Researching Martial Arts

I’ve given myself the opportunity to really look into something I find quite interesting in this assignment forms of ‘martial arts’. Formally having been to various martial arts classes boxing karate and taekwondo this is an aspect that is close to me. I’d like to start here just by showing some of the areas I have looked at as my characters movement will be influenced by a martial arts style of some kind. This is an important factor to obtain researching can lead to many solutions for example, should I contrast different martial arts or stick to the one? A question raised when gathering information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_arts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_martial_arts
Martial arts range from different countries to religions and traditions all over the world. I have noticed that there are hundreds of varieties also styles this is a benefit to understand as later refining my search will draw into a specific, although the idea is not to look to much into all of them the main focus will be the origins of Asian martial arts (Chinese/Japanese).
http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/3009/232689-martial_arts_3.jpg

Forms of martial arts

Traditional

http://www.whitedragonmartialarts.com/blog/2008/12

http://spectacularvancouver.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/september-events-1-international-chinese-traditional-martial-arts-competition/

 Introduction to Chinese Martial Arts

'Chinese Martial Arts originated from ancient traditional Chinese culture, it therefore has rich inner content and meaning. It was initially derived from Daoism, which is closely related to personal cultivation (self improvement). Its foundational components include cultivating virtue, artistic technique, nurturing health and longevity, improving physical condition, defending oneself and preventing violence. Hence, the first character in the word martial arts is “Wu” (武), which is formed by combining the characters for “stop” (止) and “war” (戈).'

The traditional martial arts forms are being practising all around the world they have served many purposes and the conduct of it contains many meanings, however I feel that it’s becoming evident that tradition in a sense is fading, if we look at films today and the past there is a strong contrast of the change and this will be an region of exploration films performing martial arts in the later period (60s/70s) and also examination of some well known pioneers within this genre the likes of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.

Bruce Lee and Jackie having a “minor disagreement”

http://www.martialartschannel.co.uk/

Present

http://www.2xentertainment.com/
http://www.ryoukomartialarts.com/main/index.html
RMA also known as (Ryouko martial arts) an academy of gifted martial artists the YouTube video above showcases there ability and skills in a unique martial art forms being revolutionised in particular fields make these individuals stand from the rest in my opinion in the modern world today. Observing this has made me realise the difference of this art forms in which has taken place over the years and also to keep up with trends of today the audience will be considered thought my project so this is a key to notify the briefs requirements. The moves, stances, shapes of the figures body movements the artists perform are the kinds of direction that I have been in search for to create a better perception when animating.
Equipment
Obtaining information about martial arts specifics I have come across the different kinds of equipment used and uniforms that are warn during training exercises and so on. In terms of the characters design this is an area that will be looked at.
http://www.paragonmartialarts.co.uk/

E4 character

I’m now beginning to form the character basis and the fundamental that my E4 consists of.

Characterising an object that doesn’t appear to have recognisable features can be a hard thing to do, the human body can be the source to identifying a piece for example as humans we can Identify arms legs limps faces ect so in sight of this I’m trying to replicate features and carry out these distinguished factors as it will be key to creating an understanding with my animated object the E4 character.

Artist Research

Salvador Dali
http://www.dali-gallery.com/

The art that I have researched serves some important significance to my work Salvador Dali is the first, thinking about the general ideas and other aspects my project is following the artist that popped into my head was Dali. In his artwork we see objects in a particular environment. ‘In 1931, Dali painted one of his most famous works, The Persistence of Memory.[23] Which introduced a surrealistic image of soft, melting pocket watches. The general interpretation of the work is that the soft watches are a rejection of the assumption that time is rigid or deterministic.’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD

Within the scenes of the paintings you notice that they pose some vital purpose to the context of the artwork following surrealist views and so on when looking at this in relation to my work I see similarities of a different kind, the artwork demonstrates an understanding of space, form, value to me so therefore much like my project the objects are placed in this world which then acts and demonstrate meaning to the audience.

‘Some describe his art work as being bizarre’

A world in which inanimate objects live essentially this is how I describe the world of certain pieces Salvador Dali’s has created and these traits are the assets that have carried though to my own work. ‘Spanish artist Salvador Dali was a groundbreaking icon of the Surrealist movement and one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. His work probed the unconscious world of thoughts, dreams and perception in fanciful and nightmarish images influenced by Freud, Cubism, Futurism and metaphysical art.’www.theart.com

David Lanham
http://dlanham.com/

The general gist of the project is ready to move to the next level another influential artist to enlighten my project and the basic visual aesthetic I was in search for include artist designer and illustrator David Lanham. His work can be seen in many places for example icons on your computer screen. ‘Open Submission winner David Lanham day job is working at the Iconfactory creating beautiful icons for your computer in order to “make your crappy day at work that little bit brighter”. http://www.infectious.com/profile/DavidLanham

I feel that his artwork obtains the ‘cool’ factor allowing for the designs to really shine I also think in order for my estings to draw in my audience, the visual side of my sting needs to contain an aesthetically pleasing nature, this is the reason for my choice to using David Lanham’s style of work on my own. In terms of the colouration and scheme of the artwork its evident the use of bold plane colour is appealing as this does not over complicate the meaning of the visuals.

Practise attempt at characterising E4

This is a sample of my first attempt at creating some basic motion for my character it has been successful to some extent however doesn’t yet possess my needs as I’ll require my character to move around my scene as well as interacting with animation. Non-linear deformers are at work here squash and bend to manipulate my model in Maya the next step shall be to form a working Rig.
Perspective View

Side View

Maya work Update

Autotracking:

Mental Ray HDR images:

Render_2_Airbase_HDRI

Render_3_Meadow_HDRI

Render_4_Suburb_HDRI