British Landscape Final Piece (work in progress)

Four Final design Headshots

Dog Minder

Duster

Gardener

Night Butler

Gardener

This beautiful creature is the gardener. Chosen by the Queen because of the digging and plant eating that this thing demonstrated in the wild. With the use of its sharp and pointed double-jawed mouth it spears its face into the ground in search of roots to eat when regular plants are not in reach. However under service of the queen this guy uses his digging to make beds for plants and eats up all the pesky weeds, that is why he is significantly larger than the other unfortunate souls in Elizabeth's employ. 

The below images are of the gardeners original design, based on the Praying Mantis, however I was not satisfied with the design and thought I was limiting myself too much by basing him off of an existing creature.

Now this is a rejected idea for a chef character. His species is known for its delicious preparation of food and cooking abilities. Being so fat and bad at running, this prey creature learned to scare its hunters by peeling the flesh off of its plump face and exposing a skull-like head beneath it.

Dog Minder

This shrivelled, malnourished, abused thing is the Dog Minder. His species is known for its ferocity, stubbornness and pride, however after a few months of torture and starvation, this creatures will finally broke, what's left is a shell of its former self. Forced to tend to the Queens corgis, night and day, this poor canine-like beast must use all its might just to stay standing. Spending all day picking up dog faeces, scrubbing away urine and making sure the dogs don't kill themselves by jumping off of balconies.

Night Butler

This poor unfortunate soul is enslaved by the queen simply because of his mild demeanour and moon shaped head. His timid personality keeps the air subdued during the evenings and because his species is so placid, he doesn't need much 'persuading' to stay in the queens service, unlike some of the other creatures under her command. His main roles are closing the curtains, managing the other servants sleep schedules and serving the queen whenever he hears her bell from her bedside table.



Below are some progress pictures:

Duster

This creature, "Duster", is designed to basically be a walking feather duster, when he is just walking around his very thin feathers are pressed down to his body, but when he is ready to clean he fluffs them up and uses his extremely long fingers to reach into small spaces and atop wardrobes to get rid of all that pesky dust. To be sure that he got rid of all of the dust in areas he cannot see, he has eyes on the back of this hands, allowing him to see in places where his head would not fit/reach. His suction cup feet are perfect for allowing him to climb walls and give those crystal chandeliers a good dusting. In the wild this creature uses his long fingers and beak to reach into the holes of trees of anthills to find some tasty grub, the small critters getting caught in his hairy embrace.


Below are some work in progress images, showing a little of my process:

Artist Research: British Landscape

After exploring ideas of creating servants of the queen I looked into a couple of political artists who I think could influence my style and how I design my creatures.

Ralph Heimans

Ralph Heimans is an Australian portrait painter most known for his portraits of high standing individuals such as royalty, politicians and well respected members of several artistic fields. He a few years ago, in 2013, Heimans painted a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II for her Diamond Jubilee. This particular painting of the queen is different from the usual. She is looking down, covering herself with a long cape. This portrayal of the Queen seems very humanising, she looks almost vulnerable. The long cape flows out and around, seeming to come directly under the viewers feet, making the viewer feel like they have just intruded on a private moment. A small time of reflection on her life, and now we’re stepping on her cape and it leaves me in unease. This painting was first displayed in the National Portrait Gallery of Australia and was later moved to Westminster Abbey as a part of their permanent collection. While at the Abbey in June 2013 it was vandalised by a man from an unofficial protest group Fathers 4 Justice. The painting was then restored and back on display in July the same year. I chose this painting to research because of how humanising it is of the Queen, she seems to have flaws, it paints her in a new light, which is what I am going to be doing. Although my portrayal of her will be through her subjects and it is not a pretty picture.