30Works30Days is an annual month-long project organised by 12ocollective. I signed up to submit a piece of work, every day for the month of April 2022. At the start of 30works30days, I wanted to continue developing fluency using OpenBrush for 3D drawing. With the mantra `do a little bit every day’ I settled down to work.
I always intended to revisit my Obliterated Crow project, so I took this opportunity to do just that. I found the drawings I had produced for my Obliterated Crow stop-frame animation; line drawings produced using various media including ink wash and Biro. I took these drawings into virtual reality as my reference. When drawing in 3D it is essential to use a good reference source from which to create a 3D interpretation of a 2D image; it allows you to concentrate on the complexity of creating a 3D shape working as a sculptor would: turning, moving and adjusting your lines.
You can watch all of the videos I shared for 30works30days on my YouTube Channel 30works30days2022
So why put the crows in Platonic solids? You cannot deny the mathematical basis of this digital world and when you spend time working with computer software (Blender, Unity OpenBrush) you become aware of how much of what you make is built upon Platonic solids. In broader terms, I wanted the crows represented in relation to a complex network both visually and conceptually. All life is linked; the more complex the lifeform the more inter-reliant, and crows are a complex, intelligent, inter-reliant lifeform.
I can now name the Platonic solids (and even spell them on a good day) and found out that each one is a geometric reference to earth, fire, air, water and the universe. Who knew?
Anyway, at the end of 30works30days, I have 30 videos of numerous crows flying through various combinations of Platonic solids. My studio is filling with 2D crow drawings as I continue to redraw and change my original stop-frame sketches. My head is teeming with ideas of what I could do next with this source material, time permitting.
You can watch all of the videos I shared for 30works30days on my YouTube Channel 30works30days2022