WHAT LIES BENEATH?

Concentrating on the idea of what really likes beneath the skin, I have created this mock-up for a book cover. I created this in photoshop and played around with the opacity effects to create coloured and transparent looking areas on the skeleton. I chose red to suggest the idea of blood. I deliberately wanted to highlight the pelvis area to subtly suggest the female form (i.e the reproductive area), as females are more likely to opt for cosmetic surgery.
This isn't really the kind of style I am wanting my book to follow but nevertheless, it's another technique which i've learnt.

MAREN ESDAR- mechanical inspiration

These are some examples of the work by the artist Maren Esdar. I actually discovered her work in the book "Wonderland" by Robert Klanten, but there are also many examples of her work online at http://www.marenesdar.com/.
I think these are fantastic.- I like the contrast in the hard mechanical and structural man-made objects which have been cleverly been arranged to still show subtle parts of the female form creeping into the composition. I also like how the objects have been arranged to mimic the contours of the female form....the artist has clearly considered this. From this artists work, I now want to look at gathering my own objects to photograph and play around with, for example meccano, shells, feathers, cogs, screws etc....

MECCANO.......Looking for a "Parallel universe"....

I decided that I needed to look at a completely irrelevant area within my primary research to help gain a "less obvious" source of inspiration towards the topic of "Cosmetic Surgery". I discovered the work of the artist Maren Esdar, (see next post), who produces very "structural" looking shapes to form the female body. It was he specific use of mechanical looking objects in her work which led me to look at using meccano. I like the idea of meccano acting as a strong/hard material against the softness of the human skin. It is interesting to think of a garment being created out of this type of material as it would be an extremely structured piece of clothing which would refrain movement, unlike one of the main functions of clothing. It got me thinking about more structured uniforms or pieces of clothing such as "Body armour" and how these actually form a solid & protective structure around the human figure. - Could this conjure up the idea of a garment preventing any surgery being able to be performed on the skin?
From this, I went on to create a "Meccano inspired" outfit.....perhaps to act as a literal barrier in preventing anyone accessing the skin of the model to operate on?

WHICH PART WOULD YOU PICK?

Playing around with the same images of the models I have been using as secondary research, I decided to have a go at a slightly more humourous approach to a book cover. I'm not quite sure if the typography style I have used is appropriate, but apart from that I find this concept quite humourous!

HANDIEDAN AS AN INFLUENCE....

Using a background from a card I own (I collect patterned wallpaper & papers etc) I have worked the female figure over the top to surround her by pattern. I have kept the identity hidden by covering the eyes again, using a similar approach to Kerry Ropers work. I would need to look much at the composition and consider whether this pattern would creep around the cover and onto the back etc. I think it would also be nice to personalise this more by creating my own brushes on illustrator and bringing them into the design, even if it is simply to make small marks within the pattern.

HANDIEDAN- Artist Connection

While looking through the book "Illusive- Contemporary Illustration Part 3" I discovered the work of Handiedan.
Handiedan is an artist based in Amsterdam who creates mixed media based artworks. Her work inlcludes "pin-up" girl images which she combines cleverly with pen, ink, old fashioned sheet music and playing cards etc.

I really like this style of work as an influence to eplore further. I like how the pin-up girls have been placed over interesting/vintage looking backgrounds and surrounded with patterns.