I Love trees!

So it has come to my attention that I love trees, well not just trees but natural forms. They just look so damn cool. All the grooves and marks and interesting shading. With all of those put together it makes a really interesting texture. It is something that I find fascinating.

These are some sketches that I did at Bradgate Park, I really enjoyed using a fine liner. My cross hatching skills have actually gotten alot better and I am now so comfortable and confident with just using it straight onto paper. (As before I used to sketch in pencil and then use pen over the top)
I want to be able to do this within a landscape. Landscape scare the hell out of me, everything just looks wrong when I attempt one. But these have in a way given me a slight ego boost, they look good!
Maybe this is something to think about for a career...such as environments.

I have had this sudden passion for HGV, lorries. As I drive on the motor-way regularly, well everyday. I seem to get stuck behind a damn lorry and being so close to them it has made me look at them more, (yes I do still concentrate on driving) They are so damn cool! They are big and hefty in order to pull the heavy loads. They are just way cooler than these puny little cars that we all drive. It has made me think of a self directed project for myself over the Christmas holidays.
It would be perfect for me to continue with 3ds max over the holiday period as I didn't do anything last year and I want to keep busy and on top of things. Maybe just creating a Lorry front and a driver. It is weird how the lorry and the driver have a sort of similar style, they look the same in an odd way.

OW that wall is hard!

I've bloody hit that wall face on and I need help, maybe a hammer and chisel. (Please?) I have heard about this, about how there is this imaginary wall that people just can't get past. I really didn't think it would happen but it has. It is worse because I feel like I have lost my passion and creativity for the course, I WANT IT BACK! I think it is because I am behind in my work on practically anything. I wish I could just have a week off from uni and hibernate at my house and become a hermit and finish off all the unfinished work I have.
How do you get out of this?
I want a mind like a child again and be carefree! Everything is so much simpler that way, creation is simpler. I mean, if you drew a 6 legged horse with a whales tail and your brothers head, your mum would just say 'wow honey that's amazing' and stick it on the fridge. See it's just simple. Now I have limits and rules and briefs. My teacher says that your brief is your friend, but my brain is pushing me outside the box. * I am not a third year, I am not aloud this freedom of creativity yet!
Deadlines, deadlines, DEADLINES! It is just another brick to that wall, well about 3 layers of bricks. Deadline. The word itself sounds to be broken, damn my lazy and unproductive mind!!

This week's stuff... Composition (Task 15)

So this weeks lecture was about composition; What is composition? Well it is basically putting things together, a formation or construction. Just arranging chaotic elements into a pleasing and meaningful asset.

Composition is all to do with; line, shape, colour, texture, form, value and space.

Here is some of my own photography work, which is probably one of the few pieces of work I am actually proud of. Well I just love these. 

So I took these with a film camera. I miss taking proper photographs and having to develop the negatives and the photographs yourself. It is so much better than digital. You learn to understand photography and how everything is put together. The first image is just a simple black and white print. The black and white makes the atmosphere of the image seem more creepy. The sepia tone images is the same but it has a different atmosphere. I like how just one simple adjustment to the same picture can just change the viewers thought.

The somewhat idea of feedback and assessment has kinda been cleared up in my mind after mikes urm interesting presentation. In a way mike said; if you do everything that is asked then you pass but if you do more you will gain ninja-ness! It is all about becoming the ninja. 

Watch this!!

Ok so over the summer I watched a fair few films, but the film that I found full on amazing was this;

This film to me was amazing. Just because a film is in another language does not me you should just walk on by and find the latest comedy or what ever film you like. Go on and pick it up! Try something new!

For me this just made me purely believe in trolls. The entire film is a documentary like Cloverfield, but it has humour and reality. Like it really was a group of kids with their camera stalking some old man who believed in trolls. The whole aspect of the film is just brilliant, it for me, brings back that child-like element of fairy tales and believing in fictional creatures.

Starting to remember back on films I have watched, which is alot. I have realised I actually love films with subtitles. I mean they are different and they just seem a hell of alot better than english/american films. But this film is probably my favourite subtitled films.

The unknown Meercat...

So basically we were told to read this 'small' essay. Yeah right it was not small, well for me it was huge. We were asked to come up with 5 rules for creating a concept piece from reading this online essay. So these are some of the main thoughts or rules I found obvious for a concept piece;

1. Reference; No matter what anybody creates or even says, everyone has to reference or use references to create something. You are using those images to generate ideas. It would be very unlikely that you just come up with this master piece from the top of your head. (yeah yeah, it looks amazing in our head but when we put it to paper it looks awful!)
2. Time management; This is probably one of my main problems. I can never keep this at all, I always say I'll do this now but then it's two days before the deadline and I'm starting it then. So, if you start to loose time, you start to panic and stress. These reflect on the end product and people can tell. When you look back at it, you the artist can see that it is crap and that you could've done so much better, if only you had listened to yourself in the first place and started it with all the time ahead of you.
3. Plan; Break everything down for yourself, yeah it might take that little extra time but you are making it a hell of alot easier for yourself. I mean food is easier to consume if you cut it up rather than stuffing it all in your mouth like that five year old you were and your mum yelling at you to take small bites. Everything is just easier if it is smaller.
4. Reflect; Ok so your piece is looking good but there is that little something that isn't quite right, but you can't at all put your paintbrush on it. Stop! Take a break,(aha a kitkat) walk away from it and come back later, or it will haunt you and everything will start to look wrong. Coming back to after a while gives your brain like a re-boot for a computer. You might notice things differently. Also another way to find things is to rotate the image, move it about abit. 
5. Briefing; If there isn't a brief then you are lost. I mean you can't exactly make something for the hell of it. You need to ask what the client wants, what sort of atmosphere do they want, ideas, colours. Just ask questions and keep asking until you have everything and anything that you need to create this masterpiece.

These are just little key thoughts I had through one of my lectures, which I will definitely be taking into account during my second and third year of university;

Nothing is ever finished. Well not to the artist anyway. Even if it doesn't look finished just leave the damn thing alone or you might ruin it for good. I have been known to do this in the past and it is an absolute heartbreak when you over work something.

Next. For God sake, leave the digital stuff alone! You still haven't fully got all the pencil and paper stuff down yet, you don't need to add more stress by thinking you are amazing at digital stuff when clearly you really aren't. If you suck with pencil and paper then you are clearly gobsh*te with the digital stuff. (it just isn't for everyone)

Another thing to do with breaking stuff down. Break everything down to shapes for basic sculpting. Like I said before, everything is easier and easier for you if you break it up. That is just how the world works. Well my crazy world of my own. 

New start, in some sort of way...

So... Yeah well that is the sort of thing that is running through my mind right about now. Start of a new year tomorrow, 2nd year of university. In alot of ways I am great full. I have been kinda going a little insane over the silly amount of time we have all had off, but the thought of going back into a routine is I guess, reassuring (is that even the right word?), yeah it sound's like I'm a little OCD but it's comforting. Getting up in the morning and knowing you have stuff to do during the day, stuff that makes you think and pushes you. Well that's what I'm hoping for this year, I really want to push myself alot this year. As of last year, well I can be honest and say I really didn't try and knowing that has made me stupidly stressed.At the beginning of the summer I had a feeling, like a panic or feeling like a small child being scared by a monster feeling. It just really wasn't very nice.

But this year, IS going to be a good year. Everything is looking up and I can see it staying that way for a long time. Ha sounds really lame but I'm looking at this new wall with a positive attitude and that isn't going to change.

During the summer I have been drawing, just drawing and scribbling anything and everything I can see. I also managed to keep my camera on me a fair deal of the time and have taken some interesting pictures. Especially on my holiday in Portugal. Everywhere you looked there were broken and damaged buildings. Yes it was a holiday but every-time I looked at things my mind was split between thinking about how good that thing could be a texture or telling me to relax and deal with that after. But no, everything is starting to be looked at differently. It is pretty cool that my mind is doing this on it's own but it is really getting annoying, yes I suppose in a good way.

First day back and I am hoping it will be good, hopefully get set work and just get straight into it. I can't really believe how excited I am about it, but maybe that's my nervous conscience thinking that I should of done even more work over the summer and I have been lazy, but who is to blame but myself. Nothing I can do about it now but to just think about everything I will and hopefully push myself to do with the upcoming year.

The Avengers

Must go and see this! I have seen it twice in the opening week and I am just... WOW! Yeah my sort of film, I adore the whole superhero's saving the world thing. For people who are going to go and see this I would recommend seeing; Iron Man 1 and 2, Thor, Captain America and maybe Hulk. Even if you haven't seen any of those films it doesn't really matter as it is easy to follow along.
My new favourite film. For an action packed film it is very unique. For one thing there is alot of subtle humour, not so much to make it a comedy, but I found that the amount of humour made the film more realistic. For me personally I would give it a 10/10 but in the real world I would give it a 8.5/10