‘Brazil’ 1985 directed by Terry Gilliam

This is a surrealist film with elements of a dream world and the real world. The real world is dull and without passion and the dream world is anything you make it.

Before I watch this film, I have looked at and annotated a poster advertising the Film. There are two areas to this image to represent the dream and real worlds. The dream is represented by clouds covering the top section of the poster.

I like the soft purple colours and how they give it a magical unrealistic appearance. The creatures appearing out of the figures mind are winded animals only existent in a person’s imagination. Strong flares of light from this figures head indicate the power and hope present in that world.

I like the contrast of the magical dream world and the dull representation of the mundane real life. The conformity of life is portrayed by the dark ordered buildings that show the repression of self expression. This section is stripped of colours to enforce the dreariness and boredom this character is feeling of the real world.

From my impression of this poster and the clear line between the two areas, I conclude that the dream world and reality are completely separate in this narrative. This other world the character feels is so real will contribute to my understanding of visualizing unusual imaginary places.

Predators Gold by Philip Reeve

I will be producing work based on a novel ‘Predator’s Gold’ by Philip Reeve, this will be producing a series of illustrations following the plot and story. The setting of the novel will allow me to create maps and records of this world. The back stories of the characters will also give me the material to produce more visual work. This project is focused around a narrative and an existing text which is also the case with previous work from the pathway stage. Also, the previous envelope project resulted in work that is explanatory and includes objects engineered from a story line.

The novel itself is the material I will work from and I will research other illustrators that have produced a visual aid to this book. My research will look into the ways in which illustrators successfully produce their work form the literature, and how they use their creativity and imagination. Some of this research will be sourced from illustrated story books that have brought the story to life with the visual imagery, obtained from libraries or book shops. Other artist work will be supplied using websites, which can give me a quick insight to my topic. These websites may be blogs or sites dedicated to certain artist’s work.

The media I choose will be vital to my project and it is defiantly something I will experiment with. Using precise materials would be suitable with intricate illustrations I wish to produce a series of no less than 4 illustrations which will be my final outcome. Medias of pencil, ink, and water colour drawings would all be suitable for this. Printing processes would produce a substantial body of work and high quality images though lino, mono print and possibly screen printing. A dry point etching and acid etching is something I would like conceder and explore in this assignment, to investigation of the level of tone in the imagery. I would like the imagery of this project to be mostly, if not all, produced by hand. I will start my project by research illustrations that accompany novels and work with crucial scenes in the book ‘Predator’s Gold’. My sketches and visual development will contribute toward final outcomes towards the middle of my project.

My work will be shown in a final exhibition at the end of the year, my work will be up for the public to view and analyse. Also through my project the work I produce and develop will be critiqued by my peers and I will be reviewed by members of staff. Through my sketchbook work I will be constantly analysing.

Mail Art Project

I choose the story of The Wizard of Oz for the imaginative world and the magical, utopian emerald city. The three characters are all distinctively different each wishing for a human attribute.

Open screen printing is a good way of creating bold imagery whilst being able to change and improve continuously. If I had more time I would explore developing these images further with photo stencilling prints. The open screen technique does not allow intricate detail in the image but with my images as small stamps this does not affect it strongly. These stamps give each envelope a flare of bright colour which completes them as a group.

For each item I wanted the purpose hidden at first glance, objects that require some level of thought to fully understand them. One is a war poem to spark bravery for the cowardly lion. I created the hidden heart in tissue paper only visible when light is shone through it, for the tinman.  The third is an encyclopaedia to provide knowledge, a gift to the scarecrow.

I feel the finished envelopes are quirky and fun.