A couple, actually.
First one is a watercolour that I had started for Illustration Friday, the topic being "shiny", but I didn't finish it in time. It's in a bit of a state of limbo at the moment, but it will get finished. I have the reference picture on my computer (I snapped it myself :D ). I just hope I don't get too carried away and overpaint it (I do that sometimes).
If you can't tell what it is - and I wouldn't blame you, that photo is atrocious! - it is supposed to be a door knocker shaped like a lion's head. The original has a mixture of dull and shiny metal parts, hence my idea to submit it for "shiny", but now that's over I don't really have to force myself to follow that topic.
The next WIP is a lot more hands-on, but super time-consuming.
If you've ever researched the Black Death then you may have heard about the plague doctors who, in an attempt to protect themselves from the plague wore (among other things) masks with beak-like protrusions on them. This beak would be filled with aromatic substances like flowers, herbs, spices to protect the doctor from bad smells which, in those days was thought to be the main cause of infection. Think of it like an early respirator or gas mask.
It didn't work.
I, on the other hand have never really researched the plague, except one time for a project in high school, and that was focused mainly on the effect it had in England rather than Europe as a whole. As far as I know they never had plague doctors like this in England. This costume was prominent on the mainland, particularly in Italy (where the plague doctor/beak doctor mask is now a common sight in Venetian carnivals).
No, I was first introduced to this character by way of the Assassin's Creed series of video games :)
The ones set in Renaissance Italy feature plague doctors who are used to heal dwindling health, as well as to purchase medicine and poison. They don't actually help cure any kind of plague in the game.
Hah, game physics.
Anyway, enough of the history lesson. I decided to start the mask in papier mache. I was going to use a balloon to create the basic face, but that would have required me buying one balloon and they come in packs of 10 or more and I don't need that many for this project, blahblahblah. So I ended up grabbing my "V" mask off the wall and using that as a base template for the main face.
I covered the mask in cling film, glued on a whole bunch of newspaper strips, old leaflets, tissue paper etc...
I've ended up with this. I've intentionally built up and (tried to) smooth the areas of the mask which have prominent lines, particularly the cheekbones and brow. Not so much the mouth as the beak will cover that.
And because I have to wait a day or so for each new layer of paper to dry, the process take AGES.
It looks a little like the Greendale Human Being mascot from Community, without the generic facial features.
I didn't plan out how I was going to make the mask, I'm really just doing it on the fly. Next I'll probably look for a big piece of cardboard, cut out a rudimentary beak shape and fit it around the mask. I'm pretty sure there will be some trimming of the mask involved, as well as yet more papier mache goodness.
I'm also thinking about making another blog, this time for photography, or at least posting photos on this blog. I mentioned in my last post that it's something that I'm sort of interested in, despite being a complete noob at it. I'm the kind of person who takes a whole bunch of photos then bins most of them. I pixel peep (bad habit, trying to break that), I don't know all the technical jargon, I probably know about a tenth of what my camera can really do, I'm not the greatest at composition (I get lucky most times). Having said that, it's fun. I like having a camera with me, even if I don't take a picture. And like I said, it appeals to my desire to create true-to-life images (something I don't always want to do in a drawing/painting, but often end up doing anyway).
Now where should that go?...
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update: WIP part 2 here!
update update: WIP part 3 here!
update update update: Final(?) part 4 here! (a.k.a. whoops, I totally forgot about that watercolour in part 1!)
I'm also thinking about making another blog, this time for photography, or at least posting photos on this blog. I mentioned in my last post that it's something that I'm sort of interested in, despite being a complete noob at it. I'm the kind of person who takes a whole bunch of photos then bins most of them. I pixel peep (bad habit, trying to break that), I don't know all the technical jargon, I probably know about a tenth of what my camera can really do, I'm not the greatest at composition (I get lucky most times). Having said that, it's fun. I like having a camera with me, even if I don't take a picture. And like I said, it appeals to my desire to create true-to-life images (something I don't always want to do in a drawing/painting, but often end up doing anyway).
Now where should that go?...
=====
update: WIP part 2 here!
update update: WIP part 3 here!
update update update: Final(?) part 4 here! (a.k.a. whoops, I totally forgot about that watercolour in part 1!)
This is awesome,looks like a lot of work but turned out so cool. Thx for showing it.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's a lot of work, but only because I jumped right into making it without planning anything out beforehand. So when I inevitably come across a problem I have to bodge together a quick fix. If I made a list/sketched out things to do, kept my table tidy, and even used a ruler to measure things out, I think it'd be finished already ;)
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