This is further exploration into a story concept about the Nutcracker from ETA Hoffman's original book.
Showing posts with label nutcracker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nutcracker. Show all posts
Friday, December 10, 2010
Nutcracker - Josh
Here's another attempt of a Nutcracker I've been doodling for a while in various past sketches (1, 2, 3).
This is further exploration into a story concept about the Nutcracker from ETA Hoffman's original book.
This is further exploration into a story concept about the Nutcracker from ETA Hoffman's original book.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Cracking!
Aside from a few Nutcrackers from Josh's childhood (he used to collect them), we have been building our own collection since our first year of marriage, one Nutcracker for every Christmas. The one with the big head on left side is this year's addition.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
A Little Nutty
Hi everyone,
As you can painfully see we have not been posting anything for a while now. Life has just been personally busy in ways we cannot avoid and so it has caused us to neglect our blog. We've whipped up a collection of posts and now we're trying to find time to actually put them together.
It's Christmas and I (Josh) don't have much to show you but I do have this very rough sketch I threw together yesterday during my 15 minute break at work.
It's a design of the Nutcracker for a personal project of mine. The Nutcracker's form is actually a cursed man from an origin story in the Nutcracker novel called The Hard Nut. I've wanted to see the Nutcracker book by ETA Hoffman adapted into a film for while now, and until that happens I've been slowly designing my own! Another example I can show of my work on this project is the concept for a teaser trailer. (I know, I show this every year. TRADITION!)
More to posts to come!
As you can painfully see we have not been posting anything for a while now. Life has just been personally busy in ways we cannot avoid and so it has caused us to neglect our blog. We've whipped up a collection of posts and now we're trying to find time to actually put them together.
It's Christmas and I (Josh) don't have much to show you but I do have this very rough sketch I threw together yesterday during my 15 minute break at work.
It's a design of the Nutcracker for a personal project of mine. The Nutcracker's form is actually a cursed man from an origin story in the Nutcracker novel called The Hard Nut. I've wanted to see the Nutcracker book by ETA Hoffman adapted into a film for while now, and until that happens I've been slowly designing my own! Another example I can show of my work on this project is the concept for a teaser trailer. (I know, I show this every year. TRADITION!)More to posts to come!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Class Poster Project
For this project we needed to make a poster for a stage production and the medium was up to us. I chose to create my final piece using Photoshop. Our teacher told us not to worry about text, such as the title, or other poster graphics.
The two plays I chose were The Nutcracker ballet and a new play that is still being created titled The Mercy. The Mercy is a play that I helped to create, in that I have been providing feedback, direction, ideas, and designs. The Mercy is a play about Mitsuo Fuchida, who led the attack on Pearl Harbor (he said "TORA TORA TORA!") and a man named Jacob Deshazer who was in the Dolittle Raids (the USA's first strike against Japan after Pearl Harbor). Jacob's plane was shot down and he was placed in a Japanese prison camp till the end of the war. Fuchida, although a war hero, became a reject of society following the war. Both of these men went through great suffering and both experienced great mercy in different forms. They became a means to help the healing after WWII between Japan and America. Aside from the historical story, the play is ultimately about God's mercy and forgiveness of us and how He empowers us to forgive and show mercy to others.
The first thing we were instructed to do was create a collection of thumbnails.
The class and the teacher then chose two (2) of the thumbnails to explore and refine (the thumbnails circled in red).The Nutcracker thumbnail shows the figure of Clara (the main character) standing in the middle. The figure of the Nutcracker is in the center of Clara's figure. The eye and eye patch is of Judge/Godfather Drosselmeier, who is a mysterious character that sort of haunts Clara.
In the last thumbnail I included more detail of the characters; however, I chose to go back to the original thumbnail idea and make it more graphic using silhouettes.
The Mercy thumbnail comes from an element in the play. The following text is an excerpt from the script and it takes place just after Matsuo Fuchida leads the attack on Pearl Harbor, which is done as an abstract dream: "samurai surround Fuchida and he extends his hands, in fists. Two samurai clap them within a white, rectangular wooden stock, though whether it is shackles or honor is ambiguous. Fuchida's head drops, and he opens his hands. They are in red gloves, and his splayed fingers make the Rising Sun over the white background (Japanese war flag)." I based my design of this poster from this part in the play, although I thought it would look better with fresh red paint on the hands.
The two plays I chose were The Nutcracker ballet and a new play that is still being created titled The Mercy. The Mercy is a play that I helped to create, in that I have been providing feedback, direction, ideas, and designs. The Mercy is a play about Mitsuo Fuchida, who led the attack on Pearl Harbor (he said "TORA TORA TORA!") and a man named Jacob Deshazer who was in the Dolittle Raids (the USA's first strike against Japan after Pearl Harbor). Jacob's plane was shot down and he was placed in a Japanese prison camp till the end of the war. Fuchida, although a war hero, became a reject of society following the war. Both of these men went through great suffering and both experienced great mercy in different forms. They became a means to help the healing after WWII between Japan and America. Aside from the historical story, the play is ultimately about God's mercy and forgiveness of us and how He empowers us to forgive and show mercy to others.
The first thing we were instructed to do was create a collection of thumbnails.
The class and the teacher then chose two (2) of the thumbnails to explore and refine (the thumbnails circled in red).The Nutcracker thumbnail shows the figure of Clara (the main character) standing in the middle. The figure of the Nutcracker is in the center of Clara's figure. The eye and eye patch is of Judge/Godfather Drosselmeier, who is a mysterious character that sort of haunts Clara.
In the last thumbnail I included more detail of the characters; however, I chose to go back to the original thumbnail idea and make it more graphic using silhouettes.
The Mercy thumbnail comes from an element in the play. The following text is an excerpt from the script and it takes place just after Matsuo Fuchida leads the attack on Pearl Harbor, which is done as an abstract dream: "samurai surround Fuchida and he extends his hands, in fists. Two samurai clap them within a white, rectangular wooden stock, though whether it is shackles or honor is ambiguous. Fuchida's head drops, and he opens his hands. They are in red gloves, and his splayed fingers make the Rising Sun over the white background (Japanese war flag)." I based my design of this poster from this part in the play, although I thought it would look better with fresh red paint on the hands.
I explored some color variations for the Mercy and the Nutcracker posters. I chose to go with the Mercy poster as my final, but I hope to someday develop the Nutcracker poster.
This is how the final Mercy poster turned out. I think if I had to do it again I would make the red paint thinner, without so many ripples and drips. It kinda looks like ketchup!
After completing the original design, Katie and I discussed how we could include some Japanese characters into a new design. I was able to find the translation of the word "mercy" into Japanese characters and painted a rough version of how it could look.
After completing the original design, Katie and I discussed how we could include some Japanese characters into a new design. I was able to find the translation of the word "mercy" into Japanese characters and painted a rough version of how it could look.
I think it almost resembles a crucifix. I personally like this design better but I feel it needs more work.
If I can make the "actual" poster someday, I would rather take a photograph of someone's hands being covered in red paint instead of creating an illustration. I would then adjust that photograph accordingly in Photoshop to resemble this design.
If I can make the "actual" poster someday, I would rather take a photograph of someone's hands being covered in red paint instead of creating an illustration. I would then adjust that photograph accordingly in Photoshop to resemble this design.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
North Pole Workshop (Part 2)
I’m trying to make an annual tradition for myself to design themed attractions for different seasons. I have one for St. Patrick’s Day and one for Christmas. This is an interior attraction/experience which acts like a small theme park. It allows visitors to explore Santa’s Workshop in the North Pole, while also providing educational attractions that explain various elements of the Christmas season. This post picks up where my last post from Christmas 2006 left off (click HERE to read last year’s).
I’m starting to paint my rough drawings from last year. Here is the North Pole landmark.
And the exterior of the Entrance Building/Room.
The Entrance Building/Room contains all kinds of Christmas imagery such as toy soldiers, nutcrackers, Christmas trees, lights, toys, etc. Everything is deigned to look like it’s made of wood using large round friendly shapes. The room is one big circle where the visitors enter from large double doors on the south side. On the north side is a large, round, stylized Christmas tree that appears to be halfway embedded in the wall. On the east side is a very large fire place that actually functions as the Front Desk.
On the west side is a solider box and inside stands a large six foot tall Nutcracker.
Four large toy soldiers stand against the walls.
This room will come to life with various forms of effects and animatronics. A secret entrance through the Christmas Tree will be revealed and lead the visitors to the Workshop.
Till next year ...
I’m starting to paint my rough drawings from last year. Here is the North Pole landmark.
And the exterior of the Entrance Building/Room.
The Entrance Building/Room contains all kinds of Christmas imagery such as toy soldiers, nutcrackers, Christmas trees, lights, toys, etc. Everything is deigned to look like it’s made of wood using large round friendly shapes. The room is one big circle where the visitors enter from large double doors on the south side. On the north side is a large, round, stylized Christmas tree that appears to be halfway embedded in the wall. On the east side is a very large fire place that actually functions as the Front Desk.
On the west side is a solider box and inside stands a large six foot tall Nutcracker.
Four large toy soldiers stand against the walls.
This room will come to life with various forms of effects and animatronics. A secret entrance through the Christmas Tree will be revealed and lead the visitors to the Workshop.Till next year ...
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