These past few months have been intense. Just had Synergy on Wednesday and I turned a lot of heads and got a lot of people talking. Despite losing time in the first half of the trimester, I achieved exactly what I wanted. I created an Alternate Reality Game set in an alternative reality.

The fact that these ideas were mentioned so early on in the trimester when introduced to photography and the full creative freedom, this idea sparked and it has only flourished from there.

In week 6 I was starting to not feel like myself to some degree and this emotional disconnect allowed me to take a step back and revisit things the following week.  That being said, my digital illustrations started from this, so I was able to use that experience to my advantage. 

After my KPI meeting with Paul, I brought my progression and development into a Trello list and have silently been working away at all of my deliverables. 

​After taking a look at my progress throughout the trimester, I am definitely satisfied with the sufficient amount of work that I have produced. One of my favourite shots is the Netflix ad for Blood Brothers. I gathered a lot of outsider feedback from this design and was able to produce this high quality piece.

Everyone that I have shown this to, has either tried to find the show on Netflix or have asked me why it isn't on their region. 

I'll let that speak for itself.

In future trimesters, I would like to tackle more ambitious projects similar this. As it was not a requirement to make all of my deliverables to be cohesive, it was a design choice I made early on to drive my motivation for the project in the right direction.

With the quality of work that I have produced this trimester, whilst working full time on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I truly believe I am deserving of at least a distinction.

Until next trimester... Look up and live!

Over the past 13 weeks, I have been working away on this project just like I intended. The progress that I have made has been stunted a tiny bit but I have still managed to develop a large body of work that I am incredibly satisfied with.

Overture is a multimedia Alternate Reality Game built throughout the trimester.

This reality is built upon the hypothetical foundation that intergalactic shapeshifters arrived on Earth some time ago and have coexisted until recently.

The Overture has arrived.
​

The spacecraft arrived with thousands of vessels for them to recruit the inhabitants.

I genuinely could not comprehend what was staring in front of me. Is this the end? Or just the beginning of the end?

I told a friend of mine and they said they witnessed the same thing. The ship was dropping hundreds and thousands of pods. He said others need to know about what's happening years from now.

Even after a year of being published, and the Earth welcomed the visitors, they became more accepting of their intergalactic brothers.

They even started working together... for Netflix.

They're just like us. We can't deny it. Or maybe We're like them... It's hard to tell these days... It's getting harder to distinguish us from them. They still seem passive... I hope.

Despite being from somewhere deep in space, they have a decent sense of smell. Surely that's a good thing right... I kind of like them now.

They can even produce some pretty slapping hits. Cosmic Bloodlust is fucking amazing, even though I preferred their older stuff as this album is kind of preachy. I mean "Look Up And Live"? Really? C'mon.

Boycott Reality is a pretty good song though.
I love zoning out and just chilling out to that.

Wait... What the hell is that?!

I genuinely don't know what the fuck just happened.

How long was I out?

​Oh god no.

What the hell is happening?! I can feel my stomach rise to my chest. This does not feel good. The window smashed and my friends won't answer... There is a figure with three large glowing eyes staring at me...

I just want to close my eyes and wake up tomorrow... 

Please for the love of God, make this stop!

~ the white lights intensified and he blacked out ~

​

I can't get these images out of my head. I had to draw what I saw. These images. It feels like I'm losing control.

I get this vision of me being held in space by a giant one of those fucking things. I thought the album cover was just a design. I feel like this vision is more real than I want it to be.

One thing I know for sure is they're mostly passive... unless provoked.

I wish I knew that sooner...

The creature morphed what appeared to be its arms to reveal two large blades. I fought back, as I always have. The creature stood down after I cracked a titanium rod across its head. It started flaring up and its eye was shattered... Wait... He's just... walking away?

Oh fuck.

That is the best way I can draw this one. He seemed like the leader. Sort of looked like that poster I saw before I got myself in here. How long has it even been. I want to go back... I want things to go back to the way they were...

Especially after what I just saw as I was being dragged out of this corporation.

​

These things. They're people. They're goddamn people. What the actual fuck!?

Are they being controlled by them?!

Holy shit. WHAT IS THAT?!

They dragged me through the compound and out the back. A spotlight on a pole with a chainlink around the base and what appears to be a lot of blood... Oh shit. This might be my last notification.

I'm chained to this pole in the middle of a field and this might be it. The ground starts to rumble as I hear the growl of a hundred wild animals.

The ground is more unstable. Fuck! It's coming. I close my eyes and try to prepare for what's coming by humming Cosmic Bloodlust to myself.

There's no point. It's inevitable. 

I know I'm about to die at the mouth of a monster. 
I take their advice in the hopes I survive...

I look up to live.

​It didn't work.


​

My A0 canvas is progressing nicely. To give an idea of the monstrosity that is currently being blended together; picture all 6 of these as one giant creature.

Again, I'm not spoiling it.

One of my collaborators in Film is working really well with me in terms of what he wants and how we're achieving those goals. He's doing a documentary about The Zoo nightclub in the Valley and wants a grungy / punk poster to accompany his film. His inspiration follows:

However, my other collaborator, has yet to provide me with photography from the set which I've been asking for... His inspiration follows:

This weekend will be huddled around a computer and desk working away, but I am confident to say I will have everything completed to my own set standards of quality.

References:
Dead Kennedys Poster. (2019). [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dead-Kennedys-Poster-11x17-Mini-Poster/160170523

Siouxsie and the Banshees Concert Poster. (2019). [Image]. Retrieved from https://i.pinimg.com/236x/70/74/fe/7074fe6ceed9dd378910c56bb26d7b39--rock-posters-music-posters.jpg

A Band Called Death Poster. (2019). [Image]. Retrieved from https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2013/02/A-Band-Called-Death-640x962.jpg

Nirvana Nevermind Poster. (2019). [Image]. Retrieved from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0b/5f/fe/0b5ffe64b7da23f3bc022125388d9e25.jpg

Food Inc. Poster. (2019). [Image]. Retrieved from https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/9562/9562671_so.jpg

McLaren Poster. (2019). [Image]. Retrieved from http://i2.wp.com/carandrider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/McLaren.jpg

The Lovely Bones Poster. (2019). [Image]. Retrieved from https://movies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lovely_Bones

We're coming close to the finish line! We've got just over a week before Synergy and I would be lying if I said I wasn't feeling the pressure. I visited Ripley on Saturday, and was able to get some amazing shots on the way down there. This is a refined image:

When Sarah and I re-entered West End at 11pm on Saturday night, we decided to try some night photography without a tripod... 

I purchased a tripod and took photos yesterday morning and last night in the same position. I brought them into Lightroom and Photoshop and developed a split panorama.

As an extraterrestrial panorama has been one of my plans since the beginning, I decided to try out a larger one last night and I am incredibly happy with the result.

After helping out at Open Day on Sunday, I decided to take my analogue illustration further and have begun blending all 6 of my monstrosities into one large canvas painting. However, that one is staying hidden until Synergy.

Reference:
Big Brain Time Meme. (2019). [Image]. Retrieved from https://i.imgflip.com/33hgx5.png?a435096

First off, yes I stress shaved on Monday night and now I look like I'm a baby.

Over the past week, I processed my typography further for this studio module. The starry night sky that was featured before had a much darker tone than what I wanted to convey through my series. I opted for a brighter Dusk tone to shift the narrative.

The End of the World is Nigh (now in colour)

I am heavily inspired by the latest album cover for Zomboy; Rott N' Roll Pt. 2. The lighting, silhouettes, and characteristics of the cover appeal to me and has a similar vibe for what I am trying to achieve in my digital works.

This amongst other things will be worked on this coming week to make sure everything is ready for Synergy. 

Reference:
Spotify. (2019). Rott N Roll Pt 2 Album Cover [Image]. Retrieved from https://i.scdn.co/image/0a3178a0ff1ce40c3f1b870f6d620ea10763f565

A quick update from the El Manana watercolour painting. I took Paul's advice and added to the work with more defining colours and line-work to enhance the piece.

I worked with my box-head humanoids concept further and developed this piece.

​We also have a title for the series now:

This is the progress update for the graphite illustration for one of my Where's Wally-esque deliverables. Not a fan of it anymore!

Over the past few weeks, my analogue drawings and watercolour paintings have taken up a vast majority of my time. Lately, I have focused primarily on alcohol pen illustrations.

I hope you're prepared... it only got weirder.

A few weeks ago when I was starting to look into my minds eye, I was given the advice to "dig deeper". So I did...

As seen in previous trimesters, my final pieces are generally the first drawings I do. The images above were not planned out, or sketched out before hand. I start with a mouth and then progressively work the rest in...

Last night I developed this image for my Instagram page, to tease the work that is coming as I am continuing on with this Overture series.

Over the past week, I have been experimenting with the watercolours that I purchased last Tuesday.
Drawing inspirations from the artists I showed last week, I was able to develop some decent progress pieces, and I am quite happy with the results.

Using my memory of the Gorillaz music video for El Manana, I developed these two inspired artworks:

I challenged myself last week by trying to convert pixel art into a watercolour piece. For this challenge, I used the character Sans from Undertale.

After these were completed, I felt more confident with the medium and have developed two pieces that I am happy to continue with.

As these works are only at an A4 size, I wanted to make the scenery a little more open than what I normally would. I am happy with the quality that I have produced so far as they maintain the cohesive subject matter as per my previous works.

As throughout my previous studio class, I have always added a little touch of comedic essence to my work. Last trimester was a sausage themed music festival. This trimester has touched on the idea of wearing a mask to hide your inner demons which has been present throughout.

References:
Gorillaz. (2012). El Manana [Image]. Retrieved from https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/353142915.webp?mw=900&mh=506

Sans from Undertale. (2019). [Image]. Retrieved from https://art.pixilart.com/2ca242f8be5dda9.png

KnowYourMeme. (2019). Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop Us All [Image]. Retrieved from https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/511/006/614.png

 Following on from Tuesdays watercolour session, I purchased a new set of watercolour paints, pads and brushes to truly expand my experience with the medium. I started doing more research to see what types of watercolour paintings I would like to achieve for these deliverables.

During my research I discovered a facebook group called the World Watercolor Group and I found a large range of inspiration from just regular artists and people trialing the medium.

After Tuesday I started experimenting a little more with the media and developed some interesting results. I would like to experiment with caffeinated water (coffee water) soon to yield different results.

References:
World Watercolor Group. (2019). The Beatles [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/worldwatercolor/

World Watercolor Group. (2019). Red Dog [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/worldwatercolor/

World Watercolor Group. (2019). Wall Painting [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/worldwatercolor/

World Watercolor Group. (2019). Thailand [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/worldwatercolor/

World Watercolor Group. (2019). Line-work Watercolor [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/worldwatercolor/

World Watercolor Group. (2019). Town [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/worldwatercolor/
​
World Watercolor Group. (2019). Negative Space Minimalism [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/worldwatercolor/

Last Thursday Samuel, Hanaka, Jacob, and myself experimented with the strobe effects on the Elinchrom Soft Boxes and gel lighting. The process was that entertaining, we spent nearly 4 hours in the studio taking shots. Some of the final pieces are below:

In the past week, I have also been able to develop further onto my Where's Wally-esque illustrations. To enhance my production and development, I looked into more modern find-it illustrations that conveyed a similar tone to what I am trying to achieve.

Using the above illustration by Egor Klyuchnyk I have started to develop a scene that would be able to work as an A1 or A0 sized poster for the creatures to be found. Study week will be dedicated to perfecting these illustrations as I know they will take a very long time to make them entertaining for viewers / readers to continue searching.

I'm a really big fan of Josan Gonzalez' line-work illustrations as they possess a similar art style to what I would like to progress towards.

References:
Gonzalez, J. (2017). Hanamura Showdown [Image]. Retrieved from https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/007/510/490/large/josan-gonzalez-overwatchmasterfilev24.jpg?1506624902

Universe 113 Poster. (2018). [Image]. Retrieved from https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/171218/can-we-identify-all-the-characters-in-this-universe-113-poster

Metallica 2017 Tour Poster. (2017). [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.collectors.com/entertainment-item/metallica-poster-suntrust-park-atlanta-ga-7917-vip-exclusiv/-6277511239090572454

Over the past week my experimentation has progressed further and I have started challenging normality. Being normal is boring so last week, I became a Christmas tree.

After Christmas came early, I was able to experiment within Lightroom for multiple shots that I also captured that day. I experimented with multi-flash photography, light painting with the assistance of my peers.

On Tuesday we had taken a closer look at the tools that Illustrator had to offer. I made this abomination of Marvel's Groot.

Samuel, Godwill and I decided to challenge ourselves by re-creating a character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe without any reference images. I chose Gamora.

I recently purchased all 7 of the Wheres Wally books as per the prescribed readings that were allocated for the Studio 2 module.

For one (or multiple) of my deliverables, I would like a series of Where's Wally-esque illustrations which would involve finding the 3 eyed human-like creatures in a series of hand-drawn and digitally enhanced images. The potential of collateral with the graphic novel and the portrait photography will be vastly improved by the cohesion of all subject matters regardless of media used.