Folio Society - Frankenstein

Looking through my saved stuff on my art instagram helped me find this forgotten gem! 

https://twitter.com/foliosociety/status/947814874687725568

Sadly, no longer on the Folio Society website because it's no longer stocked (annoying because I still want to look at the imagery). 

Harry Brockway's use of wood cutting has really dramatised the gothic scenes from Frankenstein. Although, my own work is a lot different to this I still hope to be able to capture the changing innocence of the monster throughout the book. 7 might be a bit much though??? Depending on where the brief is headed. At the minute I'm not sure whether to stick with Frankenstein or move further into more books and focus on why we sympathise with bad characters.

BRIEF CHANGE AGAIN

When reflecting on my new brief idea and having another look at my 'fave books' list, I decided it might be too much to take on. I would rather focus closely on Frankenstein for the remainder of the module. 

I plan on focusing solely on the monster and how he is portrayed throughout the book. As well as looking at how his personality alters as he becomes more isolated and neglected. I hope to be able to portray this visually through use of colour, tone and the expressions of the monster. ALTHOUGH, I would like to have a hint of innocence seen in the monster throughout. 

The prints will be put together in a publication alongside quotes from the book. The chosen quotes will show the audience how the monster is portrayed negatively throughout the book. The prints on the next/opposite page will show how unnecessarily cruel Victor Frankenstein is. There will be a few moments in the publication that show the monster's vulnerability to emphasise this more. 

Frankenstein has been visualised many times in the past and I look forward to have my own take on it.   

Mass Art Collaboration

I honestly didn't think I'd enjoy this brief at first or that the people I worked with wouldn't like my work. But reflecting on the week I have realised how much this brief has helped me develop confidence when working with others (especially when they've never seen your work before). It has helped me gain experience when working with designers from a different course (and country). This opportunity has allowed me to use my work and express my ideas in a new environment with completely different style of work. 

Working to such a fast deadline with a group forced me to work as efficiently as I could to meet the deadline. This is something I need to do more with my own projects except the team is me. The problems we overcame were the different appearance that both illustrators had, one being more detailed and me being more naive. However, the idea of the Otley Run Board Game allowed us to work with a drunk and sober narrative. 

I also produced some of the illustrations for the cards which involved pros (move forward spaces), cons (move back spaces) and neutrals (stay in place) to go alongside the text done by the graphic designers of the group. 

Mock up of presentation - still need to gain access to the final 

Brief/Proposal Update

Why do we sympathise with bad characters?

Reflecting back on where my brief based on my favourite books is headed (so far American Psycho and Frankenstein) makes me consider how the books relate to one another. One thing I've noticed is how we generally feel sympathetic towards these bad characters. For example Frankenstein. 

The monster in Frankenstein has been created and instantly neglected by the human race because of his appearance. Although, the monster starts and soft and upset at the fact he cannot make acquaintance with people. This eventually turns into rage when his creator aborts the making of the monster's female companion. The monster kills three people close to his creator so that he can feel the same way as him. But is this right? We feel bad for the monster because of his initial innocence and childlike nature. Similarly with serial killers. They receive sympathy because they were abused as a child etc. 

Similarly, with American Psycho. Although it doesn't give a background story to his life, it is clear he has anxieties about not being noticed or of importance to anyone. His life seems like a constant battle with who can be the seen as the most successful man (which results in him killing Paul Owen who everyone idolises). As well as his girlfriend cheating on him with a more charismatic man. Patrick Bateman seems entirely robotic throughout the book but occasionally shows glimpses of vulnerability. Less sympathetic than Frankenstein, but still sympathetic nevertheless. 

This is also the case with other books that I have written on my 'fave books' list, such as The Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye and The Clockwork Orange. I plan on covering at least 3 of these over the remainder of the module.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40206392.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A96495dec097e2dc65198139ccd45d9a9

Changing how I work with POSCA pens

I've recently changed how I draw pieces with posca to look more textured. Basically it's just 'bad' colouring in but I've noticed my work can look a little flat sometimes. 

I want to be able to transfer this digitally to clean it up slightly which I plan on doing next week (or the week after because of Mass Art). 

ALSO in my tutorial it was mentioned that maybe I go back to my old screen printing ways and create the layers using kodatrace instead of doing it digitally. To speed it up slightly, I'm going to colour a big block of acetate with chinagraph and print it to create the texture that I could transfer on photoshop to give it that 'screen print' aesthetic. 

I'm going to use chinagraph layers to create this piece (either as a physical screenprint or a digital design).

Reflection and Fourth Self Portrait

At the moment my practice feels quite settled. I am proud of the work that I’m currently achieving and have a strong idea of where it will be heading. This final small crit has allowed me to reflect on what I am currently producing and how this will come together for the degree show (stress).

Overall, my work has developed when considering the strength of my screen prints. Even in the past few months I’ve noticed positive changes in the speed of production and the cleanliness of the print. My digital work always seems to be an ongoing improvement. Some designs look stronger than others depending on their complexity. I’ve noticed that the more complex hand drawn pieces don’t look strong when I alter them on photoshop. However, I plan on continuously working on this as it’s way more efficient than screen printing all the time. I have considered looking back at American Psycho slightly since starting Frankenstein and making more scenic responses to the book. This is all depends on the time I have and my own motivation.

My current portfolio represents the type of work I want to be commissioned for. Although, I think once I place my pumpkin (or devil) character into a small comic like sequence, this might redirect where I’m heading. I just see this as opening more doors for myself as I want to be freelance.

It has been suggested that I possibly look into making ceramic versions of the characters I’ve currently made (although it seems impossible to get an induction). As well as possibly making the horror characters into a colouring book which I may consider in later development.