Tim Burton

I was extremely reluctant to really look into Tim Burton's work, i think it was because everyone else in the class really like him, and he's just so popular. Yeah, it's a pretty lame reason but i wanted the blog to show a bit of my personality as well as research. So anyway i've decided to include him in my work. I really like the preliminary drawings and concept work that go in before things go to screen, it shows that the sketches don't have to be perfect as long as they get the general idea across. But I also like his distinctive style. Slightly creepy, yet sweet, there is a definite atmosphere put forward. I'll look into him more for sure in the future, since i'm leaning more and more towards the idea of doing set design in the future; working in T.V. and film with an illustrative twist sounds like a good idea. Also when i did my 1984 work last year i was told by a classmate that my work reminded them of Burton, which i really appreciated, it gave me confidence in my project. So it appears if i continue in this direction i'll be making the right decision.

Hiroshi Hara

Last year i gave a presentation on Architecture as part of the orally marked assessment. One architect i was going to use (but eventually didn't make the list) was a guy called Hiroshi Hara. This Japanese architect has designed some of the most iconic buildings in Japan, my favourite being the Umeda sky building in Osaka; the three images in the middle show this building at different interesting angles. It reminds me of lego, like most of his work does (especially the Kyoto Station, top image), but i also really like the idea of two entirely separate buildings that are only accessible together at the top. I've seen other pictures of tis building that have taken my breath away, but can't find them at the moment, but its shown at night, profile shot with the moon glaring through the middle of the building. I find it really inspiring as it shows a relationship between modern urban sky buildings and nature.

Keri Smith

Keri Smith is a very inspirational woman when it comes to getting myself motivated. I have one of her books, "How to be an explorer of the World" and it's full of these awesome little lessons and missions for you to do when you need a break from whatever you're doing. But at the same time these missions correlate to artists and help them in their work, so everybody's a winner. Seriously, i should rip out all the pages and paste the m to my bedroom ceiling so i can see them all the time! This first image is an example of what a page in her book looks like-- well, they all are really, and show how simple tasks can free you creatively. The second image down, a list compiled of what you shouldn't do if you're an artist, is a list i think i'm going to start following very closely for my second year. Hopefully this will keep my work and experience more fun and enjoyable.

Syefan Sagmeister

I came across Stefan Sagmeister when i was in my foundation year in a graphic design book, and his work was such a stand-out piece compared to the other work in the book it had a lasting effect in my memory. His style appears to be such a diverse change from most other designers, it strikes me as bold and risky because of how it differs. Although his work looks pretty fun and entertaining i know when it comes down to doing his projects, it's a serious matter. He also has an interesting work schedule, taking a year-long break after every seven years of working for clients so he can focus on his personal development.

"Design that needed guts from the creator and still carries the ghost of these guts in the final execution."

--S. Sagmeister

Disney Advertising

Just a bit of clever advertising i found on the internet to promote the new disneyland era. I honestly didn't get it at first, obviously wasn't looking properly, but i think thats the beauty of it. The subtle three fingers instead of four is a good statement to highlight the differences between the fantasy world of children's Disney and their version of reality. Pretty cool, thumbs up!

Christian Barthold

I first saw Christian Barthold's work when i bought Illustration Now! a while ago. Although i regularly change my favourite pieces in there, the ones that are consistently keeping my interest are his pieces. He uses collage, photography, pencil, acrylics and photoshop depending on whatever style he's doing at the time. At the moment i think he's shifted his focus onto handmade collage, with photoshop touches but my faveourite style of his are this selection, a few of them shown above. I really like his use of line, point of view and especially colour in his work. He thinks hard about the right blends depending on what he's trying to portray, i really like the consideration of exactly where the colour goes as well. I think i'll carry on looking into Bartholds work for inspiration as i move my work into more digital forms next year, his work will really help me through second year.

Stephen Wiltshire

I've been a fan of Stephen Wiltshire's work for a while now, (well about 3 years but thats a long time for me) i really wish there was a way i could draw like he does! He just has an amazing accuracy to get in every detail in a picture, however complicated, and when this gift is paired with his tendency to draw cityscapes on a huge level, something amazing is produced every time. A lot of his pictures are in black and white, which is cool, but some, like the two on the bottom have bits of colour added which bring in added atmosphere.

Stephen, however, is also autistic. When he was younger he didnt interact with other human beings, couldn't speak until he was 9, and only ever really communicated with the world through drawings. He began by drawing cars and busses, but moved on to buildings, drawing loads of famous landmarks and cities. He doesn't even need to see what he is going to draw for very long before he goes ahead; once he flew over Tokyo and remembered every aspect of the city, putting it on a 10 meter long canvas! Since then he's being working on other cities in the same way.

Genious.

Las Meninas: My First Piece

Here are a few photos of my initial piece of the summer project, my groups work all being based around the piece, "Ghost". I was pretty stuck to begin with, because although i really loved the sculpture, had a hard time of thinking what to take from it. My first ideas were based on photography, to try keep the idea of realism with the piece. There were going to be pictures based on typical teenage personality disorders, as i'd done a bit of research and came to the conclusion the Ghost might have one. In the end i realised it was a bad start and no creativity was coming from the photo idea so moved in a different direction.

Instead i made a cardboard model of a photo/ mirror frame that Ghost might have made by herself. I thought of this because i wanted to take the feelings from her face and explore her everyday life a little bit. Since she seemed unsure of her position in teenage society, uneasy with her appearence and isolated i thought that she might decorate a frame with "happy, pretty" things to remind her of whats good in life and that she has beauty on the inside. I used bright, plain block colours to try breathe life into the character. I think it turned out okay but reckon i could have put a little more effort in with the painting.

Las Meninas: Swap One

Here is Pauls piece of the Las Meninas project, based on "Ghost". I really like the transition he's made from girls face to butterfly, in black and white as well. I'm also enjoying the fact that it's an idea that is based on Ghost, but completely different at the same time, rather like mine. All i have to do now is think of a way to work with it, which should be interesting. It's a contrast from ny brightly coloured one, so i at this stage im thinking that i have the option to add my colour scale into this piece or keep to his black and white theme!

Las Meninas: Final Decision

And the winner is..... Ron Mueck with his eerie sculpture, "Ghost". This was definitely the stand-out piece for me in the whole room of crazy sculptures, which in hindsight is really weird considering that it was probably the most normal looking one! But i think that's what it was that struck me about it; it was the first sculpture in the room that i'd seen and for a second i wondered why that little girl... big girl... actually tall girl looked sad against the wall. Then a split-second later i realised it was part of the exhibition. A split-second later i was scared of it. Any sculpture than can give me all those feelings in a glance wins my vote any day.

So what was she? A giant? No. Just slightly different in size from the rest of the people in the room. Did she care? Of course she did, that must be why she was sad! Well looking at her face you see that there isn't just sadness there, there's definitely something else. Thinking. What about? The future? I don't know, but thats what i love about it, so many questions to ask and explore, like looking at a photograph of a stranger, or even thinking when you look in the mirror (or is it just me that does that), or looking at how people cope with a bad day.

Now i just have to decide what to do with the Ghost.

DEPTHCORE

Right, i'm actually becoming obsessed with this depthcore website! Although it's amazingly far away from the type of work i'll be doing next year i'm still fascinated by the images that have been posted. I also know i'll be able to learn a lot from looking at these images however different they are because they're really inspiring with a lot of their uses of colour techniques to create whatever atmosphere they need. Today i'm going to share a few images from one of the chapters named Infinity. I chose to share this because i find it interesting how a person can interpret something that is sort of an impossibility to imagine, rather like Escher did with his impossible constructions. It's also interesting to see how these guys think, which is shown in their work through how different each piece is when they've been given only one word. Enjoy.

Justin J. Bacon

Tony Graff

Risart Soengkono

Pete Harrison

Nelson Balaban Jr.

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU