Hybridmania!

As a child I was very imaginative, in the playground my classmates would gather round as I invented something new and fun to play. I’d whisk us off to a magical world where we were powerful fairies or demons, or we’d play our own take on Cops ‘n’ Robbers… vampires and princesses ( I had unusually large canines as a child so naturally I was always a vampire.)
Because of my imagination I was gifted with artistic skill, I could spend ours doodling new shapes and colours but one thing always frustrated me.

I could never put across just exactly what I was picturing. My head would be filled with mythical beasts and creatures but I could never draw them how I was imaging them, so alas I had to rely on my descriptive capabilities which also made me and good at English. Huzzah!

I’ve always struggled with drawing thins from fantasy until quite recently, when I realised that using the world around me could help me get across my vision.

Take last year’s organic creature project for example. I knew vaguely that I wanted to create a creepy two-legged creature but by studying the shapes of eggs I had created myself a body and by looking at the branches of ivy I had created the legs.

I was amazed at how everyday objects could be used creatively to make something new. I have also learned to approach projects with a clear mind and to never-ever go with my first idea. Instead, I take that idea and hybrid it with something I find interesting. For example I was challenged with designing a vehicle, I wanted to make a helicopter but to define it as my own I studied the shapes and colouring of wasps to create an original vehicle concept. However taking into affecting my new understandings I abandoned the helicopter idea, worked and reworked my design until I had a wasp/submarine hybrid that I was proud to call my own.

From all of this I have learnt that using examples from life and studying the world around us is invaluable. Though we may all have our own designs and ideas, using realistic examples creatively will result in a much more professional and original outcome.

However the only drawback from all this is that I am now a hybrid designing monster :)