20T02:12:00.001-07:00

Here is an action-filled piece I drew for my friend Rohan's 21st birthday.

I'm quite happy with the composition of this piece, and I think the background works incredibly well.

Neytiri

2010-02-20T17:40:00.001-08:00

This is (tentatively) Neytiri from the film 'Avatar'. I drew this as a birthday present for my good friend Luke. She's not exactly screen accurate, because since the DVD of Avatar hasn't been released yet, there aren't too many pics of her circulating the internet yet. The bow is not very screen accurate at all, and I took that design more from the 'Art of Avatar' book than from the final product made for the film. It's Eytukan's bow, designed by Daniel Falconer.

Things I don't like about it:

- The right hand, which I couldn't seem to angle so that it looked natural.

- The background, which is very lazy. If I wasn't lazy, I would draw a bioluminescent forest, but too bad, I'm a bit lazy.

- The face, still not totally screen accurate

- The hair, which took me 3 days or so, but Neytiri's braids are NOT easy to render.

Otherwise, I'm relatively happy with it!

James Blarbbo!

2010-01-28T22:20:00.000-08:00

Here's just a few quick drawings I did a while ago for a competition. It was a raygun giveaway, and a bunch of friends and myself wrote and illustrated a story set in Venus for a chance to win the Righteous Bison! Though I didn't win, a worthy friend did, and I had a heck of a lot of fun nonetheless!

How Stars Are Made

2009-12-18T00:45:00.000-08:00

This is a drawing I did for Chloe for her 15th birthday. It's a witch who makes stars with her wand!

Okay, the drawing isn't great. Though anatomically accurate, the face isn't exactly 'beautiful'. Looks old.

Behold! A Modern Miracle Machination!

2009-11-26T17:22:00.000-08:00

Sharkilius-93 Physical Matter Sublimator
Behold! A new invention of scientific genius that is sure to make your enemies vanish – literally! I present, the SHARKILIUS-93 PHYSICAL MATTER SUBLIMATOR, or as we call it, the ‘Shark’. Powered with ten thousand Herzetrons worth of Hezeliot Crystals, wielding the ‘Shark’ will give you tremendous power like you’ve never felt before. Each squeeze of the trigger releases a wide ray-beam of invisible Hezeliot particles that convert any living creature into a cloud of red smoke upon contact! The secret is our Hezeliot crystals, obtained from the planet Hetzbarr; these crystals have the unique properly of breaking down solid matter into gaseous form in a process called sublimation. Brilliant stuff! But that’s not all! We have now added the handy function of a Beam Narrower for your convenience! By adjusting a knob, you can now narrow the wide beam of Hezeliot particles, so the Herzetron power can be concentrated on single creatures rather than the entire battlefield. With this narrow beam concentration, our scientists have proven that a regular giant octopus can be wholly sublimated in exactly two Earth seconds! Marvellous indeed! Additionally, the discreet toggle switch allows you to reduce the power of the ‘Shark,’ all the way down to zero Herzetrons for safe transportation. What are you waiting for? Get your ‘Shark’ today!

Final design: Poster Exterior

2009-10-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

Future Progress: Exteriors

2009-10-04T07:05:00.000-07:00

Here are the original sketches for the exteior future poster. For the buildings, I wanted to go minamilistic to the maximum, so that it was as un-beautiful as possible.

This is my proposed idea for a Mecha lord, the Lord Mechavon.

Future Interior Progress

2009-10-03T06:07:00.000-07:00

Mecha and Interior Updates

2009-10-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

Here were some original concept drawings for mecha to be used in my posters. I did them to get a feel for what I thought the future might look like. For a first attempt at drawing mecha, I think I did alright.

Here is some progress for the Interior poster. My idea for the man was to have him very pale- as if he never sees the light of day. He ought to be overweight because of the lack of physical activity, and his 'Flymagator Retric Pants' actually do the walking for him. I find the idea of a Mecha Wife somewhat sad, so I tried to draw the man as a very sad and pathetic character.

Here is my quick concept of the interior space. I wanted it to be incredibly simple- too simple. Minimalistic to the extreme. It has lost it's beauty. The furniture has been made because it is easy to manufacture, not because it is beautiful.

Future Interior Progress

2009-09-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

Here is my progress so far on the interior poster. This is my 'MechaWife720F'.

Home of the Future: Paragraphs for Indoors and Outdoors

2009-09-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

Indoors propaganda poster

Relax, Style, Comfort. Now you can live the remainder in your life in absolute comfort in this stylish new box. With automated atmosphere control, responsive decor and the latest Lazibox 600ZX technology, you and your MechaWife720F can live in this perfect utopia, where everything is designed just for you! Blending the latest SimuLeisureX tech into the very walls of your home, you can feel as though the world is at your feet. Picture yourself in your Flymagator Retric Pants (one pair free with every house purchased), relaxing in this white-walled wonder, with your MechaWife720F*. What are you waiting for? Buy this home now!

*MechaWife720F not included.

Outdoors message for Mecha.

My dear fellow Mecha,

In the past ten years, our community has been growing in vastness and practicality. Look upon the beautiful landscape of sterile white boxes and be proud! Breathe in the fume-ridden air and rejoice, because our domination is at its peak.

In years to come, we will be here still, performing our routines with no break in our algorithms. But this perfect future will not exist if we let one glitch occur. So this is a reminder to keep every cog in place. Ensure you have a regular maintenance session with cerified MRVC repairers. Clean you steam gauges every month. Lubricate your Flatulickalisers and maintain the biofluid in your Lechetrons daily, and we'll be on our way to the unmoving future.

Let's keep things the way they are!
Regards from you Lord Mechavon.

Home of the Future: Synopsis

2009-09-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

This is my very pessimistic view of the future. I believe it has a potential to happen around the year 2060.

How will we live?
Humans and mecha will co-exist. In fact, human life will diminish, and more and more of the population will be artificial beings. The remaining humans would not be able to survive in the toxic atmosphere without gas masks, thus it is mostly the mecha who roam the outdoors. For the most part, humans will remain indoors, where air is filtered especially for their survival. All the leisures of life will be enjoyed indoors by artificial simulation and virtual reality, and the life of a human will be whittled down to a mere existence in a cage of illusions. However, the mecha will live on, but will never progress because they lack the human innovation to 'upgrade' themselves, and the greatest human minds will have died out.

What conditions are inside and outside?
Outside, the air is toxic. An accumulation of the seemingly harmless chemicals that have been released into the air over the years will eventually become a manifestation of deadly fumes. Humans will not be able to survive in the outdoors any longer, and this is why much of the human population will die out. Extensive apparatus can be used to aid breathing outdoors, but for the most part, humans will stay indoors, and it is mecha that roam outdoors.

Inside, the air is carefully filtered for the decreasing number of humans. However, were the energy supply to go out, humans would instantly be choked by the outside toxic fumes. Because the humans are more or less trapped indoors, technology that simulates the outdoors will be present in every home. Thus would a human feel as though they are experiencing the outside world, although in fact, they are merely sitting in a illusion.

What is in our homes?
Inside every home is technology that simulates the outdoor world. Also every piece of furniture, though appearing minimalistic, will be endowed with technological devices. Everything is designed for human comfort, especially since humans can exist indoors only. Because humans are growing lazier, homes will be self-cleaning and totally subservient to the owners. A human could sit in a chair for a week without moving and the house would serve him food, provide entertainment, wash him, and perform other tasks to maintain basic human life.

What is outside?
Outside is the domain of the mecha. Beauty will no longer exist outside, and the exterior of house will appear as a big white box. Because no humans see the outside world anymore, artistic value no longer exists. Everything is done for practicality. Especially because robots live in the outside world as their own communities, the outside will appear very clean and sterile. Robots are programmed with a will to clean things and set things in order, thus the outdoor world will be very spick-and-span, but unattractive.

What are the weather conditions?
Weather is scorchingly hot all year round because of the greenhouse effect. Again, this affects humans and explains why they all remain indoors. Humans will have given up caring for the environment by then. As the earth becomes infected beyond repair, humans will have given up even trying to reverse the damage. In fact, their houses would constantly be expelling toxic fumes and electromagnetic radiation into the outside world. The intense heat would mean that only the mecha survive.

What is everything made of?
Some futuristic material will be created, which at first will appear to be harmless to the environment, but in time it will be discovered that it is in fact harmful. It would be some kind of hybrid between plastic and metal- with the durability, flexibility and resourcefulness of plastic, but with the conductivity and strength of metal alloys.

What events have had an impact on our surroundings?
The event of a kind of apocalypse will impact everything. The apocalypse that kills off much of the human race will be something alike to the bubonic plague. Not only the increasing toxic fumes will kill humans, but the increasing filth will start some strain of biological virus that will infect a large part of the population. Because there will be so few humans left, surroundings will be bleak and un-beautiful.

What events have had an impact on how people think, behave, exist?
The same apocalypse will change the morals of the remaining humans. They will no longer care for the idea of future generations. The point is to survive here and now. Thus will no care be taken to presere the environment or save the world for the future. Peope will exist in a state of laziness until their death. Marriage will no longer be valued, and having children will be seen as pointless, since there is no hope for future generations as it is. Humans will resort to mecha for relationships and spouses, especially since humans are so few.

What is growing? What machinery/gadgetry is used?
All sense of technology will grow to a point where humans can enjoy life in full laziness. However, once that point is reached and the effects of it cause the apocalypse, all technology will come to a stand-still since human innovation will have died out with the apocalypse. The creators of technology will have killed themselves with their inventions. Though the mecha appear as the pinnacle of technology, they cannot 'upgrade'.

What do buildings look like?
Buildings will be ultimatedly unattractive. Because everything will be done for practicality rather than beauty, aesthetics will no longer matter, and everything will apeear as mere white boxes. Also, because minamilism is growing in popularity, there will be no adornments or embellishments of any kind. Just simple white blocks- the most base neccessity to live.

Home of the Future

2009-09-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

Our final assignment for ACN107 is to create posters based on the idea of 'Home of the Future'. This has a lot of creative potential, as we are expected to design posters that we believe shows off the future as we think it will be. I am choosing to take a negative view of the future, and this means my posters will probably be ironic.

Three aspects of future life that I'm considering are:
1) Environmental factors
2) Science and Technology
3) Fashion

Environmental Factors

"Byline: Mark Z. Jacobson

The use of biofuels, particularly ethanol, has expanded in the last few years based significantly on the premise that biofuels replacing fossil fuels may reduce global warming and air pollution problems. While this claim is still being debated, the real comparison should be between biofuels and other emerging technologies. It is found here that both corn-E85 (85% ethanol/15% gasoline) and cellulosic-E85 degrade air quality and climate by up to two orders of magnitude more than Battery-Electric Vehicles (BEVs) or Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (HFCVS) powered by either solar Photovoltaics (PVs), Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, wave, or tidal power. As such, the use of cellulosic or corn ethanol at the expense of the other options will cause certain damage to health, climate, land, and water supply in the future.

Source Citation:Jacobson, Mark Z. "Effects of biofuels vs. other new vehicle technologies on air pollution, global warming, land use and water.(Brief article)." International Journal of Biotechnology 11.1/2 (Sept 5, 2009): 14. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Deakin University. 22 Sept. 2009
."

I am intrigued by this idea that although we keep attempting to improve the environment, since that we are aware of the harm we've done to it, we are nonetheless continuing to damage the earth and ourselves. Scientific progress - while improving our lives in the short term - is destroying us.

This concept reminded me of the 2008 animated film, Wall-E.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/

Wall-E is a story set in the future about a little robot who seems to have been left alone in a post-apocalyptic world. However, it was not a nuclear bomb or anything of the like that 'destroyed' the Earth, it was humans and their pollution. The little robot Wall-E survives only because he is a robot. Humans have all either died out because of their inability to live in the unsustainable environment, or have migrated to the giant space-station where their life is largely restricted.

I like the idea of robots roaming the desolate earth. They cannot progress because they don't have any creativity or innovation to create anything new. They merely rust and eventually 'die' themselves.

Science and Technology
http://www.tuvie.com/category/robotic/

This website has a selection of potential future robotic technologies. Mostly, they have been designed for human benefit (as all technology is). We generally think of robots as subservient and merely used to accommodate our growing laziness. When humans are too lazy to do the job, send in the machines! However, I see this as a negative thing, and the common idea of 'the rise of the machines' comes to mind.
I think it's likely that human kind will die out in the future. We are becoming so reliant on technology that if it malfunctions, we are unable to function ourselves. This reminds me of segments of 'Doctor Grordbort's Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory'. The designer Greg Broadmore created a catalogue of futuristic devices that were conceived even in the 30s and 40s. Most of the catalogue is ironic, and laughs at our idea of what the future might be. However, there is a sinister underlying tone to the book. It is a social comment on human nature and how technology destroys us. There are contraptions in the book that accommodate the sloth of mankind, which are both mentally and physically destructive.

I like the idea of robots being all that's left, and the few remaining humans are so reliant on technology that they simply cannot function without it. I think I'll design my posters in the style of Broadmore- with many ironic comments and comical disclaimers.

Fashion

http://twenty1f.com/forbes-on-the-future-of-fashion/

This article explores the idea of technology becoming integrated with fashion. Since 'the future' is often associated with furthering scientific technology for our comfort, I think it's reasonable to assume that the future of fashion wil involve technology.

For my poster, I might explore that idea that future human fashion is alike to putting on a mecha suit. Soon man becomes machine externally, because what could be more lazy than wearing clothes that function as your bathroom/kitchen/air conditioning/heating/anything you can imagine.

Overall, I believe I have a fairly bleak outlook on the future. Although technology will advance and everything will be efficient, handy and most importantly- lazy for humankind, human life will cheapen. Life would have no meaning anymore, everything would be too easy. Although it's arguable that it was only natural for man to advance in knowledge, and therefore advance in their methods of maintaining life, I believe we may breach the bridge of nature soon. Perhaps we are delving too deep into questions that weren't meant to be answered. Perhaps our defiance against the natural order will soon bite us back. Soon we'll be less than human.

Russian Constructivism Poster- Development and Final

2009-09-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

Here is my development for the last truisms poster. I tried to make it look like a propaganda poster, although the message is against the government rather than for the government.

The pose of the girl not only suggest that she is an incarnation of the devil, she also looks like a tyrant. The flailing hands could be her victims or her worshippers, thus the definition of 'people' in the poster is ambiguous.The hands are also suggestive of a hellfire, but it is unclear who is punished- the people or the tyrant. Perhaps both.

The apartment building in the background suggest uniformity and conformity- thus a stab at society. It suggest that 'bad people' can be anywhere.

I chose a font that resembles Russian characters, just to further emphasise the Russian Constructivist influence. The entire poster is mostly influenced by Gustav Klutsis' work.

Awful Punishment Awaits Really Bad People: Concepts and Development

2009-09-20T04:10:00.000-07:00

For my third Truism poster, I've chosen the phrase 'Awful Punishment Awaits Really Bad People'.

My immediate idea was to combine photography and graphics- in a Klutsis type style. The imagery of a female devil came to me nearly instantly, and in my concept, I had the idea that she is also symbolically a tyrant- thus the Agit Prop side comes into play.

Here are some photographs I intend to layer into the poster.

Third Poster: Russian Constructivism

2009-09-15T20:24:00.001-07:00

For my third poster, I am choosing to use the style, Russian Constructivism.

Some aspects of Russian Constructivism:
1) Originated in Russia from about 1919, and lasted until around 1934
2) It was art used for social purposes. Affected the art of the Weimar Republic
3) Uses an industrial, angular approach.
4) Began largely in sculpture, but moved onto two-dimensional art, such as books or posters.
5) The statements made by the Constructivism posters were designed to make a reaction. The viewer is supposed to get a socio-political message from it.
6) Uses many angles and mostly block colours.
7) Not many colours are used in a single design, but they are usually high contrasting. Low saturation colours.
8) Either photography or cartoon-style drawings are used.

Alexander Rodchenko
Alexander Rodchenko was a Russian artist, sculptor, photographer and graphic designer. He was considered one of the founders of Constructivism. His photography made social statements and were somewhat opposed to the painterly aesthetic. He chose to take photographs of subjects from unusual angles- usually above or below. He has become a great influence in 20th Century graphic designers. His portrait of Lilya Brik has inspired several works, including covers of music albums, such as Franz Ferdinand’s ‘You Could Have It So Much Better’.

Gustav Klutsis
Gustav Klutsis was a photographer and a member of the Constructivist avant-garde movement in the early 20th Century. He liked to work in a variety of experimental media, and used propaganda as a sign. He is commonly known for his photo montages, which were considered fresh, powerful and somewhat eerie. He is one of the four artists who is claimed to have invented political photo montage in 1918.

Stenberg brothers
Vladimir and Georgii Stenberg were Soviet artists and designers. The brothers began their work when they designed posters for the May Day celebration in 1918. They later staged their own ‘Constructivists’ exhibition, accompanied by a manifesto. The areas in which they worked best were theatre, costume and graphic design – particularly the graphic design of film posters which was encouraged by the interest in films in Russia at the time. Their style consists somewhat of collage. They assemble together portions of photographs and reprinted paper that had been created by others. Thus does their work have elements from Dada. They have also notably created posters for Sergei Eisentstein’s films.

Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Mayakovsky was a Russian poet and playwright, but also created graphic design posters in his short lifetime. He designed a Agitprop poster, which mixed both graphics and text. Agitprop is a portmanteau of agitation and propaganda. At the time, ‘propaganda’ in Russian did not bear negative connotations. Because Mayakovsky was a playwright and poet more so than a designer, he did not create many posters in his life, but the ones he did have become iconic.

Psychedelia Final Uploads

2009-09-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

Here is all my concept/development work for the second truisms poster based on Psychedelia.

Development on Psychedelic Poster

2009-09-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

Here is my progress for my second poster on Psychedelia. Along the way, I've clearly changed the poster quite a bit, and some of the initial work (such as the tinman and the scarecrow, which I've now turned merely into silhouettes) was wasted.

The lion came from a photo I took at the Melbourne Zoo in June.

In my final design, I used a lot of circles, which I thought added to the dream-like psychedelic state.

Truisms poster: Psychedelia

2009-09-13T00:11:00.000-07:00

Here is my progress for the Psychedelic poster. I chose the truism- You are guileless in your dreams. This evoked imagery of naivety and carefreeness in my mind. Eventually, this lead my thoughts to 'The Wizard of Oz' - often considered a psychedelic story, and so I chose to base my poster on themes from 'Thw Wizard of Oz'.

There are several things to improve. For one, I intend to change the typography a little, so the letters fit into one another a little better. Also, I'm thinking of turning the yellow hair into the yellow brick road instead. So far, I think the poster is somewhat plain.

Truisms Poster II: Psychedelia

2009-09-09T01:44:00.000-07:00

For my second poster, I am choosing to use a psychedelic style.

Some aspects of Psychedelic Art:
1) ‘Psychedelic’ means mind infesting. The psychedelic state was usually induced by drugs such as LSD.
2) Often features fantastical and surrealist aspects.
3) Kaleidoscopic elements are often used.
4) Swirls, circles and diffraction patterns are also common.
5) Usually very colourful. Often rainbows or highly contrasting colours are used.
6) Lettering is usually done by hand.
7) Became popular in the 1960’s when a lot of album art was created with a psychedelic style.
8) Now often done digitally.
Brian Exton. An example of digital psychedelic art, using fractals and bright colours.

Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí was Spanish surrealist painter, who was well known for his bizarre and surrealist works. However, he was also experienced in other forms of art such as photography, sculpture and writing and even filmmaking. Along with the surrealist film director, Luis Buñuel, he made the famous short film ‘Un Chien Andalou’ (An Andalusian Dog). He tended to employ entensive symbolism in his work. The theme of time is often explored in his work. Though not exclusively psychedelic, Dalí’s art certainly has elements of the surreal.

Alex Grey
Alex Grey is an American artist born in 1953. He specializes in spiritual and psychedelic art. From a young age, death fascinated the artist. As a child, he collected dead insects and animals in surburban neighbourhood. Several of his works have themes of death within them. He is best known for his ‘X-Ray’ paintings, which are an integration of body, mind, soul and spirit. He often paints in excruciating anatomical detail. His art has been used by the occasional rock musician on their albums, such as Nirvana, Tool and Beastie Boys.

Rick Griffin
Richard Alden Griffin was born in 1994 in the United States. He was an artist and designer of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. The psychedelic underground comic, ‘Zap Comix’ often featured his work. He was influence by other psychedelic artists such as Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley, and his first exhibition was for the musical group ‘Jook Savages.’ From there, he became a popular poster artist for several parties such as ‘Family Dog’ and ‘The Charalatans’.

Mati Klarwein

Mati Klarwein was born in Germany, 1932, and is a painter best known for his work on music albums. One of Klarwein’s paintings, ‘Annunciation’ was used famously on Santana’s album ‘Abraxas’. He had also worked on album art for Buddy Miles and Miles Davis. Mati was well learned in several of the arts, including writing, music and film, and was had travelled much around the world as he worked. He is known to speak no less than six different languages.

Art Nouveau Poster- Final uploads

2009-09-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

Here are all the concept, development and final images from my Art Nouveau poster.

Art Nouveau Poster: Progress Two

2009-09-07T06:31:00.000-07:00

Here is the progress I've made on the poster. I don't think I'll change it much after this, except perhaps small tweaks, and perhaps a border.

Art Nouveau Poster: Progress One

2009-09-04T04:38:00.001-07:00

Here is my progress so far for the first Triusm poster. I drew largely from Mucha's style. There is still much to be improved

Here is something I'm working on for the background. I tried to incorporate a floral motif, as influenced from Art Nouveau.

Poster One: A Strong Sense of Duty Imprisons You

2009-09-03T05:48:00.001-07:00

Here are my first concept sketches for my first poster. I've chosen the truism, 'A strong sense of duty imprisons you'. These have been drawn largely in the style of Mucha, though I intend to draw influences from other Nouveau artists for the typography and background.

My idea is to present a message of dissatisfaction. The domestic duty of women is here seen as an imprisonment.

Project: Truisms- Art Nouveau

2009-09-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

For my first poster based on Jenny Holster's Truisms, I am choosing to use Art Nouveau as my design style since this is the style I like most and know most about, thus will it b a good starting point for me.

Some aspects of Art Nouveau:
1) Was created as a response to industrialism. Art Nouveau was an attempt to beautify the world through art.
2) Floral and natural motifs are common in Nouveau.
3) Highly stylized, curvi-linear forms are often used.
4) Peaked at the turn of the 20th century (1890 - 1905)
5) Was a bridge between Neo-classicism and modernism.
6) Use of attractive females among natural envirinments were common.
7) Also influenced typography (Jugendstil in Germany)
8) Made art a part of everyday life.

Some of the great Art Nouveau artists that I wish to draw infleunce from are Aubrey Beardsley, Jules Chéret, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Alphonse Mucha.

Aubrey Beardsley
Aubrey Beardsley was born in 1872, and was an English illustrator and author. His work was somewhat controversial as it was considered erotic, although he later asked for his work to be destroyed when he converted to Catholicism. Most of his images were done in ink and had high contrasts with large areas of block black or white. He was known for his dark and perverse images, somewhat inspired by Japanese ‘shunga’. His intention for his art was to create the ‘grotesque’.

Jules Chéret
Jules Chéret was born in 1836, and was a French painter and lithographer whole became ‘the father of the modern poster’. He began by creating vivid poster ads for cabarets, music halls and theatres, but eventually became so popular that he was sought after to design all sorts of advertisements. His work often depicted lively females in liberation. His work in fact lead to a noticeable change in the female society, as they were able to engage in activities depicted in his images- such as wearing low-cut bodices and smoking.

Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louise Comfort Tiffany was born in 1848 and was an artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts. Notably, he designed stained glass windows in an Art Nouveau style. Though he was originally a painter, he became interesting in glassmaking in about 1875. He built is own glassmaking firm in 1885. He made his own glass in a variety of colours and textures to create a unique and beautiful style of stained glass art.

Alphonse Mucha
Alphonse Mucha born in 1860 in Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic). His style of design, at first named 'Mucha-style' eventually became known as Art Nouveau. His posters, paintings and advertisements often featured young females in Neo-classicist looking robes and often surrounded by flowers. He intended to bring aesthetic values into Arts and Crafts, and eventually his tyle became higly recognised and often imitated.

Final Landscape of the Absurd

2009-08-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is my final Landscape of the Absurd composition for ACN107

Dada

2009-08-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

These are some compositions done in class that explore the Dada movement.

Landscape of the absurd

2009-08-28T04:48:00.000-07:00

Here are the images I used to create my landscape of the absurd

And here is the final landscape. I might choose to work on this further, though at the moment, I'm happy with it.

Little Red Riding Hood revisited

2009-08-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

These are all the images from The Little Red Riding Hood assignment.

Colour

Texture

Black and White

Analogous

Monochromatic

Complementary

Triadic

Poster Appraisal

2009-08-16T06:17:00.000-07:00

Line
All the lines in this poster are flowing, curved and elegant. This was used to evoke a sense of sophistication - fitting for an orchestral concert. The sweeping line of the bird's leads back at the text, which is the most important part of the poster, whereas the curly part of the tail is reminiscent of the patterns found on violins etc. The golden sweeping lines in the background are also suggestive of musical staves- again fitting for this concert.

Shape
There is a kind of circular design in this poster. Since the lines are all curved, there are many (unfinished) circles which create an elegant flow. The shape of the bird is very much elongated, which suggests a tall, noble air. The negative space in the poster is actually quite dominant, but helps to enforce the text.

Colour
I used analogous colours in this poster. I specifically chose reds, oranges and golds (i.e.- warm colours) to suit the idea of 'The Firebird'. Of course fire is associated with warm colours, so I though it would be fitting to use a lot of red and gold. The light gold of the title complements the bird, but is also a light enough shade that it stands out against the black background. I chose black for the feeling of a sophisticated night concert.

Texture
The texture of the bird is mostly smooth. The wings and tail of the bird are particularly smooth to create an unopposed flow, and I created this smooth texture using the smudge tool in Photoshop. I used it to evoke a sense of elegance and chic. The chest of the bird however is textured with a photo of fish scales. I chose scales rather than feathers because I wanted the bird to have a dragon-esque feel about it. Afterall, I don't want the Firebird to be just any ordinary bird- there must be something magical about it.

Poster Development

2009-08-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

Here is my development process for my poster. With suggestions from friends, I chose to tone down the opacity of the tail so that it isn't fighting the text for attention. Also, I put all the text in one place rather than having one line at the top, since it broke up the composition. Next, I changed the colour and typeface of 'The Firebird Suite' so that it complemented the elegant curved design of the bird. The change of the colour also helps the text sit in the poster, whilst still keeping a good colour contrast so that it's noticeable. I also spaced the text a bit more so it doesn't look so cramped and uncomfortable.

The last one will be the one I hand in, although I may make a few more little changes before Tuesday.

Poster Development

2009-08-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

Here is my quick concept sketch of what I wanted my poster to look like.

And here is my poster development so far. I feel it's a bit simple, but I'm not sure what I could add to it. I've tried to explore line, texture, shape and pattern. Colour also has been explored, but at the moment, I'm not sure how I can improve this poster further.

My Music Festival: Stravinsky- 'The Firebird' Suite

2009-08-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

ACN107 Music Festival Poster Assignment

a) What kind of music is at your festival?
Classical Music. To be specific, my festival is a performance of 'The Firebird Suite' by Igor Stravinsky.

b) Who goes to your festival?
Mostly middle-aged and older members of the upper middle class society. Although, anyone with a taste in classical music is likely to attend.

c) What is the atmosphere like at the festival?
It is a relatively formal music concert, and people are required to dress elegantly to attend. The audience is well behaved and polite.

d) In what kind of venue does it take place?
The venue is an upscale concert hall, brilliantly furnished with elegant architectural design. The hall is vast and is designed to give the best possible acoustics for a full orchestra.

e) Any other useful information about your festival?
This music concert is performed by a full Symphony Orchestra. It is an event of sophistication; perhaps a mimicry of an olden-day opera performance. However, to accommodate to modern times, it is not required to dress in the finest fashion with the finest jewels as it was back then. Still, it is an event primarily for the wealthy who have a sophisticated taste in classical music.

More Firebirds

2009-08-11T04:58:00.000-07:00

Researching a little into Stravinsky's 'The Firebird' suite, I read a bit of the backstory to the ballet. Basically, a man enters a forbidden domain which is filled with magical creatures. He sees the firebird and captures it. The Firebird then begs to be set free, and promises to grant him a wish if he will let her go. She fulfils her promise when the king finds the man illegally in his domain. That was a very rough, largely incorrect sketch of the story.

I remembered also that Fantasia 2000 has a piece of animation to part of 'The Firebird' suite. Although the animation focusses mostly on a Sprite, the Firebird makes an appearance as a personification of a fiery volcano. In that instance, the Firebird is drawn to look like Tolkien's Balrogs as illustrated by John Howe. This isn't really the approach I'm going for.

I've started to draw birds to get an idea of what I want. Below is a concept design of a phoenix by Ben Wootten. I believe it was a potential design for the phoenix in 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'. I did a pencil drawing of his illustration to get me into a bird-drawing mood.

My next couple of birds are less anatomically correct. I actually like the splayed wings of the first one- it suggest fire to me. The second bird is more precisely drawn, but it has no sense of drama or action in it. I'll probably take elements from these two drawings to create the final bird in my poster.

Firebirds and Phoenixes

2009-08-09T05:01:00.000-07:00

I've decided that for my musical concert poster, I'm going to base the concert around Stravinsky's ballet, 'The Firebird'. I've never actually heard the music from 'The Firebird', but knowing Stravinsky's style somewhat, I feel it will be suitable to my design aesthetic.

One of the major reasons for choosing 'The Firebird' is the fact that I can incorporate a bird into my design. I have several ideas of how a dramatic poster can be created through bird illustrations and motifs.

Doing a quick Google search on 'Phoenix', to get an idea of what my firebird might look like, I found quite an amazing image:

It might just be unfinished, but it almost looks expressionistic in the way that quick strokes are used. This is a good starting point for my poster. I love the use of colour and the power that emanates from this image. I'm not sure, but I think it may have been done in Painter, just looking at the brush-strokes.

I've drawn a phoenix in the past myself. I'm not happy with all of it, but it's another good starting point.

Having to paint a Phoenix on the shape of a K isn't easy. I really don't like the tail, although the wings and head are alright.

Past work- A Level Design

2009-08-07T02:20:00.000-07:00

Here is some of my design work from CIE A Level Design. My theme was 'Fantasy Tales', and the following were designs of the old characters.

Poseidon the Sea God. In this illustration, I really utilised the Photoshop brushes and tools. I'm not totally happy with how Poseidon sits in the waves, and I think there's something wrong with his anatomy, but I'm still pretty pleased with this illustration. I think it could be more dynamic though.

Zeus, the God of Gods. At the time, I liked the idea of Zeus having a Cloud-toga. Now I think it looks a bit strange and I can't help wondering where his legs are. I over-exposed his face and hair to give the sense that he's radiating with light. However, I feel there's something wrong with his face. The whole image is too still, there's no sense of dramatic movement.

The Four Winds- Arctic North, Asian East, Desert South and Forest West, from Hans Christian Anderson's 'The Garden of Paradise'. I'm actually quite happy with the look of each individual character. Their outfits work quite well. Their faces are however dreadful. Life drawing is something I really have to work on. I don't really like how the overall piece has so many colours, but it was sort of unavoidable since each wind is a different colour.

The Ice Maiden from Hans Christian Anderson's 'The Ice Maiden'. This was my very first digital illustration. I tried to use every Photoshop trick I knew. I even designed my own snowflakes and stamped them across the image. I think it's not a bad first attempt. However, her proportions seem very wrong though, the flow of cloth could have been better, and the mountains are just dreadful.

Carabosse from Charles Perrault's 'Sleeping Beauty'. I'm happy with her costume design (although it's incredibly impractical), but again, my life drawing skills are just terrible! Even with a huge mask to cover majority of her face, the neck/chin line looks very wrong. I like the S shaped fire pattern however, although the fire along the bottom edge looks quite bad.

These were the book covers I made for 'Sleeping Beauty', 'The Garden of Paradise' and 'Greek Tales'. The whole transparency overlay thing is actually very impractical (I had an idea with a more solid frame at first, but my teacher didn't like it), but it added an extra dimension to the covers. I'm really only happy with the 'Greek Tales' book. I remember the other two giving me so much trouble...

These were bookends of Carabosse and the Ice Maiden. They were my very first attempt at sculpting (with Super Sculpey), and I think they could have looked better if I had spent some more time and patience on them. From a distance the sculptures look alright, but close up, any sculptor would gasp in horror! I left scratches and fingerprints all over them, and my anatomy is absolutely dreadful. The wire used on both sculptures was supposed to be a 'modern twist', but really, I think it would have worked just as well without the wire. The packaging I made looks good, but it was actually incredibly flimsey. Theoretically I had planned for it to look a lot better and be a lot stronger. Practically, it didn't quite turn out as planned.

Past Work: Illustration and Design

2009-08-07T02:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I would upload some of my older design/illustration work which sort of shows the style of art that I'm into. There's a lot more, but these are the ones I'm still relatively happy with... though not wholly happy.

This dragon was illustrated in an attempt to do a good illustration of a dragon for once. I'm not very happy with the background and how the dragon sits in it, but I think the dragon itself is okay. A bit of a boring pose, but I think the colouring of the dragon in this illustration is quite good.

This was an RPG character I invented- Nimlith the Shadow. Though I like the overall composition of this piece, I'm not very happy with the face and hair. I did a lazy background for this piece, because I find that I'm really no good at drawing full backgrounds.

This piece is named 'Grâce à des Souvenirs', meaning 'Thanks for memories'. It was illustrated as a birthday present for my friend, David in response to a piece of music that the wrote for me. There are a million meanings in this illustration, and I was trying to achieve a sense of the impossible. I'm somewhat unhappy with the flow of cloth- especially around the hole. I had a lot of trouble working out how to do the background of this piece; when it should fade to black, and where. Overall however, I am quite happy with this piece.

Poster Resarch Continued

2009-08-04T21:30:00.001-07:00

Here are more posters that I found to be quite beautiful.

This poster is from a movie, 'The Red Violin'. Unfortunately, I have never seen this movie before but I really like this poster. I love the use of monochromatic colour. The use of only red sets an entire mood of brooding passion. Out attention is largely drawn to the back of the woman just above the text, and then the pictures of people on the left side. The violin motif appears throughout the poster, making it a real point of symbolism. This poster almost has an ethereal quality to it, as the musicians seem to fade out of nowhere, and the use of lighting is very stylised. This entire image has been texturised onto what looks like a rough-looking surface. This just adds a little something more to the image, and perhaps suggests a hardship.

Again, his is Si Scott's work, although I'm unsure where this comes from. I absolutely love how Scott uses curls and swirls to create entire recognisable objects/animals. The centripedal design feels like a kind of illusion, and his drawings all look like beautiful images out of dreams. I want to be able to capture the curvilinear, flowing lines that Scott creates which lead you to looking in every direction. They sort of grow out of a singular point, which keeps you searching the image for more.

This is more of Mike Orduna's work. I love the use of scribbled lines. He seems to often used mixed media to create ethereal images that exist on several planes of reality and fantasy. His limited colour palate also helps to keep the image as a singular unit. The eye is drawn to the point of illumination, and although I don't know what this poster is for, I get the sense that it is fantasy- orientated. The lines are actually mostly scribbles, so they are somewhat straight and the entire image is somewhat angular. However, there is a beautiful flow to it as well.

Poster Research: Negative Space and Contrast

2009-08-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

For my concert poster for ACN107, I will probably choose to create a poster for an orchestral concert as this the kind of music I enjoy most myself. Also, I would like to design something lyrical and classical, but with a modern twist. Thus I believe that an orchestral concert would be best for this.

The following posters are ones that I particularly like. Some are movie posters, some are concert posters, and some are just random ones pulled off the web.

Posters with good use of negative space:Pearl Jam concert poster. I like this concept of using imagery that has nothing to do with music. It forces the viewer to make a connection themselves. This poster is relatively simple. The colours are limited and in blocks. The warm colour palate stands out brightly again the plain white background and draws attention. The lines direct our focus to the boy. Even the angle of the text is pointing back at the boy, and his lightly-coloured face further makes him a point of focus. The natural curved shape of the boy and mower are somewhat contrasted by the blocky shapes of the text. The curved shape juxtaposes the straight shapes and this seems to put the boy in a different world to the text, but they are united by their similar colours. Texture isn't used particularly in this poster, as it's mostly in block silhouettes.

This Swan Lake poster not only has an excellent use of contrast, it also uses negative space rather well. The absolute blackness of the background silhouetters the ballerina and accentuates her graceful shape. I love the simplicity of the poster, it really puts focus on the ballerina's movement and graceful line. The photograph of buildings in the background puts her in an urban setting, which is an original idea for 'Swan Lake'- implying that the story still applies to life today. However, as the ballerina appears to be on a different plane to the background, she is still removed and put somewhat in a fantasy world. The use of only black and white is very powerful, emphasising the extreme and really painting the ballerina as a force of good.

This poster from Guillermo del Toro's, 'Pan's Labyrinth' is among my favourite of all movie posters. I absolutely love the symmetrical design of the poster and the use of silhouette. The eye is drawn to the symbol right in the centre, because it cuts a strong shape against the light background. The little girl is also silhouetted, and her scale makes her look almost insignificant. The light area is more or less a circle, which really acts as a spotlight- emphasising the importance of the symbol. The lines are largely curvilinear, portraying a kind of whirling portal into a gentle fantasy world that is also conveyed by the ethereal dreamy colours. The silhouettes of eerie branches further suggests fantasy, and we get the impression that Ophelia is about to enter a fantasy world through the gate. This poster has a very limited colour palate- mostly blue and black, which conveys the darkness and horror of the film, as well as the hopeful fantasy aspect of it. Texture is used on the stone and the branches which are both relatively rough-looking, suggesting a real, somewhat harsh environment.

A relatively colourful poster is Tim Burton's 'Big Fish'. The eye is immediately drawn to the title and the tree that grows out of it, as it is silhouetted against the otherwise light background. Also, the tiny man is a point of focus, as the poster is at it's lightest point directly behind him. This poster is largely suggestive of fantasy, perhaps because of the colour scheme. The colours are all dreamy and the texture of the hills and sky are smooth- like a dreamland. The line of the horizon leads back to the silhouetted man and text. The curved line of the path also draws out attention to the same place. Shapes are curved and soft which make them appear quite welcoming. Because the bottom of the poster is dark, I get the impression that Burton is inviting us to step onto the path ourselves and join him in the fantasy world of 'Big Fish'. The light on the horizon is welcoming.

Posters with good use of contrast:
This poster of 'The Weeping Violin' uses several gentle colours, and the contrast between the blue and the yellow work well. The brightest, warmest colours- the yellow- draws attention, so her face and hair are what we're drawn to. I also like how the background colour gradient is the same as the person except less sharp and more dreamy. It helps to lead our attention to the right corner where her head is. There are several strong lines in the image. The most obvious ones are the bow of the violin and the body of the violin. They both lead to the person's head and almost cut straight across her neck - perhaps a hint at her sorrow. The dripping vertical lines create very sorrowful imagery. The lines of dripping paint are reminiscent of tears or rain- both associated with sadness. The colour blue similarly accentuates sorrow so it is fitting that that the very bottom of the image is blue. The texture of the paint is smooth, again suggesting tears or rain. The entire shape seems to be melting and falling downward. I almost think this poster would work better if it were portrait rather than landscape, just to accenutate the vertical line even more.

This is an image created for 'Bass Guitar Magazine'. It was created by Mike Orduna who I have recently discovered. The contrast is particularly good in the image as the gold contrasts the black, and the white contrasts everything. Orduna has used a stencil-like image of these guitar players and overlayed it on a somwhat busy background. As they are stark white, they largely contrast the background. The warm colours work well in this piece and suggest a kind of fiery passion. The mood would be quite different if it were created in cool colours. Line is not an element that is used too much in this image, the focus is more on the shape of the guitar players. The focus is drawn straight to the lead guitarist's face because it is quite central and is probably the largest recognisable object in the image. The motley texture of the background creates this mood of mystery, and the grainy paint-splatter texture of the guitarists suggest a sort of grunge-mood which seems to fit the idea of rock musicians.

I don't think this is the official poster for James Cameron's 'Avatar', but this promotional poster begins to give a sense of what the movie will be like. There is a lot of contrast in this image, and our eye is obviously drawn to the lightest point- the spot of sunlight among the trees. Whereas the left side of the poster appears quite dreamy and gentle, the right side and bottom show a harsher, more 'real' depiction of the forest. The colours are largely natural- except perhaps for the golden left-side which seems almost too beautiful to be natural. This suggests that there is something uncanny happening in the forest. This image would be just an ordinary picture of a forest except for the dissecting lines that criss-cross the poster. They're suggestive of some kind of laser technology used for detecting people in the area, and thus the stillness of the image creates a tense mood. The lines of the 'lasers' dissect the sun in the background, creating a primary point of focus. The font used appears quite brash and draws attention to itself as it contrasts the darker background. The stencil-like, flat font seems to suggest something sci-fi. All textures in this poster seem to be the natural textures of a forest.

This poster is promoting a concert featuring 'Queen'. I like the top half of the poster, as there is a good use of contrast and silhouette. However, I believe that there may be too much text in the poster which takes away from it's beauty. Our eye is drawn to the greatest point of contrast- the silhouette of the musician against the background. His silhouette is quite representative of the mantra of 'Queen', as it is quite bold and passionate. The image in grey on the background looks like some kind of royal emblem, which seems to go well with the name 'Queen'. The font used for the title also looks royal, particularly because of the trailing 'Q'. The top portion of the poster looks like a Victorian-punk crossover suggesting the classic influence of Queen.

My gauge of Art Nouveau

2009-08-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

Several things in this modern world draw from the Art Nouveau style. Most people tend to think of architecture and furniture, but some examples of art nouveau that I've seen have been quite unexpected.

In terms of typography, I have come across two amazing typographers. Firstly, Si Scott. Si Scott is a fairly famous typographer who has been commisioned to do much commercial design. His images always revolve around centripedal design. Lots of curves and circles are used, which I consider to be somewhat 'Art Nouveau'.

The following example is from his website, http://www.siscottstudio.com/

I particularly love how in the second design, the typography (reading 'Black Swans' is one with the image of two swans. The flow of line is certainly reminiscent of organic forms and I find Scott's work particularly beautiful.

Another typographer I greatly admire is Daniel Reeve. A calligrapher from New Zealand, Reeve has done much typography for several commercial products for films, such as 'The Lord of the Rings', 'The Chronicles of Narnia' and 'Pirates of the Carribean'. Perhaps most notably, Reeve did the typography for the 'The Lord of the Rings' calendars and maps. The following examples of his typography were taken from his website, http://www.danielreeve.co.nz/

I love the extension of line that Reeve uses. These names from 'The Lord of the Rings' particularly suit the Art Nouveau style. Bag End, being a part of Hobbitton is a very earthy, organic location. The Nouveau style suits this in the sense that it is affiliated with nature. Galadrial and Arwen are both elves, and I strongly feel that Elves epitomise 'Art Nouveau'. The flow of line suggests the gracefulness of elves, and the leaf shapes are symbolic of their homes in the forests and among nature. Reeve's typography simply blows me away.

To continue on 'The Lord of the Rings' and elves, I have sourced images of the concept design that went into the creation of the LOTR films. Daniel Falconer is a designer from Weta Workshop- the NZ company that created the physical effects for LOTR. Falconer was particularly active in designing the elves of Middle-Earth. Having met Falconer personally, and having researched his involvement in the process of concept design, I know that he particularly chose the Art Nouveau style to design the elves. The curved lines that he uses are clearly reminiscent of leaf shapes and flowers. Since seeing these concept designs, I have always associated 'Art Nouveau' with 'Elves of Middle-Earth'.

The following images were taken from the Gary Russell 'Art of...' LOTR books. Daniel's page on Weta's website is http://www.wetanz.com/daniel-falconer/

Depicted above are three First-Age elves. The first and third are Gil-Galad, and the middle is Elrond. Their armour has a lot of overlaying curved plates. Leaf symbolism is evident throughout the designs, and their armour is not merely industrial- it is beautiful. Similarly in the row of Elven emblems (adapted from pictures that J.R.R. Tolkien himself drew) draw from natural elements. Leaf shapes are often present, as well as stars.

Above are several images showing the process of design for the Galadhrim Third-Age elves. Falconer again used elegant leaf shapes in the breast-plate and skirt in the first two images. The overall aesthetic is very beautiful, which is perhaps odd for a piece of armour. However, I believe that Falconer's vision of elves - that they adorn themselves in beauty as the battle could be their last - is very much symbolic of Art Nouveau. The last image is actually a polystone collectible statue made by Sideshow Weta of a Galadhrim Archer. This was sculpted exactly as the characters were seen in 'The Two Towers'. I find the design absolutely beautiful. The flow in the armour suggests such a grace that is fitting for elves.

Another designer from Weta Workshop that has used Art Nouveau in an unconventional way is Greg Broadmore. As the inventor of 'Dr. Grorbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators', i.e.- Rayguns, he has drawn from both Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles. As his rayguns are categorised as 'steampunk', they draw from a Victorian aesthetic which I believe to be somewhat similar to the Art Nouveau style. He creates pieces of weaponry that are (arguably) practical but incredibly beautiful. Although guns are not typically objects of beauty, Broadmore uses curved lines and organic shapes to create beautiful objects of destruction... however ironic that is.

The following images have been taken from his book, 'Dr. Grordbort's Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory'. Greg's page on the Weta website is http://www.wetanz.com/greg-broadmore/

The Victorious Mongoose is based on a Derringer-style gun which was designed to be concealable. I find the curved shape to be particularly elegant. Some of the detail on the handle and the lyrical designs above it remind me of the nouveau aesthetic. The F.M.O.M. is perhaps less elegant and more futuristic, but the shape is still a beautiful, natural leaf-shaped design.

Art Nouveau can be found in unlikely places. Even today, obscure objects are designed with a nouveau aesthetic as people still celebrate the idea that a piece of design can be both attractive and practical.

Art Nouveau

2009-08-01T06:05:00.000-07:00

Art Nouveau was an artistic style that peaked at the turn of the 20th Century. It was a style that incorporated beauty into design and believed that an object/building/artwork could be both beautiful and practical. It aimed to make art part of everyday life. Art Nouveau is personally my favourite art movement, as I similarly believe that design ought to be beautiful. The organic shapes and curvilinear lines emanate a grace and beauty that were used in furniture, architecture, art and even typography.

Art Nouveau was successful in several countries, but I am going to concentrate on five specifically- Czech Republic, Germany, Britain, Spain and France.

Czech Republic/France and Alphonse Mucha
Perhaps one of the most recognised and staple Nouveau artists is Alphonse Mucha. Born in what is now the Czech Republic in 1860 and moving to Paris in 1887, Mucha was a painter and a decorative artist. When he first designed a poster for the theatre production, 'Gismonda' in 1895, it was instantly successful and his style - named Mucha Style, and later Art Nouveau - from there cascaded and became an international hit when exhibited in the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris. Mucha's artwork often featured beautiful young woman in flowing robes and often adorned with flowers. The sweeping curved lines and the general softness and beauty of his pieces epitomise Art Nouveau itself.

Maud Adams as Joan of Arc- 1909 by Alphonse Mucha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mucha-Maud_Adams_as_Joan_of_Arc-1909.jpg

Germany and Typography
In Germany, Art Nouveau was named 'Jugendstil'. The style uses hard edges and precise lines, but still uses an overall curved organic style. Jugendstil typography was particularly popular. Typefaces that worked harmoniously with images were often used. The Jugendstil typography is decorative and beautiful rather than practical. It's use of extended and curved projections gave letters organic shapes.

Jugendstil typography, applied to a brewery sign

http://www.essential-architecture.com/IMAGES/JUG-Karlsruhe_Moninger_Jugendstil.jpg

Britain and architecture
In the UK, Art Nouveau derived from the Arts and Crafts movement. The style also drew somewhat from Victorian design. In Britain, Art Nouveau was beginning to be recognised in the 1880s. A famous example of Art Nouveau architecture in Britain is the Edward Everard Building in Bristol, built in 1900-01. As shown in the photo below, a Nouveau influence can be seen in the typography as well as the people depicted. The winged figure symbolises the Spirit of Light, while the figure holding a lamp and mirror symbolises light and truth.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Edward_Everard.jpg

Spain and Antoni Gaudi
Antoni Gaudi was born in Catalonia, Spain in 1852. He was an influential architect with many achievements to his name. His style was also somewhat Gothic, and this was particularly evident in his unfinished masterpiece Sagrada Família. As a Catholic, the building facade contains much Christian symbolism. The use of 18 towers represents the twelve Apostles, four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ as the tallest tower of all. Overall, the very detailed facade has the beauty of curvilinear lines with a Gothic influence.

The Sagrada Família.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/SagradaFamiliaNordfassade.jpg

France and Furniture
France was more or less the Art Nouveau capital of the world, as architecture, poster art, jewellery and furniture with Nouveau influences largely came from France. In terms of furniture, Louis Marjorelle was a great influence. Born in France 1859, Marjorelle's furniture designs in the 1890's drew largely from organic shapes. He drew influences from stems of plants, waterlily leaves, tendrils, dragonflies and the like. He was undoubtedly one of the great artists that helped Paris to become the one of the major centres of Art Nouveau.
The mahogany bed depicted below drew from waterliles. The curved shape creates an elegance and beauty by drawing from natural shapes.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/40/Majorelle_Bed.jpg

Red Riding Hood in Silhouette

2009-07-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

Here is some experiments with silhouette, colour and shape with the same 'Little Red Riding Hood' image. Quite luckily, I happened to draw the two characters with quite distinctive and interesting silhouettes. The raygun in Little Red's hand looks particularly good, so I made it the focus of the piece. The wolf's hair and pipe also look quite excellent in silhouette.

I used radial design to emphasise the imaginary rays from the raygun. Also, as I didn't want to have a traditional forest background, I used shapes, which have an almost art deco feel to it.

Firstly, here is the image in black and white. The diagonal line is used to create a sense of separation between the two characters. I chose to have Little Red in black and the Wolf in white, which is opposite to what you would expect, since black is evil and white is pure. However, since Little Red wields a raygun, I don't think she's pure!

Next is my monochromatic silhouettes. I chose the colour red for obvious reasons. Of course Little Red had to be coloured Red! The colour scheme somehow reminds me of Japan- perhaps something to do with Samurai. The blood red behind the wolf, and his red shadow is symbolic of death- here, the wolf is the victim.

Next is my analogous composition. I used three hot colours- red, orange and yellow. I kept Little Red and the wolf in the same colours as the last composition. This time, they really strike a cutting silhouette against the background. The hot colours are reminiscent of the sun- especially with the radial imagery. This makes for an action-filled image, where it's suggested that the raygun lets off heat. Next is my complementary composition. The colours I chose are quite unexpected. They're almost tropical colours. Little Red is depicted in a hot colour- suggesting her aggressiveness, whereas the wolf is a cool blue. In this image, all the lines lead to the wolf- he is clearly the victim. Last is my triadic composition. I went a little bizarre with the colour choices. The combination of orange, green and purple clash quite a lot. I used the purple on Little Red to hint at a feminine side, although the amount of blue in the purple emasculates her also. The wolf is in orange as it's somewhat similar to the brown-coat of a wolf.

Little Red and Wolf in colour and texture

2009-07-25T04:08:00.001-07:00

Here is my scene from 'Little Red Riding Hood' rendered in colour and texture. The first image is rendered with textures. Most of the textures came from various places around Deakin University. Little Red is mostly textured with the natural patterns of rock surfaces. I used this to suggest a strong, iron-willed character. The bumpy texture on her boots and gauntlets are almost suggestive of reptile skin, portraying a vicious nature.

The wolf's jacket is rendered with the texture of fur. I thought this seemed suitable to suggest that this man has an animalistic nature. His belt is textured with bumps which I thought looked rather sci-fi - fitting for this steampunk theme. His boot's texture is actually the same as Little Red's only on a smaller scale, and again, the almost reptilian look suggests a vicious demeanour. His pants are actually textured with a photograph I took of a sheet of metal. However, here it almost looks like velvet or suede. I thought this was again suitable for an 'animal' character.

The second scene is rendered with mostly flat colours with only a touch of shading. The thick lines make the characters look like comic-book characters. I think this is suitable for the style I used, and in retrospect, I might have been drawing these characters with 'X-Men' influences. Little Red certainly looks somewhat similar to 'The Scarlet Witch', and the Wolf looks somewhat like 'Wolverine'.

I decided not to use a background for either image, because a background took away from the strength and sheer personality of the characters.

Texture

2009-07-22T04:30:00.000-07:00

Here is my drawn interpretations of texture. Some of them don't make sense when scanned to digital because you cannot see the grain of the paper it was originally drawn on.

Exploration of Line

2009-07-22T04:28:00.001-07:00

Here is the line excercise from ACN107. I drew these lines according to what the corresponding adjectives meant to me.

Texture/Pattern Library

2009-07-22T04:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a selection of textures and patterns found around Deakin University. I intend to use these samples to texturise images and illustrations.

Some of the textures here came from quite unexpected places. One of them is actually a pile of old bird-droppings which created quite an interesting texture.

Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf

2009-07-22T03:46:00.000-07:00

Here is my interpretation of Little Red and the Wolf.

I've decided to base my sketch around the adjective, Heroic.

A superhero version of Little Red is what I attempted, with somewhat of a Steampunk spin. This drew largely from the designer Greg Broadmore and his steampunk world of 'Dr. Grordbort's'. The raygun in her hand is a direct homage to Broadmore's designs.

I interpreted the wolf as a suave villain who attempts to woo Little Red. Thus is he portrayed a a man, with wolfish mannerisms. The 'animalistic' side of him is portrayed through his tailcoat, his neck-tie and his hair.