Hello everyone! Tonight, I am uploading the bare bones of the two pieces I plan to submit for exhibition next month. I’ve been really busy polishing my concepts. They may not be done as finals quite yet, but as you may see below, I have a strong sense about what I am going to do.
I hope you enjoy as I guide you through my ideas.
Title 1: Know The Rules
Above is the planned composition for a piece I’ve called Know The Rules. The very basic concept is to have a few robin birds on a branch. One of these robins is the star of the show so to speak (look at the 4th one in). I’ve left a lot of negative space at the bottom left for some text. The text is going to read:
“You need to know the rules before you can break them”.
Got no clue what I’m on about? Read on because I haven’t finished yet ;).
Yes, this is a sketch of the star of the show. For this piece, I’ve taken two parts of inspiration and played with them in my own way. The “rules” is one part, being the proverb “the early bird gets the worm”. This proverb stays true… for now.
Whilst doing some research, I found that there is no clear indication of the identity of that bird in the proverb, so I chose the robin… It’s not far from winter after all and robins are winter birds. All relevant enough.
The star robin above has broken the early bird rule in a way, and breaking the rules after being familiar with them is the 2nd part of my inspiration. Instead of being a plain ordinary early bird, its a funky early bird with some serious 70’s attitude, (mainly, the colar and afro). Groovy.
First image: basic sketches of different birds at the research stage.
Last image: basic sketches of typical British red robins after I had chose to focus on them.
Note: these were sketched from videos and images online. The robin sketch below this sentence was also sketched from online reference.
This is a full colour sketch of a robin on a branch. This is an experimental mood board so to speak to help me get things going in the right perspective. I now know how I will draw the robins.
The phrase, “You need to know the rules before you can break them”, is written here as a small guide for the text.
All in all, I aim to spread the message that it is better to know how something works before you do your own thing with it. Know how to be an early bird and catch the worm before you don that 70’s afro. This is how I’m going to do it. What do you all think, people?
Title 2: Suburban Spirit
The composition for this has yet to be fully completed as there is going to be some depth to this…and also, this will be on A2 sized paper (the same size as “Dragon and Carp”, the last piece I did.)
However, the idea is conclusive. This piece is more personal to me. It’s about being proud of my old skool suburban roots, the feeling of community, and going back to the past.
The main focus will be a man sat in view, surrounded by an old suburban setting. Black as well as very dull shading, and bold light sources, will be dominant effects here. Other characters may or may not be put into this as well.
There will be a message here as well…something along the lines of:
“Once upon a time, things were derelict. Back then, I felt safe. If you see nothing here but darkness and decay, you will never understand”.
This is a proud message to those who are unfamiliar with my old ways…that real beauty can come from battered bricks. In other words, unless you understand why a book is torn and withered, don’t judge it by it’s cover alone. Read it first.
Burnt and broken car anyone? This is what might be in the main piece, though it would be far less colourful if it will be. As a child, there was always a broken or abandoned car somewhere around…this pays homage to that. I sketched this quickly from reference image then coloured it in.
A cat on the roof…now this is more inspired by general ideas rather than my childhood, (As well as being a fan of Corrie 😉 ), but I reckon that this is a possibility that could work very well in my design. I have other ideas, as well as a good idea of how the piece will look, I just need to put it all together!
Piecing together those things effectively will be challenging. Here’s hoping I can do my precious past justice, ay?
Well, that’s the end of all that for now. Sorry for being long with this post. Enjoy! Bye for now!
Lazfar's Gallery 
Truly do I mean it when I say, I can’t describe how wonderful it was going through all of this. But before I get too ahead of myself, allow me to elaborate on my thoughts as I examined through these concepts, and thoughts.
First I’d like to note that I don’t think I’d ever seen a bird with such character! The idea is certainly unique in concept, for the very least I’d never seen anything of the like. Very personalized, it’s bold and it stands out, and that’s brilliant.
I like that you put him (Or her perhaps?) alongside other “Ordinary” robins, it helps heighten the contrast. (I can’t help but feel like the more finalized concept art in the first panel shows the robin in a 70’s style suit? I just see some pant-legs, and the white area doesn’t appear to be plumage as with the other birds. Regardless it goes well with the afro and the collar ^-^)
In the early sketching of the various birds, I notice the lettering ” Bird Sketches ” is particularly stylized, and seems to have been written out by a brush (Or perhaps a very fluid pen), Regardless, the lettering style is very urban, it portrays your stylization very well. A minor detail, but I think it was worth mentioning.
I also noticed the time stamps you left for yourself in having done a few of the sketches. I just love imagining how you managed to do the initial sketches in such a short time, but then you always surprise me.
As I go through the next four, I can’t help but notice a very brilliant detail ; that is, the thoughts laced within them. In each of them you had lain down some basic ideas that had popped into mind, Notation to yourself, reminders, placeholders, fleeing concept, background ambiance, all traced within a few words. Like a code that leads to something greater, or pieces to a puzzle that all line up to a big picture. This is especially prominent in the first panel of the suburban decay concept. It’s like a look into a mind space of sorts, yours, and it’s just brilliant.
Though I’ve a long way to go to be a true full fledged artist, it really amazes me what happens in the process of creation, we pour ourselves into our work, the essence of ourselves in our ideas, sculpting bits and pieces of who we are. And in that way, especially with a subject so very personal to you, it was really very cool to take a look into your thought process. To see how someone else lays out the building blocks of their work, the planning and creating process, is very awesome indeed, and it was very fun reading through the notation and trying to imagine how it all pieces together.
Moreover, I very much look forward to seeing the finalized urban concept. It truly excites me to think, I’ll see the world through your eyes, via the window of your work. If even only a snippet of the complex, and unimaginable tangled up network that is our very being, it is a beautiful thing indeed, and I’m glad we have these mediums with which to express what we are, in a real world outlet.
A few final notes, I love the car, it could represent a history, there’s a story behind it, even though it won’t be the focus, it’s a piece of the puzzle, and the “minor” details are what make things special I think. I also love the cat idea, as “urban spirit”. Like a wanderer, or a guardian of the streets.
All that said, apologize again for being so late! I’ll look over your finalized robin tomorrow! I really like to take my time and elaborate as I see peoples work, so I thank you for understanding! I hope all is well, have a good night, and a great week. Good luck with the display! I have faith in you!
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It always makes me happy to know you enjoy my work and ideas, and thanks ever so much for your feedback. I very much appreciate your thoughts on my projects always.
No problem about adding you back on G+. You mentioned something working if we added each other, so that’s what I did. And yes, my final piece on “Know The Rules” has been added now, so feel free to check it out.
Realising that the friend who advised you about reflections was me, made me feel very surprised and flattered! I even laughed for a second. I have actually forgotten what I have and haven’t told you, so I assumed you too also forgot and instead got info from some other artist… I really do feel flattered that you take my opinions seriously… so cheers.
Speaking of opinions, I’m not sure I approve of the terms of becoming a “real artist” and “fully fledged artist” that you said regarding yourself. Skill, reputation, approach, being commercially minded or not… these aspects may indeed separate one artist from the next… (Art is a HUGE subject to be part of, whatever boxes you tick) but that doesn’t mean you’re not a “real artist”…
Even I have certain goals that I want to achieve in my field, and I constantly aim to improve and rebuff my skills. Hmm… Am I actually a “real artist”?
Well… to me? Possessing any ability to create anything at all makes you an artist, whether it be “bad” or “good” and whether people like it or not. Art is subjective most of the time, its all down to others perspectives. Anyone at all can become an artist if they really wanted to, and that’s my perception. Taking my opinion or not: Don’t ever put yourself down about that. Though I wish you the best in succeeding your goals on what you want to do with your art.
Because you have mentioned wanting to repost my “Dragon and Carp” piece on your G+, I have put a G+ share button (and other sharing buttons) below my posts, so you should be able to share any of my work through your G+ page if you really wanted to. If that doesn’t work, feel free to download the images I have put up and repost them via your page. You have my full permission to repost my work provided you credit me as the artist.
Yes, I did put a full suit on the robin in the final rough, but decided to take it off at the last minute… I thought the collar and afro would do the trick alone. Also, the writing you speak of was done using a brush pen, but its not that important.
In any event, I wish you all the best with everything and am hoping your week goes well too. Cheers.
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