End of Year Exhibition

Twenty Exhibition -
"Showcasing design work from twenty photographers and
designers from Bath Spa University."

My exhibited work!

Overview
From the 19th to the 21st of May 2011 we held our end-of-course exhibition at Milsom Place, Bath. Everyone on the course prepared work to show in a number of various ways, there were two rooms where our work was being exhibited. The larger room held the majority of the banners which we had got specially printed from ColourWorks, it also held some of the photo framed work, this room was somewhat dedicated to the Photography lot on our course. The smaller room held the rest of the photography work and much of the Interactive lot work. My own self-directed work was displayed in this room in banner form and other portfolio work was displayed on a Mac on an internet portal which had been made specifically for the Interactive members of the group.

Positive Feelings
The opening night was a huge success, an excellent turn-out and an all-round enjoyable night! There was a good feeling overall, people enjoyed the work and drinks were a hit! I was honestly surprised at how many people turned up, I was unsure of the location of our exhibition and felt that it was a little bit secluded.

Negative Feelings
Overall I had a good time but the event may have benefited from having some food/nibbles avaliable on the night. I wasn't entierely happy on the location of my banner, I felt that it could have got more coverage
and people looking at it had it been in another place, but I didn't want to complain because I
had not been down to help put up the banners in the first place!

Contribution to Exhibition

I had created two posters for advertisement of the exhibition and posted them on the Facebook exhibition group as potential choices. No-one really seemed to notice them and they weren't considered in the final selection. Perhaps I should have printed them off and shown them to the group directly, might have had more impact.

Created a banner with the others, after there was a mix-up with the banner themes, I stuck around and corrected mine whereas others had gone and left people that stayed behind to modify theirs.

I was able to help out early on the day of the exhibition opening. Assisting in monitoring the exhibition rooms, taking care of the keys and help set up an internet connection with Alex Stevenson. And later that night I continued to help out when the connection decided to stop at around 6 o'clock! We had continuous problems throughout the days of the exhibition and resorted to moving the computer to the other room of the exhibition, mooching internet connection from the local Parisiene Cafe across the way.

Was able to attend all rota shifts without problems or other commitments, taking care of the work and assisting viewers with their questions and directions.
Friday 20th May- 4:00 - 6:00 (Keyholder)
Saturday 21st May - 1:00 - 3:00

Was part of the get-out crew, spending most of the day helping with removal of equipment and general tidying up of the exhibition prior to us discontinuing our services with Milsom Place.
Sunday 22nd May - 4:00 - 6:00

Final Thoughts
I Felt that myself (and others in the interactive group) were somewhat left out of the decisions, planning. One of the Photography lecturers (Luke Salaman) had somewhat taken charge of the planning etc and he was doing these talks on a Friday (a day which some of us were unable to make.) I feel if I had been living in Bath at the time and had been affiliated better with my colleagues in the photography pathway, I would have been able to get more involved and would have had more of a say as to what are good decisions and what are bad ones. I understand that there were a lot of things to plan with a tight time schedule, but I still feel that myself and others (in the interactive pathway) were at a disadvantage and that perhaps some of the photography students had seized control of the task at hand. At times it seemed that tempers had been fuming within the photography lot and that there had been a lack of democracy at times, perhaps this was a case of there being 'too many cooks', so in that respect, this also probably hindered my chances of having more of an active involvement. Ultimately though it seemed that the event had been very successful and personally I had tried to put as much time into helping with the event as I could whilst still focussing on my coursework alongside it.

Finished Designs - Exhibition and Banners

It was pretty hectic today, we spent all morning rushing around preparing our self-directed work for display on banners in the Twenty Exhibition next week. The banners are pretty large in size and it took quite a lot of time and effort to prepare them and get them satisfactory so that they would all look good together. Above is a smaller copy of my banner composed using inDesign with all my finished warrior profiles! The next step now is preparing some sketchbook work to go alongside it and include some of my other work on the interactive portal my colleague Alex Stevenson has set up.

#4 Gothic Knight - Knight - 1560AD

 #4 out of a Series of 4 'Warriors Throughout Time' digital art project for my Self-Directed proposal at Bath Spa Uni.

A Knight is a member of the warrior class in the Middle Ages in Europe who followed a code of law called "chivalry". Knighthood in the middle ages was inextricably linked with horsemanship. Knights would ride on horses into battle as armoured cavalry, boasting superior mobility, and having the advantages of fighting with a greater height, speed and inertial mass over an opponent on foot. Cavalry was used extensively throughout the Middle Ages and Knights from England, France and the Holy Roman Empire (Germany) were renown for their fighting capability and effectiveness. The Holy Roman Empire possessed the most heavily-armored calvary units of the time and the distinctive looking Gothic Knights were the elite warriors of the empire. Their armour is in the distinctive fluted gothic style produced by the finest German armourers, and include the popular visored sallet helmet. Riding an armoured warhorse and wielding a lance and mace, Gothic knights have little to fear on the battlefield. Well practiced in heavy cavalry tactics, these knights make a fearsome addition to any Imperial army and that earns them a place in my series of warrior character profiles!

Gothic Knight - Concept Stages

I have finished sketching my Gothic Knight and am currently in the process of colouring and shading him digitally. I will be giving him a typical Gothic plate mail typical of the time as well as a german flanged mace, which they were known to have used on horseback and in dismounted fighting.

Warriors Throughout Time - Knight

16th Century Gothic Knight

A Knight is a member of the warrior class in the Middle Ages in Europe who followed a code of law called "chivalry". Knighthood in the middle ages was inextricably linked with horsemanship. Knights would ride on horses into battle as armoured cavalry, boasting superior mobility, and having the advantages of fighting with a greater height, speed and inertial mass over an opponent on foot. Cavalry was used extensively throughout the Middle Ages and Knights from England, France and the Holy Roman Empire (Germany) were renown for their fighting capability and effectiveness. The Holy Roman Empire possessed the most heavily-armored calvary units of the time and the distinctive looking Gothic Knights were the elite warriors of the empire. Their armour is in the distinctive fluted gothic style produced by the finest German armourers, and include the popular visored sallet helmet. Riding an armoured warhorse and wielding a lance and mace, Gothic knights have little to fear on the battlefield. Well practiced in heavy cavalry tactics, these knights make a fearsome addition to any Imperial army and that earns them a place in my series of warrior character profiles!

#3 Mongol Archer - Archer - 1100AD

#3 out of a Series of 4 'Warriors Throughout Time' digital art project for my Self-Directed proposal at Bath Spa Uni.

Archery is the art, practice or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow. Archery has been used for hunting and combat. In ancient warfare, archers were particularly useful at decreasing enemy numbers at a distance, by continuously sending volleys of arrows over hundreds of meters. Many ancient armies throughout time made use of ranged warriors, but the most skilled and well-known came from the east. The Parthians, Scythians and Mongols would often combine horse-riding with archery, they were renown for being incredibly accurate and renown for winning battles. Historically, most people associated master archery with the ancient Mongol people. Mongol Horse-Archers were as effective as they were numerous and played a pivotal role in the expansion of Mongol territory in Medieval Asia and Eastern Europe. Of all the Archers and bowmen in the world, The ancient Mongolians are universally considered to be the best, and that earns them a place in my series of warrior character profiles.

Mongol Archer - Concept Stages

I have finished sketching my Mongolian Bowman and am currently in the process of colouring and shading him digitally. I will be giving him a very simple and traditional armour/robe combo, as well as an iconic mongol hat of the time and a composite recurve bow, ideal for horseback!

Warriors Throughout Time - Archer

Mongol Horse Archer 1100AD

Archery is the art, practice or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow. Archery has been used for hunting and combat. In ancient warfare, archers were particularly useful at decreasing enemy numbers at a distance, by continuously sending volleys of arrows over hundreds of meters. Many ancient armies throughout time made use of ranged warriors, but the most skilled and well-known came from the east. The Parthians, Scythians and Mongols would often combine horse-riding with archery, they were renown for being incredibly accurate and renown for winning battles. Historically, most people associated master archery with the ancient Mongol people. Mongol Horse-Archers were as effective as they were numerous and played a pivotal role in the expansion of Mongol territory in Medieval Asia and Eastern Europe. Of all the Archers and bowmen in the world, The ancient Mongolians are universally considered to be the best, and that earns them a place in my series of warrior character profiles.

#2 Feudal Japan Samurai - Swordsman - 1500AD

#2 out of a Series of 4 'Warriors Throughout Time' digital art project for my Self-Directed proposal at Bath Spa Uni.

A sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon. Most professional armies throughout time have implemented the use of the sword whether in a standard infantry force or a more specialised team of swordsmen, adept with the weapon. Historically, Knights & French Musketeers were highly skilled with the sword but they were no match for the Japanese Samurais from the Feudal-Japanese Empire. Samurais were masters of swordsmanship and were trained with incredible discipline, following a set of rules known as Bushidō. The katana sword is the weapon that has come to be synonymous with the Samurai, a type of blade renowned for its sharpness and cutting ability. The Samurai of Feudal Japan are considered to be historically, the best swordsman, so that definitely earns them a place in my series of warrior character profiles!

Feudal-Japan Samurai - Curves in PhotoShop

Creating simple curve shapes in Photoshop is something that is a lot more difficult to accomplish than one might think. There is no simple method of creating them, but I managed to find a very helpful tutorial explaining how to accomplish a straight curve. This is very useful to me as I wanted to make the samurai sword look good in my drawing and it needed to be curved, after following the tutorial instructions, I was able to create an excellent curve!

Feudal-Japan Samurai - Concept Stages

I have finished sketching my Japanese warrior and am currently in the process of colouring and shading him digitally. I will be giving him black and tan robes, a traditional samurai hair-style of the time and a katana, his pride and joy!

Warriors Throughout Time - Swordsman

Samurai in 1500AD

A sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon. Most professional armies throughout time have implemented the use of the sword whether in a standard infantry force or a more specialised team of swordsmen, adept with the weapon. Historically, Knights & French Musketeers were highly skilled with the sword but they were no match for the Japanese Samurais from the Feudal-Japanese Empire. Samurais were masters of swordsmanship and were trained with incredible discipline, following a set of rules known as Bushidō. The katana sword is the weapon that has come to be synonymous with the Samurai, a type of blade renowned for its sharpness and cutting ability. The Samurai of Feudal Japan are considered to be historically, the best swordsman, so that definitely earns them a place in my series of warrior character profiles!

#1 Greek Hoplite - Spearman - 350BC

#1 out of a Series of 4 'Warriors Throughout Time' digital art project for my Self-Directed proposal at Bath Spa Uni.

In Ancient warfare, Spearmen are typically footsoldiers, generally not of the knightly class, armed with a pike or spear, generally arranged into dense formations. These soldiers, when disciplined, were a potent defense against the heavily armoured cavalry, particularly where missile weapons were scarce or where the field could be restricted, such as in the Swiss or Greek mountains. Historically, the Ancient Greeks had the best spearmen and a 'hoplite'would wield the spear with the best proficiency. Typically a citizen-soldier of the Ancient Greek city-states. Since the Greek Hoplites were historically the best spearmen to have ever lived, I feel that they have earned their place in my series of character profiles!

Greek Hoplite - Plume

For the plume on the helmet of the Hoplite, I followed advice from this video, as I have never really attempted to recreate hair in Photoshop, it's surprisingly difficult to make it look realistic!

Greek Hoplite - Concept Stages

At the moment, I have just about finished sketching the soldier and am in the process of colouring and shading him digitally. I have based the character off of this existing sketch of a 4th-3rd Century Hoplite. I will be giving him a traditional helmet of the time and region. The Corinthian style helmet with a moheikan-esque plume.

Warriors Throughout Time - Spearman

4th–3rd century Greek Hoplite

In Ancient warfare, Spearmen are typically footsoldiers, generally not of the knightly class, armed with a pike or spear, generally arranged into dense formations. These soldiers, when disciplined, were a potent defense against the heavily armoured cavalry, particularly where missile weapons were scarce or where the field could be restricted, such as in the Swiss or Greek mountains. Historically, the Ancient Greeks had the best spearmen and a 'hoplite'would wield the spear with the best proficiency. Typically a citizen-soldier of the Ancient Greek city-states. Since the Greek Hoplites were historically the best spearmen to have ever lived, I feel that they have earned their place in my series of character profiles!

Warriors Throughout Time - The Best of the Best

Over the last few weeks I have been brainstorming ideas for what to create as a final piece, showing my skills learned in the medium of Digital Art. I have finally come up with a solution! I will be sketching a series of character profiles of different warriors and soldiers throughout our history. They will be in similar style to my gangster but I will add a profile section on each, talking about who they were and what they did. My intention is sketch and digitalize a minimum of four warriors from various peroids in time. I will choose a Spearman, Swordsman, Archer and Specialist Weapons, I will research on which nation were the most proficient in each of the weapon classes and attempt to recreate them!

Gangster Composition - Background

I've experimented with the tablet and created a background using some custom brushes downloaded from DeviantArt to give a different view of the character!

Gangster

So here's the result of my hard work! I'm still not sure if he's finished or not yet. It's very hard to decide when you've finished a piece, whether there is more to add to it or not. But for now I am pleased with how he is looking and will most likely upload him to my DeviantArt account, hopefully people will like it!

Existing Digital Artists - Nathie

The Beserk

Nathie
Germany
http://creationwarrior.net/
http://nathie.deviantart.com

1.) Could you tell me a bit about yourself as someone who works in the Digital medium?

I have worked for over 20 years with traditional media - pencil, acrylics, oil and the airbrush technique, mostly on cars/trucks. I don´t consider myself as a "digital" artist, because I grew up completely without that medium. 5 years ago I gave in, bought a Wacom Tablet and started to paint with Corel Painter and Photoshop. However, I have worked with Photoshop since 1995 - food retouching for an advertising agency, so I am well aware what the program is capable of. Nevertheless, if I paint digital, I am using only one layer and use brushes that simulate traditional media - for my digital paintings I need just 5% of the whole program. There are a lot of discussions about traditional versus digital painting. I personally think that both media have their advantages and also disadvantages. One big advantage of digital painting is that you can backup and duplicate the files. You can always go steps back if you messed something up. You can work with textures and/or do Matte Painting. Then, you have colour correction tools. You can sharpen or blur something, and there are tons of more "easy made" effects. However, they do not always look good. Some say that digital painting is quicker - those people do not use the zoom factor. ; Zoom is a thing that you cannot do in traditional media. It allows you to get to the finest detail in your drawing, and that where I spend the most hours. One of a detailed digital painting still takes me 50 hours. Another advantage is that you can send the file easily to the client in a matter of minutes. That allows me that I can work with clients all over the world. The whole digital stuff works well for the entertainment industry where deadlines are tight and you have to produce quantity before quality and slam out 3-4 pics/week. The advantage of traditional media is that you create a unique artwork that exists only once in the world that way. There is (except a scan or photo of course) not the chance to create exactly the same artwork once again and that is a completely underestimated value nowadays. If I want to make a very special gift to a friend/family, I paint them a traditional picture. There are some more advantages of course - for example the look. Even with all the texturing in digital programs you just cannot recreate THAT traditional feel. Then, you are not limited to a digital file. Yu can paint murals, on parchment, on wood, on stones, cars etc.

2.) Are you employed in the arts/entertainment industry? If not, do you aspire to?
I have been in the art industry for two years. It was, as said above, quantity above quality, and left me finally frustrated. I work now for very few selected publishers and private clients.

3.) What equipment and skills are most essential in your work?
I work with a Mac, a Wacom Intuous and Photoshop CS5. Skills? I personally think that skills are just 10%; the rest is practise and patience.

4.) Do you use graphic tablets in your work?
Yep, of course I use them, because I am not masochistic and I love my hands, arms and my back if they are not sore. It allows me also to be far more precise than with a mouse. If I paint, I do it sometimes up to 16 hours/day, so good equipment is a must. A tablet is more intuitive, and I think I would not even come close to my standard if I would use a mouse.

5.) What is your opinion on them? Do you think they are a useful/necessary tool to create Digital Art?
Answered above.

6.) What style of art do you prefer? Digital or Traditional?
I don´t prefer a style. I like artwork that "speaks" to me, art that evokes emotions. That can be everything.

Existing Digital Artists - Kaizeru

Choo Kah Chun 'Kaizeru’
Malaysia
http://kaizeru.deviantart.com/

Gatherer of Souls

Slinger Warlock

1.) Could you tell me a bit about yourself as someone who works in the Digital medium?
I jumped straight into the Digital medium when I first started drawing. Most would have the opinion that traditional skills are not needed but I find that it is necessary to build a strong foundation from there. Practiced together, the synergy would progress your skills faster as it helps both ways.

2.) Are you employed in the arts/entertainment industry? If not, do you aspire to?
I am still a student currently, but I do aspire to be employed in the arts/entertainment industry and try to be one of the best.

3.) What equipment and skills are most essential in your work?
Traditional: Pencil and Paper
Digital: A computer worthy of supporting graphic software and a tablet.

4.) Do you use graphic tablets in your work?
Answered above.

5.) What is your opinion on them? Do you think they are a useful/necessary tool to create Digital Art?
Absolutely, how else would you create Digital Art then? It is not impossible to use a mouse but the limitations are huge and without the tablet, Digital medium would not be fighting a fair fight with Traditional medium.

6.) What style of art do you prefer? Digital or Traditional?
I like doing my works in Digital, but honestly, I'm a bigger fan of Traditional maybe because of my lack of mastery in that field.

Concept Stages - Gangster

Over the last few weeks I have been creating a one-off test, to get better at digital colouring and drawing in general. i have captured images of the various stages of it's production thus far and I plan to finish it within the next few days. The image is very simple, and is of a gangster holding a baseball bat. It is in very similar style to a lot of concept video game art and I hope it depicts this well, because it was my inspiration behind it. I've always loved concept art, there's something very exciting about getting an idea of what a game will be like from a few basic sketches. The possibilities are endless at this stage and once I finish my gangster, I can pretty much chuck him into any scenario I want, and for me that's the beauty of art, when it's traditional or digital.

Graphic Tablet!

The unravelling...

Today my new Graphic Tablet arrived! It seems to work fine although I'm not very good at it yet. I've done a few practice drawings but they aren't very good! I've just got to keep at it and try and get to grips with learning how to use it. It's been quite fun so far, even though I have not made anything good yet!

It's not as easy as it looks!

Existing Traditional Artists - Alex

Alex Vogel
United States
http://avogel57.deviantart.com/

Kairit

1.) Could you tell me a bit about yourself as someone who works in the Traditional medium?
I don't know exactly what you'd like to know, but I've always been a very visually oriented person; I typically think in pictures, versus ideas or words or what have you. My personal tastes visually are along the lines of beauty and realism, so I don't generally go for abstract or cubist or impressionist type work, or even dark/macabre stuff, though there are always exceptions, and I try to appreciate the time effort and inspiration behind pieces even if they aren't to my particular tastes.

2.) Are you employed in the arts/entertainment industry? If not, do you aspire to?
I’m not, for the most part, employed in any way in the arts field. I do dabble from time to time, when work needs something, or a club/team wants a shirt, or something along those lines, but I'm not like a graphic designer or a movie set dresser or anything like that. If I could find steady work in a traditional field, I'd jump at the chance, but I'm rather pessimistic about the opportunities available to actually earn a living doing something I enjoy so much. I've watched my dad, who's been doing stained glass for about 25 years, and opened up his own shop about eight years ago, and even though he excels at his field AND is a good businessman, he only really makes enough money to support his art, but not nearly enough to cover food and mortgages and gasoline and all of the other things that we need money for. He still relies on his "real" job to put food on the table, so to speak. My aspirations are to make some money off of art, but I do it because I love it, not because it's profitable.

3.) What equipment and skills are most essential in your work?
As far as equipment and skills.... patience and PhotoShop, lol! I jump around from medium to medium a lot, so I feel comfortable creating art with just about anything, from expensive paints, to cheapo bic pens to whatever I've got on hand. I've whittled with a knife, and once when I was filling sandbags in the army I got bored and built a 15' fluted tower, just because. Really, one just has to have the patience and perseverance to see a project through, and take the time to do it right the first time. I say Photoshop, too, as it has proven a very valuable tool. Although I sometimes draw from sight, and do a lot of design freehand, I like to try and lay things out and plan ahead of time when I can. Although other techniques are available, I find that I can sort of mock up an image or work in PhotoShop, using reference photos, cropping, blocking in figures or objects, just general stuff to make it easier to visualize what I'm going for. I can block out proportions and perspectives as well, see how something will look horizontally vs. vertically, or how it will look relative to its frame/mat or the space on the wall it will occupy, that sort of thing.

4.) Do you use digital methods in some of your work? If not, have you ever considered it?
I tend to grid a lot when I'm actually drawing, so that I include what I want to include, without running out of space, or making an image too small, or disproportional, so PhotoShop is helpful for that. It also makes it easier to zoom in on a particular area to better view the details. All of these things can either be done without, or done with other techniques, but I find that Adobe simply makes life easier in a lot of ways. Of course I also use it when I photograph or scan finished artwork, to get the levels and contrast to match what’s on the paper, as my scanner tends to leave out a lot of the high and lowlights.

After Action

5.) Personally, what style of art do you prefer? Do you prefer traditional means or do you think digital is the way forward?
I think that both digital and traditional have their places in culture. Digital allows one to create things nearly impossible with hands on media in a fraction of the time, but (at least for now) there are things, especially in the tangible world, that are simply beyond computers. There's simply no way for digital to create a textured surface, or a granite relief that you can actually touch (at least right now). That said, there are digital applications and artists that can really mimic the look and feel of paint, or charcoal, or actual photographs, and there are colours and styles I've seen digitally that would be hard to approach with traditional means. I personally have a small Wacom, and I do enjoy it, but I'm nowhere near good enough with it to approach what most artists can accomplish, and my tools are limited at best. It’s something I'd like to learn, but I see myself as being primarily a traditional artist, at least for the foreseeable future.

 

Graphic Tablet Purchase

I've always wanted to see what these things can do! And now I'm gonna have the chance to find out. I just sent off for my Trust Slimline 16529 Graphics Tablet, equipped with USB Cable and Pen, and at a size of 254mm x 152mm it should provide me with an excellent first time experience with the hardware. The prices of graphic tablets vary from twenty pounds to over a thousand and there are many speculations as to which brands and sizes are easiest to work with. The Slimline 16529 I bought came to around sixty pounds so it should be sufficient enough for the project and for any further use I may have for it in the future!

It's a good place to start. I have 2 days to wait!

 

Existing Traditional Artists - Olivia

The Butterfly Effect

Olivia Butler-Stroud
United Kingdom
http://starduskdreams.deviantart.com/

1.) Could you tell me a bit about yourself as someone who works in the Traditional medium?
I've always loved drawing, and have recently discovered new areas of art which I feel passionately about. This has led me to apply for an art foundation course. I am hoping that this will allow me to further my creative knowledge/technique as well as allow me to determine which area I wish to specialize and pursue at university.
 
2.) Are you employed in the arts/entertainment industry? If not, do you aspire to?
 No, but I would love to find employment in the creative industry. I want to experiment with film, as I've recently become interested in photography, though this isn't necessarily the area I would like to go into. I'm interested in illustration and comic books, though I understand this is a difficult career choice. I'm also interested in the idea of becoming an advertisement photographer.

Doodles on the Train

 3.) What equipment and skills are most essential in your work?
Drawing - graphite pencils, a rubber and a sharpener. I hate using charcoal. Skills - a steady hand and an open mind.
 
4.) Do you use digital methods in some of your work? If not, have you ever considered it?
I have experimented with digital methods, but only as a hobby, not as part of my art and design course. I've used Manga Studio and Photoshop for colouring/sketching. I own a drawing tablet which makes this easier to complete.
 
5.) Personally, what style of art do you prefer? Do you prefer traditional means or do you think digital is the way forward?
I think it depends on the artist. Some people can produce beautiful traditional drawings, and some find digital art easier. I think traditional drawings show raw talent, though digital shows dedication and commitment.