Category Archives: Research

Visual Narrative: Lip Sync – Jason and the Adventure of 254 exhibition, Jason Wilsher-Mills, Wellcome Collection, 25th April 2024

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I’m a huge fan of art that is fun and meets people at whatever level of art knowledge they approach it at. In my own animation practice, I really want to bring my experimental, fine art interests together with my sense of humour and desire to make things that can engage a wide audience. This exhibition was perfect for seeing that kind of work in practice. Artist Jason Wilsher-Mills approached a complex and difficult experience in his life, exploring both the physical and emotional trauma of his disability, but he tells his story with humour, colour and a range of ways for visitors of all ages to engage with the art.

Accessibility is a huge part of this exhibition, which I love. There is an audio guide recorded by Wilsher-Mills himself, tactile flooring to guide the visually impaired, and visitors are allowed to touch all of the works. When I was listening to Wilsher-Mills talking about the huge sculpture of himself in the middle of the room, I leaned my arms against the side of it to get comfortable, and somehow that made me feel more connected to what I was looking at and listening to. Interactivity and participation in art is something I’m obsessed with, and want to keep on coming back to in my practice when I get the chance.

My plan for this project is to infuse a little of the concept behind this exhibition, by bringing my own experimentation and humour to my work.

Visual Narrative: Monochrome – Impressionists on Paper exhibition, Royal Academy, 9th March 2024

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Things I took away from this exhbition:

  • Different ways artists used both wet and dry materials on paper – but I was looking more at the use of dry materials e.g. pastels
  • Working with the textures of the paper
  • Different ways of creating tone, showing light and shadow
  • I particularly love the Degas ‘Woman Combing Her Hair’ for the way he’s really captured the movement. The places where he’s redrawn the lines, e.g. her arm and knee – even if that was just him correcting himself, it really feels like you can see her moving. It looks like frames of an animation layered on top of each other
Albert Lebourg, ‘The Artist’s Wife and Mother-in-law Reading a Letter by Candlelight’, c.1878-79
Edgar Degas, ‘Ludovic Halevy Finds Madame Cardinal in the Dressing Room, 1876-77
Edouard Manet, ‘The Rue Mosnier in the Rain, 1878
Jean-Louis Forain, ‘Walk in the Snow’ (detail), c. 1885-88
Edgar Degas, ‘A Seated Jockey, Facing Right’, c. 1880-82
Guiseppe de Nittis, ‘In the Cab’, 1880-83
Edgar Degas, ‘Dancer Seen from Behind’, c. 1873
Jean-Louis Forain, ‘Dance Card’ (detail), c.1888
Paul Cezanne, ‘Academic Study of a Male Nude with His Right hand Clenched Across His Chest’ (detail), c. 1867-70
Georges Seurat, ‘The Gleaner’, c.1882
Paul Signac, ‘Woman Sewing (Study for ‘The Milliners’), 1885
George Seurat, ‘Seated Youth, Study for ‘Bathers at Asnieres’ 1883
Vincent Van Gogh, ‘Peasant Woman Carrying Wheat in Her Apron’ (detail), July-August 1885
Vincent Van Gogh, ‘Thisles by the Roadside’, August 1888
Armand Guillaumin, ‘Interior’ (detail), 1889
Vincent Van Gogh, ‘Thatched Roofs’ (detail), 1884
Henri-Edmond Cross, ‘Le Lavandou’ c. 1898
Edgar Degas, ‘Woman Combing Her Hair’, c. 1887-90
Odilon Redon, ‘Ophelia Among the Flowers’ (detail), c. 1905-08
Odilon Redon, ‘Christ Crowned with Thorns’ (detail), 1895

Production Principles: Out Of Your Head, 6th November 2023

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We started out project by trying to find the key themes and images of our animation, starting with these words from the list:

  • Greed
  • Uncover
  • Tiny
  • Huge
  • Burst
  • Awaken

I tried to gear the group more towards the verbs from the list, as it made sense to me that action words like ‘burst’ would generate more images and basic starting points that we could build upon than trying to navigate too many big themes like ‘love’. Similarly, visual words like ‘tiny’ and ‘huge’ helped to generate simple ideas we could build upon.

At the brainstorming stage, we were open to any kind of images and ideas that came up. I felt more comfortable at this stage to stick to abstract themes than concrete story ideas, since it became clear quite quickly that people in the group had quite different ideas of what made a good story.

However, we reached a point when discussing abstract concepts could only get us so far, so a tutor suggested we brainstormed individually from each word, putting down whatever words and images came to mind without overthinking. This was helpful because we could then bring those ideas back to the main group discussion.

[insert scan of my ‘Uncover’ brainstorm]

We also discussed mediums, as we want to use both 2D and stop motion animation. I think I have more experience of stop motion than the others, and I’m more aware of the possibilities within that area, so I shared this with them as an example of bringing 2D and drawing experience into a stop motion world:

Artist Research: Peter Millard

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Peter Millard is an animation filmmaker who has a really fun, playful style. He uses simple shapes to form characters and his work is filled with silly humour and bizarre things happening. In my own work, I really want to use similar techniques to make things are funny and silly but still artistic

Artist Research: Thomas Harnett O’Meara

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Thomas Harnett O’Meara is a director who specialises in animated storytelling

Plant Geometry (2014)

Plant Geometry is an example of replacement animation, made during O’Meara’s studies at the Royal Academy of Art.

Roald and Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse (2020)

O’Meara was the Animation Director for Roald and Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse’, which was inspired by a true story about Roald Dahl and Beatrix Potter.