Cosmonaut O'Donnel: Work in progress

It suddenly came to me that a blog update is in order, and what better to blog about than work in progress? So here's a modular character project I am currently working on; it was inspired by the antagonist of the Star Fox series Wolf O'Donnell, and includes a base appearance for lounging and a combat kit for business.

I took a rough design concept I developed from some quick explorations in my Drawing for Animators class and used that as a general guide.

I started by blocking out the head in Maya.


...And then the rest of the body soon followed



Then I hit ZBrush for what was pretty much my first time sculpting in the program. It was a big change from Mudbox but once I became accustomed to the camera controls I was able to pick it up pretty quickly. I started with his suit, trying to get large detail for some nice normals to bake later.



More coming soon!

RE: Abstraction

I enjoy abstracted painting because as a viewer, you are not being told what to see. Looking at an abstracted piece is like gazing at the clouds: Everyone sees something unique; a viewer can continue looking for hours and still see new things, but just as you know the clouds are made up of water, so you know the painting is made up of paint.

Spring 2010

Self
94" x 72"
Acrylic on wood panels and canvas

This painting was a monumental undertaking in terms of the scale (8 feet tall, six feet wide), the theme and the energy that was invested. Preparing the stretcher, stretching the canvas and preparing the wood panels took up the brunt of the time this piece demanded.

I was inspired by both Francis Bacon and Edvard Munch, albeit for two very different reasons; my interest in completing the painting (or at least the paint part of the painting) in one session, one moment came from Bacon. In fact, it worked out very well, and I couldn't have painted it at a better time. It was towards the end of the spring semester, and thus was during a very stressful period. I was filled with the angst and anxiety that I felt was necessary for the successful execution of this piece.

I was inspired by Edvard Munch, particularly The Scream, for his exploration of man's inner struggle; the silent scream of a tormented psyche, crying out in vain. For me, Self deals with acute issues of self-mutilation, eating disorders, addiction, and death. I attacked the wood panels with a fireman's axe in a fury of extroverted expression of my angst. The paint became the blood that I spilled and moved and accumulated into heaping forms, creating a violently visceral surface over the hacked wood.

Self was by far the largest piece I have done to date and it excited me immensely. Through the execution process I gained considerable knowledge about paint and my interests in painting; I definitely plan on continuing to create works on this scale in the future.

Website under construction

Take a look at the new website!

Brian Harries

or http://brianharries.com

Fall 2009: Painting1

I chose to explore the semi-representational treatment of the figure through developing the aqueous properties of watercolours. I allowed the paint to activate itself by adding varying proportions of water in order for the personality of the paint to become a visual experience. Please excuse the undetited images - my photoshop is not working at the moment!























































pseudoexistenzephilosophie?
30"x40"
Acrylic and China pencil on canvas

This painting is a notable departure from any of my previous work: The imagery is completely a product of my imagination, and I used no observational reference whatsoever; the research was wholly drawn from personal experiences, emotions and sentiments. In connection to a significant portion of my previous work, I used acrylics on canvas, accented with dry media, in this case china pencil.

This piece is important to me because it represents a physical manifestation, a vessel if you will, for my own anxieties and frustrations with myself and others in my life. through compelling imagery and a universal theme (we all live in the same contemporary social landscape after all), I invite you to share the anxiety and the pseudo-existentialism which I find best encapsulated within our youths.



Lost 1
30"x40"
Acrylic and graphite on canvas

Drawing from the developments of the study (below), I chose to use elements of traditional Chinese landscape painting to inform a northern west coast mountain scene.





Study for Lost 1
Acrylic, ink and graphite on paper

For the development of this study and final piece, I employed stylistic and technical cues I developed in previous works, and looked to combine these cues with my investigation of traditional Chinese landscape painting inspired by Chinese master painter Chang Dai Chen [Zhang Daqian]. The paintings he produced while living in California provided an incredible visual starting point.


Study: Still life with old fruits&veg
Acrylic on canvas board








Study: Still life in shoebox
Acrylic on paper