My presentation

Hybrid

I had never used power point before and it was very easy to use. I found it quite simple to put together a power point, it is the actual presenting it that is the hard part for me. Although i knew everyone there and most had seen my final image i still got incredibly nervous. I had a few notes to hand to help me remember points I wanted to get across, but ended up forgetting that i had them in my hand.

This stage fright is something I need to deal with, i’m ok with one a one on one but as soon as it becomes a group I get a dry mouth and mix up words and say the wrong ones.

My actual presentation I felt was simple, not overpowering and to the point, not many transition effects or fancy shading.

My feed back on my final image was to in add more fungi, produce a turn around and to add something for a sense of scale. All if which i have taken on board and do.

Final rendered image

I am so pleased with the way my Giant forest red back has turned out. I have never achieved something to this quality in Photoshop before. I can see how my new skills i have learnt crossed with tips and feedback from my fellow class mates has considerably improved my skills.

As this brief was about the process I took several screen shots over the course of creating my image, to show the gradual develpement and put the shots onto a time line.

My Giant Forest Red Back.I chose the name as it resembles that of the silver back gorilla. I used red back because of the red fungi that grows on his back.

I received some feed back after my power point presentation to the class. Suggestions to add more fungi to his back, as i have called him red back it needs to be more prominent feature. Also to place something in there for scale. This was something I had planned to do from the start. I wanted to put a damp green forest background, with a waterfall and trees to portray his sence of scale. Due to the impending deadline I have had to come away from the idea of a background and asked to produce a turn around.

I was very concerned about the viability of my image. I had been working on my laptop at home and duels screening on my tv. The image looked fine and detailed but when i viewed it on my laptop screen it became very dark and lost a lot of detail. So i took the file onto the college computers and it was still very dark. So in order to present my image i increased the brightness and contrast and increased the green in the color balance to make sure the detail of the moss could be seen.

At the beginning of this module i used sketch books for most briefs. but not this one, i decided to try and use my blog and used a pencil and paper very little. Again i am trying to do as everyone else instead of using what works for me. I think if i had used a sketch book i would have skectched more and probibly developed my image further.

Hybrid invironment

Thinking about where my character lives i wanted to produce a full rendered image of him and his environment.Although i had already began to do my background unfortunatly due to time it is not going to be possible to finish. however i do plan to continue with the background at a later date.

I looked in one of my books from home called Natural Wounders of the world by DR.Adrian Glover. In it are some fantastic landscape and land formations. I used three of them for refferance and inspiration to draw my background.

Iguacu Falls, Brazil

I used this picture for referance of the water fall. Looking at how the water isnt just white, there are shades of yellow and lavander in there too. The mist reaches quite high up the waters fall and vapor sprays out the sides.

Mount Sabinyo

I used this image to help with the texture of the moss on my hybrids back. Also helped me with the different shades of greens. The Rocky cliffs in my background would also have trases of moss.

Angel Falls, Venezuela

I used angel falls to referance the rock and how holiage would grown on the clif side. Also it helps me with the rock texture and colors.

The start of my background

Prosses, my hybrid.

From my brain storm the most appealing combination for me to explore is the monkey and fungi. I began thinking how I could combine the two. When I think of fungi I think of them in greeny, brown colors, growing in, on and among. My favorite style of characters are those of a colossal nature. To create a visual realistic colossal being is something I want to achieve. So I’m gonna do it for this brief. I am going to create a colossal gorilla with mossy fur and fungi growing on his back , elbows etc, I imagine him in tones of greens and browns, like he is part of the forest, some mythical creature that is rarely seen. What I don’t want is it to be compared to King Kong, I want to make it clear King Kong was no influence on my design. One of my influence is actually the ps2 game Shadow of the Colossus. These Characters are giant beasts made from flesh and rock.

I like the colors of the colossi on the third image, forest colors, colors I intend to apply to my own image. I will be producing my image in photoshop and developing my idea in Photoshop. For reference material I have been looking at gorillas.

This is my initial sketch of my idea combining the words monkey and fungi.

 

Ive placed the tree and person in there to give a sense of scale. I like the idea of having birds circling as its and image you see around tall cliffs. The fungi wont be incredibly obvious but will add a reddish color to the greens and browns of the creature. Looking at my fungi mood board the smaller pebble like fungi will be added to his elbows, shoulders and rump. I want to include a few fungi with the longer stems but not sure how they would look, so will try this in Photoshop. Ill give him mossy fur and a few dreads.

 

My hybrid mood board

I chose to base my design on a gorilla as they have great prominent and strong image. Their arms are like branches, thick and powerful. There is also a distinct and deep curve in their spine, like the sheer weight is putting pressure on their spine.

Facial and body sketch produced in Photoshop…. It is a rough sketch and something I will amend as my creature develops. He will have a few dreads coming off his chin and I had the idea of birds cleaning around his ears, something you see birds doing in the wild. Also you often see images of gorillas and monkey enjoying being groomed by fellow monkeys and gorillas. I really want the eyes to look different to a normal gorillas, in human if you like. I think by doing this it would totally change the way people would perceive this image. Instead of seeing a green monkey with fungi growing on him, they would look at it as a creature of fantasy or myth, as if magic was in his veins.

I am super happy with the way my image is coming on. I’ve stopped saying I can’t and proving to myself that I can. I have also stopped comparing work to other peoples and started to draw how I know how to draw not how everyone else is drawing. Although illustrator is useful for some things like the pen tool, I feel it gives a solid cartoon look to everything which is not what i want. So I wont be using illustrator at all for this brief.

 

 

Process,Hybrid research.

From the ‘Process’ mini brief, i have chosen the third option, Hybrid.

Hybrid – Create a character combining two of the following words as a starting point :
[ Robot / Dog / Cloud / Fire / Fish / Cello / Monkey / Snow / Fungi / Tomato ]

To begin with i have gathered images of each word and compiled mood boards for inspiration.

 

 

 

 

ROBOT

I chose the less obvious style of robots for inspiration, looking at and thinking about purpose. Thinking about color and texture, rusty, matt or shiny? Considering size,from the mini dragonfly robot to human size. I like the idea of a fish robot, like a underwater security system. Flying, walking or a swimming robot. But what where these robots designed to do? Robots are created to do a job, so need to think about what their job is as this would effect their design. Like the medic robot with the stethoscope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DOG

Dogs come in all shapes and sizes, long hair, short hair, curly hair. Markings on the fur can change the look of the face. some dog faces look old and intelligent, long limbs slender bodies. others short and dumpy with scrunched up facial figures. some very small dog seem to have eyes too big for their heads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLOUD

Clouds tend to have a dream like quality, take random forms dusty forms. they manifest and transform. Coat the sky like a cotton wool blanket. They have been associated with heaven and pictured with angels and gods. Rain falls, snow falls and thunder and lighting come from cloud. They can turn a thick grey, shades of red in the sun set and sun rise. The word transformation come to mind. If I was to design a character around a cloud it would be something supernatural, light and floaty, something that morphs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FIRE

Fire dances, flickers, shrinks and grows. Turns shades of orange, red, blue and green. It can burn violently be manipulated and controlled. destroy, cook food, give off warmth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FISH

I found some interesting species of fish some very bizarre ones also. The one on the bottom and top left gave me an idea for some sort servaliance robot because of their huge eyes. The spokes and fins are used for defense and I can see them as some sort of armor on a robot.

I did a quick combination of a tomato and fish as well as a tomato and a jelly fish.

 

CELLO

Cellos are traditionally made from wood and have a distinct figure of eight. I found some modern electronic and wooden cellos, like skeletons. It is quite easy to imagine something robotic out of these images.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought about combining cello with monkey and creating some skeletal frame of a monkey similar to the cello with a satellite dish as a head. The idea that it is a mobile satellite dish, that can climb and reach tricky spots to achieve a signal.

Monkey

Different species of monkeys have a considerable difference in facial features especially. The are a range of sizes and colors. It was the monkey in the center that gave me the idea of a satellite monkey robot. His face is very flat and round and it reminded me of a satellite dish.

The baby gorilla sat in the straw looking up gave me the idea of a robot baby monkey, something a child of the future might play with as a futuristic toy. It reminds me very much of a human child.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snow

First thing that stands out about snow is its color. Ice while and bluish in the shade. At a wide angle it looks like a blanket but extremely close up at a single flake is a beautiful unique star of individual clear strands of ice. It floats to the ground in clumps of individual flakes like they are holding onto each other bracing for impact.

 

In the image of frost creeping up the glass I could see a fairy dancing.

 

 

 

Fungi

Fungi, can be edible can also be poisonous. Grows in groups or individual. Likes damp spots like under fallen leaves, base of trees on trees and damp crevice. Grow flat, round,tall and short. most commonly in shades of brown and gray. Often depicted in cartoons and films as red.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought about combining monkey and fungi and came up with the idea of this colossal monkey/gorilla with fungi and moss growing on it. I can imagine it roaming an enormous misty forest.

 

 

 

 

Tomato

The main thing that comes to mind when you think about tomatos is the red coloring. They are round in shape but lumpy also. Tomato’s have a green leafy stork and a tight skin. Where the stem is attached it looks like they are imploding or being pull inwards. They are juicy and have small yellowish seeds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at these images it allows me to consider size, texture, purpose, looking at what shape and colors are representative of the words.

Literal Hybrids

I gathered together a mood board of images of hybrids i have come across, I also thought about mythical hybrids like mermaids and centars.

I think these images are great. It looks like alot of these images have been produced in Photoshop like the cut/copy/paste Photomontage brief we did. They work because the to combining creatures or objects are either similar in texture (Kiwi mouse), shape (onion spider) or color (owl rabbit).