Jamie Hewlett- Artist Research

        Jamie Hewlett is the artist behind one of my favorite bands, The Gorillaz. The Gorillaz are a British duo consisting of Damon Albarn (formerly of Blur) who comprises the music end, and Hewlett, who is the art half. 

Hewlett grew up in Britain. As a youngster his artistic skill quickly became noticeable. At Northbrook College he collaborated with two fellow classmates to create a fanzine called Atomtan. This was his first real break into the professional world, because it brought him to the attention of Brett Ewins. Ewins invited him and a colleague to work on material for a magazine called Deadline. Deadline was a magazine that featured a mix of comics and articles on music and culture. Hewlett created a comic strip called Tank Girl for the magazine. The strip instantly became a hit and catapulted him to new projects with bands and other magazines. 

By 1992 Hewlett had become a major player in the comics industry. He worked with Peter Milligan on a number of comics, one of which turned into a trade paperback. He was also involved with DC comics. Soon, Tank Girl was optioned to be made into a film by MGM. The film, unfortunately, was not successful and drew criticism from fans who said it didn't capture the essence of the original strip. Hewlett actually had little to do with the film, only doing some animation sequences, but it was his first taste in animation.

During 1996 Hewlett moved into a flat with Blur's Damon Albarn. The two artistic minds came up with the idea for The Gorillaz. It was to be the first "virtual hip-hop band". Albarn would compose the music while Hewlett would come up with character designs. Their first EP was released in 2000 followed by their first album, the self-titled "Gorillaz" in 2001. "Gorillaz" was a huge success. Then in 2005, they followed up their success with their second album "Demon Days". The band performed live several times in 2005, and after this they planned a world tour that would feature Hewlett's designs. 

Hewlett has created an entire universe that the Gorillaz characters exist and play music in. The characters consist of: 2D (lead vocals, keyboard and melodica), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar and drum machine), Noodle (guitar, keyboard and occasional vocals), and Russel Hobbs (drums and percussion). The fictional universe is explored through the band's website and various music videos, as well as a number of other media including cartoons, merchandise, and live shows. The style of music is very unique and covers a wide range of genres, including hip-hop, rock, electronica, and even pop. 

In 2010, the band released their third album "Plastic Beach". Then their latest album, "The Fall", was released in December 2010 as a free download on their website. Albarn created the entire album "The Fall" on his iPad while on tour in the US. Unfortunately for diehard fans such as myself, Albarn revealed just recently that The Gorillaz is unlikely to continue due to disagreements between he and Hewlett. Of course if they work out their differences, there's always hope for future records.

Hewlett's art in itself interests me because of its style and because of his mastery of animation. Over the years, the Gorillaz music videos have become more and more complex and advanced in their animation. What started out as 2-D cartoons have become 3-D and very lifelike in their appearance, movements, and in the settings, even including some live action in their most recent videos like "Stylo". His animation was always very clean and smooth, even in their first videos. 

The design of the characters themselves is also something that catches my interest. They seem to be very befitting and germane to the style of the songs that the band created, which is a mix of music that creates a final product something of which I've never really heard before. The characters have a certain eeriness while also being very likable in their cartoonish nature. 

One of Hewlett's main inspirations is Brendan McCarthy. McCarthy is a British cartoonist and graphic novelist. His works are very busy with bright colors and elaborate designs. His work is much louder than Hewlett's, but one can see the resemblance between the two.

As someone interested in animation, I view Hewlett's work as the being the pinnacle of the field. His 2-D work is so smooth and effortless and his characters exude such a perfect vibe in relation to the music. His 3-D work is a style that I've never really seen before. It's not the same as the Pixar type animation that is seen in Disney movies, it's a lot more lifelike but still with the feel of being cartoonized, and it's something that I would like to learn more about so I can ultimately be able to create something like it. 

Bonny Pierce Lhotka

Bonny Pierce Lhotka is an artist who works with transferring images onto different materials. Her work is more abstract and concept driven than my own, but her processes and outcomes and comparable. 

Some of her concepts include: time, memories, and identity change. Her pieces are very fractured and eclectic, showing only a glimpse of certain images and using the material that they are printed on to the fullest.

here is her website: http://www.lhotka.com/bonny/Home.html

Self Assessments

Self Assessment- Remix Project

My idea for this project of what material to print on was guided by the image that I was given by Anuli. It was a picture of her that had been digitally altered using some filter probably on Photoshop. I thought that her brown skin would look good on a brown piece of wood. After I decided to print on wood, my next decision- that being the composition of the project- was determined by the piece of wood that I selected. It was about the size of a playing card relative to Anuli's image if she were a figure on a face card. So my plan was to mirror her image to make 2 of them and then put them on opposite sides of the piece of wood and make it into a playing card. 

As I've learned from previous experiences, the vision that you have in your mind is rarely what your finished project turns out to be. This can be a bad thing or a good thing, depending on how your original idea changes on the way. When I put down the image on the super sauce, a little bit didn't stick. Also, I miscalculated how long the piece of wood was and where I would need to place the image to make it look like a playing card. So after drawing out what I thought a playing card would look like with chalk, I decided to erase it and do something else.

I decided to go in a more abstract direction. While I was in the sculpture studio waiting for my image to dry I was flipping through my notebook for another class. In this class I tend to do a lot of doodling and scribbling on the margins of the pages. So I thought it might be a cool idea to incorporate some of these doodles into my project. I used a piece of chalk to sketch out what I wanted before I drew it with ink. Then I found a box of markers in the painting studio and used those to color in the lines.

My piece is meant to convey disorder, eccentricity and unorthodoxy. The image that Anuli gave me is of herself posing as Rosie the Riveter which in itself was an image that was meant to betray the norm and be an icon for the championing of women in the workplace. Then I flipped it and changed her facial expression, which is another deviation from the original image. The art on the rest of the piece of wood was taken from my sketches and represents my failure to pay attention in class. This to me is a physical manifestation of the disorder that goes on in my head while I'm trying to take notes. And from an aesthetic standpoint it shows eccentricity in its wild swings in color, shape, and subject matter.

I like the way the piece came out considering that I've never done anything like this before- this was my first work with transferring with super sauce. If I could change anything I would probably have used a different medium than chalk for the color white because I feel like it doesn't match up with the rest of the piece which is in ink. I think if I had used white paint it would look a lot cleaner and there wouldn't be chalk dust covering some of my marker lines. It would just have been easier to draw. Overall it was a good experience, I have no problems with super sauce transfer and would definitely be open to using it again in the future.

Self Assessment- Remix Project

My idea for this project of what material to print on was guided by the image that I was given by Anuli. It was a picture of her that had been digitally altered using some filter probably on Photoshop. I thought that her brown skin would look good on a brown piece of wood. After I decided to print on wood, my next decision- that being the composition of the project- was determined by the piece of wood that I selected. It was about the size of a playing card relative to Anuli's image if she were a figure on a face card. So my plan was to mirror her image to make 2 of them and then put them on opposite sides of the piece of wood and make it into a playing card. 

As I've learned from previous experiences, the vision that you have in your mind is rarely what your finished project turns out to be. This can be a bad thing or a good thing, depending on how your original idea changes on the way. When I put down the image on the super sauce, a little bit didn't stick. Also, I miscalculated how long the piece of wood was and where I would need to place the image to make it look like a playing card. So after drawing out what I thought a playing card would look like with chalk, I decided to erase it and do something else.

I decided to go in a more abstract direction. While I was in the sculpture studio waiting for my image to dry I was flipping through my notebook for another class. In this class I tend to do a lot of doodling and scribbling on the margins of the pages. So I thought it might be a cool idea to incorporate some of these doodles into my project. I used a piece of chalk to sketch out what I wanted before I drew it with ink. Then I found a box of markers in the painting studio and used those to color in the lines.

My piece is meant to convey disorder, eccentricity and unorthodoxy. The image that Anuli gave me is of herself posing as Rosie the Riveter which in itself was an image that was meant to betray the norm and be an icon for the championing of women in the workplace. Then I flipped it and changed her facial expression, which is another deviation from the original image. The art on the rest of the piece of wood was taken from my sketches and represents my failure to pay attention in class. This to me is a physical manifestation of the disorder that goes on in my head while I'm trying to take notes. And from an aesthetic standpoint it shows eccentricity in its wild swings in color, shape, and subject matter.

I like the way the piece came out considering that I've never done anything like this before- this was my first work with transferring with super sauce. If I could change anything I would probably have used a different medium than chalk for the color white because I feel like it doesn't match up with the rest of the piece which is in ink. I think if I had used white paint it would look a lot cleaner and there wouldn't be chalk dust covering some of my marker lines. It would just have been easier to draw. Overall it was a good experience, I have no problems with super sauce transfer and would definitely be open to using it again in the future.