Project Progress Evaluation

Researching this project was an exciting process as I really got to understand prosthetics. Looking at other artists who share the same passion for it, made me feel very inspired and motivated to create my own character! I did find it difficult to find the right model and I did find it quite time consuming, because I wanted that person to reflect all of characteristics of my creature. I straight away knew what I wanted to do, and what kind of a world I wanted my creature to live in. I had a vision for everything so it was quite easy for me to know what direction I needed my research to go in. The thing that I wish I did differently about this project is practise. I should have focused on hair application in order to really understand how it works. When it comes to my wound assessment, I feel like it went really well and the outcome was exactly what I wanted it to be. That part of the project made me realise that the make up looks that we do for assessments, do not always have to be over the top- but they have to truly reflect our characters and send the right message across. Researching anatomy, was an interesting part of it as well because it was something new, that’s never came up before. Overall, this project has been full of learning curves, however quite stressful at times also because very often I was trying to rush and that is the least helpful thing to do while making a mould, I’ve learnt.

My Technical Evaluation of the Project

This project was one of the most educational so far in my opinion when it comes to the technical side. I have learnt a lot about the application of prosthetic pieces and the importance of lack of contamination as it may damage the product, i.e. silicone. By this I mean that it is essential to wear a different pair of gloves whenever using a different type of product. I feel like I have grown as not only a student, but as an artist also because of the amount of techniques we have learnt and the amount of obstacles I had to face. For instance, the fact I could not use a nose piece for my human hybrid because it was not flat, meant I had to put in extra work, and concentrate on other areas of the body also. This meant extra work, however also more practise and experience with silicone and the appropriate measurements, which I have had a problem with. In result it helped me to understand the process better. It also made me feel a lot more confident about the whole process of making a silicone mould in general. I do feel like I should have spent more time practising hair application, as the final outcome is not what I was going for. The hair on my character was too thick and I feel like I should have placed more hair on the rest of my characters body in order for him to seem realistic. I have also used a lot of products during the application process and that gave me even more experience as it was a time of trial and error and I feel like it encouraged me to experiment with the products/application even more, which just made it even more enjoyable.

Photos of my character + EDITS

EDITED VERSION

These are photos of my final design + character. When it comes to the wound on the chest- I am very pleased with it. However, I should have created more texture in order for it to seem realistic and a part of the model's body. When it comes to the hair on the face, I think the amount should have been reduced as with out the teeth, my character looks more like a monkey then a wolf... I did not see that until I took the photos, which is quite frustrating as it is such an easy thing to change, but it would have made a big difference.

The brow part that I made out of silicone, did not want to stick on properly, no matter what glue I used. I did try to blend the edges as much as I could with alcohol, however, I did prove to be almost impossible.

My 1:1

The 1:1 with Kat has really helped me to understand and develop my idea. We spoke about the way I decided to represent my character and why I decided to do it that way... It made me feel a lot calmer about the whole project and I knew I was doing something right,which encouraged me to carry on researching and thinking of ways to improve my blogging etc.

When it comes to the moulds- at the start I only wanted to mould the wolf's brows... However, considering I was using the nose piece and it would have been in the centre of attention- Kat suggested I mould something else that will make the character more of a wolf and that would also improve my grade. I decided to do a scratch on the wolf's chest considering he lives in a very dangerous world and 'everything you want- you have to fight for'. I felt like it was appropriate for me to do and therefore decided it would be a good one for me to do.

Kat also suggested I do more face charts in order to really show what I want my character to look like... This would also help me see what elements will work and what elements won't work when it comes to actually creating my character.

The moulds I have created for my character

These are the pictures of my moulds that I have created for my wolf character. I have made the scratch on the chest after speaking to Kat who suggested I mould something else, as the eyebrow bit would not be enough. 

I have found the wound application effortless and easily blendable. I feel like it totally completed the look and I am happy I decided to make this mould last minute... 

Human animal hybrids grown in UK labs

I have found a very interesting article on Daily Mail, which talks about human creating real life human/animal hybrids in the lab. The article talks about how scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos in British laboratories. 

The hybrids have been produced with out the public's realisation over the past three years by scientists looking into possible cures for a range of diseases.

"The revelation comes just a day after a committee of scientists warned of a nightmare ‘Planet of the Apes’ scenario in which work on human-animal creations goes too far.

Figures seen by the Daily Mail show that 155 ‘admixed’ embryos, containing both human and animal genetic material, have been created since the introduction of the 2008 Human Fertilisation Embryology Act.

This legalised the creation of a variety of hybrids, including an animal egg fertilised by a human sperm; ‘cybrids’, in which a human nucleus is implanted into an animal cell; and ‘chimeras’, in which human cells are mixed with animal embryos.

Scientists say the techniques can be used to develop embryonic stem cells which can be used to treat a range of incurable illnesses. Three labs in the UK – at King’s College London, Newcastle University and Warwick University – were granted licences to carry out the research after the Act came into force. All have now stopped creating hybrid embryos due to a lack of funding, but scientists believe that there will be more such work in the future.

The figure was revealed to crossbench peer Lord Alton following a Parliamentary question. 

Josephine Quintavalle, of pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: ‘I am aghast that this is going on and we didn’t know anything about it. ‘Why have they kept this a secret? If they are proud of what they are doing, why do we need to ask Parliamentary questions for this to come to light? ‘The problem with many scientists is that they want to do things because they want to experiment. That is not a good enough rationale.’ Earlier this week, a group of leading scientists warned about ‘Planet of the Apes’ experiments. They called for new rules to prevent lab animals being given human attributes, for example by injecting human stem cells into the brains of primates.

But the lead author of their report, Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, from the Medical Research Council’ s National Institute for Medical Research, said the scientists were not concerned about human-animal hybrid embryos because by law these have to be destroyed within 14 days. He said: ‘The reason for doing these experiments is to understand more about early human development and come up with ways of curing serious diseases, and as a scientist I feel there is a moral imperative to pursue this research.

‘As long as we have sufficient controls – as we do in this country – we should be proud of the research.’

However, he called for stricter controls on another type of embryo research, in which animal embryos are implanted with a small amount of human genetic material. Human-animal hybrids are also created in other countries, many of which have little or no regulation."

Martin, D. (2011). 150 human animal hybrids grown in UK labs: Embryos have been produced secretively for the past three years. Available: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2017818/Embryos-involving-genes-animals-mixed-humans-produced-secretively-past-years.html. Last accessed 27th Nov 2015.

Practise of crepe hair application

Step by step guide:

First thing you have to do is cut the hair that you have and you want to use as stubble or anything else, then using an old brush mix the hair in the bowl so that it is not all stuck together.

Next, you need to apply prittstick or stubble stick onto your hand to warm it up, which will make it a bit easier to work with. Then apply it onto the face and then using the brush stick the hair onto wherever you want it to be. In order to safely remove it from the face you can use spirit gum remover.

** in the photo below I have used an eyelash glue as that is all I had at the time.

I have found this process very easy and I feel like it will be very useful while creating my character- the wolf man. It made me realise about the layers and how careful you have to be while applying the hair onto the face in order to make it seem realistic.

The removing process proved to be quite difficult and painful for the model so I am planning on researching different ways of removing crepe hair in order for my model to feel comfortable.