Childhood Object - 4D Class

Writing and drawing about someone else's experiences feels like a weight of responsibility that has been gifted to you. On one hand, I felt honored that I was given this opportunity to create something for this person, yet simultaneously, I felt like I could not give this precious object justice no matter how much talent or time I possessed.

For this project I received the honor of creating an object for my roommate, Anna Wheeler. Her cherished childhood object were two blankets named Blue and Yellow, and that's right, you guessed it, they are both colored blue and yellow. These two blankets were much more than just dyed fabric, they were her friends that would transport her to another world when she was just a toddler. After hearing her describe these objects I wanted to create a drawing that could help me see through her perspective as a little girl. I immediately knew this had include a Pixar/Disney look to Blue and Yellow to encapsulate how I translated the story Anna told me.

I felt like the drawing gave Anna's objects more justice than my clay sculpture attempts (see images below). The materials I used for my 3D attempt at creating the object was clay. I used blue clay for Blue and yellow clay for Yellow. I attempted to portray Yellow's sassy and dominate nature, hence the "hand" movements; I moved Blue's arms to try to signify him waving to show his friendly nature. Unfortunately, Blue's eyes did not come out as innocent and friendly as I would have liked and ended up giving him a more alien look.

Yesterday, in class we all shared our projects and seeing my stuffed animal come to life with flip-flops, blankets, and coffee beans made me laugh so hard. I absolutely enjoyed seeing my childhood stuffed dog be created through another's imagination.

In conclusion, I think that the digital sketch helped translate the memory accurately with a cute and unique flair to the characters; whereas the clay sculptures were cute, but I was not able fully created the personalities that Anna described. The clay blankets takes more interpreting than the digital sketch does.