Sketches of “character”

Recently I’ve been trying to gather items which I’d be able to use in making somewhat of an outfit or my idea of an astronaut in terms of how it relates with my character. In between doing this I’ve made rough sketches jotting out ideas and drawing outfit designs. Some of the images have been shown in previous posts but I’ve been able to scan them in so they’re also uploaded here as well!

I’ve found a blue boiler suit and also have a biker jacket which is quite bulky but I quite like how padded out it is. The biker suit and boiler suit were specifically designed for men so in this way it does have the effect of making me feel more masculine. With the foam sheets I have, I’ve considered using foam sheets to create an outer piece of “armour”, kind of like what Ellen Ripley’s character wears in Alien. Her white suit is fitted with these hard shoulder pads and chest plate that connects with her helmet. But I don’t want to overcomplicate the process, the outfit can be really simple for me but still tie in with the astronaut look using tubes and other things.

To the different areas of the outfit, I’ve got tubes which I’d like to attach to parts of the garment, acting as sort of a source of energy like an oxygen tank. Looking at the character Ellen Ripley as well, the character had originally been written for a man. Little was changed in the script other than the gender of the character, there’s less focus on her being a woman and her vulnerability that is usually the focus of most women characters in film. She’s a relatable person for most audiences, we view her earn her heroic status rather than be gifted with the ability to fight from the beginning. She’s scared and unsure of how to defend herself but after having found Newt (a little girl she finds and takes in as her own after experiencing the loss of her own daughter), her instincts and protection over Newt become a driving force for Ripley. The determination and fear in Ripley makes her such a great character. After having watched Alien, she’s become one of my favourite characters in film for the role she plays and how she’s portrayed.

An awkward photoshoot wearing the blue boiler suit. I’ve drawn over it as sort of a map for where things may go and an idea of how this may look on me. For an oxygen tank, I’ve got a shoe box which I’d like to try and use for this. This is also so that depending on what I do wear, the oxygen tank makes it more similar to the idea of an astronaut rather than it straying too far out into something else.

Collages of outfit ideas and inspiration, playing with editing as well

These are some of the items I’ve collected for the outfit. Currently I’m putting it all together and trying different things out. Once this is done, I’d like to focus on photographs, where and how these would be taken and what I’m trying to convey with them. I’d like to just wear it around and mess around with it and see what I can do with this.

The musician above is Solange. There’s not loads from this artist that I’m taking inspiration from, but a noticeable musician for me because of her electronic, otherworldly feel. The genre falls a bit within spiritual jazz, pop and R&B. Her music videos have this dreamy, galactic feel which is almost enchanting to look at. Her use of visuals with what she wears and the structure of buildings and colours creates this futuristic vibe that I find really pleasing to look at. Music videos like ‘Things I imagined’, ‘Down With the Clique’ and ‘Almeda’ are examples of this futuristic and starry feel.

Ethel Cain is a musician who uses story telling and characters to express a subject and feeling. Hayden is the musicians real name, but her performance name and persona is Ethel cain, which the album ‘Preachers Daughter’ is based around. The album tells the story of the character Ethel Cain, coming to terms with the imperfect existence that involves abuse, ignorance, etc. Cain goes on a destructive journey of self discovery through love and hatred. Ethel Cain uses her interest in the American dream and its failures as a source of inspiration for her character and storyline. Her song ‘Thoroughfaire’, is based around finding a guy who wants to share his love of America and venture out into this idealistic world with Ethel Cain, while she does not share his views on this. The whole character and story is really interesting and I do recommend looking into this musician, although it doesn’t tie much into what I’m doing, it still presents me with questioning what this process and idea means for me in terms of identity and my views on gender and the world.