soo

This is part of my work for university and it's kinda hard to explain without the whole lot of stuff online. Tis all in the sketchbook and my blogging is most behind. These are texture samples that are going to be impressed into clay so I figured I might as well post them before they get covered in dusty crap just so I know what they looked like.

Our small contribution to BCB 2013

We visited Middleport Pottery as part of the Burslem weekend for the British Ceramics Biennial. The area in which Middleport Pottery is located is a bit...grim so when we stepped inside it was a bit like falling down the rabbit hole, which was completely awesome. 

We entered a room with three tables with clay monstrosities describing the pits where the fuel for the factories was fug up, the pottery factories which once made the city prosperous and the canal side along which the ceramics were distributed to Manchester, and from there, the rest of the world. 

There seemed to be rather a lot of cats there too :)

This is mine and Patrick's small contribution, which I'm rather chuffed with.

We helped contribute towards the canal-side, which was a wonderful experience. Everything was made by people walking in, picking up clay and morphing the whole story into existence. It was great to be able to just pick up the soft clay and work directly with the materials without having to sketch anything first.

The results look rather cutesy, like the things I doodle.

BCB 2013

Saint Mary's Church, Stafford

Further photographing opportunities with my grandmother in Stafford. Inspired me enough to FINISH MY COMIC ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF TIME AND SPACE. Yep, that's right, I finished it! and the portfolio is looking great. Just need to wait for boots to stop pissing around with my photographs and print them already, and then the work I've been doing since I stopped going to uni will be all finished and beautifully presented.

These are from a little photography adventure I've began to take with my grandmother. She's been submitting photos to competitions for as long as I can remember so it's nice to have the chance to learn from her experiences and strengthen family ties through art. She reckons the top two are my best ones, but I still can't help but like all the others. Think I might crop the top one and then have it printed out really big.

Links

Today I decided to google image search Crabtopus just to see what else is out there apart from my own bizarre little collages. Turns out that it was the best idea ever because I found loads of awesome pictures and websites, and I've picked out my favourites in no particular order:

http://galactagore.deviantart.com/art/crabtopus-92118311

• Crabtopus by Galactagore on Deviantart

I don't even want to know how this was made. Part of me hopes it's just awesome photoshop, but then if I knew for sure it would kill some of the magic.

http://darkwatersdome.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/octocrab-crabtopus-crustaceopod.html

• Katie Feldman from Dark Waters: Creature Design

Probably the most anatomically 'realistic' drawing I've seen so far. It's worth checking out her whole blog because her style is beautiful.

http://lolzdui.deviantart.com/art/Crabtopus-colour-practice-376060291

• Crabtopus, Colour Practice by Lolzdui on Deviantart

I don't entirely know what to say, this person is like my potential brain twin. They have weeping abominations and mutant shrimp.

http://jeffharter.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/octobot.html

• Crab Octopus Robot Thingy... by Jeff Harter

This guy does work for Disney. The stuff on his blog is fabulous.

http://www.creaturemag.com/happy-friday-adam-pryce-chief-crabtopus/

• Happy Friday Chief Crabtopus by Adam Pryce

Not sure I like the typography but damn that little guy is adorably creepy.

Fig II. The Sword-Wielding Crabtopus

There's no coming back from this, Fig II is well and truly glued down for good. I'm so proud of this little fella because it was originally my least favourite collage out of the series.

May have spelt Wielding wrong though... -__-

...and then I took up knitting

This is my first woefully-equipped attempt at knitting using a piece of driftwood I found on a beach in Llandudno, my fingers (because I had no knitting needles) and recycled silk I bought when I went to Macclesfield.

It still smells a little smoky because I made it round my grandmother's house while helping her out a couple of days this week and I'm not sure what it's supposed to be yet, but I like it all the same. It's nice to try things out your own way without receiving any kind of instruction sometimes.