Major Project

Contents
Foreword: 3 Proposal: 4-7 Silence:earth: 8-12 Review: 13 Storyboard: 14 Illustrations: 15-18 The Illustrative Aim: 18 After Effects & Animation: 19-22 Sound Design: 23-24 The Pitch Project: 25-28 Lecture Series: 29 ILP: 30 Business Plan: 31 Portfolio Plan: 32 The web Vehicle: 33 The Dissertation: 34-37 In The Mind Of The Artist: 38 Year Review: 39

Foreword
For the main project I planned to take the experience project from the first year and develop it further. In the idea that the theory that I learn from studying philosophy and psychology I can utilise to create a tool in which I can apply during the development of my illustrations. The theory will be covered more in my dissertation and the application of which will be shown in my practice.

I would like to start off by explaining the focus that I had for the initial year; originally I intended to develop my skills in illustration (Digitally and traditionally). Originally I intended on creating a novel that would elucidate my early experiences of life, it was soon after that I realised without prior knowledge of creative writing this had proved to be tricky as I couldnt find the guidance (or sum up the motivation) that I needed, I was eventually left bewildered, feeling somewhat docile from the lack of progression. Though not feeling too discouraged I progressed on, creating multiple images that I hoped expressed certain aspects of what I had learned from my research in Philosophy and Psychology. Throughout this document I hope you will enjoy the enticing theories of Philosophy and the way in which psychology can help us mitigate the experience that illustration can arouse.

Proposal
I call this project: Silence: Earth

The Beginning:

As my interests had broadened throughout the first year of the foundation degree, I found that i was leaning more to the practice of illustration.

The Plan:

Week 1-5: Planning and Research Development of skills Asset creation Week 6-10: Development of skills Image creation

Over the break for summer I had decided that I would dedicate this last year to developing my art skills and increasing the size of my portfolio. So I propose: what better method is there than to produce a collection of illustrations and art works over the coming year and inevitably trying to publish them. To achieve this i would like to explore as many different mediums and styles of design that are at my disposal.

[Research graphic artists and styles and possible areas of interest] [Collate hand-rendered assets and textures]

The Resources:

[Mark making skills and use of InDesign]

Digital: Pc-Mac Graphic tablet Flat bed scanner A3 DSL Camera {Nikon D3000}

[Mark making skills and use of Photoshop]

Planning and Research Week 11-15: Assessment {of self} Portfolio Plan Business Plan Image creation

[Analysis of collated research]

So, to summarise my aims and objectives cohesively:

- Develop mark-making skills in new and traditional mediums.

[Development of images for final product]

Software: Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator Microsoft Word Autodesk Maya 2011 iTunes & Spotify and zee internet xD Traditional: An endless supply of A4 A2 cartridge paper Black and Red Ink Paint brushes HB 7B Pencils Graphic stylo Pens Masking tape Acrylic Paints

- Broaden my skills using Adobe Indesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. - Understand the use of photography as a tool for asset creation. Whilst ultimately continuing to produce a collection of images to be published. - Increase my knowledge base of the illustration and graphic design profession.

[Development of images for final product]

Week 16-20: Mid research Fieldwork (Photography sessions) Choose final images ~ Develop Week 21 - 30: Formatting Finalising illustrations Publishing

Books and literature resources: (Mainly for inspiration and motivation) Udon Apple Illustrative collections Failboat press Birdsong Asian Graphics Now! Anything by Dave Mckean and Niel Gaiman

{Search open business opportunities, part-time to full-time}

The Research:
-Christopher Shy -Dave Mckean -Niel Gaiman

I plan to research into artists: {Here are a select few}

I want to find out what processes an artist might go through when creating their work and why they do it. By researching into other artist I hope to find different styles of design and different methods that I could try and possibly introduce into my own style as well as other things like finding out about my future field of work. While researching into other artists I hope to find information on market trends and if it can affect the way the artist would produce a piece of work. Alongside this I plan to delve into visual representation and how psychology might influence my work, helping me to get the desired reaction from an illustration. Ultimately I doubt that the research will be a part of the bigger picture, sometimes I feel that it just holds me back from doing because I spend most of my time thinking. Though, I understand that research is key to my project because without context I find that art is without relevance, therefore I think undertaking ethnographic research would be important to the development of my illustrations. Besides, I can provide write-ups of everything that I record. Thus leading me on to my dissertation:

This is something that seems malleable at the moment; it is unclear to me because I find that the topic that I inevitably amount to is Psychology or Philosophy. Let me explain that the drive for my artwork comes from the more unbalanced experiences in life, I feel that these influence my work and help me express things deeper. Thus if I was to write about anything else I couldnt possibly offer you an interesting read. Never the less, lets get to the point. The hypothesis! That would be a brilliant place to start. Maybe I could ask the question Why do people do things the way they do?, though that sounds almost rhetorical, well it is if you know the answer. That is exactly it, my dissertation is my artwork it is my visual analysis of the ultimate question. Stay tuned because I think I might be onto something here, if I am not. Well, stick me in a white jacket and brand me with the name Dead poet. Just to please the education board here it is, my hypothesis: Why do people do the things the way they do? The obvious answer being: because they do. Though some how I feel I might have to dig a little deeper than that.

The Portfolio:

I suppose at some point I need to stop hiding my work on my hard drive and shove it in peoples faces; hopefully getting the reaction that I hope for. It almost seems quite obvious how Im going to present my portfolio; online being the first choice either a free website (because Im poor) or a personal domain with paid hosting and meagre advertisement. The only difficult part is building a website (I couldnt build a website if someone paid me to). The idea of having an online portfolio without having to use some shit free (build your own online nose bleed) site would only be created if I could find some poor sap to work with me to do so.

The Job:

On a positive note, if it is working designs for an online portfolio that is needed then; sure, I could do that. In fact Id love to. I have many designs in my sketch books that are laying about my office. {{Future Reference: INSERT IMAGES HERE}}

Here comes the difficult part of explaining my plans for over the second half of the year. The project that I am working is a long-term project; I plan to hopefully kick start a career with this (I can dream, ok!). With that in mind, I think that doing work experience for another company though I would gladly accept a job doing so; might get in the way of my main project. Therefore I propose that I work as though I am a freelancer and NOT a student! But the un-likely possibilities of doing this seem quite rash. Therefore my back-up plan is to get in touch with graphic design/art companies around Nottingham and give them a firm handshake; an obvious example would be a company like Purple Circle. I plan to do this by contacting them by email/phone and/or even the possibility to walking into there head office and saying hello. (What I mean is shyly hanging around outside the building and staring through the window until someone tells me to get lost.)

The Future

Out of the pan and into the fire is what they say, I suppose.

I hope that by this time I am ready to publish this project, hopefully everything begins their. What I hope for and what reality will give me are two different things. Though I must be responsible and take action to get what I desire and to do this I hope to have developed a broad portfolio that I can use to take to a graphic design company and pray that I am hired. Whilst doing this I plan to work part/full time at some crappy job so that I can sustain myself enough to live for the dream. Fuck that! Lets dream for a bit!

I plan to develop my graphic novel/ illustrative collection and publish it myself, hopefully getting recognition from the local papers and among my piers. Whilst this is happening I would love to start an online blog publishing a mini graphic novel series weekly; eventually getting recognition from publishers ultimately kick starting a career as a professional illustrator. Whilst moving forward and moving onto bigger project, for example acting art director for film production and even curetting my own graphic art events. Obviously I have dreams just like everyone else, but everything that I am doing on this course will eventually work together to form such a future.

I started this project by developing illustrations that, to me, had depth and an increased subjectivity behind them. I intended them to propose obscene scenarios that consisted of elements that would enable the audience to create there own interpretation loosely around the properties of what may be suggested within the image.
The bathroom: The purpose of this image is still quite fragile and almost unintended. It is specifically intention which I wanted to presuppose with this image. To me, intention is something that reverberates within an image; it is and is not self explanatory. Intention can be captured not within the image but within the audience. Yet, all at once it is grasped as something within itself and within the understanding of the audience. It is exactly that, which I have tried to suggest within the image. I must isolate the image by explaining it in a thematic sense. The image is comprised of a toilet and a foot within a bathroom; this is to suggest that the relation from the thing itself (toilet, illustration) and the human relation (the foot, the audience) is the topic for discussion. The scene has been flipped upside down as to suggest the unbalance (fragility) of its message. The aesthetics of the scene is to emphasise this message. The foot within the scene is to express the human condition; be it the topic of the message, although it also signifies another; being that its placement within the scene could give arousal to the idea of it belonging to someone in the sense that the composition of the illustration is only framing the foot and that the person within the scene has hung themselves. This would signify to me the death of the message or in the sense that the intention is not always perceived by the audience. It is this that I mean when I express the relationship between the illustration and the audience.

Silence: Earth
1991: This image was a little off subject in terms of what I usually develop. It does not coincide with my usual exploration of perception. I developed this as an emotive depiction of where I was and where I had come from.

The house: In this image I wanted to test my photo-manipulation skills. I wanted to use pre-made textures and develop them into an illustrative image. I wanted it to represent fragmented memories. I achieved this by framing an image of a house with blotches as if to represent missing pieces of someones memory in a way to show that when a memory is recalled it isnt going to be an exact replication of the original event. I wanted to signify the mind by the use of a door in the top of the image and branches escaping from it to symbolise synapses in the brain.

The Bathroom

1991

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The House

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Looking

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Review
Conviction is a storm that can destroy and quickly rebuild. From early on in the first half of this year I had great plans to develop a story that reflects on my past life, though that amount of subjectivity probably isnt the correct way to develop oneself. So I set my anchor down and slept on the sea in hope for reconciliation. I was found with a great vengeance and a passion that could shatter any pessimism left by the shackles of self-pity. This is something that we can all reflect on; with this new faith I had completely turned around my progress and formalised a plan to develop a short animation. I feel that this has filled the void that has been missing over the first half of this year. I plan to take my illustrations and convert them for video in connotation: {that being a statement within itself} This idea had formed over the past couple of weeks as I have started to read: Beyond Good and Evil Friedrich Nietzsche, Penguin Classics and Between existentialism and Marxism Jean-Paul Sartre, Verso Radical Thinkers. It is not the full opinions of these philosophers but it is the idea of everything inevitably being viewed as objective when in fact I view everything being a by product of humanity, so in any conclusion we can find that it is in fact subjective. When It comes to this animation I will utilise this sentence: Man at station is surrounded by man, doing something that man has created for man. Lets get down to the boring bit, the all the stages 2 Generate all the key-frames and camera movements 8 10 = 1 SFX: 1: Background train noise 2: Crowd Noise 1-2 versions 3: Ambient station noise 4: Train approaching and going past 2 SpFX: 1: light turning on and off 2: colour correction (Gamma + Contrast) 3: Crowd Movement 4: Train comes to the screen [Front view At] 11 = 1: Export and public upload

"I started out with conviction and drive but slowly my motivation escaped me and I abruptly came to a halt."
planning: Timespan: Jan 20th April 30th [11 or so weeks] 1 4 = Asset Gen 5 7 = AE Compile 8 10 = Sfx gen & SpFx gen 11 = export and publicise final outcome Breakdown:14= Scenes 1 Empty tunnel 2 Birds eye platform 3 Front-view of crowd 4 train in tunnel

AE. There are a lot of techniques that I will need to utilise to perform this, overall increasing my skill set. Here is a written plan: Putting theory into practice I plan to utilise my knowledge of psychology and philosophy by producing an animation (product) that visually externalises my thoughts and theorems. By creating a generalised scenario I can describe a remedial task and present it in a romanticised fashion. The scenario {narrative} To describe the animation in totality; we follow one man at a train station. As simple as it may seem I want to hide the simplistic actions of human beings in a mask of our own nature, narcissism. [The only true state that everyone shares] I plan to do this by the use of visual

Individual asset production 1 train Side view // 3D CAD 2 Crowds 3 Birds eye light 57= 1 Get all assets into AE and compile

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Storyboard

The Storyboard: This is a rough idea of each scene or sequence. This was to help me plan out each scene and have a general idea of what will happen in it. I may not create each scene it all depends on how fast I can produce the illustrations. From here I plan to develop each scene and the assets that will go in it.

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Ilustrations

The following are the collection of initial roughs that I had eventually used during the development of the illustrations for the scenes that will come todether to make the animation: During this stage I used traditional methods to draw and sketch out each scene or character, I preferred the aesthetics of this method as opposed to that of purely digital production. Though eventually I would utilise these images to scan in and eventually manipulate to form the finalised images.

Fig1
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Fig1 In this image I have developed the tunnel for the subway, this will act as the building blocks for the first scene; this is half of the tunnel that will eventually be mirrored across to create half of the first scene. I plan on scanning this in to create the coloured aesthetics of it using manipulated 2D textures.

Fig2-3

Fig2

These are the designs for the main character in the animation. I have separated the arm from the characters body so that I may animate it in AE. I wanted the character to be simple so that it can be relatable to the whole audience; I left out most of the distinctive features so that it acts as a silhouette. This way the audience will relate to the character; almost like superimposing themselves into the character.

Fig3

Fig4 This is Fig1 halfway through development, I had started to develop the sides of the walls creating multiple overlays so that I could eventually bring the original image to life.

Fig4
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Fig5

Fig5 This was the final development of fig1 and fig 4; this is the image that will be used in the animation. I tried to develop the image in the way where its structure and form give reference to the ambiguity of an environment. I hope that this environment will help personify the character that will be in the animation. I wanted the feel of the scene to be able to contextualise its surrounding from the first person via the third. Hopefully I will be able to utilise this image to set the opening stage of the animation.

Fig6

Fig6 I originally developed this illustration to be used as a transitional scene to give reference to the others but the aesthetics didnt fit the style of the whole animation.

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Fig7

Fig7 This is the final illustration that I developed for the animation. This one was tricky to create because I tried to develop a type of stage scenario for the illustration. Centralising the character gave him the dominance that it needed within the illustration.

The Illustrative aim

Throughout the development of the animation my key aim was to produce illustrations that would represent a scenario seen from the perception of consciousness. I utilised the third-person view for all of the illustration as this enabled me to externalise the introverted perception of an experience or scenario. To achieve this I had developed each image (scene) by using traditional techniques that would give the aesthetics of each scene a rough and hand-made feel. In each scene I wanted the aesthetics to be contingent so that it would always feel dreamlike, so to emphasize to the audience the un-realistic and raw nature behind the animation. I wanted to stick to a similar colour palette throughout each illustration, firstly so that each scene would familiarise itself with the audience (Thus if I was to change the palette I would be able to use the contrast to my advantage, for example I may have used it to represent a fluctuation within the mood of the main character), secondly because to me the yelloworange tinge to the colour palette signified uncertainty (due to its relation to driving and the recalling of what yellow means on a traffic light (poor example I know)) or the lighting ambience of a dull caf; none the less to me it is about signifying the relation between the self and the surrounding, to constantly arouse the action recalling experience.

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After effects & Animation

Fig 1: The first thing that I encountered at this stage was the resizing and scaling down of my illustrations. The sizes of the images were far too big and the DPI was wrong. I sized each image down to 1024 x 576 and changed the image DPI from 300dpi to 72dpi. This was so that I didnt encounter any problems at a later stage. The next thing I did was import all the files into a project within AE and start to compile each scene. I made sure that each image was imported as a PS file so that I could manipulate each layer, because at a later stage I would need to be able to manipulate individual parts of certain scenes. This led me on to edit some of the background characters within the scene; I added what is coined in AE a wiggle (A certain type of expression control using numeric coding) onto these layers so that it would effect them globally and continuously throughout the composition. At this stage I had encountered the problem that the layers werent behaving as they did within PS; upon which I later fixed by editing the Blend Modes within AE for each layer (Yes, this was laborious). After I had fixed this I went on to turn all the layers into 3D editable layers so that I could alter the position of each object within the scene so that it would give the composition a slight perception of what is called 2.5D. This allowed me to add in a global light and an alternate camera. The lighting created a virtual iridescence within the scene so that the comp was not relying on the shading within the illustrations themselves. The new camera allowed me to use panning and transition techniques to suggest to the audience where the next scene will be taking place within this scene.

Fig1
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Fig 2-3: At this point I had moved onto develop the second scene in which we will be introduced to the main character. In this scene I had to use the puppet tool to select certain points on my character so that I could create a small section of IK (Inverse Kinematics), this consisted of three joints, one being the pivot and the others the bone anchors. This enabled me to be able to create the arm movement for the

character. I had to tweak the key frames for the movement so that the character had slow and puppet-like movements. I was now able to move onto the final two transitions, the first being a slow opacity blend between scene two and scene one (panned out) which within this scene I had to create a new light that would signify the phenomena of a trains light being cast through the tunnel as it was

travelling through the tunnel. To do this I used key frames to create a drop and rise in the intensity of the light. Using the same techniques I edited the cone of the light (The cone being the circular projection size that is cast on the scene) to change from small to large; thus increasing the effect of the train-light phenomena.

Fig2

Fig3
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Fig 4-5: At his stage I was ready to create the final transition from scene one back to scene two. Using similar techniques to the previous ones I was able to create another opacity blend, yet only this time it was slower to match that of the change in the train-light phenomena, this was so that it would leave

enough residual imagery so that it would carry onto the next scene so that the final sequence would be better perceived. In the final scene I introduce another layer into the composition; the train. Once I had imported the train, I dragged it into the composition and placed it at the far left-hand side (just off the

side of the cameras view-point), I then went on to Key the position of the train into the timeline; then using the slider I moved up towards the end of the final sequence and dragged the train to the opposite side leaving part of the train within the comp (This automatically keyed the position in place).

Fig4

Fig5
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Fig 6-7: Now I was ready to pre render the composition and check for any mistakes or for any parts that needed tweaking. While looking at the pre-render I noticed that allot of the transitions where quite jarring, to solve this problem I used the key frame assistant to edit the keys to ease in or easy ease and ease out. The made the transitions

less jarring and gave me the effect that I wanted. After a RAM preview of the whole sequence I was ready to add the composition to the render que. This where I edited the render settings to give me the best quality and an .AVI file type. I used this file to use in Logic Pro to create the

sound for the animation at which point I bounced the finished sound file out of logic and imported it into my composition and rendered the composition again except this time with audio output selected.

Fig6

Fig7
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This process had started towards the end of this year once I had finalised my animation and rendered it out. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to create, but overall it was a tricky process. I needed to create a soundtrack that would sync directly with my animation so that I could create instances of breath inhales and exhales as well as ambient loops that would provide a phonetic essence to the audience so that they could fully grasp the animation as a concrete value.
Fig1-2: To start off the process I Fig5-6: At this stage I was ready to Fig3-4: Once the bounce had needed to create a simple melody edit the automation on each track; completed I imported the file into that would act as an initial building a new project (Doing this helped helping each sound to fade in and block for the soundtrack. Due to fade out by editing the decibels me keep the work space tidy and my lack of knowledge in the field of shortened the processing power on a linear automated path (This sound design, I downloaded a MIDI needed for the track). Within this seemed to be the only way to file of Debussys Reverie. At which describe it). Using the same techproject I created a Bus, this bus point I had help from my Tutor to niques I would edit the panning enabled me to attach modulators edit the track to fit the style of aniacross all of the global tracks using of each track giving the audience mation. We did this by editing the a sense of directionality specifithe mixer. Once I had cued up all key strokes in the piano roll within the sound loops in the correct posi- cally relatable to something within Logic Pro, alternating the pitch tion I started to solo out individual a given scene. To help annunciate and tone of some of individual key the relation of sound to animaloops, attach them to the bus that strokes. After I had agreed on the tion I would use the sample editor I had set up as well as editing the positioning of certain strokes we to shorten a tracks wavelength to loop individually. Each loop had a then proceeded on to insert modu- Platinum Reverb and an EQ edithe correct distinction that relates lators into the files. We used the from audio reciprocation to visual tor. This allowed me to edit each channel EQ and a chorus editor stimulation (syncing). track to produce the sound that onto certain global tracks, followed gave the correct phenomenological by a Space Designer modulator. The impression (A sound that distinctly Space Designer modulator enabled arouses the recalling of an experime to alter the global track by edit- ence by which the audience may ing the reverb and frequency. This relate to the animation, thus giving made the track give the impression the animation distinct qualities be of the phenomena of being in a it relatable to the environment, hiswide space. At this point I bounced tory and almost like a personality). the file out. Fig7-8: Once the soundtrack was suitable for the animation (Synced and gave the correct stimulation to the audience) I was ready to bounce the file out. Once the file was complete I re-rendered the audio file to the animation using After Effects.

Sound Design

Fig1
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Fig2

Fig3

Fig4

Fig5

Fig6

Fig7
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Fig8

The Pitch Project

My Role: Project Manager Dropbox Details: Email: fortknight@hotmail. co.uk Password: supersillyfish1 Group: fortKnight Game Name: Rapture Our individual roles: Mike - Team manager/All rounder Leyanne - Art Director Sherzard - Programmer Daniel - All rounder

From the moment we were put into groups we had already kick started the development stage even though we were told not to do too much planning. We had already created a couple of game concepts weeks before the actual start of the two weeks. So when it finaly came to the two weeks we all felt confident and ready to go. At the beginning of the two weeks we were given a theme to loosely stick to, that theme was the concept of powering up and powering down. Thankfully our working ahead of schedule had given my team an incredible advantage; that was time. Early on we realised that this project was fast paced and didnt leave allot of room to make mistakes. Due to our early on planning we didnt have to spend allot of time on the development of ideas. Once we had finalised our choice on which concept we would work with we seemed to hit the ground running. With the environment already mapped out due to the random prototyping lesson, we started to allocate jobs. At this point all of us were mucking in to get the development of the individual models on the go. Not to mention that I had given everybody a task to complete at home and have ready for the following day. During our early on planning we had already started to map out

roles and timetables and contingency plans. I think if it wasnt for this time before the two weeks; we wouldnt have gotten it complete. During the first week we aimed to have the level mapped out in UDK and all the models ready for the texturing stage. By the weekend we were at the point of compiling everything into UDK. After the weekend we had started the programming. It was at this point that we had a major problem to overcome, our programmer, could not program! None-the-less with a joint effort from me and Dan, not to mention all our help from Martin and the second year ND CGD we managed to push through this barrier. With each solution there where a million other problems (Ok, a million is probably an exaggeration). Once we had the programming sussed we had time left to be more creative; at which point with the guidance and suggestions of my fellow team mates I cracked on to get the textures of the models done and dusted. Our days of designing seemed to be quickly followed by evenings of programming/debugging and eventually a night of coffee, Skype and UDK. In our last development day we were ready to bake and package our game. At which point we were hit with a huge problem, we could not get our code to bake out and work! Though with the help of 25

Martin (The legend) all we had to do was change and tweak a few strings of code (dotted around in so many directories it felt like I was walking through a mental library). But alas, success; the game had compiled, baked and packaged; followed by a nervous install and play test. We had finished. The game worked and we were ready to present the following day.

The inspiration for our game. (A screenshot from the game Limbo.

One of our rough timetables...

The prototype of our level...

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Maya Modelling and Texturing:

During this project one of the main tasks that I needed to complete was to cleanup the topology of a static mesh and Texture them. Here are selections of the ones I have textured:

Spike brush texture

Spike brush model

Sucker Punch texture

Sucker Punch model

Trampoline texture

Trampoline model

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The programming side:

The entire kismet in the game was created by Dan and Sherzard but when it came to editing the unreal script, it was between me and Dan with the help of Martin. Initially I started off by following a tutorial online, but eventually this became difficult. I needed to edit and created my own class files. During following this tutorial, it all seemed to have gone wrong. One statement wasnt relating to another and so forth. So eventually with the help of Martin we went through all the classes that I had set up using the

tutorial. We had found that some of the statements werent spelt correctly and some directories werent linking to another. Towards the end we used some classes provided by martin and edited them to fit our own game. After a few tweaks we eventually got the game to compile with no errors.

Outside Resources:

During this project we had decided that it would be necessary to outsource some of the development to the second year of the ND Games Design students. We had asked them to provide us with a fully rigged and animated character that we could use within our game. We eventually received the character from them and managed to implement it into our game.

The end product. A screenshot from our game ~ RAPTURE

Conclusion:

This project was exhilarating, the demand for the fast paced working is something that has helped realise the potential within myself and of others. This project has helped me to work better in teams as well as how to manage a team. It has helped me realise that creating a game is more achievable than I had once thought. Not to mention that it has helped me break the barrier between programming and myself. This project was a good eye-opener on the type of work mentality and efficiency it would take to create a game.

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Lecture Series
The usefulness of the lecture series isnt something that I would question; of course it is useful to someone. Though, to myself I found that every lecture was extremely similar if not exactly the same. The only difference being that some would be talking in person and others over Skype. Each individual consistently talking about the games industry and how they despise these giant corporate companies and that working independently somehow makes the world spontaneously shiny. At first I could swallow every last word that they spoke and happily think they where right, but from the outside looking in it became ever clear that something was wrong, either with this handful of people or with the balance in the industry. It seemed as if the larger companies was a pestilence and they where preaching the words of a saviour. Now, I know this doesnt shine a great light on the lecture series but in argument the whole essence of sitting somewhere away from an educational institute seemed to almost counterbalance any wrong that these people had say. Arguably, they did have some interesting advice to give; either it was advice for portfolios or how to start up a small business. What I mean to say is that Ninja is a great way to build motivation within a team and to release any stress. If I was to reflect on the entirety of the lecture series and what it has shown me, it would be that I do not want to work in or for an Indie games company. The idea of putting so much time and effort into building a game only to be rewarded with fuck all wont pay my bills. Perhaps if I was to look at it from the point that Ive just made a game and somewhere in the world someone could be playing it, maybe that is my reward. I digress, back to the topic at hand: The lecture series, well I think the only thing missing from these lecture series was diversity. It needed more people from a broad spectrum of professions, only then I would truly have received the information that I am in dire need for, though as I have said before they did deliver some useful information; lists of free game engines and game development software and the odd clich of Never give up. Although at one point they scolded my ears shut with the words Art isnt important and ideas come cheap, maybe it just touched a nerve, but from that point on they failed to pitch their life story.

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This is an extended version of The Plan written in my major project proposal. This has been written on the idea that it is solely to target the visual design area of my aims and objectives. Here is a list of skills that I hope to ascertain over the oncoming weeks: ums Mark-making Techniques Perspective Shapes and tone Texture Blending Format & Orientation Life Drawing Storyboards Proportion Different tools and medi-

Final outcome:

ILP Unknown

I have produced one image that has helped me fashion together a house style that I can use for my Blog and PDF document. This image is titled Unknown because at the time of development I was unsure about the entirety of the major project. It reflects the way I felt about my illustra-

tions and everything I had produced so far.

From this list I have planned a week-by-week target schedule:

[Through the development of images]

9/01: {prior planning} General Mark-making techniques and texture 23/01: Format, orientation and perspective 30/01: Life drawing and storyboards

16/01: Shapes, tone, blending and proportion

06/02: Different tools and mediums

27/02: Final outcome (2-3 images

or developments to add to the major project)

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Buisness Plan
I will start by stating that for me; a corporate job is not something that I aspire to. For me; an aspiration is something that apposes fear; in the sense that my aspiration is the juxtaposition of my fears. I dont suggest that I aspire to be not-afraid what I mean is that I aspire to live out the scenario that would exist if I was to juxtapose my fear. For example I fear not being able to be creative; this is something that resounds within me, it is my fear of being intellectually and creatively constricted that suffocates my pathos. Thus the scenario could proceed in many ways; I could have a corporate job and be unable to be creative (unable to develop an illustration or prose at my own whim) or I could be in a basic job, somewhere that financially I do not have many prospects yet I would be perfectly able to be creative. The job is irrelevant to me because it does not make me what I am, if I was to see it any other way; then surely Id only be lying to myself. Although I may see the job as irrelevant it is not unnecessary (believe it or not, I am living in the real word) this is because without a job I would not be able to be creative; nor would I be able to live. Now I will proceed to develop the five year plan: First year: The first thing is to find a job so that I can fund myself. This does not have to be anything special, it could be any basic job. In between this I want to carry on developing my understanding of philosophy in relation to illustration, I plan to do this by: Develop another (or further develop) dissertation on the study of phenomenology of illustration. Create a monograph of my work so far to use as a kind-of portfolio. Second Year:

To continue to develop myself through these forms. Using what I have developed so far I must be aware that I should share my work and theories so that I can continue to expand myself; possibly opening-up the possibility to deliver lectures on my theories so far Third- fifth year: I must take into account the paramount changes that may take place during this span. There could be changes during this time that could be caused that in the first and second year; it could open up new opportunities and practices. I have to understand that my work process is internalised, during this five year span I feel that I need to externalise it more through the development of online activity, or through real-life stimulus groups i.e. meetings, clubs, lectures, social events. This is an extended continuation of the above.

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Portfolio Plan
To me, the portfolio should be a collection of my best work. It should describe who I am and what I do within it. Though this is difficult; in the sense that for me to collate a few images in a ring-bounded case to carry and take with me to future employers seems a little outdated. I also feel that it would be difficult for me to create the traditional portfolio because it would take my work out of its context/setting and expose it in a raw and unrightfully fashion. This is because most of my work over the past year has been part of a body; an amalgamation of illustrations, text and animation.

There may a solution at hand, a website; or a blog to be more precise. The optimising of a blog would provide me with a vehicle in which I could supply my most recent up-to-date work in a chronological and orderly fashion (This will be covered more in the Web section). Along with this I could develop a monograph; a collection of illustrations that are annotated so it could guide the potential employers/clients to the correct perception of an illustration. The monograph: This would be a type of book comprising of my most recent/best work followed by an in-depth annotation that describes the image and its purpose. The monograph will act as a fresh way to present my work to possible employers/clients in the physical sense. It will help me demonstrate my theories behind illustration in a simple and precise manner; this could be done by comprising future segments of my book that I am to go on to write and images that have a bold and consistent message. I could also use visual statements to annotate my illustrations. This is something that I will be developing after the course because I am constantly changing my theories on philosophy and semiotics with the

more I research and learn.

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The Web Vehicle

As of recent it has become necessary for me to have a blog, this will act as a way for me to communicate with the exterior world. It will be a way for me to publish my work (illustrations/writings) and discuss them. It will help me externalise my theories to the general public.

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The Dissertation
Materials Read/Reading: Being and Nothingness by John-Paul Sartre La Nausea by John-Paul Sartre Between Existentialism and Marxism John-Paul Sartre Beyond good and evil Friedrich Nietzsche The Limits of Art Tzvetan Todorov Image. Music. Text. Roland Barthes Phenomenology of Perception Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Can I influence a specific perception of an illustration by the application of existential and semiotic thought in its development? I am going to explore the consciousness behind the perception of illustration, to do this I plan to utilise the study of existentialism and semiotics. Ultimately, I want to further develop the context behind my illustrations by focussing on their objective/subjective meaning and how I may be able to derive it from my consciousness and form it into a useful tool. First, I feel that I must acknowledge certain terminology in relation to Philosophy and the summed meaning of each. Phenomenology: This is the study of experience or Phenomena; the appearance of things as it is in my experience. Basically, phenomenology studies the structure of various types of experience ranging from perception, thought, memory, imagination, emotion, desire, and volition to bodily awareness, embodied action, and social activity, including linguistic activity. Smith, David Woodruff, "Phenomenology", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta(ed.) Existentialism: This is the term given to the theory that would suggest that I am defined as an individual by my own experiences. Existentialism, therefore, may be defined as the philosophical

theory which holds that a further set of categories, governed by the norm of authenticity, is necessary to grasp human existence. Crowell, Steven, "Existentialism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Authenticity: This is the idea that my experiences can mediate my existence to the sense that when I am not true to myself (for example J.P-Sartre would argue that when I lie or I am sincere I am not deriving from a point that is mitigated truly by my experiences.) I am in bad-faith of myself. Authenticity defines a condition on self-making: do I succeed in making myself, or will who I am merely be a function of the roles I find myself in? Thus to be authentic can also be thought as a way of being autonomous. Crowell, Steven, "Existentialism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Semiotics: This is the study of signs and their meaning; this can be better understood in a sense that the sign is something that stands for something else. When I talk about semiotics I mean its relation to human experience. Now that I have explained the methods and the approach that I am to undertake I feel that I am at the right point to explain how these theories relate in the speculation of my thesis. There are many ways that enable me 34

to use these theories during the development of an illustration; the main way requires that I have an understanding of Existentialism and phenomenology, but I need to utilise these philosophies through the means of semiotics. So if I am to understand that my experiences make me what I am and that I can understand the basis of these experiences through the understanding of phenomenology (where the experience is derived), then I can apply the experience through the study of semiotics (relating these experiences to signs). Though to argue this I would say that it is difficult to turn theory into practice and if I am to apply my experience via these methods, then surely I would need to have an understanding of a universal symbolism where everything experienced has a connoted meaning: The code of the connoted system is very likely constituted either by a universal symbolic order or by a period rhetoric, in short by a stock of stereotypes (schemes, colours, graphisms, gestures, expressions, arrangements of elements). Roland Barthes, P18 The photographic message 1961, Image Music Text, Fortana Press It would appear that the application of symbolism can be determined by the technicalities of the illustration itself. Or in my opinion it would be more beneficial to myself if I was to pose that if I utilise the understanding of existentialism through phenomenology I could generate the signs that go together to form the illustration. I must now elaborate what I mean by generate; that is, that I need to explain the cognitive process that allows me

to come to the premise that I can in fact generate these signs. It is at this stage that I have found that I can break the image down to a dualistic view of Reality and Non-Reality: Reality is the rendering of something represented as true to its objective counterpart and non-Reality is the rendering of something represented as we interpret it (Subjective). Though I must acknowledge that even though I break an image down into these two segments I am forced to admit Sartres understanding of the way in which my consciousness can affect the understanding of this dualism: Let us understand indeed that our theory of the phenomenon has replaced the reality of the thing by the objectivity of the phenomenonWe shall interpret this by saying that the series of its appearances is bound by a principle which does not depend on my whim. But the appearance, reduced to itself and without reference to the series of which it is a part, could be only an intuitive and subjective plenitude, the manner in which the subject is affected. If the phenomenon is to reveal itself as transcendent, it is necessary that the subject himself transcend the appearance toward the total series in of which it is a member. Pg3, Being and Nothingness, Routledge Classics, Jean Paul Sartre This would infer that though I may appear to be breaking apart the subjective and the objective within an image I am in fact only ever segregating the subjective. In the sense that reality is ultimately my interpretation, therefore the image at question in relation to this dualism is always going to postulate as a kind-ofmanifestation of what is; it is in a similar ambience to that in which I would view a photograph (The

photograph is moderated by the photographer, though the camera will replicate a full render of what has been captured, the render is still afflicted by the intention of the photographer by technical application; aperture, composition, framing and the fact that the photographer could have generated what they have captured artificially). This dualism is similar to that which Roland Barthes calls The Photographic Paradox: The photographic paradox can then be seen as the co-existence of two messages, the one without a code (the photographic analogue), the other with a code (the art, or the treatment, or the writing, or the rhetoric, of the photograph) Roland Barthes, 1961, Pg19 The photographic Message, Image Music Text, Fontana Press It is present to me that the dualism is rudimentary and it appears to annihilate itself through the segregation of Objectivity and subjectivity. Although, Sartres concept of Bad-Faith could help me understand that I can still utilise this segregation as long as I am to only acknowledge it as a method: It constitutes itself in its own flesh as the nihilation of a possibility which another human reality projects as its possibility. For that reason it must arrive in the world as a Not; it is as a Not that the slave first apprehends the master, or that the prisoner who is trying to escape sees the guard who is watching him. There are even men (e.g., caretakers, overseers, gaolers,) whose social reality is uniquely that of the Not, who will live and die, having forever been only a Not upon the earth. Others so as to make the Not a part of their very subjectivity, establish their human personality as a perpetual negation... In irony 35

a man annihilates what he posits within one and the same act; he leads us to believe in order not to be believed; he affirms to deny and denies to affirm; he creates a positive object but it has no being other than his nothingness... It is best to choose and to examine one determined attitude which is essential to human reality and which is such that consciousness instead of directing its negation outward turns it toward itself. This attitude, it seems to me, is bad faith (mouvaise foi). Pg70-71, Being and Nothingness, Routledge Classics, Jean Paul Sartre Hitherto from the application of Bad-Faith on humanity to the approach of a more methodical application, which in its essence is a way in which it allows us to acknowledge the falsification of the dualism but apply it as a method to justify its use, therefore it can become irrelevant that the dualism is annihilated. It is at this point that I feel that I must revert back to the initial principal of the dualism and explain my understanding of this and why I must apply it: it is not the initial principal that I am to oppose with the objective and subjective, but it Is that I am to apply this method so that I can be conscious of both; so that I can adapt my image in totality of both Subjective and objective plenitude so the audience may arouse both areas of perception; in essence I aim to create an amalgamation of both, but in a way that neither corrupts the other, by corruption I mean that no intentional application in the essence of semiotics is to frame both subjective and objective but is to give a clear and distinctive variation or balance between the two. This balance is what I would call the Appearance, that is that I am observing the appearance of the image in respect to its objective and subjec-

tive denotation and connotation. It is after the segregation that I feel I must move on to discuss and to comprehend the transcendental method when trying to implement this development process. When I talk about transcendence in relation to a conscious act (or in my case; the perception of the image) what I mean is the conscious process of interpreting something via the understanding of what is already perceived (experienced) and un-intentionally surpassing this into what you do [Figure 1]. It appears to me that Transcendence is a conscious act; it is something that happens upon reflection (by reflection I do not mean after or before, but during or as it happens). So I could say that upon perceiving (by perceiving I mean to look at or observe) an illustration its appearance could provoke specific phenomena. This is to say that my perception of an illustration has transcended a specific experience; it is then that my own experiences are afflicted by this phenomena. It is here where I must enunciate the properties of the phenomenon (it is also here where the intentionality of an image can become wavered by the experiences of the individual that perceives it). If the phenomenon is my experience, then it is my consciousness in which defines the experience or my consciousness of my senses that ultimately define the phenomenon. Then it is the totality of who I am as an individual which is being afflicted by the phenomena of perceiving an illustration. What I mean by the totality of who I am is: [My] perception, thought, memory, imagination, emotion, desire, and volition to bodily awareness, embodied action, and social activity, including linguistic activity. Smith, David Woodruff, "Phenomenology", The Stanford Ency-

clopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta(ed.) Then it is almost like a conscious storm of redefining me against the proportion of all these things in reflection to the phenomena that has been aroused from this illustration. So, to quantify what I have come to so far; that I have broken the image down to an appearance and from the appearance I transcend the phenomena, from here I mediate the phenomena of the appearance with my own phenomenon, it is at this stage where I have come to what I have perceived. Though I must acknowledge that though I have mentioned this process that in no way does it change or transform objectively what the image is but it is at this stage that I have

come to the intentionality of the illustrator. Though to argue this I could say that I have not come to the intentions of the illustrator but I have come to the intentions of the image in the sense that I have taken from the image what I perceived, what I mean is that my perception of the image has not been moderated by the author but by my own experience. On the other hand I could argue (This is where the understanding of this process comes into use) that though my perception of this image has been tailored by my own experiences (as the one who perceives it) could I not argue (as the illustrator) that my understanding of this whole process 36

would allow me to tailor the illustration itself by understanding my own phenomenon and using it as a way to gauge the signs of the image, it is then that the appearance of the image derives a specific intention and the phenomena generated is the phenomena that I intended. Though, it is apparent to me now that even though my intention was there even through the initial transcendence of the appearance I am still left to fight the battle with the phenomenon of the individual that perceives the image. Now let me put this into context in terms of working with or without a client: This is not a step-by-step instruction of what to do; it is more a speculation to argue the practical application of this theory: I start with an idea for an image, an assumption on form and composition. Though the idea can be born either from the client or myself, which could ultimately change due to the parameters of each starting point. The parameters are: that consciously I would have to acknowledge either my own, or my understanding of my clients interpretation, though if it is born from my client, the process can be mitigated by he/ she explaining what they want. Still, my own understanding of what the clients intention may be ultimately hindered by non other than that of my own understanding. Nevertheless I have given birth to an idea for an image. Now that I have this idea, I must mould it and aid it to take shape, I must consider my own application of techniques in order to perfectly describe this image. While at the same time giving acknowledgement to what I have learned about the intentions of myself and/or my clients. Once I have a solid idea I will

move on to the intention, that is; what I want you to feel, think and understand from the illustration. I categorise my intentions, then I move on to describe you and your background and how you might interpret the image. Upon reflecting this I may or may not alter the image to either juxtapose your experience or to solidify how you may interpret the image. Thus making my intention more conceivable, obvious or shrouded in a juxtaposed faade. It is during all of this that I must always concern myself with the intentions of the image and the phenomenon of my audience, by phenomenon I mean the social context and background that the image is destined for. Conclusion: Now I will summarise what I have established and how I can develop this to move forward: That as a method we can define an image into a dualism of subjective and objective with the intention to balance the appearance of each. That understanding the Transcendental method of the appearance of things to the phenomena can allow us to derive where the experience originates. That the appearance of things (the illustrators intention) will always succumb to the phenomenon of the audience without the introduction of a universal symbolism. It is clear to me now, that to consider implementing this process into my own development could be a reckless and possibly a pointless effort, it is also clear that though I could argue that if I were to alter the perspective of this understanding despite that I still come to the conclusion that individually it is difficult to arouse a specific intention, but if I was to alter my perspective I can come

to the premise that we can be isolated into social groups based on: age, sex, preferences, education and class as insinuated by Barthes: The emission and the reception of the message both lie within the field of a sociology: it is a matter of studying human groups, of defining motives and attitudes and trying to link the behaviour of these groups to the social totality of which they are a part. Roland Barthes, Pg15, 1961 The photographic Message, Image Music Text, Fontana Press Using these segregations as a grounding structure you can in fact tailor the idea of existentialphenomenology and apply it to a broad spectrum of people within these given stereotypes. When segregating or dealing with cultural or social phenomenon it would only be rational to reduce these social anomalies via a constant, media. It would be a good hypothesis to pose the question do I learn from the phenomenon that media produces? If so, am I less likely to use the experiences gained from TV programmes, Music, SocialNetworking and Radio rather than form my own experiences? If I were to acknowledge and admit that our own experiences are partially given to us by Media, the less likely I am to have an understanding that is based solely from my own interpretations. Although I could argue this by saying that: what I interpret from media is in fact mediated by what I already know, but then would this argument work on a generation that has been solely influenced by Media? These are questions that would need further research to answer, without an answer it is difficult to come to a final conclusion in terms of this thesis. It is at this point that I cannot say yes or no but maybe, by this I 37

mean that I can only influence the perception of an illustration to a certain degree and without a means of a universal symbolism it will always stay as an insinuation, or a connotation. To be able to come to a final conclusion I would need to continue developing myself in the study of Philosophy and semiotics; this is so that I could ultimately generate or negate my phenomena to a point where I can derive my experiences and mould them into a sign. It is then, that once I have an understanding of this that I feel that my intentionality will be fully reflected by the image, also that the audience will perceive my intentions without being mitigated by their own phenomenon.

In the mind of the artist

Well it seems that I am calling myself an artist now. Youve probably read me talk about the self allot by now, but let me explain what I mean by the self. To me, the self is my way of relating to myself (Obvious I know). Within this term I must explain that I accumulate together an epoch of emotions, thoughts, phrases, beliefs, theories and events, all of which sum up as a totality of my experience. To me the self is something that I have been studying for a long time; it is only as of late that I have decided to take an intellectual approach. This has helped me create a fresh pathos in which I can approach old techniques. It is by externalising the self that enables me to do this. By understanding how my emotions, thoughts are derived at a conscious level I can better understand how to express what is needed for the job. I can use my understanding of how the perception of an image is transcended and mitigated by the properties of experience and use the outcome of this process to influence the job at hand. It is this process of externalintrospection.

To me, something that can be perceived at multiple levels will have a greater impact; as art is my affliction and art is about communication then surely with the ideology of the self I can create greater pieces of art.

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Year Review
I started this year with a vast amount of motivation and a yearning to expand on my skills in all aspects of the course. I started out with the plan to increase my technical skill in illustration and that alone. Yet, it was because of my illustrative style and a few mental pushes from my tutor that I decided to question, why, why was it that my illustrations had this kind-of rough and etched like aesthetic quality and why did this quality cast an emotional dexterity within my own mind. It is from this point that my search began, for reasons that had shovelled me deep in the works of the human consciousness and the realm of layered images. I was not far off from the starting line and I was already feeling bogged down by this frantic mode of repressive understanding. After the development of The bathroom I was trying to apply everything that I had grasped so far in a frivolous snatch of trying to understand. It had worked, yet it had opened me up to a new aspect of illustration, something that before I had only the vague comprehension of. It did at first seem somewhat crazy to believe that I did not understand my own experience of; anything, it was the fact that I had only ever taken my experiences as a de facto plenitude of itself. It was from this that the animation project and my dissertation had spawned (Somewhat later in the year). The animation was a test. A test to see if I could use the theories that I had learned from my dissertation and apply them to be used in the practical/work related scenario. After the completion of this project I realised that it was irrelevant if I had succeeded or failed. This was because the entire project had allowed me to externalise all my theories, it was upon realising that the theories that I had learned; had created a pathos in which succession could only be realised if in fact my understanding of them had been achieved. As of yet I am still to find out if this is as it is. The dissertation has been my method of internalising all that I have researched. It is like a quantifying monologue of introversion of everything I have read, experienced or felt. Overall, this year has not just been about the development from an educational reproach; it has been a development of the self, an experience about existing and a chance to mix with like-minded people.

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THE END.

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