MENagerie: A FINAL MAJOR PROJECT: DEVELOPING THE MENAGERIE

Once I had really cemented the idea of 9 Anthropomorphic Prints into my mind, it didn't take long to form a general idea of what type of bodies and poses I wanted. I knew I wanted a mix of male and female and I knew I wanted to have some couples, maybe even groups. They needed to be dynamic and expressive. I wanted the figure/couple/group to be a 'stand-alone' image and not reliant in any way on background. As I thought about it and looked at images online, certain 'types' started to come forward: The Ballet Dancer, The Roller Skater, The Rock and Roll Guitarist, The Pop Singer, The Skateboarder. I noticed that far from being modern, each character and scenario I was coming up with had a nostalgic flavour of the 70's and 80's (the era I grew up in) and I knew it was a theme I wanted to expand on.

I also needed to have a think about how my figures were going to be presented. I originally felt that simple is best, I didn't really want to detract from the drawings in any way but I soon realised that in order to push the images and myself I needed to have a go at a graphic solution. Since making this decision and finishing my project, I found these fantastic drawings by RalphIllustration. I think the images are fantastic and the colour scheme is one I ended up using, but I'm glad to have pushed my drawings a little further, I feel this Illustrator has the same problem I had in that the blanket colour can smother the drawings.

RalphIllustration

Meanwhile, back to the time when I hadn't even decided upon colour scheme - I needed inspiration so, I spent a while looking at poster and postcard design from as far back as the late 1800's right up until modern day (see 'Ref.s' for book titles) and I trawled through the images I'd saved on Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/PiccolaBoo/fmp-menagerie-of-man/). I realised I still wanted to keep things simple and the overwhelming influence from my research seemed to be the use of flat, block colour. Having looked at the work of some of the current illustrators like Sandra Dieckmann, Vince Pezzaniti and Kris Tate, I also knew I wanted to experiment with geometric shapes.

Sandra Dieckmann

Vince Pezzaniti

Kris Tate

Using the original paper doll drawings I started to have a go on Photoshop to see if I could come up with something I liked. The first images are included as an embarrassing reminder of how far I've come in Photoshop during this project...

It was at this point that I started questioning whether the figure should be colour or black and white - I hadn't thought it would really make a difference (and had always planned the figures to be colour) but when it came to using the 'multiply' tool and letting the image merge into the colour it worked best in monochrome.

I hadn't realised at this stage how easy it is to draw shapes in Photoshop, and I was sitting on my own working things out, so I was importing the shapes as jpegs from the internet and I also hadn't worked out how to cut them out properly (something I find impossible to believe now but true none-the-less) which will account for a lot of the fuzzy lines etc.

Once I had established a rudimentary area of exploration for the backdrop to my figures, I collected as many images for reference as I could together and started drawing. I made a definite decision that I was going to do the heads and bodies separately - that way I knew I could mix and match them if I needed to - at this stage I was still not anywhere near confident with Photoshop and this method meant that, if I had to, I could collage them together by hand.

Once they were all drawn I lay the headless bodies down and started matching them up to the animal heads I had chosen.

It was interesting that some of them instantly made sense and some I struggled with right up until the end of the project.

GYM BUNNY (HARE)

I loved this iconic pose and wanted to start with this one straight away. This body started with a number of different heads, including an ostrich - I loved the long neck, a water buffalo - the curled horns are so brilliantly like a 70's haircut and a lion (this one was more used for Photoshop practice - mixing the genders was one step too far), before finally settling on a hare.

Now I had my first completed figure in the Menagerie series. I was well and truly rolling, all I needed to do now was to take what I had learnt about the backgrounds and somehow apply it to my drawing. I started by using what I'd already learnt from the previous experiments - concentrating in particular on triangles.

I learnt pretty quickly that there was no 'formula' - what had worked for one figure was not necessarily going to work for another. So I tried different shapes:

And then it clicked:

TWO BAA'S & A BIKE

This was another particular favourite - I was very keen to see how the introduction of machinery would work with the overall image - in hindsight I regret not drawing the whole bike in, but I had originally thought that having the bike 'drive' off the page helped give the impression of movement - lesson learnt.

I lightly drew the heads in to give me an idea of placement

I had a pretty good idea of what heads I was going to use, I knew I wanted to use both of these animals somehow and this was the perfect opportunity.

Still being pretty new to Photoshop I didn't know how easy it is to scan and re-size an image on screen. So instead, after drawing the heads, I photocopied them in a number of different sizes and cut them all out. I placed them on a photocopy of my drawing and manoeuvred them until I'd found the right size and position. It was at this point that I knew my animal choice had been right and I could get on with making the image whole.

There were lots of difficulties I came across with placing animals heads on human bodies - namely their necks and shoulders being built so incredibly different from ours in most cases. For this drawing in particular though, my main problem was making sure the placement of their bodies and heads matched the horns and skull sizes - tricky - it took a long, long time, but I got there in the end. I think this drawing is where I really started to have a breakthrough on Photoshop - there was so much fiddly manoeuvring/clone stamping/manipulation, I had to learn 'on the job', which, in the end, was the best way to do it.

Last stages before final image is ready for colour.

And then I decided to try and see what a circle or two might look like:

Until, after a lot of experimentation, I worked out layering the circles created an effect I really liked and so finally a decision was made:

COCKAPUNK

This particular figure was a dream. I knew immediately what I wanted for the head and I found the reference image very quickly. On top of that, he is a stand out favourite with those who have seen the Menagerie Series and this is the one I've had the most requests for prints of. Whilst I was drawing my images I posted them up on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/boodillonillustration) to gauge reaction and the Cockapunk was an instant hit (if only the others had been so simple!).

I was still feeling my way a bit here and I was very aware that this character was a punk as opposed to a gym bunny or a loved up couple on a bike, so I tried to use colours and shapes that might reflect the spikiness and masculinity of the figure. In the end, as I wasn't getting where I'd hoped to, I thought I'd see what would happen if I tried to play around with the same shapes, tones and colours as the previous two. It turned out to be exactly what the image needed and it was at this point that I realised that the colour palette and circles were just as much a part of the series as the anthropomorphic figures were.

POP KIT

Whilst I'd been trawling Google Image Search and Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/PiccolaBoo/fmp-menagerie-of-man/) researching animal images, and in particular looking at the more feline variety, I came to notice the way that when a cat yawns it really looks like it's singing, full blast. I knew I wanted the next one to be female and still feeling the attitude of the punk, I wanted to try a female pop star.

The great thing about the cat on the left (see above) is that it has a collar - pretty 'punk' in one sense, which fitted perfectly with the look I wanted, and also it meant there could be a natural cut off line between the fur and the human skin.

This figure was the first one I liked on its own, without circles and without blending her into the background - I really liked the simplicity of the plain backdrops. I wanted the series to be 'a set' however so I kept experimenting unsuccessfully until I finally found a way for it to work and in the end, I'm relieved to say, I prefer the version with the circle, I particularly like the way it frames and focusses on her face.

The final decision:

CHIMP & KIT

This was another one where I knew early on and without the need for other options which heads I wanted to use for the bodies. I just the loved the way this cat seems to be in such heavenly bliss, it's such a human expression. I think, in the end, that the chimp in my drawing looks a little sad, even desperate which makes the cat look a bit heartless - enjoying the attention so gratuitously whilst he is obviously so forlorn. I didn't mean to draw it that way but when I saw where it was going, I let it carry on, I was curious to see if it would work. I now think - having had a lot of problems with the 'mood' of the image, that it would have been better if I'd changed his expression. I was also aware that unlike the previous couple (the sheep and the ram), these two were from a different species. In the end I decided that the reason I was drawn to them in the first place, was that the project is about finding the human expression within the animals - and these two were perfect.

I was quite aware at this stage that the type of circles I'd used for the Gym Bunny (Hare) hadn't been used again, so I thought I'd see if it would work for these two. In the end, I would say, that this particular image proved to be, by far, the most difficult one to place within a background. Partially due to the figures being cut off (the same problem I'd had with the motorbike) and I think partially to the two different moods that are going on with the characters. One is melancholy and the other blissed out - it proved very difficult to get this right.

In the end I knew the 'bubble-type' circles weren't working and so tried a few other options:

Cutting the image off in the middle of the canvas was proving unsatisfactory, so I tried to have the figures taking up most of the overall image instead:

And finally I thought I might try and kitsch it up a bit, by adding a more 70's poster flavour to the circles - as a backdrop it's great, I'm not sure how successful it is with this couple however!

THE KEAGLE

This figure started out as being a Weimeraner dog - I liked it's gentle, docile face as it picks at the guitar dreamily. That is until I found the Eagle - then everything changed. I have never seen a creature more Rock and Roll then the Eagle.

I was pretty conscious about colour choices for The Keagle - I definitely wanted a 70's vibe and I knew that this image was one I could have some real fun with.

BAMBI RAINBOW

This image is really more early 70's but it was her bike that drew me to her. I knew immediately what type of head I wanted for her and I found the perfect fit.

This was another of the images I'd really had to worry about where the fur starts and where the human skin begins. After quite a bit of trial and error I decided that the best way to go about it was to always make the neck human and only the head would be animal - this was somehow a lot less creepy and also gave me more scope for moving the head around to give it more expression.

This image required an all out kitsch fest and it really wasn't long before the idea of using a rainbow came in to play:

This next colour was a mistake - I used 'multiply' on one too many layers and it mixed a peachy pink with a turquoise and this colour came out. It's so fantastically perfect in it's nostalgic feel that, although it's not strictly in the palette I'm using, I find it a difficult decision to choose between this one and the turquoise.

FOX ON SKATES

Staying with the kitsch 70's theme - we have a long-limbed foxy roller skater:

When I was looking for the right head for this figure, I knew I wanted a fox, but I found so many great images of a gleeful fox that it was hard to know which to go for. In the end, I surprised myself by picking the one with the nonchalant expression - I think it was the right decision not to 'camp it up' too much.

Again I was trying to bring in the same 'bubble' circles that I'd used with the Gym Bunny (Hare), but, although these are more successful than any of the other animals (apart from the Gym Bunny), I still prefer the later experiments.

HIP HOP JAG

This is the one that I had the most trouble matching a head to. I went through so many different animals and none were quite right. I had a real difficulty in that the boom box takes up so much space that the head had to be relatively small - I'd quite badly wanted to use a highland cow but it covered too much of the ghetto blaster. I also feel that this image has such attitude, I really needed to find an animal worthy enough - after a long and protracted search, I finally found the jaguar...

This was another image that required a little extra thought when it came to the backdrop - this time in the era of Hip Hop came at a particular point in the 80's and it was important to me to get the tone right.