Portrait Project: Evaluation

Evaluation of work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlacwERILhQ  :To watch enlargened

This is the completed and final animated portrait. I drew the original frames before colouring and stylising on photoshop, incorporating an old punk style skull in the background as per the clients interest and to mesh with the rest of the style. I looped the clip for three minutes on Final Cut Pro and used it to conjoin it with an audio track. The audio track is 'Feuer Frei' by Rammstein, this was selected because not only does it fit in with the clients musical tastes it also links to her German heritage.

Although the animation is very simple in that excluding the background, all the subject of the piece does is breathe and blink. However I believe that is well within the brief and in my opinion works well and is easily recognisable as those actions. The red and stylised background is fitting to her favorite colour and fits in very well with the chosen style.

I am happy with how the end product has turned out, the simplicity and making use of the digital format to include audio in a project where most have worked towards a physical static piece, I feel it will stand out. If I was to do this project again and had more time I'd like to make her do more, perhaps glance to the side from time to time or something simple, as well as include more into the background. The client is pleased with the final outcome and so am I.


This was written with intention to record and be available by the viewing screen during the end of year art show next to the animation:

Through my piece I am trying to communicate her personality and her personal style and opinions. Red being her favourite colour, but also representing her strength and tendency to act fiercely. The style I used being similar to the alternative punk style to fit her preferences. I personally like using animation, however in this it can also portray her energy, despite the minimal movement. The skull also adds motion and hints strongly towards rebellious attitude. The music connects well with the animated sequence and includes her music taste while linking well with the chosen style and also hinting towards her ancestry.

Portrait Project: Artist Research

Here, for the project I shall show artist research for four artists I have found. I shall attempt to ensure there are at least two different time periods within this research.

The first artist is Tony Bevan. I could find little explanation of himself of his artistic intentions on his website. www.tonybevan.com . However I did find a statement about map making in a metaphorical way, and that he mentions he finds no point in charting that which has already been fully observed.

Self portrait neck 1988,

Charcoal and Acrylic on Canvas

88cm x 79cm

This from browsing his gallery appears to show best the style pf his work, thick bold dramatic lines with a dramatic style to the pose and intense colours which he appears to limit himself to in the majority of his work. I really like this work, the thick powerful lines and power behind the pose and colours make for a brilliant portrait. Perhaps to show the dramatic side of of those he draws, in this case himself.

The next artist is Marc Quinn, the biography on his website mentions his uncompromising use of materials, ice, blood, glass and lead to name a few. http://www.marcquinn.com/  This is a unusual list of materials and must involve a good few techniques to produce pieces with each different medium.

A moment of clarirty, 2010, 65 x 180 x 54 cms

I really like this piece, the technique used to give it a bronzed like effect and the composition of it stood on the small square, to me makes it look like a streer-performer who acts as a statue. The title a moment of clarity seems fitting to the look on the face as it peers at the vase of the skull. Perhaps guilt or more metaphorical and realising ones own mortality and that the end of life as a living being is enevitable. I also rather like the amount of detail in the model despite only using one colour.

This piece is much more recent that the piece by Tony Bevan, and where one uses a sureal yet realistic style, Bevans is a more dramatic exagerated style, each has its own merits and I like both.

 Another artist i've looked at is Jenny Saville whos work has great depth of meaning, usually having a meaning quite strongly held in her works, with a few pieces that are rather shocking within her portfolio.
 www.gagosian.com/artists/jenny-saville/

Rosetta 2, 2005-2006
Oil on watercolor paper, mounted on board
99-1/4 x 73-3/4 inches (252 x 187.5 cm

What I really like about this one is the roughness of the strokes and the jaggedness of it all, yet it witholds the figure in a clear and solid form. In my opinion showing a look of bemused misunderstanding at something seen or felt, the jaggedness could affixiate for the distaste for that same feeling or the act or object observed. The slightly tiled head and stretched neck also hints to confusion.

 Julian Opie was a big inspiration for my idea of using my own personal fondness of animation in conjunction with this portrait project, having seen his own living portraits. Though his style is very basic with simple lines and no shading other than flat colour it appealed to the animator in me and I decided to use this as a basis for my own work, however I used a much different style as to suite the client.

This is a Jpeg still of the animated portrait, however you can view it here on his website. http://www.julianopie.com/#/artwork/film/2008/1230 I really like the technique of animation, most 2d aminations are frame by frame if not done of Adobe Flash. I personally used Photoshop CS4 and shall post my work when it is ready.

Portrait Project: Client Interview Based Research.

Pop Art
My client being an artist herself has interest in a certain style of art, this being pop-art it would make sense for her portrait to perhaps be done in a simular style in that it will then portray some of her own personal interest aswell as physically resmbling her own appearance. Allowing some of her personality to blend with the portrait.

However I am planning on making this portrait animated. Though minimalistically, so it still represents a portrait in some light, it will merely be breathing and blinking etcetera. This will take a while longer and I need to see if Pop-Art will be compatable with animation in a short time-frame.

This image shows how most of the picture would be one flat colour, and how the shading can be achieved by using only two tones of the same colour in a small dotting fashion. I believe that since the animation I intend to create isn't overly complex that this would work well.

This one alternativly shows that the whole of areas could be dots, and using blank space to represent highlights. However, I feel this would not only take longer to animate having to replicate so many various dots in each frame, but would not be fitting.

This one shows shading in a monotone like stle which works very well and is still clear, Also how to get highlights in red hair which will be useful considering my client had vibrant dyed red hair. At this point I am considering either this style, or the first I looked at unsing minimal dots as a shading technique.

The reason I have posted the picture above is that this classes as pop-art and my client expressed an interest in punk and rock aswell as pop-art, so perhaps she would prefer something that incorperates both. I also found this image below which is quite detailed in a few colour and punk/rock syle.

I quite like this one to, plus it shows a good colour combination for me to use as red will indefiantly be the main colour used in the portrait, it being the colour of her hair and her favorite colour.

I shall endeavour to ask the client more specifically on the syle of pop-art she prefers and show her these examples before I research down a route which takes me the wrong direction.

Portrait Project: Task 2, Easter Research

Materials, Techniques and Processes

Aphrodite ‘Venus de Milo’, By Alexandros of Antioch

Late 2^nd century BC

The statue is believed to be of the Greek Goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite/Venus. It is crafted from marble, slightly larger than life size at 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) high. Its arms and original plinth have been lost. The statue is made from marble, and it is said there is evidence that the right arm would have crossed the torso with the hand rested on the knee. And that there is a filled hole below one of the breast where a metal tendon would have supported a separately carved arm.

Alison Lapper, By Marc Quinn

2005

This statue occupies the fourth plinth at Trafalgar square, or did for a time at least.  This statue is also made of marble. The sculpture is of a British artist, Alison lapper, who was born with no arms are non-developed legs. She has used the ‘Venus de Milo’ as an inspiration in her life.

When it comes down to contrasting materials of these two pieces they do not really differ, they are both made from marble. Some differences in the techniques and process’ may be quite prominent however. The fact that the ‘Venus de Milo’ was intended to have arms and to stand in a position that would show of female beauty, the sculpture of Alison Lapper is as it was intended. The sculpture is complete as it should be and is missing no parts, unlike in the ‘Venus de Milo’ where metal rods were to hold up heavy separate pieces in the Lapper statue there are none.

It would seem to me that the artist of the ‘Venus de Milo’ was venerating a goddess of the era, showing of feminine grace and beauty, however with a relatively stern expression of a goddess, who by very definition would judge those she gazed upon.

Whereas the Alison lapper sculpture drew inspiration from the ‘Venus de Milo’ itself, and physically recording a real woman who was unfortunate enough to have a serious problem, But trying to show that this does no phase her. She is sat straight, with her neck up and her facial expression affirms her as an equal, not to be treated as less because of that which afflicts her and that beauty comes in many forms.

Animations, By myself.

These first few consist of various tests I first did with a ready made rig in 3DS Max, pretty much playing around while I got to grips with the software.

Walk cycle based on an elderly man with a bad back, I do not recal why but the hand on his back jumps a tad, Didn't think it was too bad at the time.

Walktest of the first models I created and rigged myself. This was un-expected as we were told it was to complicated to be doing at that stage, but with the whole class pressing the matter we were able to. It was not easy and it took a long while as we were still only just learning to use the program. But I was pleased with the outcome. These models were created for a Animation/Marketing project for a Game Viral, In which I happily recieved a distinction for my efforts.

From a different angle and without the rig on the inside of the models showing.

 

The story this was based on is one of my own creating, as you can imagine this was designed to be a Action Roleplay game. The story cut as simply as possible is Rhemic, the evil necromancer (The guy with the skull on his face) Has recently come to power again after being nearly defeated about 500 years before, and was stealing ouls to feed his power, and you play a hero of your own creating. One of the key points in games like this, I find is the customisation. The reason the hero brothers in the viral die, is because the player is the hero, not these two. I am quiteproud of it as its the first full 3D animation I made.

Cheesy stop motion. Much difficulty with the armatures not being able to move minute amounts so the motion often looks very jumpy.

This is a Ninja I created or my Extended Project in collge on my last course, It is not the bet but with the little amount of time I had to produce this and the environment below I was pleased.

For this extended project I recieved an A. It was based on a ninja versus a Samurai, I created the area, did the research, made the ninja and did the designs, but my partner did not come through with the samurai (His only real job aswell). So unfortunatly it never got made into the full intended animation.

First non-walk cycle 2D animation, The only bit I personally like is the zoom into the volcano and the sparks from the magma.

My last project on my Games Development National Diploma. I wanted to base it underwater because I wasnted to try to do more complex lighting in 3DS Max. I would have liked the light to move but could not sort such, I hope you like my underwater ruins. As for sound, No program on my machine, sorry.