BIGsheep
11-27-2007, 10:50 AM
Welcome to Day Two of our count down to Viva Piņata's one year anniversary here in the UK.
Today, we're going to be looking at just exactly how Ryan's warped little mind happened upon populating a garden full of piņatas, of all things.
Unhappy with his pastel creations, Ryan took a step back and began drawing inspiration from many places. Among his numerous sources he looked at ancient cave paintings with their simplified shapes, the appealing patterns of aboriginal art and the art within Aztec culture.
In a surreal manner, he then progressed to looking at the Mexican Day of the Dead festival with all the festivities, costumes and bright colours. At this point he sparked a memory of his childhood and visions of pinatas gave him an idea.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2327/2068475842_b27080c43f_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2068475842&context=set-72157603298074552&size=l)
So the Piņatas were born! I'm sure you'll agree that they definitely have their own look: something different; something new.
These Piņatas are made up of strong and simple shapes decorated with distinctive, brightly coloured patterns. If someone where to create a new species of Piņata today these are still rules you would have to follow so that every one has the same look and feel.
Flanking the quartet you see above are the Ponocky and the Rashberry, both pretty much unchanged from early drawings. The central two, however, are both Sours, but you wouldn't recognise them as such by today's standards. Rather than having red and black coats, initially Sours were differentiated from their milder cousins by their darker patterns, pointy teeth and angry red eyes.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2297/2067681631_ad478d09de_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2067681631&size=l&context=set-72157603298074552)
We started with over 160 creatures and Ryan lovingly crafted and coloured each one numerous times to give them the image each one deserved. Again, you can see that the Chippo and Elephanilla (top row) have hardly changed, whereas the Fizzlybear (top right) has had a new paint job. The Mallowolf (lower left) has even changed shape since the last slide showing just how much we wanted to perfect these bundles of joy even at this early stage.
Some of those initial batch have, of course, hit the cutting room floor due to various reasons but you can still see them peaking out from this style sheet. The rattlesnake can be seen in both sketch and final form and accompanying it are the cane toad and hamster.
Most creepy, however, is the original Whirlm. Hidden at the bottom of the sheet it actually has no eyes. Shudder.
Trying to shake that image from my mind, I'll bring your attention around on tomorrow's offering: I promise you more from the cutting room floor.
Prev: Day 1 (http://pinataisland.info/forum/showthread.php?p=107985#post107985)
Next: Day 3 (http://pinataisland.info/forum/showthread.php?p=108496#post108496)
Today, we're going to be looking at just exactly how Ryan's warped little mind happened upon populating a garden full of piņatas, of all things.
Unhappy with his pastel creations, Ryan took a step back and began drawing inspiration from many places. Among his numerous sources he looked at ancient cave paintings with their simplified shapes, the appealing patterns of aboriginal art and the art within Aztec culture.
In a surreal manner, he then progressed to looking at the Mexican Day of the Dead festival with all the festivities, costumes and bright colours. At this point he sparked a memory of his childhood and visions of pinatas gave him an idea.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2327/2068475842_b27080c43f_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2068475842&context=set-72157603298074552&size=l)
So the Piņatas were born! I'm sure you'll agree that they definitely have their own look: something different; something new.
These Piņatas are made up of strong and simple shapes decorated with distinctive, brightly coloured patterns. If someone where to create a new species of Piņata today these are still rules you would have to follow so that every one has the same look and feel.
Flanking the quartet you see above are the Ponocky and the Rashberry, both pretty much unchanged from early drawings. The central two, however, are both Sours, but you wouldn't recognise them as such by today's standards. Rather than having red and black coats, initially Sours were differentiated from their milder cousins by their darker patterns, pointy teeth and angry red eyes.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2297/2067681631_ad478d09de_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2067681631&size=l&context=set-72157603298074552)
We started with over 160 creatures and Ryan lovingly crafted and coloured each one numerous times to give them the image each one deserved. Again, you can see that the Chippo and Elephanilla (top row) have hardly changed, whereas the Fizzlybear (top right) has had a new paint job. The Mallowolf (lower left) has even changed shape since the last slide showing just how much we wanted to perfect these bundles of joy even at this early stage.
Some of those initial batch have, of course, hit the cutting room floor due to various reasons but you can still see them peaking out from this style sheet. The rattlesnake can be seen in both sketch and final form and accompanying it are the cane toad and hamster.
Most creepy, however, is the original Whirlm. Hidden at the bottom of the sheet it actually has no eyes. Shudder.
Trying to shake that image from my mind, I'll bring your attention around on tomorrow's offering: I promise you more from the cutting room floor.
Prev: Day 1 (http://pinataisland.info/forum/showthread.php?p=107985#post107985)
Next: Day 3 (http://pinataisland.info/forum/showthread.php?p=108496#post108496)