Studio Brief 2 - A Day in the Life: Ideas & Development

Here are some of my initial ideas and roughs for the Visual Skills brief 'A Day in the Life'. 

Out of the 10 articles given, I originally chose 'The age of loneliness is killing us'. I found a lot of ideas came to mind regarding divides in society (such as old and young) and how loneliness is affecting people in different ways. I looked into how loneliness in younger people is partially down to this need to have friends and socialise and how different forms of technology hinder this and can cause people to feel really isolated. I also looked into how the older generation are affected, left lonely by the passing of a spouse and how the elderly don't always understand the progressions in technology around them and this again can cause loneliness.

Initial ideas

After coming up with a few initial ideas, I decided to change the article I wished to work from. My friend recently committed suicide due to depression caused from loneliness and I found having to draw in relation to this article quite difficult. The personal connection to it seemed to stir darker and darker imagery as I went along which wasn't a very happy process.

The article I chose next was one that also really inspired me. 'Can you learn self-control' isn't a new concept but I think everyone can relate to it which means I can play around with imagery and whilst translating the information from the article, I can also try an incorporate humour, character design and other elements in order to push myself and my drawing skills. 

'Can you learn self-control?'

Reading this article, you can't help but find it funny the situation these children have been put in and how they must have reacted to the marshmallow test. Children act naturally when it comes to wanting something they can't have and I really wanted this to come across in the images I make in response to this brief. 

I researched the original Walter Mischel marshmallow tests carried out at the Stanford University. Here is a video I came across, which really helps bring to light the comedy of the tests and the honesty and natural urges in children.

I also really like the ideas explained in the article surrounding how some of the children overcame their urges by imaging that the marshmallow in front of them was dirty, smelly or something entirely different like a ball of fluff. Using imagination and turning the marshmallow into something the children would no longer find hard to resist, maybe something that they didn't particularly like at all, gave me the idea of marshmallows in costumes and disguises. The costumes and disguises being things that children commonly don't like, like vegetables. I really like this idea, however I am struggling with how to fit this into a series of images with the set dimensions given.

"Marshmallows in Disguises" - Ideas to prevent losing our self-control

The following roughs are how I aim to have my final 3 images. I really liked the characters I was able to come up with and feel that their characters and actions really display the comedy in how these children reacted to the marshmallow test. As this is a series/set of images, I wanted their to be a narrative and outcome which is why the first set of images show the children struggling/cheating/failing the test...

2 rough ideas for image 1:Temptation. Dimensions: 290mm x 105mm

The second image is of one of the children acknowledging the time frame and the reward if he waits the 10 minutes of the test without eating the marshmallow...

Rough idea for image 2: Realisation. Dimensions: 105mm x 200mm

...and the last image is of the boy succeeding in not eating the marshmallow by using his imagination to change the marshmallow in his mind to something he no longer finds difficult to resist. The hand outstretched is the sign that the test is over, so can he now have his extra marshmallow reward.

Rough idea for image 3: Success & reward. Dimensions: 200mm x 200mm

Next steps

The next steps with this brief are to tweak my ideas in terms of composition and decide on colour scheme and choice of media. I would also like to find a way of incorporating my marshmallows in disguise idea bit I am still struggling with a way to this. I would have also liked to go digital with this work, but I am not sure I am confident enough to complete the work in the specified timeframe to a standard I am happy with.

Ideas for media:
Ink and brush
Fine liner and marker pen
Acrylic
Paper cut/collage