New | Drawing

Here is a drawing I did a while ago, although it doesn't really fit in with my hybrid idea, I still felt that I could include it as a type of hybrid as it had the body of a female and has the head of a goat. I think this where I got my initial idea from wanting to use horns, but as you know I couldn't anything like that with the silicone flat moulds that we have learnt. However I did think about making a headband with these apart of it but even that was quite tricky and the only thing I could think of that would solve it, is if I brought something like it however my bank balance isn't very large and I couldn't afford anything.

New | Animal Hybrids

Ligers: These are a cross of a male lion and female tiger, these are the largest of all living cars and felines.They are a massive size which could be a result of their imprinted genes which are not fully expressed in their parents, but they are however eft unchecked when the two different species mate. Some of the female ligers can grow to ten feet in length and weigh over 700 pounds. Ligers are distinct tigons which come from a female lion and a male tiger.

Zebroid: These are the offspring of a zebra and any other equine animal, usually a horse or a donkey. These are sometimes called zorses, zonkeys, zones and a host of other combinations. Zebroids are the most interesting example of hybrids bred this species and they have a radically different amount of chromosomes, for instance horses have 64 chromosomes and zebras have between 32 and 44 depending on what type.  

Grolar Bears: This is the offspring of a grizzly bear and a polar bear, a grolar bear is one beast you do not want to meet in the wild. Unlike some hybrids animals the grolar bear are known to occur naturally in the wild. Some experts predict that polar bears may be driven to breed with grizzly bears at an increased frequency due to global warming and that polar bears are being forced to move off their natural habitats on the ice.

Wholphins: A cross between a false killer whale and an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. Wholephins are hybrids that have been reported to actually exist in the wild. However there are currently two in captivity both in a sea life park in Hawaii. The wholphin's size, colour and shape are intermediate between the parents species. Even the number of their teeth is a mixture, a bottlenose has 88 teeth and a false killer whale has 44 teeth so a wholphin has 66 teeth.

Savannah Cats: These are given to their name from their offspring of a domestic cat and serval of medium sized large eared will African cats. This unusual cross became a popular breed at the end of the 20th century, and in 2001 the international cat association accepted as a new registered breed.

Image1:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/photogalleries/ligers_dynamite/images/primary/Liger4.jpg [10th November 2015]
Image 2: http://www.galopuje.pl/foto_news/zebroid.jpg [10th November 2015]
Image 3: http://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2010/04/grolar.jpg.638x0_q80_crop-smart.jpg [10th November 2015]
Image 4: http://static.ibnlive.in.com/pix/slideshow/05-2014/15-unusual-hybrid/wholphin-0105.jpg [10th November 2015]
Image 5: https://38.media.tumblr.com/73bdefb077249e9f1746c7f63cc0d4b7/tumblr_inline_nbnpikiFN81qkuotv.jpg [ 10th November 2015]
Internet: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/11-amazing-hybrid-animals/related-photos [ 10th November 2015]

New | Mythical Creatures

Mermaid/ Sirens: 
These were beautiful but dangerous creatures that lured sailors with their voices of doom, causing ships to crash on the reefs near the islands. They were the daughters of the river god Achelous, while they didn't know there mother so it may have been Terpsichore,  Melpomene , Sterope or Chthon. Although they are linked closely to a marine environment, they were not considered deities.  The sirens were also considered the companions of Persephone, the daughter of goddess Demeter and Zues and she was the god of the underworld. Which had given them wings in order to protect her daughter, however Persephone's get abducted from Hades and her mother Demeter cursed them, so from then on the sirens sing was a beautiful yet sad melody which was eternally calling for Persephone's return

Medusa:
She was a monster, one of the gorgon sisters, daughter of Phorkys and Keto who were the children of Gaea the goddess of earth and Oceanus god of the ocean. Medusa had the face of an ugly women with snakes for hair, for anyone whoever starred into her eyes would turn into stone. Her sisters were Sthenno and Euryale, however Medusa was the only one who was mortal. Medusa had originally had golden hair, and was a fair maiden who was a priestess of Athena, she was devoted to a life of celibacy, however being wooed by Poseidon and falling in love with him, she forgot her vows and married him. Because of this offence she was punished by the goddess in the most terrible way. Every wavy of Medusa hair that had once charmed her husband changed into a venomous snake, her once gentle eyes turned blood shot with furious orbs which excited fear and disgust in the mind of the onlooker. Whilst her pale complexion turned to a loathsome greenish tinge.

Minotaur:

This is a well known creature that is half bull and half man. However not many people know the true origin. The story starts with the King of Crete, minos praying to Poseidon for support. Poseidon would send Minos a white bull which he had to kill as a sacrifice as a sign of this support. Minos loved the white bull so tried to swap it with one of his own, because of this Poseidon was furious and ordered the goddess of love to cast a spell on Minos wife to fall in love with the Cretan Bull, they went on to mate and their offspring was a Minotaur. The half man half bull beast devoured men for food. Minos had no other choice than to order Daedalus to build a large maze which could contain the Minotaur.

Centaurs: 
These creatures are half more and half human. They have the body of a horse and the torso, head and arms of a man. There are considered to be the children of Ixion, king of Lepiths and Nephew, which is a cloud made in the image of Hera. However there are other myths that say they were born from the union of a single Centaurus with the magnesian mares. One of the best known centaur from mythology is Chiron, who is a wise centaur. Although most of the centaurs were depicted as lustful and wild. Chiron was a notable exception, he was known for modest and civilised and for his medicinal skills and teaching abilities.

Image 1:  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/469641067364173898/  [ 10th November 2015]
Image 2:  http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mythology/images/2/21/Siren-3.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130619235358   [ 10th November 2015]
Image 3: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/439523244862218115/   [ 10th November 2015]
Image 4: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/294985844315386196/  [ 10th November 2015]
Image 5: http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140813151144/harrypotter/images/8/8d/HP5-03045.jpg  [ 10th November 2015]
Internet:  http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Creatures   [ 10th November 2015]
Internet :  http://10steps.sg/inspirations/greek-mythology-creatures-with-pictures/   [ 10th November 2015]

New | Sphynx Cats

The Sphynx cat is a type of bread, which has been developed through selective breeding that started in the 60's, these cats are known for its lack of fur coat, although it is not truly hairless. There skin should have the texture of chamois, which is a goat antelope animal that are found on European mountains. Some have whiskers and they can be whole or broken, to maybe even totally absent. The colour of their skin is what there fur would be and still have all the usual cat marking patterns such as solid, van, tabby and tortie. As these cats have no fur they lose more body heat than other cat with fur, this makes them warm to touch. The characteristics of these cat are as such:
- Large almond shaped ears.
- Wedge shaped head with prominent cheekbones.
- Well muscled and powerful neck.
- Medium length torso, barrel chested, full and round abdomen.
- Whiplike tapering tail from body to tip, sometimes with a puff of fur at the tip.

Image: http://www.petinfoclub.com/Images/Sphynx%20kittens%20shutterstock_63966259.jpg [Accessed on 10th November 2015]

Internet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphynx_cat [Accessed on 10th November 2015]

Brave | Reflection

So the first half of my optional unit is complete, and it is the biggest relief at the moment, as I feel like everything is pilling up its almost like I'm drowning in work. But getting to tick off one part of the unit feel so good and I don't feel so suffocated. I have learnt a lot in this unit, I already knew a bit about special effects but that was only at a college level. Learning how to create a prosthetic piece with silicone and applying it, was probably the most thing I have enjoyed so far, it was a little overwhelming and I felt a bit pressured to make sure that I don't contaminate silicone A and B together otherwise it is over, and I would have to purchase more and that seemed like a lot of effort than just making sure I do things slowly and accurate and don't rush things. I haven't really had any major problems with this process really, apart from when I took the piece out of the mould and it ripped a little bit and also got holes around near the mould which was annoying as I think it has effected my wound.
I am hoping that I get to carry on with doing special effects in my next year of study and in the future,  as this is something that I have really enjoyed and I don't want it stop yet, I just wish that this was a year unit as this something I have really been interest into and what actually got me into makeup. I am also looking forward to creating a hybrid for the next part of my unit, as there is so much you can make from it especially being nature themed.

Grimm

 This Tv series is about a detective called Nick Burkhardt, who has seen some gruesome crime scenes within his job, but nothing prepares him for the strange visions he begins to see, seeing normal people momentarily and then seeing them transforming into hideous monsters. When he receives a visit from his only lasting family member who reveals the truth. Nick has inherited the ability to see supernatural creatures, which is called a Grimm and as a Grimm his is tasked with keeping the balance between mankind and mythological. Monroe a reformed 'Big Bad wolf' becomes his biggest and reluctant ally. It is not long until Nicks work as a detective leads him to criminals that he once thought were only in fairytales.

I have watched pretty much all of grimm and I love it, I like how that each episode is related to some sort of fairy tail, you would be sitting there trying to figure out what fairytale it is and how they have changed the story line from the traditional thing to modern day and it is so different. And of course I love how that they just look like normal people and that Nick has the power to see what they are really. When watching it I wasn't sure if it was prosthetics pieces or cgi but after I found this article online, I'm surprised that the whole character is a prosthetic piece and I am amazed that Burman and his team only have 4 days to create a monster.

Internet: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/grimm-nbc-make-up-fx-barney-burman-preview-319886 [ 7th November 2015]
Image 1:http://www.fansshare.com/gallery/photos/12137988/lr-grimm-makeup-monsters/?displaying [7th November 2015]
Image 2: http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/grimm/images/2/20/214-Monroe_woged.png/revision/latest?cb=20130316201858 [7th November 2015]

ScarCon

This week we got the chance to go to a ScarCon event, in which we among other attractions owners got our own tour of the scary attractions before they went live. As no one had been before everyone was sceptical as what to expect even our lectures had no clue what to expect. Little did we know that when we arrived it was on a farm! Obviously not knowing that it was on a farm we weren't exactly dressed for the occasion. At first it was a lot of waiting around for the other guests to arrive, which was okay apart from the fact that we were sort of on a hill in Kent, which made it freezing.

Once everyone had arrived we then went into the barn and the man that started ScarCon talked to us about his and few others that worked with him what had been happening in their jobs for the last couple of months, so basically they went around all the attractions in England. I quite enjoyed this part of the talk as I found it quite interesting and sounded like something fun to do..oh how I changed my mind later. As for the rest of the talk it didn't really apply to us as much and of course I started to loose interest and I felt like it went on for ages. Finally the talk was over and we got to leave the barn, however to more waiting about, although there was a little tractor ride that is meant for kids during the day so we all went on that. When this attraction first started it was one of their main events where adults would get onto a trailer and get pulled by a tractor and taken for a ride to the woods, however as it became popular it became chaos when getting one group off for another to get on, so they had to have a massive rethink.


This tractor and trailer ride only really occupied us for about 10 minutes. We again had to wait around for ages until 5 before we could go in and look at the make up being done and have a look around the mazes before they went live which I think was and wasn't a good idea as we knew what they looked like with the lights on but with the lights off it was completely different. Below are some photos I took as we were walking around.

                                                   

Finally it was time that the farm went live, which meant that actors were now in the maze, I wasn't quite sure what to expect when all of a sudden they were coming out around the corner, at first I wasn't so bothered by them until this one came out photo below. This really freaked me out at the start I think it was just because it was a girl walking about on her hands and feet, and you don't always see that, it was also the way she moved and surprising how quickly she can as well. But I think the main thing when creating an attraction like this is that everyone is a little apprehensive about the dark, no matter what age I think everyone has a little fear of it and thats what I think made it so scary is because you can hardly see where you were going let alone where any of the actors where hiding waiting to come scare you.