- MY BLOG

Madame Odille Prototype Head...

So with the character finalised I am starting to experiment with the materials and fabrics. Because the body is already decided that it will be cast in silicone, this only leaves the head. Originally the head was going to be the same as the body, however there is a certain style and texture I want and silicone just cant achieve this.

So I bought some Sculpey and had a bash at making a head, I've never used this material before and was a little sceptical about how good it would be with blending and what not compared to that of plasticine. However I was really impressed with it and found that it had many characteristics similar to that of plasticine and obviously one big advantage, that when baked in the oven it turns hard. I really don't know why I haven't tried Sculpey sooner, I have sort of fallen in love with it and now have gone on a sculpey craze, making lots of rings from it lol.

Anyhoo back to the head prototype, below are the pics of it before cooking and after.

I filled the head with regular tin foil to bulk it out, didn't think blue foam would take too kindly to being cooked in the oven. Then just wacked it in the oven for 15 mins, and the result you see on the right is what I got. Colour doesn't change at all and it is quite strong after cooking.

Next came the painting and extras. The eyes used here are just plain plastic ones, however for the final model

I'm going to hunt down some proper frosted glass ones, these look ten times better than the regular plastic ones.

As I mentioned in the last blog I really liked the style of 'Red Nose Studio' and really wanted a paint effect like they use on their models, so I opted for acrylic paint and painted the head taking care not to totally eradicate all the brush strokes as this texture I wanted to be present. The majority of the model is going to have a very natural and slightly crude feel to it, so the inclusion of the paint texture I thought to be a wise and potentially effective addition.

I wanted to get an overall feel of how the head will look fully completed so I decided to make some prototype accessories to dress the head and see if the overall look is still working for me. The results of this can be seen below, I am particularly pleased with my felt hat that I moulded to fit the characters head. I am going to do a tutorial to make ones of theses hats soon, so look out for it in the DOWNLOAD section, then you can make your very own miniature felt hat.

Originally the paper hair and feather were just a temporary measure to just get the feel of the complete thing, however kind of like it how it is. I think because the model will have hand made clothes the inclusion of the paper gives it another dimension and something a little different from just using a material that mimics hair.

Overall I am very happy with the look if the head and will be recreating it and developing aspects of it further for the final model..........WATCH THIS SPACE...!

Madame Odille...

So I have been sketching and thinking about my character for a while now and thought it was about time I tested my drawings to see if they are as pleasing to me in 3D as they are in 2D. First of all the character has changed slightly from the last blog, and developed her a little further until I was sure I was happy with her whole look. Aspects such as her mouth, hat and hands have been changed and also some accessories added like her pearl beads and the newspaper in her pocket. This sketch basically formed a pattern so to speak for me to make the model, everything is plotted out on the sketch so I know which elements go where.

I then took this sketch and transformed it into a prototype 3D model. In the process of making models I always tend to get new ideas as to what would add more character to the model and end up adding a few extra accessories. This model was no different, I changed the gloves from being on the hands to hanging out of her other pocket and also gave her a few staging accessories like her suitcases and umbrella. These also helped with the posing of the character, I played around with a few different accessories for her hands until I came to the decision to use the ones you see here.

As this is only a prototype her accessories are very crude and will be developed more alongside her and made properly for the final model. As she has just been made homeless, I was thinking along the lines of having her suitcase bulging with her possessions and her umbrella being a bit worse for ware, with holes letting the rain through.

I am at the minute considering the materials that will be used on the final model. At the moment I'm considering Silicone for the body and possibly Super Sculpy for the head as I want a certain look to it as it will be the only skin on show. With the head I want to be able to have a bit of rough texture and paint her skin tone in, this I am taking inspiration from the great work of 'Red Nose Studio', if you take a look at their work you will get what I mean. For her clothes I am setting out to make them myself, I am possibly letting myself in for a whole lot of stress but to be honest I'm quite looking forward to sourcing all the materials and making some mini clothes. Plus this is the only route to take to get the look I'm after, I don't want her to look too plastic and monotone, I want her to have some life to her and plenty of texture.

So for now I'm going to begin making the naked body form plasticine to be cast in silicone, and then the fun really starts....

Graffiti Hank...

'Digital Artist' magazine are currently running a competition to create a unique peace of design using a piece of vector graffiti they provide you with, in the style of grunge. You win a years subscription to the magazine and since I am hugely skint and the magazine is over a couple of quid so I decided to give it a bash and hopefully win myself the prize.

There are probably a whole load of really impressive entries from professionals and Graphic Design students, so I really wanted to do something different with the vector graffiti given, that hopefully no one else has done. So the only logical choice for the subject had to be 'Hank'. I turned the graffiti vertical and added a check texture to it, added some pink and blue paint sprays and splashes to incorporate the grunge effect, and finally added Hank into the centre, wrapping the graffiti design around him.

I'm pretty pleased with the outcome and fingers crossed I win the years subscription or even have him printed in the magazine.

This design is also available on t-shirts and hoodies on my RedBubble web page, and Hank on his own is also available as a vinyl sticker. For prices, sizes and colours and of course purchasing follow the link below and if your feeling generous have a spend and put some pennies in my pocket...

http://www.redbubble.com/people/lmlm6819

MA Character Development

So I'm know in my final stage of my Masters, which has been going really well, and I'm being to refine my character and move towards the final design. The character is set in the 1920's so I have been doing loads of research into the fashion of the time and also what was happening socially, to really make the world and style of the character as real as possible. I have come to a sort of final design but I think it needs a bit more work as I am not totally happy with it.

I'm happy with the clothes, but there just seems to be something missing. There are a couple of little tweaks I want to make to things like the fur collar and hat, maybe these will make it right for me. The character's story is that she has been turned out on the street with all the possessions that she has left after the death of her husband, so I want her clothes to look a little worse for wear and possibly details like one of the eyes on the fur collar to be hanging off. These I will start adding know as I have the basis of the design done, then props will be added to the scene like suitcases and handbags etc..

Photoshop I LOVE you, but I'm having an affair with a Paint Brush!

Lately alot of the art work I have been doing consists of sketching then putting it straight into Photoshop and Illustrator to colour it up. I used to work alot with pencils, markers and paint but I feel I have drifted away from this into the digital world, and I really want to go back to this a create some work that is purely hand done with no aid from the computer. I love working with Photoshop to colour drawings and add textures but there is nothing like using the traditional methods and producing something that is purly created by your hands.

Sooooooooo........ I decided to start simple and chose a fine liner and sum white acrylic paint, taking inspiration from the work of Gris Grimly. I also have found a new love for drawing on brown paper, which works really well with the black ink and white acrylic highlights.

Hopefully this will be the start of some new art work that will be computer free, totally untouched by Photoshop.

Watch this space......!

WOW Look at the Snow!!

With the great weather (well I think so) we have been having lately, all the lovely snow, I decided that I would take a strole with my camera and see what I can capture down by the river Wear. It is a beautiful place at the best of times but even more so when it it covered in a thick layer of the cold stuff.

Here are some of the snaps I took on my River adventure.....

HANK PRINTED IN INK!

So here is my first blog post on this here website of mine, to kick this off I'm going back in time a little to July when i had my Degree Show at University. This was where everyone doing their BA displayed their work from their final major project and the public plus family and friends were invited to come and view the work. Which leads me to the picture displayed below, amongst my work on display was my character 'Hank' made for a previous animation.

The free newspaper 'The Metro' did a secret review of the show where myself and some of my class mates got a mention. Best of all though :) Hank got his mug shot put as the main picture to the article, he certainly gets around this gangster rabbit. He does have too be one of my favourite characters that I have created and possibly one of the most simple. He was also a character that I did not design before i started making him, he was a flowing character that developed as I made him, I suppose you could say I made him up as I went along. I do like to design characters before i start to make them but for 'Hank' i think the freedom proved to be a good thing and produced quite a successful character.

Anyhoo I'm sure you will see more of hank soon, collecting his debt or feeding you to the fishes :) Watch your back :)