material and software experiment

I decided to have a go at the modelling the Greek mask in clay unlike my image i decided to leave  out the wings , this model relates more to these Greek masks.

this is my clay model its out of red terracotta clay  

the clay model with red and white paint in a jester theme 

During my project i wanted to come up with some ideas that was not just made in maya or mudbox
so decided to go with red clay to make a physical mask so could see the topology and how it would
fit on the persons face when they have it on  it,

i wanted to get a shape ready so looked at mask shapes and went with a ball room mask but i put my own twist two it as you can see i have made it to a jester mask,

the problems i had was that i kept breaking and having to restart the building the one time it split in harf when caring it to the table and the dealing kept coming off as well because there was no kiln to heat proof it to make it solid that why it kept breaking was not strong enough,

what i liked with it was the the way i came up with a paten and idea  on my own i like the jester idea
thought it was unique and out there when i came up with had to put few coats of white paint on it to get the Wright constancy.

Another idea i had was to be make in mudbox and that was the software i desired to go with for my final in the end,

overall i liked the clay was fun to use and an experience but was to fiddly to get done in a time zone but mudbox was easy to use so that is why i chose it for my final.  


     

Greek Masks

This is my first attempt at a Greek mask

For the subject i wanted to do something Greek with winds like Apollo
but i did not want it gold or silver but more something original
its not realistic in the sense of its to the time period but my own take on what i would like it to be,
the techniques i used where Photoshop i tried to use drawing but it did not work out that well
but i like Photoshop and was used to it, the tools i used where manly the brush tool and paint tool and smudge to get the details.

The problems i had were just getting both sides the same but i just copied it over and flipped it
what i could of done better would of liked to of used a avast  array of colours on the scale like yellows and violet indigo more strange ones.

This is my experimental colour palate on each of the masks where i was looking at colours and what went well together, i struggled with this because i am colour blind.

I started to look at Greek masks. 



project plan

Week	Session Activities
1	Project introduction, Students working on producing their briefs.	Research / Planning / Proposal  Generation of initial ideas. Mood board and mind map Started to write  my proposal Make a mask looking at other countries, media and by looking at images and other references materials
2	Evidence gathering	Gathering Reference Mask of different cultures and historical importance. African masks, Japan Assassin mask and renascence Books of historic mask, video game art books that have concept art,
3	.	Researching I want to have a ballroom scene as a backdrop to my masks but have the masks stand out more from the background have the background a bit blurred and the masks a bit more sharper in textures   Picasso, renascence Jeff Semmerling, David Knezz, Ancient rituals, the history of masks Assassins creed 2 gold mask
4		Experimentation Clay model, Photoshop ,Maya
5		Developed drawings and visual proposal sketches Different mask shapes and sizes Small sketches with shading Color palette on the same mask Spanning other genre.  Have a basic head shape first, work on getting mask shape of the head, to build up the mask details check all of my angles and no overlapping. Move onto finer detail In mudbox then texture map and render
6		Begin final concept piece My final piece is to have a mud box piece And to have it textured and rendered and in engine.
7		Continuation of practical element. Blog updates and log any problems., Photoshop, Mudbox, drawings and Maya experiments.
8		Continuation of practical element. To log any UV problems and to continue to research about UVing.
9		Uving
10		Uving
11		Continuation of practical element. Log and process all my texturing for any problems that may occur. I will log my process of how I tend to texture my final piece. Any software problems and experiments will be logged.
12		Texturing To pay attention to the finer details so that the end piece looks professional. There has to be scaring on the masks and fine texturing to enhance its look.
13		Finalization of project. Get all the last things finished.
14		Summative Assessment/Deadline. Evaluation.

history of masks

Masks are used for may reasons they can be split into what they are used for ritual reasons,for protection,disguise and for entertainment,

ritual 

this has to be the oldest on the list they append  all over the world but they differ graitly to one and another in Africa masks are made of wood and and decorated where meant represent real/mythical animals and people, also where used in ritual dances or totem animals to help ward of evil spirits.
north america did things a bit different inuit tribes and woodland tribes had masks that they called false faces for shamanic rituals, in Egypt masks where used death masks that depict the dead
they also made masked that represented the gods.
in china they have shamanic masks to be used to thank gods and protection from evil spirits they-are also used in ceremony such as weddings and births and deaths.
entertainment

 Masks for entertainment are used in theatre, opera and during carnivals also celebrations
theatre masks were used during Greek times made from wood,leather cork and brass so the sound the people talking could be herd they would put a megaphone on it the mask so the sound would reach more people,
one of the most famous  masks i can think of in entertainment is in the play the phantom of the opera
its just such a simple mask but so iconic.

hide identity

masks have also been used to hides ones identity from the law we all know the classic black eye mask and stripy tops of robbers,
they where used a lot during the renascence period where wealthy locals would be able to mingle with one knowing who they where and to hide there place in society
they are also used in the army as camouflage on tanks ans well as there the British camo patern is called DPM and thst has changed from environment you can get urban and desert as well.

protection 

protection mask come in all shapes and sizes they are mainly used for protecting the face
from flying objects or dust in the air.
in the past they where used by knights in wars police on riot gear as well as gas masks from harmful agents

they are used alot in sports as well some sports are mandatory to were one for your safety such as paint ball,fencing, hockey
they are also used in medical as well so doctors do not breath all over the patient so when they scrub down and wash up they put on a face mask so they and the person is protected from bacteria and germs

project goals and proposed outcome statement

outcome statement 

What my goals are for this project is to design an original idea but to keep some sort f realism
to my design also to have a good understanding and practice of the tools that will be new to me over
this project and to get better at the tools i have already used over the time of the course,
there will be many things i will find hard but i will not let that stop me from achieving the goal of getting a merit at the end of this course so i can go to university.

I need to make myself aware of what i am doing and not get distracted so i can just get on with what i am doing in this project because i know that if i do i will get behind and just not bother with the work, i feel like i need to work more on my own the project and not ask help from the tours for help all the time,i know i am not the best at art but still need to learn some belief that i can do it on my own.

The outcome i feel i think i will get from this project will be that i will do well at the start and as the
year goes on will start to struggle a lot in the later stages in the course dew to lack of confidence and getting detracted by other people wondering the room or just not bothering in the end,
i know i can do it though i just need to get down a work it is not to hard to get it done.




project goals

these swill be the goals i will set over this year and the project
 1 to get a good basis down to work of so i know what my target audience is
2 practice my drawing skills so i can design detailed drawings of masks
3 have a good understanding of the history of masks and what they where used for and why
4 look up artists who use/used masks in there work/works to get ides for my own mask
5  look at the media and see what there interpretation of masks are like in games,films and plays
6 start my final with a good idea of who it is for,what environments in ( thief masquerade party)

mind map

mind map 

For my mind map I have split it up into category games, China and  Africa
then I split that off into other sub categories. When I was doing this mind map I was looking for lots of ideas related to masks and put down ideas that I new already such as games,
I knew such games as  Dishonored, Corvo  and  Raiders Mask from Fallout 4
I did not just look at games, I looked at spiritual and ritual looks of masks from countries, like Africa, Japan and other countries. I plan on using this mind map to help aid my future designs by looking into these subject areas.