Statement of Intent
For the layers project, we used paper layers and light to create an exaggerated sense of depth in a scene, along with revealing a hidden surprise element when a light was shone through the layers. I had a quite rocky ideation phase, but in the end, my intention for the project was to focus on perspective to demonstrate depth. I also utilized scale/proportion to bring even more depth to the piece, which illustrated a modernized version of Icarus’ mythical fall from the sky. Working with the laser cutter and Cricut was also a large part of the process, so I wanted to plan ahead better in case scheduling didn’t work out or prototypes were messed up.
Ideation
Exercise 1: Initials
Our first exercise was to create an image using the negative space from our initials. I chose the letter G for my middle name, and I went through many ideas before settling on one. I started with an orange and a sunshine, but I didn’t love the look of the sun, so I drew a fun little dog instead.
After finishing the initials, I worked on ideating for the project itself. This is where my journey with this project gets complicated. I began with a few ideas in my sketchbook, mostly scene-based, focusing mainly on depth through the different interactions people may have when they are all in the same room. I quickly realized this was too much detail for the concept to really shine in the end, and I came up with the idea of depicting the myth of Icarus falling through the sky.
I quickly sketched it on Procreate, then refined the idea:
I also wanted to experiment with a circus theme as well, but both missed the mark for me in different aspects. Icarus wasn’t doing much for depth, while the circus didn’t have a deeper meaning to it and I wasn’t very excited about the concept.
I spent a while coming up with a million different concepts, but nothing really stuck. I started with the idea of insomnia and what it felt like, creating these fisheye style cities that emphasized perspective.
I continued the fisheye style, adding more natural elements.
Eventually I realized exaggerated perspective could really help me with the idea of depth, and that my linework and digital work had to really strongly depict this strange perspective if it was really going to give the whole piece depth. I worked on linear perspective, utilizing scale and proximity to emphasize depth in city streets.
Then I played with the idea of looking down on a scene to give it exaggerated depth.
This gave me some inspiration to recreate the Icarus scene, but from the opposite perspective.
Finally, frustrated, I consulted with a few of my classmates for a more balanced perspective. I was overthinking it completely, ignoring how excited I was about the idea of Icarus in the first place. They encouraged me to combine different elements of my favorite sketches, thus modernizing the myth and relating it to our world today.
Iteration / Production
Once I had my idea in mind, which was Icarus falling over a city, I started drawing each element.
I wanted a more dramatic perspective on the city, so I revisited the fisheye perspective I used in previous sketches.
I moved onto Icarus himself, sketching his form and creating a clear silhouette. This was a good way for me to study and practice drawing organic shapes!
The wings were truly the hardest part to sketch. I had a million different drafts of them and I really wanted them to have some movement, even though they were silhouetted. I also decided to make the wings into circuit boards which would essentially light up as the hidden element of my project.
I made a few more adjustments, giving Icarus highlights and shadows so the detail of his body would contrast well with the lack of detail of the city, and adding clouds that interacted with the city’s smokestacks and chimneys to sort of pollute the air Icarus falls through. This was my final digital mockup, which I sent to Illustrator for an image trace. I separated Icarus into two layers, one for shadows and one for highlights. I wanted this to contrast the difference in detail between his body and the city. While his body has the detail of value added to it, the objects that lay further away lack this quality.
It was only a matter of laser cutting, testing, and prototyping from there. With my first test, I did run into the problem of how I would hide the wings as my surprise element. They could either be seen even before the layers were lit, or they weren’t seen at all.
I re-cut the wings because they were literally hanging by a thread in their frame; the connection between the wings themselves and the frame was much too skinny. I also attached them directly to the city layer so their outline would be more defined. Finally, I adjusted the city layer on Illustrator to give the wings some space to breathe, clearing out some of the details on the city that were blocking them from being seen.
After this, I realized Icarus was too small and flimsy as well. I scaled and re-cut his form, then used string to connect him with the frame that held his layers in place. It also seemed like a good metaphor that he had strings holding him up, sort of like a puppet.
The final results:
Reflection
Similar to the sketchbook project, I had to do a lot of planning considering everyone was using the laser cutter at the same time. I also learned a lot about prototyping; for this project the physical outcome was very important in the grand scheme of things and was more prone to going wrong or looking different than our previous projects. I found that my idea digitally looked and worked very differently from the actual prototype, so I had to make lots of small adjustments and fixes along the way. Using light to change the appearance of our layers was also very interesting to explore. Overall, the ideation process really stuck with me. I’ve never had such an extensive process when it comes to ideas, and though it was exhausting, I am proud of myself for getting through it and coming out the other side with an idea I was passionate and excited about. I tend to overthink in these situations, losing sight of the original project intent, so this was good practice to stay on track.