Studio Brief 1 - What is drawing? 3D AND LENS

OBJECT AS IMAGE

With modern technologies, illustration can be much more than the still 2D image. Three dimensional components can maximise the clarity of narrative and message through recognisable forms. Alternatively, found objects can add character and humour to illustrations, allowing them to foster the qualities and aesthetic of the media and object. Lens therefore become the means by which illustrators can employ craft in their work, using lens to render a 2D outcome that can operate under many functions. 

POLLY BECKER

The work of Polly Becker demonstrates a re-appropriation of found objects, and characterisation of found photographs through manipulation of 3D objects. Easily discernible within Becker's work is the playfulness and humour achieved through 3D components, these objects seem to inject such a great sense of narrative and character into the found photographs, creating a tone of voice that the images would not organically offer. I'm particularly interested in the way Becker has used the wooden toy, which already figurative, has been manipulated to create an entirely different narrative. The aesthetic qualities of the found photograph seem dull and isolated, allowing the bright colours of the wooden toy to create a new narrative and character, perhaps a character that would not be achieved in an 2D form. 

BRIEF

Imagine yourself as a mutant, with a specific mutation that reflects your own interests or dislikes.

In light of the work of Polly Becker, I have considered objects that I am most connected with and how these could be humanised. Rough sketches have allowed me to visualise potential 3D devices, but I have chosen to work with paper as a material that I can manipulate quite flexibly. Origami achieves a very unique aesthetic and so I have employed this to communicate an immediate sense of the 3D. Complimenting the origami, I've chosen to create the other components as collage to achieve a consistency and harmony between components. 

Making a paper doll with a photographic face seems to achieve a very different aesthetic to a drawn face. Re-appropriating the image of the face to create this comical paper doll subverts any pre-defined narrative and the contrast of media only enhances the humour of the image. 

Working on a grounding, the pencil scribble seemed to enhance the 3D qualities of the paper doll through the creation of shadow on the grounding, exploring the interplay between dimensions.