Bibliography

NICHOLS. K., 2013. Oops, I Craft My Pants [online] [viewed 29 Jan 2013] Available from: http://www.oopsicraftmypants.com

FOREMAN. M., 2001. Michael Foreman’s White Owl, Barn Owl [digital image] [viewed 29 Jan 2013] Available from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq4YSxjrhn-rjStKwFLIqbW8v3QiRAC7cGqxcCWWj4InU4HxahHdQRHQwYgWn5SmTT0oCw2aUL-A5yscqvUjzZ1G58imnA8WVQqNizNtfXx15PtXjO2N-iSr7MpkUeU84dfREBxo5XvDU/s1600-h/White20Owl20Barn20Owl_s4.jpg

FOREMAN. M., 2006. Michael Foreman’s Fox Tale [digital image] [viewed 29 Jan 2013] Available from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyOY3vXHiLmhFr5oJ6t-Zl2bvqlVv6PBgfGjTNBCINFVtVKTvXYgaQhXt5RnBp_D6Un-tciCCxVEiA6taWwPAFjzsUajV2BvMFFAveSm6HOILMEeTWEs28usvLvw9-9Lbjlmj5hujiCIY/?imgmax=800

FINN. L.  LIZZIE FINN [online] [viewed 5 Feb 2013] Available from: http://www.lizziefinn.com/index.php?id=15

JORDAN. C., 2012. MIDWAY - a film by Chris Jordan [online] [viewed 24 Feb 2013] Available from: http://midwayfilm.com

KOLAKOVIC. S. Stuart Kolakovic [online] [viewed 1 May 2013] Available from:  http://www.stuartkolakovic.co.uk

Business Cards Are Here!

My business cards literally just arrived while I was writing my last post on here.

I used the original version of my favourite image (I got these sent off a few weeks ago now). I got 200 of these printed. If I were to get more printed any time soon I would use the newer version of this image  though,  but overall I am really pleased with these!

Final Images Are Complete!!

So I took went into uni Monday morning with my final images done to the best of my abilities. I was planning on showing Jonny only he wasn't there so I had a tutorial with Ceri instead. She went through my images with me and we decided what needed a few final tweaks. I had the images completed and got them printed yesterday.

All of them printed off at A1 size. 

The aim of this image is to show the anatomy of the albatross, and to also make aware that there is a large amount of plastic in the stomach of each albatross.

This image is similar to the previous one, as they both show parts of the albatross anatomy. I wanted to also give a sense of where the two stomaches of the albatross were located by collaging lots of plastic illustrations together in the areas where the stomaches would be. I then included some birds and their young around the image to give a sense of what the scenery on the Midway Atoll is like.

This image is of another breed of albatross found on the Atoll and who is also affected by the plastic, the black-footed albatross. In this illustration I wanted to show where the Atoll was located and I did this by included a map of the area in the body of the bird. In the feet I used a combination of illustrations of Honolulu, as the Atoll is located near Hawaii. I then also included some facts about other animals which are affected by the plastic, which also helps explain why I have illustrated these animals in some of the other silhouettes. 

This silhouette has always been my favourite out of the collection but after some final tweaking I am now really proud of it. I had my final tutorial with Ceri and she gave me some good ideas to help improve this image a lot. This silhouette was created to show how the fishing industry has an effect on the animals and the Atoll, and also a large amount of the plastic pollution comes from the fishing industry. I also included three species of animal that are affected beside the Laysan Albatross. 

These two images are to symbolise another threat to the birds beside plastic pollution; bird strike. The first image is of the interior of a plane (a subtle statement) and the second is the silhouette of a plane, but with the birds inside the silhouette. This symbolises bird strike as the majority of the birds turn into feathers one they reach the engines of the plane.

Overall I am really pleased with these images. I've enjoyed making them and using a range of medias and materials to complete them all. Although I originally had a different idea at the beginning of this project and was planning on a different outcome, I am pleased that I experimented and learnt what my strengths and weaknesses were. 

Originally when starting this project I did not imagine my final outcomes looking how they do now, but I am pleased with how they have turned out as I have learnt to work in a new way which I enjoy. 

CV

So I've been working on my CV for the last week or so as well, and here is how it has turned out!

It's pretty simplistic but I am pleased with it. I used illustrations from my previous project as I was really proud of the work I had created then.

WIP and Further Changes

So on Thursday we had our last Work In Progress session with Jonny. However, only three of us turned up, but it was kind of nice as it was more like a tutorial.

He seemed pleased with everything I had done so far. However, his and Pete's feedback were very different to each other.

So the last few days I've been tweaking my work just a little bit more as deadline is getting really close now! I'll be heading into uni tomorrow to show Jonny the changes I've made, and I'm aiming to get these printed now in the next few days!

Here's the images I've made changes to:

This is the main image that I've made quite a noticeable change to. I've been worried for ages about it as I couldn't work out why it didn't look quite right, but now that I've taken away some of the sea colour and added more text to it I think it looks a lot better.

The text I added at the bottom was to say what other animals are also affected by the plastic around the Atoll. It also helps explain why I have illustrated these other animals in some of my other silhouettes.

Jonny said that this one looked a bit too "cute". I've made the sky darker (which I may still change again as now it's looking a little too flat) and added in an outline of the bird, as it originally didn't look like it belonged to the same set of images. 

Also, a lot of people have been saying the for the previous silhouette the bird's head and body were not in proportion with each other and I have kept insisting that I have drawn it accurately, so here's the proof. I layered the original image I drew from underneath my silhouette and faded the opacity. However, as a silhouette the shape of the bird still doesn't look quite right so I shall edit this at some point. 

Here is a completely new image I have created. I had already created the silhouette but earlier decided not to use it. But after discussing with Jonny, I decided to include it again as I didn't have a silhouette of a flying albatross. I also wanted this to accompany the plane silhouette to symbolise bird strike as another threat to the birds. 

Only tweaked this image slightly by taking away the fumes. I feel this image looks a lot better now.

Jonny thought that this image wasn't quite dark enough; it looked too pleasant for the story I was trying to tell. So I scanned in some tin foil too make it look a bit darker and I like the textured effect that this has given to the image.

Tweaking my final pieces

So I had a tutorial with Pete last week who seemed pleased with my images overall. He just gave me some ideas of how to tweak some of them.

This is a new image I have created in the last week. One of my original images I started was of an albatross flying with World War II planes inside the silhouette to symbolise both the battle that took place on the Islands and that bird strike is a threat to the birds. Pete said that I should just look at one subject, and not include anything about the war. So the way I decided to do this was to create albatrosses flying within a silhouette of a plane, and one the birds got to the engines they would disappear and feathers would appear instead to symbolise bird strike. 

This was the first bird I created. I haven't change it too much. I just created my own plastic images out of felt and included a lot more in the stomaches of the birds to make it look more threatening to them and create more of an impact. I have also changed the colour of the font, as it didn't look quite right in black. 

Pete liked how chaotic the original version of this was, but we agreed it didn't make much sense and needed tweaking. The background is of the island beaches littered with plastic. I have also included a few collaged images of fishing buoys and a few young and adult birds to show the scenery of the islands. I then wanted to show part of the skeleton of the bird with lots of chaotic plastic where the stomach would be. 

This image has also only been changed slightly. The skyline and buildings of Hawaii (Honolulu) are still shown along the feet of the albatross. I have rearranged the feathers around the neck to symbolise where the throat of the bird would be, and shown a few bottles and other pieces of plastic going down the birds neck. I have also shown a map of Hawaii and where Midway Atoll is, as well as where the North Pacific Garbage Patch is. I have shown the garbage patch by using lots of images of plastic again, as well as using prints of the plastic, which could also represent our footprints and the impact that we have on the planet. However, this image still isn't looking perfect to me, but I need a tutorial to help me put my finger on what isn't quite right.

Final Pieces

So we've got just over two weeks to go now! The last few days I've just been scanning everything in and putting it together in photoshop and I'm gradually getting there.

I've got a tutorial with Pete tomorrow so I've put together as much as I can, and will see what he says tomorrow before creating any further images to scan in.

This was the first image I started creating. I've added a bit more to it since I last uploaded a screenshot of it. I kind of like the simplicity of it at the moment.

This is actually my favourite image so far. I'm really pleased with how it all works together and I'm especially pleased with how the seal looks. 

I'm not so sure about this one. It needs something adding to it, but I will discuss this with Pete tomorrow. I am thinking of making a load more felt bottles and other plastic and adding them to the garbage patch area.

Also not sure about this one. I just added a load of my doodles to this and think it looks a little too crowded at the moment. 

Here is an image created by Stuart Kolakovic. It was the cover page in a magazine that Ceri lent me for this project. I love this image, and think it relates to the fishing industry silhouette I've created and is a very similar design. However, I did infact see this image after I had started creating my own. 

Images for my collages

I wrote a list of all the smaller images I need to produce for for albatross silhouettes, and have spent the last few days creating a lot of this work. 

Firstly I created a few quick watercolour and pen drawings of baby Laysan albatross, as our plastic effects them more than the adult birds. 

I also have drawn and created my own plastic bottles and items. I created these 2 out of felt, as I enjoyed working in felt in my previous project and wanted to have that aspect included in my work still. 

Watercolour and pen drawing of a fishing boat, as the fishing industry is one of the main contributors towards the plastic pollution in the ocean. 

Here are some quick fishes I created out of felt again to go in my sea scenes.

Originally, I was going to draw a modern day passenger jet as bird strike is another (although minor) threat to the albatrosses. However, I researched into World War II today which had an iconic navy battle around Midway Atoll. I therefore decided to change this plane into a WWII Douglas Dauntless which was used to bomb Japanese navy ships nearby the atoll. This plane therefore symbolises two different things related to Midway Atoll. 

A quick painting of the beach showing plastic washed up on shore. I'm intended to use this as a background somewhere.

A spinner dolphin, another animal that lives near Midway Atoll and is effected by the plastic pollution. 

Getting there with the first final piece

So in the last few days I've been starting on the final pieces. I've been creating lots of smaller images that will be put together inside the silhouettes of the birds.

Here's one small image of a Green Sea Turtle. I created it with a combination of pen, colouring pencils and water colours. I'm particularly proud of this image. I only meant to spend 20 minutes or so on it but it ended up taking over 3 hours. Think it was worth the effort though. The Green Sea Turtle is another species of animal from the Midway Islands which is effect by the North Pacific Garbage Patch.

And here is one of the albatrosses that I have started working on. It's slowly getting there. It's not quite complete yet as I want to add text and a few other things, but I'm pleased with how it's looking so far.

The Beginning of the Final Images

So earlier this week I have finally stopped writing lists of ideas and things to do and cracked on with the final images. Even though I now know what I want to do for the final images I'm still struggling with how exactly I'm going to make them, what media I want to include and what images exactly I want to collage into them. So my method at the moment is to bang out lots of images and experiments for the next few days and see what happens.

Last week I decided on 6 photographs of birds (from the Midway Facebook page) that I wanted to base my silhouettes on. However, I'm not sure if I want to have some detail of the bird showing through the image, or use purely just a silhouette of it.

This week I've been painting the base images of the birds. Some of them I prefer to others, but I'm going to scan them all into photoshop and see what happens!

Above the six images together. Below are the three that I am particularly happy with.

My plan for these now is too get some acetate (which I have currently done for a couple of them) and draw feathers and other details on, similar to what I would do if I was screen printing. But instead of going into the print room (because I'm not a fan of it) I'm going to scan into photoshop and experiment in there. Then after this it's onto creating more images for collaging. 

Recent doodles and a tutorial with Pete

So over Easter I hit a bit of a wall. I had done quite a few drawings of the Laysan Albatross, but I just couldn't come up with any ideas for my final piece that I liked enough to stick with.

At first, I thought about making a stuffed 3D albatross and ripping its stomach open to show the plastic coming out of it - slightly crude but though it would be attention grabbing. I made a bird in the style of Mark Hearld which was fun but I don't think I wanted to make more similar birds for the degree show.

Yesterday I spent most of the day on photoshop and scanned in some of my previous doodles and improved them. I was hoping that I would suddenly get inspiration from doing that.

I created this image which was influenced by Andy Warhol's soup cans. This was inspired by an interview I was reading of Chris Jordan who was talking about the North Pacific Garbage Patch, where   the Albatrosses collect food for their young and unfortunately pick up plastic at the same time. Jordan described the garbage patch as a "giant floating soup". 

I created a new font type over Easter. I enjoyed using my own font in my last project, but I didn't want to use the same font as it was too child-like, so I created a new one. 

I used another quote from Chris Jordan for this image. I used my original drawing and used a photograph taken by Jordan for the Midway Project as the background image, to show how the albatrosses nest among the plastic. 

A quote used at the beginning of the Midway trailer, and a plastic heart. However, I couldn't find a better image of a plastic heart so would want to possible photograph a plastic heart charm myself and use that.

Tutorial with Pete and a possible final piece 

I had a bit of a brain wave last night. I thought back to last year where I created a collage for my Fairy Tales and Folklore project which Pete and Jonny really liked and said had potential. 

I showed Pete in my tutorial today what I had done so far and told him about my new possible idea which would be to create a huge collage of the midway landscape. I refreshed his memory with the collage I did last year and we talked about my idea further.

In the end, my idea is to create a series of albatross silhouettes (possibly 5 or 6 at this stage) and create a collage inside the shapes of the birds. I want the collages to make people aware of what we are doing to the earth. Each bird silhouette will be showing something slightly different, for example, one may show other animals that are being effected by our pollution on the Midway Islands and another may show how the fishing industry is contributing towards the amount of plastic pollution. I still need to decided to certain on what I will be showing in each bird though.

Updated Timetable

Also, here is my most recently updated version of my timetable. I changed it slightly when I altered my idea a few weeks back.

Some little sketches...

So lately I've been doing a load of doodles of albatrosses which I want to soon edit in photoshop.

This was based Chris Jordan's (the producer) idea that the albatrosses are sending a message to us about the state of the planet. I want to work with this idea a little further. 

I read somewhere that they cut open a dead albatross to find a hand cream tub inside still filled with the cream. This gave me the idea for this image. The albatross was supposed to be like a hand lotion bottle, and instead of cream coming out of the albatross it is plastic. I'm not sure if this image is that clear though. 

Inspired by photos of the albatrosses and their young on the Midway Atoll. Once this is scanned into photoshop I want to photograph plastic and add it in around the image.