Sustained Investigation Series
My sustained investigation was about designing canine characters of different dog breeds, and bringing them to life by making mascot costumes. I was exploring how I could create the unique traits that each dog has. For example, in "Aizon the Chinese Crested," I made the snout smaller, and the face more pointy, while in "Danterias the Caucasian Shepard," the snout was larger and the face was more round. I wasn't only exploring the canine side of things, but also my craftsmanship as a whole. For example, in my first costume, I only used a small amount of sewing, but in my last costume, the whole face is sewn together, which added more durability.
One of my biggest challenges was carving the unique traits out of foam. I chose to do very unique dogs because I wanted to challenge myself. For example, I had a lot of trouble getting the face right with the Chinese Crested Dog. In the beginning, it looked more like a fox than what I was going for. It took a lot of redoing to get the face shape I wanted. Another challenge I had was with the eye shapes. Up until my final costume, I had made eyes the same way: a foam sheet base with plastic glued around as a rim. However, for my final costume it just didn't look right, So, I decided to try things differently: a mesh base with felt glued around it in some places. I turned out to like this style more than my other two eye styles. Another pro to this new way was being able to add more details into the yes than I have ever done before.
My aha moment was definitely found during the making of my last costume. There are so many things that I did that made me change my whole outlook on how I could make these. Not only were the eyes a major point, but also the polymer clay nose, the shaving of the feet, the sewing, and the asymmetrical hand paw pattern. The polymer clay nose allowed to put so much more detail into the head. Having shorter fur in the front and longer fur in the back of the feet allowed for contrast, and a more intricate look even with a simple design. The discovery of my liking towards hand sewing allowed for this costume to be my most durable and best looking. Finally, up until this point, all of my designs were symmetrical when it came to hand paws. It didn't occur to me until now that the designs don't have to be the same on each paw. That was a big moment. I have grown as an artist in many ways since this investigation. I do not only feel as though I have physically grown in my craftsmanship, but also mentally in confidence. Before this journey, I never would have dreamed of sharing my 3-D work online, let alone with the school. Now, however, I do not really have those worries anymore. In conclusion, my sustained investigation gave me many challenges and hardships, but in the end, brought me new knowledge for my skills and work as an artist.
One of my biggest challenges was carving the unique traits out of foam. I chose to do very unique dogs because I wanted to challenge myself. For example, I had a lot of trouble getting the face right with the Chinese Crested Dog. In the beginning, it looked more like a fox than what I was going for. It took a lot of redoing to get the face shape I wanted. Another challenge I had was with the eye shapes. Up until my final costume, I had made eyes the same way: a foam sheet base with plastic glued around as a rim. However, for my final costume it just didn't look right, So, I decided to try things differently: a mesh base with felt glued around it in some places. I turned out to like this style more than my other two eye styles. Another pro to this new way was being able to add more details into the yes than I have ever done before.
My aha moment was definitely found during the making of my last costume. There are so many things that I did that made me change my whole outlook on how I could make these. Not only were the eyes a major point, but also the polymer clay nose, the shaving of the feet, the sewing, and the asymmetrical hand paw pattern. The polymer clay nose allowed to put so much more detail into the head. Having shorter fur in the front and longer fur in the back of the feet allowed for contrast, and a more intricate look even with a simple design. The discovery of my liking towards hand sewing allowed for this costume to be my most durable and best looking. Finally, up until this point, all of my designs were symmetrical when it came to hand paws. It didn't occur to me until now that the designs don't have to be the same on each paw. That was a big moment. I have grown as an artist in many ways since this investigation. I do not only feel as though I have physically grown in my craftsmanship, but also mentally in confidence. Before this journey, I never would have dreamed of sharing my 3-D work online, let alone with the school. Now, however, I do not really have those worries anymore. In conclusion, my sustained investigation gave me many challenges and hardships, but in the end, brought me new knowledge for my skills and work as an artist.
Additional Artworks
"Dog Fiesta" | 11" x 11.5" | Graphite | For this still life, my goal was to explore different textures of objects, while sticking to my preferred way of drawing animals.
"The Story of Z" | 5" x 8" | Polymer clay mounted on wood collage | My intent with this piece was to create a cat like character that has a worn down feel. To sculpt the form, I made an armature with wire and then began adding muscle to the armature. Then, I painted it to create color and a worn down feel. I glued the cat onto the piece of wood that was collaged with old drawings of him to represent his importance to me and how he’s developed over the years.
"Dreaming" | Paper pulp, mat board, wire, and tissue paper | I wanted to focus on a person in deep sleep, dreaming. I used paper pulp to sculpt the form. For the clouds, I used a wire frame and glued tissue paper to it with matte medium. I also added a touch of cloud underneath the person to make it look like it’s sleeping on a cloud. To make the platform the person is sleeping on, I blended cool colors onto a matte board and added white dots to make it look like a galaxy.
Follow my Instagram: @1exi3art
Artist website: https://aconrey.weebly.com/
Artist website: https://aconrey.weebly.com/