Self Directed Project

Title Sequence

| Sophie Barnard Leary

The Art of the Title sequence

In the beginning title sequences looked like the above: The title of the movies plus a presentation of the legal and copyright information. It gradually evolved into static slates presenting cast and crew. Popular trends of the 1950s were using three dimensional lettering and embedding type onto embroidery and signage. One of the pioneers in the art of title sequence was Saul Bass. A graphic designer creating symbols for movie add campaigns such as The Man with the Golden Arm and Carmen Jones. He was a brilliant visual storyteller who was able to summarise the film as a metaphor in this title sequence. He had breakthrough ideas in titling, timing the typography to interact with metaphorical imagery. The aim was to let the movie take shape from the very first frame of the film. He succeeded through the use of creative animation to establish a mood, tone and texture for the opening sequence. The title sequence became its very own world and created the climate for the story.

Saul Bass: The Seven Year Itch (1955) Title sequence

Saul Bass: Anatomy of a Murder (1959) title sequence

Saul Bass: Carmen Jones (1954) title sequence

Saul Bass: It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) title sequence

Stills I was sent from the poetry film the artist Amani Saeed wanted me to work for her poem Split. She wanted me to come up with a title sequence to summarise the mood of the film. The poem deals with finding love after abuse and is part of a poetry anthology dealing with growing up in America with South Asian ancestry. The film was never completed due to the pandemic. But I was able to complete the title sequence and hopefully it will be used when the film is completed after lockdown.

    

The overall mood for the film was quite dark and seductive. A lot of shots of Henna’d hands in Bollywood dance moves. Highly textured shots of flowers and shiny surfaces. I began collecting visual material that I felt resonated with the images I’d been sent.

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Highly decorative style for the title sequence. Referencing old Bollywood movies. Looking at jewellery again.

Initial ideas

       

Experimenting with charcoal and ink to see what kind of textures I could use to make imagery with. Thinking about how I could convey movement. I need to think of ways of making this highly textured and rich but simple.

             

    

Experimenting with different motifs to develop the mood for the title sequence. I only had the shots to go on as she had sent me a very rough edit.

  

Hands tell a story. Hands are featured a lot in the short. Thinking of ways to incorporate this into the title sequence?

Cut outs of hands using the graphic mark making. I like this block shape and the nails.

 

Shots of development sequence – my first attempt at animating a full sequence in after effects. Steep learning curve but I am slowly getting better. I sent these to Amani – she loved the concept but felt it needed to be simplified with less decorative features.

D.O.P – director of photography – I really wanted to make jewellery as part of the title sequence – to incorporate the pearl brushes I had created in photoshop.

Simplified version of the first edit.

 

Idea for promotion? Experimenting with footage she sent me in after effects. That hijab fuck you attitude apparent in her work. I wanted to create a strong image for her. Fire is symbolical of personal power and burning down old ways of seeing. There are so many misconceptions when it comes to muslim women and wearing veils.

Promotional Video Idea

Final Outcome: Title Sequence. The motion could be smoother but I have learnt a lot of key skills in after effects which I will be able to use for the rest of the project.

 

Tilda Allie EP cover

| Sophie Barnard Leary

Initial Test shots for the Tilda Allie’s Album cover for her Blue & Red EP. This eventually turned into three covers for each single: Boi, Clear and Taste of your lips. The EP touches on themes of love, loss and finding yourself. We discussed different colour palettes for different moods of the songs. She shared some very personal stories with me about her past relationships. She was a victim of emotional abuse by one of her lovers and this EP was about was about confronting that pain, forgiveness and finding peace with. She wanted to highlight the fact that the man who abused her was a victim of abuse himself and wanted a way to show this concept.

“The only pure way to discover oneself, is through the door opened by others. When we look at ourselves through different glasses we can let go of the ego. We do in order to wake up. In the darkest places you find the brightest light. It’s through the cracks we can see and become free.”

   

Shots for development of the idea for Bath Boi. These were sent to me to work from. She had a clear vision of how she wanted the cover to look like. The face of the actor. Other than that I had creative freedom to come up with my own concept inspired by the photographs she’d taken.

    

Initial ideas focusing on the idea of water and the colour palette. Experimenting with 3D fonts for the first time in photoshop. Water as a symbol is about cleansing, renewal, sadness, you can have calm sea and violent sea. Water conjure up a lot of polarising emotions. I showed these initial ideas to Tilda and she wanted something that was less graphic and had more of a surreal quality to it.

Looking for a symbol. The Boy in the bath. I like this concept of a boy floating out to sea, lost and alone. Is he going on a journey back to himself? Is Tilda the water that can rise up at any time and swallow him up?

Memories of being by the sea.

A happy accident

  

Water colours of the sea – I want to build up different textures to see

Artists work from “La Movida” – avant grade scene that was happening in the 80s in Spain. I liked the collaged effect of the sea.

Set design for an opera that took place in Paris, 1976.

 

 

Experimenting with different font ideas. The 3D font with the wave pattern looks great. Tilda really like this one.

 

Tilda wears a lot of glitter during her performances. I wanted to incorporate this into the artwork in a subtle way. I downloaded a glitter brush and played around with using it as highlight for the waves.

We both agreed this one had too much going on with the background and the yellow font doesn’t capture the right mood.

This is the one she ended up choosing for her first single on the EP. The colour palette and the textures capturing the mood of the song.

 

She stressed that the second song in the EP was about anger and requested I did a red palette. I felt this was strong but was oversaturated with red. I suggested pink as a background to soften the image and draw more attention to the drawing. Below is the one she ended up choosing.

For the final song, I wanted her to take centre stage – stilll going with the idea of her rising up from the sea as some sort of sea goddess/monster. She has overcome the bullying and the abuse, she rises up to confront him. Play with scale to show how small he is now. She has found strength and resolve to leave him. This led me to think about greek mythology that I had been researching. I wanted it to have a fantastical quality to it. An allegory for love and loss.

Initial sketch made in photoshop using sating overlays to build up the face.

 

I thought the whole face made of glitter would tie the rest of the single covers together. The glitter we see in the waves is her. She rises up and tells the boy where to go, capsizes his bath boat. She loved this concept and we discussed making a music video with this concept in mind. I wanted to push myself to make something really beautiful and emotional. I want the visuals to capture something eternal. Visuals that are going to be iconic.

Final Outcome (Development)

| Sophie Barnard Leary

Now the fun part. How will I synthesise everything I have touched on in my visual research and experimentation to deliver this music video for the song BOI. I want to explore the story of Bath Boi. The themes in the song are about love, loss and finding strength. It is about memory and longing. It is for her Red & Blue EP. She chose to collaborate with you because she likes your aesthetic – remember this. Blood red and sea blue are colours I always seem to go back to in my work so it seems fitting that I use this colour palette.

I spent a few days collecting visual research. I collected photographs and magazine cuttings of anything related to water and being by the sea – to build up a mood board I could refer to whilst I was sketching ideas. So I could have a moodboard to refer to.

Looking back over my sketches I really want to explore this idea for the music video. Carrying the sea around your neck. My mum used to wear a heart shaped silver pendant that was given to her in the 60s by her boyfriend. She carried a photograph of him wherever she went. This idea of carrying something that is precious to you around your neck. Water is also symbolic of tears and bodily fluids – link to sex, falling out of love with someone.

Inspired by the work I had seen during Future Selves (Winkowski) I thought it would be nice to experiment with his method. Mixing still images with collaged footage. My obsession with the sea, carrying the sea around your neck, the sound of the ocean. I started by using a simple block shape of a woman’s torso to experiment with. The aim is to see what effects I can layer in Adobe After Effects so I can create moving collages. I like the idea of having textures in my drawings being able to move. Like a painting in motion.

Went down to Brighton pier to record some footage of the sea. I love the glossy texture – the way it glints. I think collecting footage of the world around you is key. My ongoing fascination with the sea. I can use this for animated sequences.

 

 

Experimenting with the masking tool in premier. Masking allows you to target specific effects onto a certain area of footage. This will allow for a lot more experimentation as I will have much more control on where and how I place the footage. Using footage as collage – will be able to edit directly into premier with this tool. It helps having spent hours getting better at using the pen tool in photoshop as I’m able to use it like scissors to get a really precise cut.

Sea footage with Tint and Alpha layered over the top. I loved this texture.

Bodies made of the sea.

Blend Mode > Saturation. I love this blending option. I masked around the silhouette and used the saturation blending mode. This is image is a very simple block shape. Will look very exciting with more complex drawings where I will be able to mask out different areas in order to build up a very textured image.

Blend Mode: Color/Vivid Light

 

  

I wanted to explore the idea further so I did a mini shoot at home – I wanted to have bodies made completely of water.

 

Then I experimented with blocking out the shapes in photoshop.

Experimenting with the grain brush as a way of shading.

     

Patterns with the body. I just love vintage erotica and this is like a pop version of that.

That sweet matte key in Premier. Really great results – imagine if this was in 3D. This would great if the bodies were dancing – as part of the chorus maybe?

Combining work I did at the start of the project with the new water bodies. This led me making this drawing. Using all the elements that I loved the most out of my experimentation and visual research.

Have the footage of the sea playing underneath.

I just love the shading for this piece – the grain brush makes it look like the body is made of spelled glass. It reminds me of Orangina bottles from the early 00s – I always used to get them as a child when we went to the beach. Memories by the sea.

Now I need to think of the overall flow of the story – bring all the elements that I loved the most during my experimentation. Simplifying and synthesising to come up with a new visual language. I love the way this is going.

Initial ideas for storyboard

Studying the cuts and edits of my favourite music videos was really helpful as I was able to map out what edits looked and felt good. How the visuals carry the music. A journey.

The landscape – opening something to reveal something else? A box?

 

 

I really wanted to use alpha keys that I had experimented with during my research stage. What cuts I can do to incorporate this.

Opening Sequence Development

The sea inclosed in the heart. Have it moving. Blending video and animation!

Development for opening sequence – tried to block all the animated parts within 0:24 seconds of the intro. Thinking about the quality of sound and how different transitions and effects will change the way we perceive sound. To build tension before she starts singing.

Thinking about having the Leaves part as the hand reaches down to pick up the jewellery. Experiment with doing a background loop so it gives the illusion of the hand moving down. This look better than moving the hand down and looping it as it will look clunky.

Leaves part and hand reaches down. Slow zoom out. Try and stop it from looking clunky. Realised where I had been going wrong. When you zoom too quickly or place the key frames too close together it makes the movement look clunky and unprofessional. By pulling out the key frames it allows for smooth, graceful movement. Subtle movement gives the illusion that you are stepping into the space. Cinematic film is very slow which makes it powerful.

So to achieve subtle zoom I use the scale key frames and for the cinematic slide I just toggle with the position. Smooth and graceful is key.

Hand reaches down to pick up the heart – slow fade out. Snap to next sequence – hand is now holding the beating heart pendant.

 

Staring into the heart – what is about to be revealed? Builds tension before the chorus kicks in.

0:24 – On the beat when she says PASSION switches to red colour palette. A slow fade in of the sea footage.

Promotional ideas for Boi. Hands clasped together. Would be cool to have a 3D font with Bath Boi floating inside the letters so its looks like a swimming pool.

 

 

Just thinking a mobile phone would be interesting with this concept. A Nokia 3310 from early 00s made up of moving footage of the sea. I can really push this way of working – I’ve not seen it done before. At the start of this project I knew I wanted to combine different ways of working together and I feel like I am achieving that. It has really helped breaking down all the sections of the song and mapping out what imagery and effects would work well with the sound.

Initial sketch idea for the phone – would be great to have the gingham hands meet in the middle of the screen.

Will need to import this into premier – obviously this is a very rough sketch and I will need to think carefully about collaging the different sections of footage onto the phone so I have different directions of the grain to add to this 3D effect. I might not have time to animate this for this project but I have the idea mapped out so will great to experiment over the summer with this technique.

Got the Ocean on speed dial!

Inspired by Inji Seo and her use of animated effects. I made my own with a blend brush. I want to make the jewellery shine. Use a mask so it’s placed within the heart. Omg imagine if I masked the nails so they had water running through them in slow motion. The waves at your fingertips.

Thinking also there should be a fade in and fade out of the plants before the beginning of the bath boi sequence.

Staring into the pendant – we see the sea! The song BOI is about a memory of a relationship. It is about love and loosing someone and coming to terms with loss you regain strength and your own sense of self.

Getting to grips with using the masking tool in after effects. When I tried using this 6 months ago I couldn’t make it work and gave up. Fast forward after many hours of cutting out shapes with the pen tool in photoshop – the pen just glides around the footage without me even thinking about it. This why I love adobe so much – when you learn one skill in one programme you can transfer it to another one seamlessly. This is truly marrying technical skill with vision. Being able to make what is in my head come alive. Careful planning, technique and vision. These would work so well as short sequence animations as part of my instagram portfolio. I love the way it makes me feel when I look at these – the lines between film and drawing are blurred. Moving paintings that feel alive.

Next time I do this – import individual layer of the pearl outline so I can mask underneath that layer for a better fit.

The combination of live footage of Tilda singing the chorus and the animated beating heart works great as a visual. It’s funny because the heart was a complete accident. I was playing around with the keyframes as I wanted to pendant to move from side to side and then when I looped it it was beating in unison with the song. And then I remembered something my rapper friend told me “beats in music is just a heartbeat” – Blink Marlo.

I sent the animations to my friends to gage their reaction. They loved them. They felt the emotion in the song coupled with the visuals. The themes in the song are about strength love and loss.

Development for Bath Boi sequence

  

Development ideas for the Bath Boi sequence. I like the idea of having bath boi floating in the jewellery. Birds eye view floating across the sea inclosed within the heart pendant. Have different shots of Bath boi from different angles – to build up the feel of the movement.

 

Taking note of what Greg told me at the Big Active review – reveal your image slowly, don’t give it all away at once. Taking this into account – Snappy shots of about 0.5/1 second. The women are watching bath Boi as he crosses the sea – approaching their island.

    

Then chorus begins.. I want to make the link of the girls standing watching the sea as me and Tilda – I am dancing around her as she sings the chorus. I have been trying to find a way to blend green screen footage with animated drawings.

Ideas for the Chorus

That sweet alpha channel. Home made greensceen = great results. Bought a couple of meters of green fabric and taped it up in the kitchen. I tried to keep the lighting as even as possible but the key still had some issues with shadow. When it came to adding the sea footage As we couldn’t meet I directed the shoot over FaceTime – telling Tilda how I wanted her to pose and she shot herself on her phone. Making the most of our limitations as we were not able to film with crew.

     

 

Using alpha channel to superimpose the profile of bath boi onto the chorus – I love this effect – the shapes look like a face. Faces within a face. Also alludes to the idea that she is in his head. He can’t get her out of his head. The sirens song.  But she won’t take him back because he treated her so badly.

Visual Research

Image | | Sophie Barnard Leary

I was really inspired by Hannah Waldron’s talk as she reminded me how much I love textiles and jewellery as sources of inspiration. She said you should always research what you love. I amassed lots off cuts of fabric to draw inspiration from. I love anything to do with the decorative. I wanted to explore jewellery design aswell. Why do we adorn ourselves with it?  On my way to work I always walked by this antique jewellers and would dream of the pieces I would buy. I want my work to have the quality of precious materials. The power of shiny, brilliant things that makes it impossible not to stare. To work like a jeweller without the costly materials. I remember when I went to a talk with a 3D digital artist and he said to always look at different disciplines to inform your work.

Collecting imagery – these pictures were taken at a cafe with a plastic gingham table cloth. It’s important to draw inspiration from everything around you. Everything is usable.

 

The 1940s and 50s were a great year for gingham. That homely feel.

Gathering visual research and colour palettes.

                             

Drawing from life

Collage experiments with gingham wrapping paper. I like how the collaged gingham creates a relief effect. I need to scan these in and manipulate it further in photoshop.

I had to try manipulating gingham digitally. I like to make my own brushes and textures when I start a project so I don’t stick to the same thing. To vary the materials I use.

I created this gingham jelly brush in 3D – it has a very glossy texture reminiscent of jewellery.

Making pearl brushes and silver beaded brushes. These look great and would work as a font.

Water pattern superimposed into graphic shapes.

Trying out the 3D workspace in photoshop. Made the drawings straight in photoshop. The lighting tool is pretty amazing – helps you to understand where shadow falls on 3D objects.

Visit to the V&A to collect imagery. I loved the beaded bags and mother of pearl inlaid tortoiseshell boxes. The jewellery room I always go back too for inspiration. Would be interesting to see how I can recreate these effects in photoshop and make them into brushes. A pearl brush, beaded brush and a see through jello brush would be interesting to create.

 

Nudie Cohn and the transformative power of rhinestones. He adored country western music and wanted to make show costumes. He ended up becoming one of the most sought after designers of show wear. The costumes had a power that absolutely transformed the musicians into larger than life characters. They dripped with attitude and style. He was on the outer edge of taste and style, the bad boy of the fashion community. The embroidery on them was inspired by traditional polish folk dress. What do me and Nudie Cohn have in common? We both love rhinestones and want to work with musicians.

I love the use of outlines in Rhinestones on Nudie Cohns suits. The bling factor. I love heavily beaded fabric and textures. How can I incorporate this into my visual language in an innovative way?

Old style American country films like Annie get your gun popularised country western style of dress. In the above images we can see the use of rhinestones and sequins in the casts costumes. I just love anything that has that has a highly theatrical feel. I would like to incorporate this into my visual language. I will need to experiment with making different brushes in photoshop to achieve these brilliant effects.

Films like Philadelphia Story started a trend for gingham dresses that carries on throughout the 40s. Gilbert Adrian was a costume designer who was very prolific in Hollywood and designed costumes for the above movies.

 

Colourful pop cow print ideas. Rhinestone cow print?

I experimented in photoshop with to try and come up with something that could be used like a rhinestone trim. This is the result which I am quite happy with.

 

Photos I found from a trip I took to India a few years ago. I think its always important to look back at trips and reminisce . You may see new things that will spark new ideas. I visited City Palace in Udaipur, known as the city of lakes. Rooms were enamelled with representations of the gods. Each piece is made with mirror and enamelled glass and inlaid into a panel on the wall. Glass inlay panels were also used in the classic Bollywood movie Mughal-e-Azam (1960) – one of the most lavishly decorated set designs of the Bollywood genre. I love this technique – I thought it would be interesting to try this out with collaged photographs. How can I achieve a similar effect using different materials and processes?

 

 

Love this set! I found a tutorial on YouTube on how to make a glossy tinted brush. It reminds me of jewellery. I think I have been able to synthesise the different elements of my initial visual research. I just need to keep experimenting with these techniques. The blending of the hand drawn and the digital processes.

Pearl brush experiments to make different decorative reliefs. The block shapes of colour contrasted with the glossy matte pearl brush is a visual delight. This is definitely one of my favourite brushes I created.

I scanned in collaged sections of gingham wrapping paper and manipulated them in phtoshop using the warp tool. I love this tool in photoshop as it allows you to really experiment with new visual approaches to your work.

 

 

In the 1920s Art Deco period, the jewellery house Cartier, made incredible Vanity Cases with imagery made completely out of precious stones and mother of pearl. They were replicating chinoiserie in lacquer and had stone. I would love to use the same technique with collaged imagery and brush effects to make it look like my drawings are made of precious metals. To work with the intricacy of a jeweller using digital methods.

Art Deco had a lexicon all its own, and was truly revolutionary: the colours, designs, motifs and materials used were all so inventive and avant-garde. These were happily matched by an extraordinary level of craftsmanship and skill, which jewellers have struggled to replicate since.

Vladimir Makowsky, a Russian emigré artist living in Paris in the 1920s whose signature was inlaid lacquer and gemstone work. He worked for several of the high jewellery houses during this same period, such was the demand and level of specialist craftsmanship required for this work.

Trying to replicate some of the ideas I looked at with the vintage Cartier jewellery. I discovered I could wrap my own patterns onto 3D shapes which is just heaven. A quick and easy way to make your 2D ideas come alive in 3D.

 

Mythological designs are an expression of the pagan ideals of the new age.

Enamel + Pearl

Jewellery – Their durability is able to escape the ravages of time. Precious stones in jewellery are said to have magical properties. In the time of the Renaissance jewellery was used to adorn rituals and magic making ceremonies. Jewels as adornment were worn as a protection from the dangers of life or as a mark of status and rank. Maybe that is why I have an obsession with collecting jewellery. They have a magical quality that has stood their time throughout the ages. Interestingly it has only been since the middle of the nineteenth century that jewels have become objects for the collector, destined to end their days in the glass cases of museums.

During the reign of Louis XV there was a taste for precious stones with a pale hue, such as pink and pale yellow diamonds. During the Renaissance Botticelli trained as a jeweller. Leonardo Da Vinci was also known as gem expert, and was often invited to the Moro court as a consultant in the purchase of expensive precious items. Da Vinci also devoted himself to research, in the attempt to create artificial stones. He succeeded in creating synthetic pearls. The testimonies of the time also mention the fact that Leonardo da Vinci managed an academy: “a fruitful seminar of absolute perfect creators… in carving crystals, gems, ivory, iron and in the casting arts of gold, silver, bronze”, says Giovanni Ambrogio Mazenta. Leonardo da Vinci’s school and his incredible legacy in the art of jewellery were passed on and reproduced, influencing the fashion of Italian and European courts.

My own collection of costume jewellery. Pieces like the 1940s choker and the beaded 70s earrings are some of my favourites. What elements can I take from the things I surround myself with/ the things I like to adorn myself with.

Digital Da Vinci!

 

Beaded brush experiments

Donwloaded a gold leaf brush and combined it with jelly brush. Interesting texture.

Love the organic, sensual forms of the Rococo period.

     

Collecting visual research of elements of Renaissance jewellery. The allegory of love symbolised by Cupid. Then I made my own jewellery designs using my own motifs. An idea came to me whilst doing these sketches – jewellery that carries the ocean. To tell a story through the things we choose to adorn ourselves with.

More digital experiments using Rococo inspired motifs.

A fun little edit making 3D objects with my designs printed on top. It was great to experiment with the use of perspective and lighting tools in the 3D workspace.

 

Successful collages using all the different brushes and textures I have created over the past few weeks. The aim is to work like a jeweller but using Digital programmes and pencils as my tools. I want my work to have the quality of jewellery. I need to keep experimenting with this way of working to see what new visual connections I can make.

Perspective drawing

| Sophie Barnard Leary

Brushing up on my perspective drawing. Perspective drawing isn’t taught anymore at school – I found an old book from the 70s in the library used for A level students. Really in depth and brilliant exercise. Its so important to keep improving your technical skills. The book also has a section on shading 3D shapes.

  

Experiments + Artist research

| Sophie Barnard Leary

Pierre et Giles

 

Early works from Gilles whilst he was at art school and before he met Pierre. It was great I stumbled across these – its great to see an artists early works and understand how they have refined their vision and techniques. His love of the excessive is apparent in these paintings. The repeated painted dots and patterns are showcased in his later works with Gilles.

Images from Mikado’s A la fenetre and Naufrage en hiver. You can see throughout the video the careful planning of the shots and sequences they repeated for the chorus. I realise now why I struggled with storyboarding in past projects as I wasn’t studying enough music videos. How are they doing transitions, how are the shots framed, what techniques are they using. How are they telling the story?

 

They worked heavily with musicians and singers throughout the 80s and 90s. Making videos for the likes of Dee lite, Khaled and Nina Hagen. Their dream like style lending itself beautifully to music videos – building extravagant sets and luxurious looking costumes and accessories. The characters in the pictures look ethereal. I would love my work to have this quality.

Stills from Mikado’s music video La fille du Soleil. Lavish use of props and fountain which I love.

Use some of the techniques/transitions/effects used in their music videos for my animation!

 

Music Video for Mark Almond’s – A lover Spurned. Very camp. 10 costume changes. Transition – Rotating backdrop and then same texture superimposed onto the image as a cool way to make a transition between scenes.

Surrealist imagery – use of scale and masking techniques to place the female singer inside the glass of champagne. Lunettes Noires by LNA – Rapid moving backdrop with the singer placed within the frame. Diamanté twinkle effect around the border. I love this aesthetic – will draw inspiration from this.

The cut out of a flower rotates and grows – this is a great idea for a transition. Will be interesting to experiment with this.

   

“Labour of Love”. Pierre et Giles Photo paintings overflow with beauty and camp passion. The composition are reminiscent of renaissance paintings, staged deliberately in an exaggerated way. Colour is refined but over the top. They work as a team – Pierre takes the photographs and Gilles paints over them. The idea is sketched out. Gilles sources the elements to make the set. Pierre photographs the models. The photograph is printed and Gilles paints over the top. Drawing inspiration from the helycon days of retouching photographs in the 19th century.

The imagery is reminiscent of soft porn pin ups with their own twist. The erotization of the body. The portraits tell a story of lust, the cult of celebrity and make the viewer enter into a whimsical dreamlike state. I want my work to have this quality – to be alluring in its erotic power but also have a strong message.

 

The cover of LaChapelle Land designed by the Japanese artist Tadanori Yoko.

I love this cover – what immediately strikes me is the collaged combination of photocopied figures, block colour and drawings.

SEXINESS WITH HUMOUR. Surrealism bordering on the nightmare.

“Once we were playing kickball in the apartment complex when this woman came downstairs with this giant hair-do, halter top, hot pants, cork platform wedgies and started smashing her husband’s new Lincoln with a hammer. Seeing her on all fours, screaming, crawling on that car and bashing it, with that outfit, that hair, those fingernails… well, it was a little bit of heaven.”

A scene David LaChapelle never forgot. His love for outrageous dramatic scenes started at a young age and never stopped. Renaissance sculptures were also fans of the dramatic pose. He moved to NYC in the late 70s and was a regular at studio 54. Gucci and Fiorucci pop imagery for their advertsiements were a big influence. Andy Warhol’s magazine Interview was first magazine to publish his work. Models were made to do the wildest things but they always had to look beautiful. Exhibitionists make the best models according to LaChapelle. His pictures remind me of film stills – their narrative quality is so strong. He wanted to subvert the good taste, the good life often portrayed in fashion and advertising photography. “I want to see what’s cut out, I want to feature those things.” He likes celebrating the artificial. More expression can come out when the subject is interacting with their environment or a situation they are put in. This is great advice for when it comes to me directing my shoots.

Nude photoshoot I did with cling film. I wanted to manipulate the photographs to make them look like the sea.

  Experimenting with making body into waves.

  

    Knee patterns – these were really successful.

 

   

Research into animation techniques used by Terry Gilliam. Gilliam was really inspired by Tex Avery Cartoons. Its important to look into artists that inspired your favourite artists. Inspiration finds you at work.

Turning my knees into a spinal cord.

  

Erotica Shoot to be able to have a lot of bodies in different poses and positions to use as collage material.

  

Scorpion girl guarding the gates of bad taste.

I found this but couldn’t find the artist who made them. I like the weird.

  

My favourite advert of all time. The Babycham adverts from the 1960s! Very experimental – blending of green screened real life actors and

 

Icarus at the tanning salon.

In Greek mythology, Icarus is the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Icarus and his father attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. But then he gets too close to the sun and his wings melt.  My own version of Icarus and why you really shouldn’t use tanning beds. Baby that shit burns your beautiful skin.

The landscape of the body. The body is a landscape. Icarus is very burnt now. Looks ravishing in neon pink. This led me to meat. I must draw some pork chops.

 

Big fan of the creative director Maurizzio Cattelan and his work for Toiltepaper magazine. The love of the surreal, the grotesque, the painful, the erotic. His imagery causes strong emotions. The cake is the same pattern as the tablecloth and the arm is painted also. Food is used a lot in the editiorials.

 

The landscape of the body. The body is a landscape. Icarus is very burnt now. Looks ravishing in neon pink. This led me to meat. I must draw some pork chops. My pen was running out and the effect is cool.

The Stamp tool in photoshop is the best. Helps you to repeat certain areas of a drawing you like. Then I can save the texture as a preset and use again when I like. Honestly photoshop is my crack. Every day I’m learning to use new tools and techniques that are propelling my work into new directions. Its a joy to use. I use it every day without fail.

Blue Pork Chop mountains.

Pork chop pattern turned into marble.

The body turned into mountains. Hips for days. I mean who wouldn’t want to climb that. Life is short – make the most of your assets in your work.

  

Love this concept – combining photography with blue pork marble pattern. These experiments taught me to always follow a thread – however random it may seem. What if? is essential to experimentation.

By the pool series. We are made of 60% water. Was inspired to make these after reading narcissus – a girl stares at her own reflection in the swimming pool. She is the water and the ocean.

 

By the pool series. We are made of 60% water. Was inspired to make these after reading narcissus – a girl stares at her own reflection in the swimming pool. She is the water and the ocean.

Tit fountain

Experimenting with different blend modes in photoshop. I love the ghostly outline of the bodies.

 

Decided to try this out using screen printing.

Learnt how to separate the colours into channels. The technician was a dream to work with. He taught me so much in just one session.

  

Very successful screen prints using Light blue base, overlayed with red and then dark blue for the body. This image lends itself well to screen printing as I was able to use clean blocks of colour to build up the shading.

Self portraits in an aquarium. Getting better at using the pen tool – its better than the magic wand tool for cutting out shapes. Allows for very clean lines.

Interesting wave textures I made using a 3D brush in photoshop. Inspired by the self portrait in aquarium. This would look good animated!