The exam theme for the project was Inside, Outside and In between, this is a very abstract concept compared with past project themes this left a lot of room for interpretation. I interpreted and approached the theme in a literal sense, meaning inside an object, outside and object and in between an object. This for me was ideal for the brief I had chosen because the two stories both include separate worlds that can be explored through this theme.
My plans for the final piece is to create a violent reenactment of the chapter the last battle from the novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This will be the representation of the world INSIDE Narnia from the OUTSIDE worlds point of view and imagination. There are many ways to interpret the Last battle but I decided to takes literal approach to the world of Narnia, fully understanding the world operates on different rules.
Recording Observations
I made a trip to London Zoo to acquire primary imagery of animals which is an integral element of the world of Narnia. I took photographs of several different animals from different angles and poses so that I had as many perspectives when I used them for development.
Idea Development
I used these images throughout the creative idea process, I drew the animals using observational, sketch and focused hand drawn form. I developed a wing of a butterfly which I had hand drawn. I felt that the pattern and mix of light and dark tones would be a perfect benchmark to add colour to develop an idea of the colour application I felt was appropriate. I experimented with oil pastel, colour pencil, watercolour pencil and watercolour paint. I settled in the watercolour paint technique as I felt that it represented animals in the most lifelike and natural way. I also felt that the delicate nature and the way the technique portrayed softer textures was a perfect balance to my heavily violent aspect of animals.
Materials, Techniques and Processes
I investigated many techniques while in the process of developing a final idea, many of which I instantly knew were not techniques I wanted to pursue for my final product. I delved into the world collage and found that no idea that came up was particularly focused towards the briefas they were not imaginative or original enough. I made collages out of paper and also digitally. I also tried to use of my greater skills in the Graphics subject which is Photoshop editing but decided against it after some experimentation as I wanted to think outside the box and try a different type of challenge. I encountered some problems with the technique that I chose and that was the impractical nature of drawing on watercolour paper. The dense and heavily texturised paper makes it very difficult to draw on with much detail. I made this problem less of an issue by experimentation of pencils, I discovered that a hard pencil would give more resistance against the texture of the paper for a more accurate result.
Influences
Alison Fennel was my main influence, I found great direction through analysing her watercolours of animals, the animals were very life like and authentic. Her choice of colour was brilliant and she blends them perfectly to create the best variation of an animals fur. The image which influenced my interpretations the most was Alison Fennel's fox watercolour, I feel that it was the most effective because it directly applied to my ideas and the form of animal watercolour. Another influence to my work was Nicholas Kole he is also a watercolour artist but he has a very realistic approach and uses a lot of detail in his illustrations compared to Alison.
My final piece will be a series of illustrations for the chapter Last Battle in the novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe I will recreate the battle with graphic detail. I will be creating scenarios represented from the text of the book and translating them into more realistic terms as if this was a real battle were characters are severely violent. I will use a heavy focus on weaponry and the use of them in battle captured and illustrated with watercolour finish.
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