The Old Maid

For our final project we made a list of: 5 specific events in your life, 5 people who have influenced your creativity, 5 inanimate objects that you keep around your workspace, 10 activities you do to stimulate creativity and 1 thing that hinders your creativity. Our challenge was to "personify" everything listed and create playing cards much like that of The Old Maid game. My game is called Mistress of Self Doubt.

The Mistress of Self Doubt represents the internal battle of thinking nothing is ever good enough and doubting you can branch out and succeed at different artistic styles and aesthetics.

This set of cards represents influential people that have influenced my designs.

This set of cards represents important objects I use on a regular basis.

This set of cards represents influential events that have shaped my design aesthetic.

This set of cards represents activities that help me stay focused and provide inspiration to my designs.

The card box was designed in a morose style representing the effects from the Mistress of Self Doubt.

The back of the card is a tartan pattern reflecting my Scottish heritage and the influence my country has in my life.

  

The Bard

For our assignment this week we have been hired by the Royal Shakespeare Company to develop a program cover for one of Shakespeare's plays, I chose Macbeth. The program cover was designed by my pseudonym, Gladys Hoachin.

Gladys did not want to use obvious symbolism from the play such as witches, crowns or daggers. She chose to create a rough, stylized forest which relates to the prophecy given to Macbeth by the three witches that he will remain safe until "Birnam wood comes to Dunsinane Castle." However, this prophecy depicts Macbeth's demise when the English army advances on Dunsinane shielded with boughs cut from Birnam wood. The hand drawn text of Macbeth is supposed to represent the roots of trees. Gladys chose red for the background color for a number of reasons: it represents anger, revenge and the blood stained battle field where Macbeth is beheaded by Macduff.

Simplification Through Symbolism

This week  in class we discussed symbolism and simplicity. First we created a list of 10 quotes that had visual potential, from those 10 we chose 3 to develop into ideographs. Here's mine...

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

This is an old proverb that means it's better to have a lesser but certain advantage than the possibility of a greater one that may come to nothing. I basically simplified all of the words in this quote into symbols. I think the universal sign of 'equals' is what ties the whole ideograph together.

"Walls have ears."

I think everyone knows this quote means that someone is listening in on your conversation, and you don't want them to hear what you're saying. I depicted this in the most literal way. I think the lines by the ear help to convey the 'listening' element better than just the ear by itself. I added the white lines in the rectangle in a brick pattern to help show that it is a wall, otherwise it just looked like...well, a black rectangle.

"Small leaks sink the ship."

Most people take this to mean small flaws can spell mayhem for great things. Just as a little water dripping into the hold of a ship will eventually fill it up and sink the ship or, a little lie may cause a big problem. This is a literal composition of the quote.

Between Ugliness & Beauty



Lantern Bug

Look at this ugly beastie! Well, most people find insects repulsive but I think he is absolutely beautiful. This is a Lantern Bug from Brunei and he has wings that have an intricate pattern and vibrant hues of bright green, yellow and red. He's go-jus!

War

All wars are ugly and bring death, pain and suffering. However, if you have ever visited a war memorial here in the USA or Europe you will know that they are beautiful places of peace and serenity.

Oil Spill

There have been many major oil spills throughout the world and we are all aware of the huge environmental impact they have, especially for birds and marine animals. That was the ugliness that I wanted to convey in this sketch. The connection is when light hits the oil and creates a rainbow effect of beautiful purples, blues and maroons.

Blood Diamonds

Diamonds are prized and desired by many across the globe. These precious gems have become a symbol of wealth, power, love and beauty. However, to those who mine and extract them, these most desired gems are a symbol of pain, suffering, injustice, terror, fear, war, sorrow and even death. Blood diamonds, as they are called, bear a history associated with war, atrocities, death and slavery.

Emotional CYRK Poster

Intimidation by Gladys Hoachin

The challenge for this poster assignment was to create and convey a specific emotion. The style and rendering

of the artwork had to be done under our new pseudonym. Gladys decided intimidation was the best and closest

emotion that related to her personality.

Normally, I like my work to be clean and precise whereas Gladys loves chaos and mess. The position and stance of

the lion was a deliberate attempt to help convey the emotion and add depth to the artwork. A black background was

used for a number of reasons such as the color psychology associated with black and to reinforce the lion as the

focal point of the design. Gladys added texture and ink splatter marks to the poster to age and 'roughen' it up. The white

diagonal line was used to create motion, movement and perspective. 



      

Pseudonym

My Pseudonym, Gladys Hoachin

For our in-class assignment for this week we had to create a fictitious character that would be our pseudonym. We could make this character someone we would want to be but can't or someone who was diametrically opposite to you in every way. 

So here is Gladys Hoachin; an individual I admire and loathe at the same time! Gladys doesn't give a monkeys about what you or anyone else thinks of her. You tell her you hate her and she'll recant back " I hate you more!" She is loud and obnoxious, messy and a slob of the highest order. She is a total extrovert and thinks neon and clashing colors are the best thing since sliced bread! She loves her Doc Marten boots and thinks nothing of crushing amphibians, small animals and people that get in her way. Her name was chosen for the following reasons: Gladys is possibly one of the geekiest names an individual from the UK could be named by their parents...so sad. Hoachin is a Scottish slang word and has multiple meanings such as infested with something unpleasant, busy, or a hackit, ugly individual as is the case with Gladys.



 

Juxtaposition - Opposite Drawing

Good vs. Evil

Organic vs. Inanimate

Fat vs. Skinny

Chase really wanted to see this combination...

Totally Looks Like



This week we had to find 10 examples of objects that reminded us of something or someone else, photograph them and place them side by side for comparison. From the top down:

1. My sieve from the kitchen could double for a fencing mask.
2. Bean bag man (my favorite toy) looks just like Mr Happy from the Roger Hargreaves book series, Mr Men.
3. The hook is from a bike holder/rail and looks just like a question mark.
4. Everyday fan that looks like a propeller.
5. This lamp reminded me of an automated robot you'd see in automobile factories.
6. I think Jean Paul Gaultier was inspired by a funnel and created Madonna's infamous (and dodgy) brazier!
7. A close up of one of my favorite Arthur Beardsley drawings looks just like wild turkey plumage!
8. A blocker used in martial arts looks just like an ice lolly.
9. This is a picture of a coffee table leg, which is in bits because my kids destroyed it! Reminded me of a Viking ship.
10. Greta, the pug is just missing some tusks and flying goggles and she's a dead ringer for Major A Maggot!

The Paper Game

The Paper Game - Statement, first and last images.

We played the Paper Game as an in-class assignment. Basically, the first person writes a statement or phrase and passes it to the right. The next person looks at the statement and has to render a sketch that conveys what is written (no words or letters allowed), it is passed to the right again and this person is only allowed to look at the previous sketch, they then have to write what they think the statement is and so on. We reviewed some of the sketch books at the end and some of the interpretations and drawings/sketches were pretty funny. The image above shows my initial statement and the first and last sketches drawn.

New Yorker Phrase Narratives

"Miss! Oh, miss! For goodness sake, stop!"

"Miss! Oh, Miss! For goodness sake, stop!"

Ok folks we're in week 3 of the conceptual imagery class. Our design Jedi master, Chase has given us a quick lecture on conceptual art and we've played The Paper Game, results of which you will see in a later post. We are all anxiously awaiting our next at home assignment when Chase gleefully reaches into his bag and produces...drumroll please...The Magic Fez! Oh dear, for those of us who have had previous encounters with the Fez we now know some silly phrases and statements are heading our way. Chase relishes the looks of bewilderment, disappointment and panic on our faces as he passes the Fez around the classroom. I have the following phrase: "Miss! Oh, Miss! For goodness sake, stop!" Yikes. Now its time to think abour the narrative potential behind the phrase and how it can be interpreted into two different, one panel images. Reference to older New Yorker Cartoons is strongly encouraged by our Master.
Several days later...phew! Here are my two cartoons, each with a different take on the given phrase. I enjoy the cartoons and illustrations of Gary Larson and Gahan Wilson - not only are they funny but they make comic drawing look so effortless! This was not the case for me.

Shape Worksheet

These are the sketches from a quick, in-class assignment using the basic shapes of a triangle, square and circle.

Shape Potential

Ok, for this project we were each given a different shape. The challenge is to sketch 10 unexpected visual connections using the shape. You can see the shape in the sketches highlighted in red.

It took some brainstorming and sketching to come up with the final ideas for this project. When I'm thinking and scratching around for ideas I usually start with imagining the shape as something really big, or tiny and small, natural vs man-made etc. Once I get going and start sketching, new ideas start popping into my head. This was a fun project! Until next time...

The Exquisite Corpse

A technique invented by the Surrealists, the exquisite corpse is a method by which a collection of words and images are collectively assembled. For our first in-class assignment we were divided into groups of three and portions of a person (head, torso, legs and feet) were drawn. Nobody in the group knows what the previous student has drawn. The point of this exercise, as you will see, is the surprise reveal at the end. I started the exercise and you can see the head, or heid as we say in Scotland above.

Next up for drawing was Ariel. Wow, check out that wrap, and svelte body! Spodgie is obviously a hardcore fashion victim!

Good grief! What's with the Hammertime/Farmer John shorts here? Let's see how Spodgie looks all together shall we?

Awww! Spodgie is obviously not from this planet although, I think I've seen Spodgie look-a-likes in Walmart from time to time. He's in need of some help when it comes to trying to 'fit in' and has no clue about fashion after all. Those giant big toes must be needed to counter balance his rather large noggin. Spodgie looks a bit dodgy!

The Situation

Don't panic! This blog has nothing to do with that dodgy show Jersey Shores. Rather, this is a journey through an eleven week course in conceptual imagery. The focus of the course is how messages can be constructed through images using subject matter, context juxtaposition, editing, scale, color, and composition. At least that's what the syllabus says! Our design Jedi Master is Chase Quartermann so I feel a lot of pain, suffering, and sketching coming on! Our first in-class assignment follows. Get ready to meet Spodgie...