Photos from set. The Colour Out of Space.

Sketch book pages from America, New York and Michigan.

Big drawing number 2.

Last night I decided to draw another image for the second task (do a big drawing that tells the whole story). I felt that my first drawing wasn't simplified enough. I really like the atmosphere and sense of space within this drawing, it definitly feels like the colour out of space. The flat black ink works well against the light paper, and even though it's a realistic drawing, it adds a level of surrealism, making the light very well defined. Even though I like this Lovecraft does often mention the presence of the unseen or the haziness, which is an element that I should consider whilst illustrating the story. I need to attempt a good balance of clarity and opaqueness because the combination is an essential part of Lovecraft's writing.
I don't think this image fully communicates the story, it's a static landscape view of the farm and the scenery around it. Even though it creates the right atmosphere for the whole story, it doesn't cover the main events or narrative. I think the abstract nature of my first drawing was successful because it added originality and had a stronger sense of narrative structure. If I do another drawing I would aim for it to have characteristics of both of the previous drawings.

Working on big drawing.

Our second task is to create a large image that represents the story. The surveyor and Ammi Pearce (who is giving his account of the story) are at the bottom of the drawing. Branching off them is imagery from the story, like a visual speech bubble. I didn't plan the drawing first, I just started with a basic idea, so it feels spontanious but not particularly thought out. I like the idea and the appearance of the drawings, but I think I was attempting too much with the image. I want to make another large drawing which much more simplified. It's been really useful to start visualizing the story within one image or space because I was pushed to make quick decisions; like material, composition and drawing style. It's benefical because there are lots of elements that I can take forward with me.
I've been looking at Henry Darger's single space narrative paintings for inspiration. They are great examples of representations of multiple situations within the same space. Here all the girls in the blue dresses are probably the same girl.

Fiction work so far; observational drawings and paper books!

For the fiction project I decided to work on H.P. Lovecraft's 'The colour out of space'. It's a grusome story about the affects of a meteroite hitting down in Arkham, New England. The meteroite soon shrinks and disappers, making it apparent that something has seeped into the soil. Many mysterious events follow and it begins to destroy the life of the nearby family.
These are some of my observational drawings from over the summer, and a few books for the first task. My other drawings are on the wall in the studio. I got some really good feedback from a group tutorial last week, I realised that I had skipped ahead on some of them by adding to them. Instead of keeping them all completely observed. I also need to fill in some of the gaps I have; including, scientific parts and grusome descriptions. I added to these by visiting the huntarian musuem and sketching there. I feel like I'm collecting a better range and variation of images, instead just focusing on the atmosphere.The panelled images are pages from some of my books from the first task, which is to select a moment of the story and present it 4 or more perspectives. The moment I chose is the realisation of the luminous glow on everything organic on the farm. It's a part of the story that confirms the severe abnormality of the cases and situation. There begins to be many more perspectives, particularly from outsiders. It's good to be able to produce the books quickly without feeling pressure on the quality of the drawings. It feels really benefical to be considering the different perspectives of the same story, especially with a versatile story.

A work in progress comic.

Crazy ceramic painting.

Over the summer holidays I've been working in a cafe/ceramic studio, and tryed to paint something whenever I could. It's been really fun to make work in a completely different format, and for it be on something that has a function.

Chalk drawing!

Recently I did some chalk drawing in my town, and it was jolly good fun! Loads of kids joined in too, it was super. We used up 2 whole packets of chalk! I think it may become a monthy event. It was really good to have an unlimited amount of space to work with and for people to be directly involved with it.

Some recent ink and water colour drawings!