Research Project Proposal

My Research Project will be focusing on world-building, through the creation of immersive and realised worlds. This will be done through concept art to explore a futuristic science-fiction setting. The project will be linked to the narrative I am planning to tell in my Final Major Project, in an attempt to create context for that story's universe. I will be illustrating my response to, and interpretations of, different themes surrounding science fiction. This will be done in the style of digital and traditional concept art.

For this project, I intend to educate my personal artistic skills and expand the range of mediums at my disposal. I will also put a larger focus on digital work, in order to become more proficient, and inform my own practice through my personal interests of concept art and sci-fi.

I plan to conduct several experiments during my research project. The first of which is “Immersion through environments,” and will relate to the variety of detailed environments and locations in sci-fi, and how they are visually described. The second will be “Immersion through character designs,” where I will research and respond to examples of characters and their designs in different mediums of science-fiction. For my third experiment, I will look into “Immersion through objects,” where I will research the evolution in use and design of everyday objects compared to the modern day, across different mediums of sci-fi. The fourth experiment will look into "Immersion through vehicles and ships," which will relate to the array of futuristic ship and vehicle designs that are seen in popular sci-fi media, and how they gained iconic looks. The next experiment will research "Immersion through creature designs," specifically focusing on the presentation of creatures and animals (fauna) in science-fiction settings, and how they live in their environment. The My final research experiment will cover "Immersion through plant/foliage designs," by looking at the different flora that has been introduced and incorporated into sci-fi worlds, and how the designs have helped these plants to thrive in their environments..

(1)    Sci-Fi Art: The 12th Colony 2321 – 2D Digital, Sci-fiCoolvibe – Digital Art (above)

Shows an example of digital concept art used to visually realise an idea, within the sci-fi genre.

The first experiment will be concepts for different representations of environments in a sci-fi aesthetic, with reference to landscape and backgrounds in other creative mediums of sci-fi. The second will be a concept for a variety of characters that could live in a realised sci-fi world, based on examples from other artists. The third will be concepts of objects found in sci-fi, ranging from futuristic furniture to buildings/structures. The fourth experiment will be imaginative sci-fi concepts of vehicles and ships used by societies in my narrative, with reference to designs from films/games/books set in this genre. The fifth will be concepts for creature designs that could exist in the concept environments I will have previously researched for the previous experiments, with reference to various kinds of fauna that appear in science-fiction media. The final experiment will be concepts for plant and foliage designs that would be present in my concept environments, and could co-exist with my concept creatures, with reference to various existing depictions of flora within this genre.

Research methods of experimentation in my research project are from art books, sci-fi movies, novels and television shows, and internet resources on world-building and concept art. These mediums help me to analyse the style of sci-fi and concept art in different forms, as well as providing different examples of building immersive worlds as context for stories. The idea development strategies for the research project are similar to my FMP, and include imagining the aesthetic of different characters, locations and vehicles in the story and creating varied styles of concepts for them. From there I will chose a particular style and form for the object I like and continue visually creating down that path. This is particularly helpful when presenting obscure themes or unique objects/environments.

(2) The Moon God – Kory Hubbell (above)
Shows an example of environment and vehicle world building.

I believe I am prepared for the research project, as I understand and have responded to the topics I am aiming to explore in the project, but am not proficient enough in my ability to produce concept art in different mediums. This can be resolved by practicing my digital art skills and expanding the range of things I choose to illustrate. The Major Research and Project Planning module has helped me better understand how to analyse and interpret different artist’s work in relation to their intentions, in the sense that I have learned how to critically approach illustrative work. Because of this, I now have a greater understanding of my own practice and intentions, and am able to judge more clearly what works and what doesn’t when communicating through illustrations.

Bibliography

(1)   Science and Nature. (2016). Sci-Fi Art: The 12th Colony 2321 - 2D Digital, Sci-fiCoolvibe - Digital Art... - Science and Nature. [online] Available at: http://scienceandnature.xyz/?p=376  [Accessed 26 Mar. 2016].

(2)   Hubbell, K. (2015). The Moon God. [Digital] [online] Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/WKnZN [Accessed 31 Mar. 2016].