Introduction (idea proposition)
All things medieval and magical are what inspire my works
the most with heroes and mythical beasts taking the centre stage of my work. As
a result of this I intend the base my work of the theme of fantasy, taking
inspiration from its biggest influences such as the lord of the rings and cultures
from across the globe. This inspiration stems from those around me and the
media I involved myself with over the years. My mum and brother are also fans
of fantasy and other fiction, my mum being more on the side of fairies,
unicorns and tarot while my brother preferers more war based genres.
Inspiration
A lot of my inspiration is based around media, events and
games that utilise fantasy and sci-fi themes such as Warhammer, the lord of the
rings and LARPing, however I will be focusing on elements of the armour within
this project. in addition to this exhibitions such as the Vikings exhibition
which was held at the Herbert art gallery and the royal armoires in Leeds.
events are a large influence within this project as they
give me the opportunity to not only see works in person but often designs and
outcomes are handmade allowing me to inquire into their production and
timescale. Comic con is the best opportunity for this as people dress in
outfits from several forms of media and designs, allowing me to take several
photos and cover the largest amount of genres in a day with sci-fi and fantasy
still being the most prevalent. This
event is mostly based on fiction and often the outfits are not functional or
practical, to compensate for this I have done research and practice into LARP weapons
and armour as this still falls into fiction but is heavily based around designs
are practical.
This project will focus heavily around the experience I have
gained from making LARP safe weapons from sheets of foam. However I will have
to simplify my approach as some of the processes and resources can be costly
and time consuming, therefore I hope to incorporate cosplay techniques into my
work. This involves making props and aspects to only really have an aesthetic
use which reduces the durability meaning they cannot undergo much stress.
Process and planning
since the project I hope to undertake will be very large but
also detailed I’m going to need a lot of practice to be able to find a method
that allows the armour to look practical and intimidating but with as little
costs and time invested. because I want this project to be as efficient as
possible the projects building up to the final outcome will offer some form of
aid in my development.
Foam sculptures- to get a better sense for the material I
intend to use foam of various densities to make a small series of sculptures
based around my main theme of fantasy. This will allow me to gain experience
working with the specific materials and evaluate their effectiveness for a
final outcome.
Metalwork- as I will be mimicking metalwork with foam it may
be worth exploring aspects of the original material to get a better view in how
the form alters how it looks, for example how light reacts to the surface and
how it reacts to being out of place. this will have to be one of the smaller
projects as metals can be quite expensive.
Dolls and pose mannequins- to achieve this I hope to use
thinner sheets of metal and foam to form them around dolls or pose mannequins
based on a series of premade designs. This will allow the testing of
suitability and how something will look in 3D. The main issue with this
approach however is that it will be time consuming so probably will only be
used on some of the more preferred designs.
human and animal armour-since working around a form will be
one of the challenges within this project it may be worth looking into different
forms such as animal armour. This will help me consider different forms since
the project is still open to change and development and I may not eventually
decide to use the human form as a base for my final outcome.
preparation for the final outcome
Within the final stages of preparation my intentions are to
design several suites of armour based on various studies and personal ideas,
the main basis of the designs is that they should cover all/most of the body
with the goal of form over function. After creating a series of rough sketches
a few will be chosen to refine and render.
However an image on paper may not accurately represent how a
final outcome will look when completed, therefore I intend to use sheets of
foam to make miniature mock-ups as these can be made relatively cheaply while
still maintaining good levels of detail.
The main problem with this method is that it can be quite
time consuming and as a result can only be carried out a few times.
The mock up process will involve first marking and cutting
out foam. I won’t be using patterns as making these may take too long and the
foam can easily be reduced or built upon. To mould the foam a small amount of
heat will be used, this will make the foam more malleable and can be achieved
using a small candle to generate the heat. Following this I will continue
building up finer details such as embellishments and trimming such as adding
cogs, wire, string and other materials on top of the foam. This will allow the
miniature to have some levels of detail that will reflect my final intentions.
To colour the miniature I will use a combination of spray paints and acrylic
paints, using spray paint to create a black base coat, following this I will
drybrush the suit to give it more scratched texture that still makes the
sculpture appear gradient with harsh shadows, to finish off the mock-up I may
use a few layers of varnish to give a more shiny, metallic look.
The final construction will be built around a mannequin
rather than an actual model, this is due to that I will not be making the suit
to accommodate mobility, in addition to this I can directly work on the
mannequin without the issues of using a human model. Many of the processed used
for the mock-ups will be carried on to the final project. For more complicated
elements I intend to use stencils and patterns to achieve a more accurate
result.
the process for colouring will be the same as with the
mock-ups in which the suit will be spray-painted black and then additional
sprayed coats will be added followed by dry brushing to make the armour look as
worn and gradiented as possible while minimising the amount of brush strokes
used.
Potential issues and resolutions
as I’ve learned from past experience working with foam, It can
take a long time to complete. however a lot goes into making the objects LARP safe
which involves adding cores to weapons and shields as well as padding them out
so they cannot cause any physical harm. The items I intend to make will only be
for aesthetic purpose rather than durability and function therefore won’t take
as long, another factor will be the thickness of the foam as thicker foam is more
durable but harder to form. As a result of this it may be best to use a mixture
of thick and thin foam to form the structure.
In terms of supporting a large scale build like this a
sturdy base will be needed to reduce the workload on allowing the structure to
be as anatomically correct as possible while still allowing it to be
freestanding, to enable this I have considered working onto a mannequin as this
will allow me to work around a human form and I can attach the foam straight to
it making the final product very secure, however after looking online I have
found that full body mannequins are well out of my price range so it may be
more worthwhile looking into buying a bust to build on or suspending the final
production from the ceiling using strong clear thread as the bust mannequins
have a central beam which mat take away from the overall composition if it
cannot be hidden, however a cape or some fabric may be able to hide it.
expanding on the issue of cost, potentially a lot of foam
will need to be used and this could potentially be an issue, therefore I will
need to be as cost effective as much as possible without sacrificing too much quality for quantity. Because of the
nature of the material I will most likely have to use the heat gun quite a lot,
so will be relying on other students not needing to use this tool during the
building process. in addition to this I will need to be outside for many stages
of the building process which of course requires good weather to be able to
work efficiently.
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