Worm the workup to this projects “final idea” was convoluted and confusing, with most of it being experimenting with different ideas, medias and ways of telling a story. from the “emotional” experimentation, the next step was the “guts”, pink and strange creatures experimentation.
initial ideas for “worm”, inspired by the “guts” work
original worm idea with fabric examples and worm on a string idea
worm test about 5 inches long used to figure out if pattern i made to make worm was correct (if the pieces fit together correctly)
final worm outcomes 3x fabric various yarn colours stuffing
using any kind of wire as a posable option as he’s too big and heavy for it to be effective , plus the “window ” in his belly would
Oppy & Pem
• first characters made with the idea of having an emotion behind them
• stands for optimism and pessimism
• made with the idea that they will be characters in a children’s book
• specifically made with a
simple colour scheme that reflects the given emotion, as well as a simple shape for the same reasons.
initial idea for Oppy came from the “Rhizomes” and “6 memos” brief- Oppy was originally “hope”
a simple shape, with pencil textures, simple colours and hopefully an outcome that reflects “hope” or “optimism” for viewers
Oppy has no legs, he floats, to reflect hopefullness, he smiles, shines somewhat like a star with orange and yellow.
“pem” was developed shortly after, as an “opposing side of oppy”. he is supposed to look similar to Oppy whilst being almost opposite. he has legs, originally had no real face,
testing colours, shapes etc until one felt like an “opposite” or simply an opposing force. the colours reflect the original 6 memo piece of hope in a sad place.
i didn’t want to use yellow and blue originally as it felt too “obvious” but decided perhaps obvious was a good choice for children characters.
choosing to make it children friendly also meant i could try and keep it “cute� instead of following the previous works creepy vibe. Pem is not a bad character, he is simply another emotion a child may feel and may struggle to explain.
i did however struggle with making oppys original face not look creepy.
and also experimented with making it an adult book about emotions, or alternatively a children’s book in a sort of older style like that of the cartoon “angela anaconda�
more experimenting with drawing the character
started with such a simple character but realised it was actually a hard design to work with considering how i draw
vs Pem who was working out much easier to “Cartoon”
planning how to sew them with chosen fabrics + pattern planning
test for sewing Pem and dye tests/dying fabric for the bluewhite colour he has
second planning page for pem in sketchbook that details every dye test
starting to plan out book pages: a story about a nameless child learning of optimism and pessimism