Set of misfits!

Here are some images that I just finished this week from an ongoing character project. Decided to throw them through the photocopier to give them the worn-through look. Below you can see both the hard digital copies and the resulting photocopied versions. What I like about the photocopier is that when overlaid back over the original digital prints, a colour de-registration occurs creating a weird yet interesting effect. I can hopefully bring these through for T-shirt designs or flyer compositions.

Sneaky

Just a quick sneak preview from a set of images I have been playing with recently. Here are 2 from an ever enlarging set.

Technicolour Moon

After recently visiting the D & AD Exhibit in London me and a few other illustrators decided to get together and form a collaborative. This way we can create a little competition and some interesting collaborative imagery. After speaking to design agencies and design catalogues it seems there is more of a market for illustrators in groups...enter Technicolour Moon. Check it.

Get Black!

Degree Show 2009

Heres a couple of pics showing the preparation and deliverance of the groups exhibition. After some manly DIY hours spent sorting out the space with countless electrical power tools and white paint the exhibition looked rather nice. Still a bit gutted we weren't granted a creative license with the space...wanted a damn flower pot and pink walls. Credit to Mikey and Jenni for the photos.

Colourful Distortion Part 2

As promised I set myself the task of photocopying the set of images and then playing with colours that are re-applied over the top of the faces. I like this technique as it takes the edge of the digital work and provides a natural half tone grain to the picture - adding an organic feel and texture. When printed off the pattern overlay looks like it was always there and provides some intriguing and effective imagery. The only problem now is that I like all 7, including two almost identical images that I know have to reduce down to just 3 for the degree show.

Colourful Distortion

Carrying on from this post where I talked of developing a new style that used my previous Actionscript work and applying photocopying techniques, I created these images in preparation for the old 'copier. Here I took a couple of faces from my previous project and distorted them with generative script work, and then through overlaying gradients and colours to varying success. The images are only the basis for something hopefully more organic, but I feel that the overlaid colours produce pretty pictures that are interesting enough in their own right.

Sneak preview of new Mongeloui home page...

After suffering the post degree blues I thought it about time to finally push some work through by remodeling my website. Bringing together the organic feel of the photocopier with the clean lines of the cell shaded skull.

Nice.

Final Development 4

Rounding up my work now with some puzzles that I developed earlier in the blog, now more refined to the style of the outcomes, allowing the user to see the original face, and morph it into different personalities. This puzzle design is interesting as it allows the user to go half way and match the top of one face with the bottom of another.

The image shows the journey of the puzzle and how to use them. This one is based solely on Mikey. There are two more based on Nick and myself and a final two that are mixtures.

Final Development 3

Reverting back to the style I developed earlier in the project, I decided to have a play with the photocopies and digitally create some zombie art over the top. The difference being that the underlying photocopied images are now so distorted that they provide an interesting and original canvas on which to draw, and the shadows help the characters to appear more real.

These images represent a round trip in the theory of the project. From the detachment of the real to the freakish mask that is layered over the top could represent the facade that people can create to hide their true self. The amount of processes to create these images could represent the layers or processes people take to build up their image to fit in. These images are heavily stylised to suit a certain genre, people style themselves to fit into certain groups.

Over and above all, I really like all of the images created so far, personally - and this is a surprise - I like the manual work better than the digital. The layered acetate designs work really well and add a touch of comedy to the whole affair, which is what I set out to do. I did mention in my learning agreement that I could possibly approach the NHS or counseling bodies associated with Munchausens syndrome with artwork to promote the condition - however, depending on their sense of humour they may not appreciate the tone of the images - even though they do represent split personalities and alter-egos. I would probably have more luck with an editorial with magazines such as Vice or ID.

Having said that the style of adverts and awareness campaigns nowadays are centred about comedy and light-hearted messages, as these are more likely to attract attention and remain in the memory.

Overall I feel that this project has taken me on a journey, both mentally and work wise. I have matured and have had to deal with the pressures of reaching the end of the course. Going to Colophon was a great experience - one which consolidated my belief that I am in the right pathway in which for me to move. The passion shared amongst the top brass in the magazine industry was palpable and I share their passion for imagery and wish to make a career out of doing so.

Another, more important thing about this project is/was that it showed me that I can work outside of my comfort zone and flourish with the challenges that it entailed.

Final Development 2

A continuation of these disturbing yet hilarious images. It reminds me of a mix between either the old pictures of Navy Admirals or the Iraqi disguise they give Gary Johnston on Team America. Whereas the lower image contains some serious facial hair and a rather un-nerving double eye socket.

Final Development

The bonus of not producing a book, and creating this blog is that I can document my work right up to the deadline. These images are what I created using the scraps of my existing work, and threw them together to create these horrific, disturbing yet funny images. Using transparencies and photocopies the faces are mirrored and overlaid in ways that accentuate, mask and/or even highlight certain parts of the face.

The funny thing about these pictures are that they were pretty much an after thought yet turned out to be some of my favourites of the project. I love the subtleties like the rapist/possessed left eye that I have developed on the bottom right image that is framed by some hair and the eyes and nose lining up less than a centimetre above the mouth on the image above. Again on the bottom image if you were to turn it CCW then I have a mouth in-between my eyebrows, and the horizontal hairline makes a dodgy beard. 

These images document how much I have enjoyed mixing processes in the project, from the Photoshop manipulation, then the photocopying degrading to the simple acetate distortion which adds a gloss to the image and a touch of class to the final appearance. The series of these images are documented into a concertina booklet as I felt it necessary to see the set as one or individually.

Actionscript Development

These images show up close the intricate work of the generative artwork and the relationship with the photocopied face beneath. The added texture is really interesting, with the dust and scratches appearing, and the dotted half-tone taking the edge off the digital vectors. 

I think they work well side by side, and I plan to continue working with this style after this project to see how far I can push this style. The photographic and photocopier processes have definately added to the aesthetics of the coded artwork, and the development is clear to see from the last project to this.

As I mentioned earlier I ran out of time to fully develop a finalised outcome in this style although they link in well to the theory of clashing personalities and masks - because of the difference of techniques (digital/photocopied) blended into one image of a face - this could mirror the idea of creating a social mask to hide the true self, make-up, clothing etc.

Actionscript

Having spent much of my time this year practicing Actionscript and Flash generative artwork, I would have loved to have continued in this vein for this project, but having come across this photographic idea late on there was no real time to include substantial Actionscript artwork. Instead I have sidelined the development for now, instead concentrating on the photographic approach. Having said that I still achieved some decent results by mixing the photocopied artwork together with the generative masks. I feel the patterns work well with the photographs producing really beautiful imagery - I will definitely pursue it after the project ends as I feel there is a real opportunity to create some original imagery that is different to anything out there at the moment.

Here are some developing imagery that I came up with. The major bonus of this project is that I worked out how to drop the Flash video file (SWF) into Illustrator after creation - allowing me to edit the image as a vector and resize it to any size I wish - which is a relief as before I was relying on screenshots and matching it all up in Photoshop like a giant puzzle - which was very time consuming! These images show different generative shapes overlaying the below bitmaps RGB. It is the same as I produced for the last project, but with differing shapes, and the introduction of the real photograph behind the coding adds an interesting depth to the image.

 

Slideshow...A Possible basis for display?

Having acquired a filing cabinet recently I was pleasantly surprised to come across a collection on slides from a relative who didn't need them any longer and gave them to me. They are a great nostalgic objects that feel great to play with. They also fit in with the 70s/80s theme of my images, and would further add to the degradation. 

The degradation idea relates to the idea of pretence; I am trying to link the theory through people copying certain aspects of other people and creating a monster of themselves in the process rather than being true to themselves, but I'm doing it in a light hearted manner.

So could slides work as a presentation tool for my work, I think so, even placing images into the slide casing looks interesting enough. Here are some images that I have prepared for the idea, the B/W faces stand out with much greater contrast than that of the coloured portraits. Due to time restraints I am going to cheat somewhat and print directly onto transparencies and skip the slide film.

Facial Amalgamation: Photocopies 2

A couple more photocopies to complete the set. I have scanned these in at 900 dpi and plan to print a few off at A1 size. The impact of the large scaled should be interesting, as well as the continued process of degrading the image.

Facial Amalgamation: Photocopies

Does what it says in the title - here are some of my portrait designs are photocopied. I really like the degradation of the image quality through the photocopier with the dotted half-tone print pattern taking the edge off the images and allows them to look more realistic, if not aged, than before. The added texture also begins to add a theme to the imagery - gifting a mugshot style seen in the 70/80s police face identity kits.