My Final Major Project will be based upon folkloric and fairy tale monsters from different cultures around the world. I will create a range of final pieces, illustrating the creatures and their stories or habits in a style or in such a way inspired by the artwork of the culture of origin. For example, Celtic and Norse art have distinctive knotwork, Egyptian
figures are recognisable by their stance and Aboriginal animals are
shown always with two eyes, two ears and four legs no matter what the
perspective or angle. However, illustrating the stories purely in the style of the culture would not offer any pieces at the end suitable for my portfolio, as they wouldn't be my style. As a result, I intend to only take inspiration from the origin of the creatures, whether it be from facial shapes, materials or colours, but ultimately the final piece would be my own.
In order to achieve this, I will draw inspiration from both artists I admire and those that work in a style similar to a culture's aesthetic, or in a certain material. This inspiration will aid me in taking the shapes, patterns, materials, colours, etc in a culture's aesthetic and incorporatin them into my own character designs and drawing style. I will not limit myself in what I can make - many cultures have a strong focus on sculpture, so some 3D pieces are entirely possible. My final pieces could be anything from books to comics to posters to jewellery to plushies and sculptures. Therefore, I will be experimenting not only with traditional drawing
techniques, but also paper-cutting, sewing, printmaking and sculpting. I
can also experiment with more abstract elements, such as humour, as
some monsters are already pretty laughable.
I have chosen to do this project due to my long-held personal interest in the bizarre and unusual, and in folklore and fairy tales, and the monsters especially. I wonder if my love of monsters is due to the fact I have nightmares every night, and so I'm desensitised to the idea of things living under the bed. I think it is a shame that, in the Western world at least, we are forgetting about the folklore all around us. I also have alterior motives in my desire to develop my style and character design abilities. I feel at the moment that something is missing in my work, and that the people I draw seem very generic and un-memorable, and so it is hard to maintain the passion of drawing. I think since I don't want to have a career in drawing things that exist, in favour of drawing imaginary and fantastical things, I should discard the idea that everything I draw must be as realistic and perfect as I can make it, and set out on making my own personal style. I should embrace what I want to draw.
There are a number of people my final pieces could be aimed at. There are the people like me, who like monsters and folklore and fairy tales, or any one aspect of them. There are the people who like comics. There are the people who like little self-published books. And, since most folklore arose in order to teach, entertain or scare children, there are children.
