Lifedrawing from the last semester of uni

Final octopus girl designs

i just realised this is the version of the girl looking one but i forgot to put the tentacles on. keep posted for more tentacles!

Octogirl developmental pieces

I had two mood boards to keep my ideas together. One had octopi and other cephalopods along side various dreadlock styles as reference that I gathered from around the internet. The octopi you see here are mostly Eledone Cirrhosa or curled octopus as they are more commonly known. The curled octopus has been a big influence in my designs, from concept to texture and modelling design.

The second mood board is made up of pictures of designs and characters from other films, games and artwork which I found to be either influential in my design ideas or just had similar themes which inspired my motivation for the project.

 i had several design ideas after the first initial concepts. i had a change of heart due to some time constraints and unexpected circumstances at home. for my university hand in i decided to further the concept development until i was happy with the design rather than go ahead making something that i wasn't completely happy with. i wanted to keep the idea of having tentacles in a hair band for future animation. i came up with these designs.

After talks with my tutor about the functionality of the various designs, I decided I wanted to make two designs, both having scope for various animation styles. I decided on a more octopus oriented design and a design which had more humanoid features but still had an octopus quality to it.

I re designed the octopus design further until I decided on something even more extreme. 

Here are some emotion boards with the characters.

I made some texture patches, experimenting with colour and technique, for what I would like the colour of the 3d models to be.

I began to model the final concept ideas in the program, Mudbox. here are some tentacles I modelled for both the characters which could be added to both models. I will remodel the characters for animation later as for my hand in at university, this was just a concept project. This being said, I also wish to realise it to its full potential over summer. And hopefully get to grips more with Brush which seems to be a much more powerful tool for sculpture. After I have remodelled the designs I will then paint and texture them.

Screencap of works in procress

A quick screen capture of me working sped up from concept to sculpt, the processes. unfortunately it doesn't show all the bits as well as the end product but you get the idea.

happy adventures decorating tin roof

a few weeks ago i helped decorate the walls of Tin Roof studios, of which i share a studio space there. this was the first time i have used spray paints to create pictures. was lots of fun :)

 later i got to try out my boyfriend's new airbrush which was tricky to use at first but i got used to it quickly. i hope to use it more as its lots of fun, maybe i could hope to aim for Giger standard paintings one day, a pipe dream maybe but something i'd happily pursue ^_^.

Octogirl developments

well after many meetings with my tutor about design of my octopus character i decided that i had spent too much time last semester exploring new ideas for it. due to this i ended up changing tact for hand in and changed my specialisms that i got marked for to concept art and then spent time developing my concepts in to two finalised designs which would be sculpted to be used for a displacement map for later animation. i have done some observations of the curled octopus, a native to british waters, of which i based the octopus parts of my design from. curled octopus,

like many other cephalopods, the curled octopus has pigmented cells in their skin which as a defence mechanism can be used to change their colour for camouflage. they also have the ability to change their texture of their skin too.

 here's some sketches i did to become more familiar with their texture and form.

WOO finished degree, well that flew by!

Well that was an eventful four years! just got my grade for my university degree. I guess you could call me Charlie Lodge BA Hons or something now not that people call other people that much i guess. it is much a relief to have finished.(though still have another day or so of degree show preparation to go) it has been one hell of a journey. There has been so many things that have happened through out the years, good and bad alike. Moved out to the city, embarked on a four year art course, met some amazing characters and friends, learned a lot about the world from a small place. For all of it i have grown up from this 18 year old shy-ish girl, new to the world to the 21 year old rounded adult i am today. it seems so weird to think that its been 4 years, it seems like no time at all. i looks back to my old self and greet her kindly as if to tell her things will be ok. i'm not sure if i expected to be where i am now but i am glad for it. i haven't posted much as of late, life seems to happen or i have more important things to do but i'm sat here now. All my anguish and hard work paid off, even though it may or may not have gone right in places. I should show it to you now :)

looking forward to new freedom, even if its just mental freedom from uni projects (uni is one big life project i guess, lots of concepts, developments, success and failures with a finished product). if there is one thing i have gained from my experiences that is helpful for the road ahead i would say that it is important to not be afraid to go out and try new experiences explore new opportunities, also to keep your chin up where ever you go, you never know when you are going to bump into someone who is having a worse time than you, even if that means running away for a little bit to go find some peace (in my case it took the form of family or in particular something furry), always be thoughtful, try to keep things interesting by varying the things in your life. i've found that all the hobbies i do have in some aspects helped improve my understanding or ability in another activity, be it from belly dancing to poi swinging to making clothing. i find it interesting to see how when doing one thing it will spark off ideas and musing about other things ultimately leading to some sort of revelation about something else entirely. its these moments i cherish and try to understand. amongst all the things that have happened over the past years i have developed a keen interest in various psychologies, i guess having things happen that aren't so alright but you still need to not let it affect you does this. i am really interested in what makes people tick, why they act that way, how they feel and how to act accordingly in different situations with those people. So far i've found it rewarding to go out of my comfort zone with people to make things work to go in and leave with the least collateral damage so to speak. as someone who deals with creating objects in the physical dimension (ok mostly digital it seems at the moment but that should change soon as i get back into more traditional personal projects) i find it slightly surreal that there is another dimension completely unseen, billions upon billions of secret, personal spaces, all different, changing form one thought to the next at any given moment. i find it a wonderful thing to see products of what lies beneath from what people make, give, take and do. Its a comfort. sometimes my head seems a lonely place. and then i look around me and see what others have created. i am connected to everyone by the products of so many different minds and people from so many places near and far. Then i also look around to my friends and family and the experiences i have gained and reminded i am not alone and i am grateful for the people who surround me. i once heard some one saying home is something you carry with you. i can attest to this, that is another thing that university life( not sure about the university itself, just the life experience bubble that almost makes university seem like a coincidental thing) has given me, the ability to think my way round things and carry with me what is familiar, my mind. this way of thinking has helped in my ability to go and do things with confidence or at least some sort of drive.

i have realised i have just spent a long time writing this rant with so much more to say but i better get back to posting pictures of the pretty things i have been doing for this semester if i want some sleep.