Picture Bashing

When I was a boy I loved making Sci fi stuff. I wanted to become a special effects wizard, a prop maker for movies or a concept designer . I would collect books on modeling on costume making and special effects. I also created many models and costumes of my own. There were all sorts of ways to make props or models including a process called "Kit Bashing". In this process you bought up tones of old plastic kits and you selected different parts of each kit and assembled them into something new. A conglomerate design that often included other bits and pieces. Old plates or washing machine parts or the internals of some old toy. I use to have a big basket full of bits that I would reassemble into my own visions.

Around 1994 I got my wish and landed a job at Post Production Services in Sydney. It wasn't the SFX job I dreamed about but it was a start and it led me to opening my own animation studio where I would sometimes get to work on the cool special effects I dreamed of working on as a kid.
But because I seem to have creative attention deficit disorder. I am always frustrated and have to have lots of projects going at one time. A lot of these are just personal and are either about cartooning (another passion I have had since I was young) or concept designing Sci Fi creatures. These days I design on computer instead of using plastic bits and model kits. I have found that it has opened up a lot more possibilities and I tend to be more focused about the end result. I start by designing a character or machine and begin searching images in the creative commons etc anywhere I can get permission to use an image. Including royalty free image sites and artists texture reference sites. Then, over time I assemble my images into the final creature etc. It occured to me this was a form of Picture Bashing - Assembling new images from bits of others.

So I decided to share my new and fun design process with anyone who cares to read my blog. But to start this off I thought I would share with you some of my childhood creations. I'll get into the Picture bashing a little later on.

SOME OLD PIC's

This is an image of my brother and I as Star Wars characters. I made both costumes I am in the Tuscan Raiders Outfit. I was 14 at the time and was invited to the local library to entertain the staff and some readers in the kids section. I think I made them a week or two after Star Wars debued in Sydney Australia. These costumes got stolen from our garage, so they must have impressed some one.



This one was made after seeing Silent Running. I was pretty blown away by that movie and at the age of 10 I knocked this monster model up out of some plastic terrarium flower pots, broom sticks and talcum powder bottles.