Thoughts on this process:

Using different tools as light sources like for example a phone torch or a soft light box in this case I really enjoyed exploring the outcomes each gave me, especially depending on where I positioned the torch which created different shadows and ended up giving my world an eerier atmosphere which fit well with  my 3D world because its essence is dead human remains being eaten away by sewage insects.

In these practice outcomes I found that I lost myself in choosing basic compositions from my thumbnails and photographic processes and although I don’t mind this less thought provoking style in art I still thing the skeleton piece is somewhat successful. I would definitely go back and add more layers to this piece but I still enjoyed making something which its focus isn’t so much on detail and accuracy of realism.

Black and white rough thumbnail sketches:

Practicing with thumbnails before heading towards a final piece was always something that was encouraged while I was growing up and when I wanted to create any outcome of any sort. I understand that thumbnails are usually just a vague perception of what you might want to explore different compositions and test out colour themes as well as other factors before jumping into the commitment of the final piece and in that sense it’s a very comforting planning stage for any artist. Although with this body of work I found I didn’t really give myself the challenge of creating more intricate compositions which I would have liked and that was also possible due to subconsciously disliking the model I created prior which discouraged me from going forward, however I’m glad I pushed through it and created these thumbnails regardless because it’s something I normally dread because I end up focusing on so many options in which the final piece could end up going into rather than just getting on with it.

I definitely realised I liked the ink medium a lot more than the others simply because I could create a variety of marks with the cross hatching method than with the other materials. Black and white media is also something that interests me a lot in terms of setting a morbid mood which I tend to drift towards a lot of the time.

Rough thumbnail sketches in colour:

Photographic process of taking reference photos for the task above:

The different approach of cutting out a square in a piece of paper to create an aspect of a viewfinder to photograph references from the model was very helpful at closing into specific areas in my 3D world which without it would have been more difficult in my opinion. This was an unusual shift to how I normally gather my reference photos to work from and I will most likely be using it again.

The process from start to finish of this particular exercise I found to be quite bitter. This was most likely only my second or third time doing such an experiment with art and different materials which at the beginning I made sure not to overthink too much and grab simply what caught my eye and collaged things together which visually suited each other in my point of view. However, the more I worked on the composition I realised I lost my train of thoughts and in the end I wished I spent some time figuring out the background and middle ground a bit more accurately instead of having it slightly scattered around everywhere.

I chose the theme of flora and fauna with a slight surrealism approach merged together and focused mainly on things that I wouldn’t normally, that being bugs and spiders. the scenery reminds me somewhat of a deteriorating crime scene in the sewers where the skeleton is falling and being slowly eaten away by all the underground creatures.

Furthermore I experimented with collage shapes and contrasting perspectives on the spiders and human bones. The aim was to have the spiders that would normally look bigger in the foreground, look in fact smaller and vice versa with the spiders in the background being extremely large and depending on the angle that you look at this model from, it would either look as if they were coming towards you from above or scorching away from you in the front.

Overall, I can say I enjoyed some parts of this workshop more than others like the collage aspect although it’s not something I could say inspires me to make more of this type of three dimensional art.