I'm going to try this one more time.

This paper's helping me realize a lot about my project. Just to clarify to anyone who might be confused. This is what my final DP will be ~

- 6 or 7 anthropomorphic/grotesque style character designs (360*) -THESE are the finals.
- storyboards for the story they all are a part of which I will illustrate after I graduate.
- preliminary work/sketches in the back of the final book.

How's everyone's papers going? It was hard starting..but its really helping me now. C y'all next week!

PAPERS

Just a reminder - since we are getting close to school starting up again - about your research papers. How is the writing going?

You probably know that reviews are rescheduled for Wed afternoon - Jan 21st. It will be nice to see the work, including what you've been up to lately.

hey guys!

so ive been working on my second piece, among other things.

after some thought, i agree with kerstin's comment on my earlier post. im juggling a few ideas for huitzilopochtli and coyolxauhqui and how i can better intergrate them and make them interact more. huitzilopochtli does decapitate his sister, so maybe ill work with that.

so heres where things are so far --

im working on the star and moon cutouts for the background. the red and purple mola shape is the only thing attached to the background right now

and the bottom stripe of the border needs to be added. 

im pretty happy with coatlicue herself. shes really snakey and textured in person, which i like. 

anyone know when the studios open up again? im assuming they open before the 21st.

Inauguration Day!

Recently finished portrait - just in time for the 20th!

Ignore my words in the previous posts if you're confused and just look at the pictures.

so... I just realized rereading my posts from the other day that to an outsider, all this new information is very difficult to process and you guys probably think this is too much to just come up with half way through DP. Well, I'm sorry for laying it all out like that. I'm not great at explainging myself firsthand, but with a few revisions, I usually show through. Lets just go with this instead!

-My final DP will still be a book of anthropomorphic characters inspired by nature. (more sketchy though, preliminary work for the story, character studies, ect.)

-It will also be the story that these characters are a part of (possibly another book) THIS is the precious final piece. But I would like to hang all my characters on the wall at the end as well!

-Sooo... I will have two books at the end of Degree project. Please understand that without one of these 2 I will be greatly compromising.

So uh, hey.

Here are my next two.
I'm trying to use a lot of symbols in my work that appeal to me.
I'm planning on gouache, limited color.
Color comps on the way.

I'm also still rethinking the first one, because I'm neurotic. I'm just gonna redraw it, though.

So yay.
Check out my other blog for drawings I'm also doing.

the 3 stone gargoyles on the other side of the tunnel

These are some minor characters at the top.

So below are some pics of the setting of my story. This is near my home in Western Mass. There is a giant tunnel that the stream flows through. and beautiful woods on both sides. Up from one side of it is my parents house. This will be the little girls home. Her father works for the oil/heating company that supplies all the homes in the little town with heat during the winter. Through the tunnel, on the other side is a world that's invisible to humans. It's a world where supernatural creatures live and the seasons that dictate how nature behaves have physical bodies and personalities (Remember Rhyzome is spring/summer and the yeti/old man character is winter). This is all unknown to human beings. Rhyzome has a script or engraving, something ancient that tells a story, a series of tasks that must be done. He has been waiting for thousands of years for the next step in this process to happen. That step is the little girl. She is the portal, the key, to this tunnel that superates man from myth. Once she goes through, these creatures could go into the human world physically, at will, and Rhyzome must do so to complete the next task.


My time span is late summer through mid winter. From the time Rhyzome is controlling nature until the time when he dies each year, goes back in the ground, and must be reborn again the next year. This time, according to this "ancient writing" there will not be a next year for nature and this world of creatures. Rhyzome must complete the tasks before late january and will fight the cold and dead of winter in order to do it. This will hopefully makes the protagonists obstacles build up for a good resolution. the last part of this "writing" illustrates that the humans will lose the heat in there homes and tear down nearly all the forest for fire wood.
The little girl being one of the 2 main characters and the key in Rhyzomes quest can see the creatures when she gets to the other side. Not sure if the two of them will come into contact with eachother or not yet. Still finding the less important goal/resolution for the girls story. Rhyzomes core story is figured out. So...its a lot right now, but I'm continuously working it down and down to get a concise short story out of this which again will be illustrated black and white in my final book with a large portion in back of the book containing all the chaacter studies/sketches/preliminary work. Thanks.

DP has evolved to something greater than the book of characters.

I've finally had the time to think out a plot for my characters. My final DP project will still involve the character book in a major way, although I will also be illustrating the story that I've been writing all of break thus far. My final piece will still be a book. Half will be the story I'm writing, black and white, the back side of the book will be all my sketches, character studies, ect, ect. This character here essentially is Winter.
These are studies of him. My first DP character; Rhyzome (the anthropomorphic iris) is spring and summer/life/growth/nature.

My protagonists in the story are Rhyzome and a young girl who will look similar to the girl in this gorillas unexpected piece from my black and white class. They have different goals in the story. Rhyzomes goal is much more important than the girls. Though the girl plays an important role in his process. Let me post the pics of my stories setting before I continue describing the story, I promise I'm trying my best to sum this up and keep it brief! -Thanks.

preliminary sketches for the epic of sundiata

these are concept sketches for my new piece which is an illustration of a passage in the epic of sundiata a 13th century epic about sundiata keita the first emperor of the Mali empire. the scene takes place in the palace of samaoro the story's villain. and balla fassake sundiata's friend and griot (bard and recorder of history) who has been captured by samoaro is playing the balafon similar to a xylophone for him in his bed chamber. which is a room filled with weapons, skulls ,human skins statues a giant albino python and two owls. it is a very complex scene and i have many more concept sketches to do i have already started to iron out the composition in one of these sketches but i ha vent added in the balafon the weapons or the statues yet.