Assignment 2

Happy Accidents

Part One

After finding faces in everyday objects and locations, I chose my favourites to develop into characters. This was a process I was initially daunted by; during my previous course, Key Steps, I had a go at character development and struggled. I was determined to use what I had learnt to help create some interesting, expressive and believable characters.

My choices were the light switch, the plug socket, the coffee machine, the bin and the plate of fish and chips. I worked on these separately but kept returning and trialling new ideas and materials. Using the images I had collected during the facial pareidolia task (see Exercise 2.6), I started out using a biro (a drawing tool I am familiar and comfortable with) to sketch out a few possibilities. Previously, I had found that, if I used pencil, I was too tempted to erase. Biro allows for sketchy, doodle-style images and a good level of detail, while being permanent – “mistakes” have to be left alone, and possibly used or changed, rather than being deleted.

The Light Switch

Immediately, I decided to create as many facial expressions as I could, and then used these to inspire body poses. Using the light as a mouth, I experimented with colours to assist in portraying the mood, as well as the shape of the eyes and mouth. The string/cord as a body seemed ideal, as it appears flexible and so shows movement, or the potential for movement. I looked for a white string/cord and photographed the different positions I’d sketched:

These photographs could then be used as a base for my character sketches. The bold, bright colours of my fine liners worked well for the light mouth; I felt that this also achieved the level of detail and intricacy I was after (I used little dots to create a similar texture to the light). It was also useful to have the string with me to play with while creating this character – to photograph, but also to mimic the texture and pattern with a pencil.

Looking back at these sketches, I think the angry light switch could have had semi-circle eyes too, with a diagonal angle to create the ‘cross’ expression. I also like the idea of this character falling into a heap of tangled cord when flustered – this might be something else to explore, an exaggerated body action.

The Fish and Chips Fish

This was possibly the creepiest and most surreal character I created during this exercise. After exploring a few possibilities, I decided that it would be morbidly ironic to create a fish from the plate of fish and chips, and used cutlery and crockery to build the rest of the fish body. If I’d had the same plate of fish and chips with me, it would have been fantastic to play with the items on the table, but I had to combine the photo with what I had around the house.

I think the chip-teeth and different sized eyes make the expression particularly crazed.

I hoped to use metallic textures and materials to build the fish’s body – such as foil for the scales and gel pens to draw the cutlery tail. It is certainly recognisable as a fish, but I think it looks too strange. The eyes and teeth are especially odd, however these are key parts from the plate of food that inspired the fish design. I felt a bit stuck with this one. I do enjoy the crazy expression though!

The textures are really interesting, but the character itself is quite flat. I did not feel like I could disrupt the expression too much, because I wanted the fish and chips to remain recognisable. I think it’s an interesting piece on its own, but does not have much potential going further (or, more accurately, I do not feel confident enough to take it further!)

The Plug Socket

I felt this character ended up being quite similar to my light switch character, but not quite as interesting. I chose this because I felt like there was potential to develop lots of facial expressions and build the character around these.

By moving the eyes slightly, or widening the mouth, I found I could alter the expression. Also, using the neck – the grooves in the plastic – I could leave gaps or elongate this to help capture a certain expression.

I ended up experimenting with different materials to achieve different effects on the lights. The pencil crayon actually worked quite nicely for the sad character, because it has a softer, fuzzy effect which matches the mood. The vivid, sharp fine liner colours work better for anger and happiness because they are stronger, more passionate emotions. I liked the gel pens for the wires too; the limbs look like they move. I compare this character to the light switch and prefer the light switch; it has more expression and isn’t as blocky. However, I am still pleased that the plug socket has some character to it.

The Bin

This is probably my favourite character! I really enjoyed experimenting with a relatively boring, blocky, plastic shape and creating a character that is expressive and pliable. I used fine liners to experiment initially with the shapes – focusing mostly on the eyes and mouth, which ended up being the dominating feature.

After experimenting with the bin’s expressions, I had the idea of using yellow rubber gloves to give the bin hands/arms, allowing for more movement and expression.

I was conscious of the lid and the body of the bin needing to be distinctly different. I decided to play with textures and liked the black acrylic with a sponge for the lid, then left the body of the bin outlined in black marker. The eyes were shapes cut out from foil – these seemed to be quite effective, even though the shapes were simple. I found after trying one image that the gloves needed to be a certain size to look like they were part of the character (I still think the angry and sad poses look more believable – the flat outstretched hands do not look as effective).

I enjoy the expressions of this character! It seems quite simple but it has a range of faces and still looks recognisable in each image. My only concern is that I am not sure if it is still recognisable as a bin – I would need to ask people who have not seen the original image. However, it was not the brief to ensure the original object was recognisable, so I am not sure if this needs to be a priority. The gloves are linked to the object and keep with the theme, although the character itself if rather surreal.

The Coffee Machine

I knew that I wanted to combine different parts of the coffee machine to create a superhero-style coffee character, that was robotic and futuristic in style; sleek lines and curved shapes. After playing around with different ideas, I liked the use of steamers and coffee jets as limbs to propel the character around.

The mug tree did not work (on the left) but the ideas on the right all lead to the coffee machine character.

This was my first try, using quite soft lines with pencil, metallic gel pens and fine liners. I also used clingfilm to cover the coffee brain, which gives a new interesting texture. I liked how friendly this character came across, but was not sure about the effect of the coffee and steamers. Also, the character looked very uniform, and I was desperate to try something more wonky and distorted to see how this would compare.

My second experiment was deliberately a little more distorted. I used foil for the body and eyes, which gave an interesting texture, and used watercolour paints for the brain and the coffee streams (I liked this effect more than the splashes). It definitely has intrigue, but I felt the head looked quite flat and detached. Using elements from both characters, I trialled a third image.

The pose of this third coffee machine character certainly looks more like a superhero! I decided to use lights as the moustache and chose to reuse the foil body and clingfilm cover for the brain. The streams of coffee are possibly too long (maybe artificially drawn splashes might work?) and I am not as happy with the proportions.

Part Two

The next step was to go back through my sketchbook with a viewfinder to isolate areas that could be used as backgrounds for my characters. I tried to choose a variety – in terms of both the materials used and the subject. Below were the initial photographs of these backgrounds before I worked into them further.

I printed these to be the size of my sketchbook pages (A5) and then used various materials to develop them further.

With most of the backgrounds, it was a case of working into the image to add texture and more tone. Sometimes, I felt I needed to define shapes and lines.
These were all images that had a brown paper background. I mostly used biro or black ink to define lines and sometimes add pattern (like the leaves in patches on the arch image). There were areas where I wanted to paint a realistic texture of leaves or grass or clouds, so I used acrylic paints for vivid colour. Pencil crayons were used in parts to add tone.
I did not want to alter these watercolour images too much; I used pencil crayons to add more texture to the plants and grass. On one of the images, I painted the sky a tropical/turquoise colour, leaving blobs of white paint to add texture.
The shapes already on this page reminded me of palm leaves and splashing waves. To add to this effect, I used blue acrylics and crayons to make this an abstract ocean scene – full of force and movement.
These images all started as line drawings, black and white. I wanted to try to combine a few approaches, focusing on textures and patterns. All images look a little flat (my favourite is the third image, with a night sky and more depth to the gardens and fences) but I do like some of the effects. The white gel pen leaves over the green is pretty, and the contrast of colours and textures in that image is interesting. I also enjoyed working on patterns with fine liners, like the wooden bench.
This was another image I did not want to mess with too much. I fleshed out the red posts, leaving a white gap for intrigue. I think this will work well with the bin character, due to the blocky bright colours and rough textures.
I left both these images as they were. They may provide a good background to let the character be the focus rather than a specific location with objects in.

Part Three

To combine the characters and backgrounds, I photographed and printed my characters so I could cut them out and try them on backgrounds. I always enjoy physically moving layers around to see what works. I have split up my experiments into the different sections below:

THE FISH: I wanted to use a background that was fairly abstract for the fish character. These all seemed to resemble water/splashing, which helps create the illusion of movement for a flat character. I also think the colours contrast well; it helps the face of the fish stand out.
I chose characters for this scene that were mostly black/white/grey so they had a chance at jumping out against the bright colours. The image still does not have much depth, but I enjoy the combination of colours and textures.
After experimenting, I found that the coffee machine characters worked best with this watercolour background; they have strong, defined lines and shapes, which come to the foreground. The colours complement each other. Blurry, watery marks seem to work with the surreal, futuristic superhero.
Having tried a few options, I think the outlined characters work best here, because the black lines keep the character contained. The background also has black lines so the characters need to be more defined. The plug socket and light switch characters are too fuzzy.
This is probably my least favourite background; it is so flat. I quite like the happy plug socket character (the final image) here because there is a shadow behind it and clear shadows between each groove in the plastic.
The light switch character worked great with this carpark setting. The image has an interesting texture due to the pencil crayons and is quite bright and blurry in places. The grey and white colours of the light switch character fits well here – the blue and red stands out in the background but the character still dominates.
This was another flat background and the characters do not look like they belong in this scene – it is too close to reality in colour, but with not enough depth.
My favourite character for this background is the wonky, distorted coffee machine character floating off the page, breaking the border. The black fits with the background and the colours of the character are minimal, letting the background give brightness.
This was my favourite background to play around with. Both the bin and coffee machine characters fit perfectly – the bold, black lines; the blocky shapes; the varying textures. I think the styles complement each other and the characters look like they belong here – perhaps in a children’s book or on a poster.
The coffee machine character worked well in this setting too! I think the distorted shapes matched and texture of the foil really stands out against the other patterns. This background had a little more depth and intrigue; probably the night sky also fits with the coffee machine superhero.
Although I was really pleased with this background, I struggled with a character that would fit. The focus of the arch made it difficult to position any character in the frame. I quite like the sad light switch character walking towards the viewer, but it still does not look like this character belongs here.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment, even though it was initially daunting. The step-by-step approach helped me to gradually introduce new elements and alter what I already had to improve characters and backgrounds. It felt productive to go back through my sketchbook to utilise the work I had already done, and then build on this, with other materials and techniques. I was, initially, worried about developing characters as I had previously struggled with this. However, the examples of facial pareidolia I had collected provided a strong foundation to build upon. It also seemed less pressured in my sketchbook; I felt I had the freedom to experiment and trial ideas without being concerned about reaching a perfect solution straight away.

My favourite character is ‘The Bin’ – it is bold, expressive and textured. I enjoy the simplicity of the shapes and how the yellow gloves tie in with the theme. This worked well with backgrounds containing black outlines or strong, bold acrylics. Some of my backgrounds ended up looking flat and lifeless – more of a collage of textures rather than a specific location – but I am glad I tried lots of possibilities. It is satisfying to reach the conclusion that there will be lots of options that do not work, but they are worth trying, just to see what looks wrong and to help decide what might work next.

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