Religion and Babel

13/02/2014

Trying to pin down a solid theme for my project, so I tried tackling a bit of religion in The Library of Babel. I'm happy with the image but still not sure how to tie all these themes together regarding the transcendence of knowledge.

I do feel this way of working is definitely making me think more about the subject matter of each picture, I just need to nail a particular theme to bring future images together under one heading.

You Dead?….Over The Side For You Then!

13/02/2014

Trying to relate to story of LoB a bit more with this one. They throw the dead over the railings, to fall for eternity in the shaft that runs through the centre of each hexagonal room. I thought this caption in the story was quite poignant, so decided to have a go at 'visually' realising it.

I'm happy with the image, but feel I've not got a specific idea for the project. It's just a lot of random images, with no clear theme running through.

Babel Through a Microscope.

11/02/2014

Considering the different aspect of knowledge, I began to think about science, because y'know scientists are intelligent.

It's supposed to convey a sense of looking through a microscope, at cells.

After talking to the tutors, they feel this piece directly relates to The Library of Babel more so than the other pieces. I think this is a step forward.

Library Stamp

11/02/2014

After doing the occult symbol, the whole shape reminded me of a library stamp, so I thought I'd have a go at that. Nothing more to say really.

The Lost Books of Tacitus have a brief mention in the short story and I wanted to try and convey a sense that (a), they have been found and (b), you can loan them out to have a read. I found it quite humorous that an ancient book could be stamped and put out on loan.

I may look into the The books of Tacitus, to see if there is anything that can be used to further the project.

Occult Signs

11/02/2014

After looking through reference material for my first picture of the new direction I am taking for the Babel project, I stumbled across images of occult signs and symbols. Curious as to what these symbols would look like with a Library of Babel influence I had a go at creating one.

Again I'm happy with the image, yet I need a definite direction as to where this project is going. Used the Adinkra symbol again, but I also investigated animals that are associated with knowledge and the snake appeared time and again.

No Characters Allowed.

11/02/2014

So after a rather confusing crit last week, I had to re-evaluate the work I was doing. After being told there are no characters in The Library of Babel, in fact there is no library, it is all to do with the transcendence of knowledge, I've had to go back to the drawing board. Needless to say I am a little confused.

I've decided to go with some more surreal, abstract type images to see where this takes me and to test if I can actually illustrate the transcendence of knowledge.

I'm happy with the image, but I'm not sure the whole idea of knowledge has the legs for a major, self-directed project. The symbol in the top left is the Adinkra sign for knowledge. This type of symbolism might have to play a major part in the progression of this project, purely as means to visually represent knowledge. I want to stay away from the more obvious ideas, such as a light bulb to signify an idea for example.

Who Inspires the Illustrator, Whom Inspires You?

05/02/2014

As a small exercise for our MDes course, we had to go and find artists who inspired the artists we like. This was to see if we would find another artist/illustrator we could connect with.

I decided to go with my favourite, Timothy Bradstreet. Many of his influences are from traditional comic artists, one of whom is Bernie Wrightson. Wrightson worked on many of the horror/pulp comics that became popular in the 60's and 70's. Mainly in black and white, (likely to do with printing costs at the time, as pulp comics were created as cheaply as possible), they capture a certain gothic feel, with heavily inked areas, similar to Bradstreet's work.

I used Gary Gianni as the second influence of Bradstreet, again a comic artist. Gianni uses lines more effectively to convey a sense of depth, rather than using large areas of black. This is something that Bradstreet uses effectively too. Thin lines in conjunction with black areas to convey weight and realism.

I wasn't really surprised to find out about Bradstreet's favourite artists. They all show the qualities that Bradstreet possesses.

My second Illustrator was David Foldvari. Unfortunately the only influences he mentions are that of 60's and 70's Eastern European artists, which was too broad a topic to find out about in the time we had. This is an area I would like to find out about for future reference.

Foldvari's work uses heavy black areas, much like Bradstreet's, although he tackles contemporary issues, often in a humorous way.

All in all, this was a productive exercise and made me think more about the type of Illustrators I should take influence from.