Week 3

BA3a Reflective journal

Mon 9th Oct - 15th Oct

This week I have picked up where I left off, I have continued to work on the third life size charcoal drawing of the human hybrid based on the Photoshop anatomical muscle structure I created last week. I have continued trying to make this the most detailed version, sticking to the style of Leonardo Davinci’s graphic works. For example within the limbs and neck I have exposed the tendons and ligaments, thus revealing the structure of the animal’s body.

Once finished I have to say I thought the final product was shit, an utter disappointment. Whereas I was expecting something that looked like the perfect merger of both human and beast, I was left with a very canine hyenarish frame. Although the quality was detailed and of a great quality, the hind legs were far too small; the thigh was accurately sized, yet the lower leg was a third of the appropriate size. Furthermore the back leg hidden behind the body was smaller than the opposite.

I’ve come to realise that working as I have been doing with the drawing rolled out on the floor in front of me is not effective unless I take regular steps back as I am always working from close up at an angle. This makes gauging the proportions difficult, possibly explaining why the legs ended as they did. Therefore for my next drawing I’m going to grid up the anatomical drawing so as to accurately scale the image.

One thing I do like about this drawing however is the head which although showing some human structures looks very guard do like, which is interesting as this reflects the possible origin of the werewolf mythos as being a guardian member of a native American tribe who donned wolf skin clothing said to possess the power of a wolf and employed these powers to protect their tribe.

Furthermore this week I had booked the project space for a quick start of year exhibition which I had titled Totem/taboo. As a look at how the hybrid beast throughout history has been a totem for human taboo. I had intended to use PS5 however when I went to check the space for minor holes or marks on the walls which I would need to rectify I was shocked to find it in the state I did.

The project space had been left with thick layers of bright purple and yellow which had dried unevenly, this was left by a degree student from the previous so the walls hadn’t been painted all summer as you can expect this was a nice surprise. I tracked down a member of staff to learm that I was expected to paint over this not only that but also to pay for the paint. To rectify this shit would take scuffing down the walls, undercoat, and at least four or five layers of white emulsion.  With all I have on my plate at the minute I wasn’t too keen on this idea to put it mildly. Therefore requested a move to a different project space, this was accepted as the project spaces were all free. I was therefore given Project space 3 which is much larger than what I wanted and has the access to a lift and four doorways and a staircase which wasn’t ideal but I worked around this. I made a poster which was emailed to the year group and displayed in various spots on campus. The poster is below.

The description I wrote was partially paraphrased from a source for my research report “Primitive psychological mechanisms present within tales throughout our cultural history, to escape the violent reality of the human condition.” This is a reference to how legends of human hybrids were masks for the true horrors humans can commit. For instance a rogue deranged human can commit atrocities which are too heinous for people to comprehend therefore we fictionise the events to deal with the truth. As the menagerie I created of hybrid beasts is a masquerade hiding darker aspects of the human condition, I left the work the masks unlabelled/unmasked.

Although I had originally only intended to exhibit the aluminium sculpture atop the foam pallet, now that I had been given a large project space to work with I included the three life size drawings. I experimented with the positions of the drawings however I finally settled on positioning the drawings so that all them faced in a single direction leading the audience through the show in an even direction. The centre piece being the sculpture which I laid on the floor an even distance in a direct sight line from the staircase to the primary drawing. Overall I am pleased with the exhibition although I will wait till it’s conclusion to reflect upon the bulk of the feedback. So far I have had comparisons made between my work and Lovecraftian horror. Which I found curious as my work has always had one foot in realism, be it the basis of using realistic animals or realistic anatomy, yet lovecraftian horror is all about inter dimensional beings who’s forms and purpose are often too difficult for most people to comprehend.

 I chose to hang the drawings using 5mm thick nails slightly rusted to fit the rustic feel of the exhibit.

After how disappointed I was with the last drawing I decided to grid up the anatomical drawing, I cropped the grid to 15cm x 27.5cm this therefore meant that my new paper to work off of was 150cm x 275cm, this being the largest I have done up to date I was only able to finish the outline of the drawing this week as the scaling up of the image was an unexpectedly long winded process. However now that it is finished the scale seems brilliant, I don’t want to take so long detailing and shading I want to draw the animal and shade it enough to show the form. If I’m still happy with this version the next drawing will be the front profile of the animal head on.