Hot Dog Books

The first two of my hot dog books centred on my initial research relating to location and solitude. This was so as to see if there was anything worth taking from that first strand of research that could be further developed.

I like the movement through the landscape in both of these books that is achieved through the subtle changes in setting. There is also a certain emotive quality to them, particularly the first due to the minimal approach to character design.

Despite this I feel the use of grey scale, as in my previous work, has made this storyboard feel more about loneliness due to the melancholy feel it has given it. Where as the pastel pinks and purples used in the second image have given the land a more peaceful atmosphere and this, particular in the final frame have made the character seem content.
However over all i prefer the use of ink in the first one due to the fluidity and humanness that the brush strokes and inky textures give it.

I was then interested in whether or not I could reconcile my two strands of research and link both my images of stark landscapes and electronic equipment.

A possibility of achieving this was realised after looking into the personas of experimental Detroit electro artists Drexcyia (they released music on Warp amongst other labels). 

Despite there importance to and influence upon electronic music both members famously shied away from any sort of media attention and publicity (with Gerald Donald still only performing behind a mask and under a new persona Dopplereffekt) and instead created a false but highly intriguing mythology around there work. Most of this focussed around afro centric and aquatic themes relating to an underwater race, these concepts are often heard within and further served to influence the music they made.

With this in mind I went about creating a short story depicting a living embodiment of bleep techno being created and coming to life in the Pennines. 

When creating it I decided to make it predominantly grey scale with minimal use of colour. This was both to avoid it becoming to melancholy like my fist book but also so as to try and recreate the sense dynamic sense of movement it had achieved in my previous work.

Although it feels much rougher than the other two I like it a lot more due to the amount of different media and approaches I've used such as cut out shapes, ink, pencil and Posca paint pens. I'm not one hundred percent sure about the story, as it feels perhaps a little silly and involves too much embelishment I do think the idea of linking my research into music, landscapes and solitude will lead to the creation of more interesting work.