Project One: Final Assembly

Here are some side views and back view of my Koi Fish. As you can see, I printed this out and painted it with watercolor.

Project 1: Final Layouts

First, I apologize that I do not have access to a digital camera yet. However, I have completed the assembling of my fish. I have provided a variety of Fishes Layouts. They come in different colors like White, Red, and basically whoever wants to color it can do so with watercolors.

Here is the white version.


Here, I have colored it using watercolorss onto cardstock paper and then I scanned them back into the computer.




The materials and tools needed to create my fish are:
Computer paper or Cardstock paper
Scissors or X-Acto Knife
Tape or Glue
Watercolors (Optional)

Project 1 Update: Illustrator

Constructing the body of the Koi fish was a challenge for me. From the original sketch, it seemed easy and made sense that it was possible to do, however, after many trials, it did not worked the way I wanted. So, I had changed the body structure. I made up another sketch and it had proven to work better than the previous one. Below are images from sketches and Illustrator framework.

Here are the new sketch of the body:

After I have tested this sketch out. I have created a cleaner version on Illustrator (second image):

Next update: I will add colors and scales on the body. For the colors I was thinking about using watercolor and sumi-e style inks similar to what is used in the scroll paintings previously discussed.

Project 1 Process: Sketch

Inside my house, there are plenty of Asian artworks such as Chinese Scroll Paintings, Japanese Woodblock Prints, and miniature sculptures from Vietnam. Out of all the artworks in my house, I find the Koi fish Scroll Painting to be the most interesting. In Asian cultures it is said that Koi fishes are a symbol of courage, good fortune, and determination. So I was thinking if we all make one for ourselves, maybe we will aquire their attributes as well? Anywho, lets move on to the process shall we?

First, I have created a small sketch of a side view and and frontal view of a Koi Fish.

Next, I have created another sketch, that breaks down the body of the Koi fish into pieces. Instead of having my fish look "boxy" I wanted my fish to have a bit more geometric volume to the form.


Note: for the fins, it will be required to have an x-acto knife to create a slit for the fins to connect. (This will allude to the 3-dimensional form.)

To sum up this blog post, I have laid out my idea into sketches. Now, figuring out how to create the shapes in a flat surface will be the most challenging part.

Next Update: I will have Adobe Illustrator layouts available.

Computer Imaging Blog

This is Mike Tran, I am a Temple University student majoring in digital media.