Proposal Essay
Identity and animation will be the focus of my design process. The discovery of my identity and belonging through my art is what captivates me to understand who I am. The way variations to proportion can be modified by the artist, the super-deformed characters feature a non-proportionally small body compared to the head where as some animations completely disregard these proportions, such that they resemble Western cartoons and for exaggeration, certain body features are increased in proportion, the comedic effects often utilize these variations emphasize the story behind the artist. As Horace states “A picture is a poem without words”. I began watching anime at young age and it gradually developed to become a part of my identity. When I watch anime I feel happy, I kind of lose myself in the world of anime and the gripping storyline, which during that time, I feel satisfied with myself, like nothing has ever gone wrong. Throughout my design I aim to capture some of this imaginary with humanly features visual imageries and attempt to create through art endeavouring to refashion the same excited traits.
The 19th century philosopher Henry David Thoreau quoted “This world is but a canvas to our imagination”. Watching anime I understand what he means. Over the past a few years I have been watching anime which I have collected images from the internet. These images have intrigued my interest in animation and how it explores the mental capacity of imagination. I am interested in examining in more detail the various body proportions emulated in anime which come from proportions of the human body. The height of the head is considered as the base unit of proportion. Head heights can vary as long as the remainder of the body remains proportional. Most anime characters are about seven to eight heads tall, and extreme heights are set around nine heads tall. My conceptual aim is to recreate through a visual form such as drawing, painting and printmaking the same expository and imaginative attributes. I aim to visually record

My sources of inspiration include the artist such as Masashi Kishimoto and the predominance of discovering my own identity. Masashi Kishimoto is a Mangaka (Mangaka is the Japanese meaning for cartoonist), who’s greatest achievement is the overly popular manga series Naruto, incorporating the style which followed a constant pattern of; concept and rough sketch, drafting, inking, shading, and coloring. Masashi Kishimoto focused theme was one based on animation and creating human like features in which he integrated his personal experiences “I have impropriated my experience as a father to Naruto”.
I plan to investigate the techniques and materials used by this artist in assisting me in the renderings of my own interpretation of animation. in order to achieve an authentic sense of animation I intend to look at many variations of anime drawings and spend time analyzing the details, techniques and forms. As I intend to sketch my favorite anime characters and position my thoughts and style to create personalized vibrant characters. I will take photos of a friend of mine and animate her to create a series of stories, where she is going to be the protagonist of the story
The subject of my design process will focus mainly on the different genres of anime. I have chosen my favorite anime characters to explore as I believe that I can create an individual approach to the subject. My individual approach will involve a combination of illustration and the abstract of animation. There are many interpretations of animation by artists. Storyboard Artists interpret scripts and sketched ideas in order to create storyboards, artists such as Masashi Kishimoto, Akira Toriyama, Kentaro Yabuki and Eiichiro Oda.
My aim is to utilize the form arts of drawing, painting and ink. I believe these art forms complement each other and will best serve to illustrate my overall concept. I propose to begin the design process with a number of drawings in pencil. I will then explore the possibilities of applying paint and ink.
Drawing using pencil will be my starting point. I want to experiment with a range of drawing materials and techniques. The art materials I would like to explore are ink, charcoal, painting and printmaking. The techniques such as stretching, lengthening and symbolizing to demonstrate my own style on animation.
Using my initial drawings I will begin to explore and experiment with the sketching process. I believe that sketching is closely related to drawing and I can use the line drawings I have created and recreate my favorite characters using the print medium. I will also trial the use of various ink materials ink materials in colors such as yellow, blue and red inks.
My exploration of aesthetic qualities will involve experimentation with various elements. I will explore through drawings using grey lead pencil combined with to create a sense of imagination. A delicate use of tone is an important aesthetic quality which may work well alongside a flat treatment of positive and negative space and a use of line. These aesthetic combinations should help to achieve my aim of creating visual expository in art my making.

The challenge will be to create is to create an individual response to this imaginative subject, animation. As Masashi Kishimoto creates and uses his imagination to deliver us a meaningful message in his animations. I will also wish to be able to create stories on this kind of intimated level. As Masashi Kishimoto said “And so they fought. And so they laughed. Friends. Before they knew it, they were inseparable....” I think it amazing how we can learn to have strong friendships in a message delivered by animation.