Animal Project

8 min readFeb 25, 2021

Part 1:

02/24/21

For this project, we were assigned to choose a threatened, endangered, or extinct species from the area we grew up in. I chose the northern spotted owl after some deliberation between it, the southern sea otter, or the coho salmon.

I then started some research on the behaviors, anatomy, and reasons for why they are now a threatened species.

To study anatomy and proportion, I used owl skeleton diagrams and side profiles to get a good estimate of the northern spotted owl’s size and scale.

I also was set on using the owl's unique movement of turning its head in any direction as my interaction for my plastic model. It was fairly simple but interesting enough to be engaging. I’m beginning to cut plastic to understand how to work with the material, what techniques work best for cutting forms, and how the head will be able to move in different directions while still being attached to the body.

I also wrote a short story including some interesting facts about the owl.

03/01/21

The start of building this structure was extremely difficult for me. I chose to use a sizable bottom of detergent to act as the base for my animal because it had a bottleneck and a thick body I could use to attach wings to.

However, as I began to cut into the detergent, I realized how difficult it was to create consistent lines that were both clean and symmetrical. I had to go back and use scissors and an Exacto knife to smooth out the curves.

I also realized that my proportion would be closer to life-size because I chose this larger-sized detergent bottle. I began to cut wings out and I used brads to secure them to the main body. I also 2 other bottles of bleach and detergent and cut them in half to serve as wings.

This is my first iterations:

I was able to create a head with some coffee cup lids, LED track light holders, some hot glue, a shampoo dispenser cap, and a campus food bowl. It took a lot of thinking to pull this one off, but I really like the result. The hot glue is messy, but I was able to sort of capture the crests of the owl's head and the 360º rotation.

I also really enjoyed how the Pringles cans were able to serve as feather texture at the chest of the bird. I also enjoy how simple the interaction of the head was, but I’m still trying to figure out how to securely attach its neck to the rest of the body.

I’m still struggling with the proportions of the bird because I want the head to rotate around; however, to rotate the head, I need to create space between the head and the body to create space for that rotation. This would also stretch the owl out, height-wise.

My next steps are to find a better way to attach the head to the body because right now it looks more like a helmet than anything else. Additionally, I want to make it stand on its own. Finally, I need to figure out how to adjust the proportions to make space for rotation but maintain an accurate portrayal of the owl.

03/03/21

Notes from the critique on Tuesday:

Look back at head and eyes

rings and differentiation of eyes, protruding vs. sunken in.

Connecting the neck to head

popping head out to make the movement

look back and analyze the actual structure of the head.

the proportion of eyes and using color to differentiate the rings.

cartoonish.

fix side profile.

I also talked with Connor when he came into the studio to see what else I should fix. We reiterated what was said during class, and also talked about focusing more on the form rather than the complications with the interaction at this stage of the project. With this information, I decided to center my studies around creating a more accurate representation of the head.

With Connor, we talked about flipping the coffee caps inside out so that they would give that sunken feeling. We also talked about scaling down the eyes and placing them within the coffee cups because the eyes of the owl were also sunken. My previous model had protruding eyes, which was very inaccurate. Q also suggested that I create a better connection between the body and the head and use a smaller beak.

With all those suggestions, I was able to do this.

The first thing I did was flip the coffee lids the other way, creating a concave form. This would allow me to create a more accurate representation of the owl’s side profile. shaved some of the sides down to make the crest and put the blue rings on the eyes to differentiate the eyes from the rings on the face. I also used a smaller soap dispenser pump for the beak.

For the body, I used more black plastic bowls to have the head taper down to the body and wings. I shaved the body down to keep the proportions consistent.

I have some major issues with this model though. I’m still not satisfied with how the head looks because the rings the coffee lids make are still much too large. I also need to add volume to the front of the face because the front and back of the head are very unbalanced. Additionally, I need to finish the rest of the body because there are still gaping holes where plastic should be. I’m also trying to find better ways of integrating the eye rings into the rest of the head because it still looks cartoonish.

My next steps are the continue adjusting the head, body, and to possibly add feet. I will be trying to find plastic that fits the curvatures of the head to create crests and add volume. I want to keep refining how the head turns on the body, and I want to finalize the form of the body.

03/08/21

Notes from critique:

Head proportions, eyes and rings and how rings overlap

adding volume to the front of the face

the head looks like a helmet

interaction

no distinct neck

moving eyes more to center

adding more mass to the shoulders.

cutting out plastic and having the eye come out from behind.

With these in mind, I started my final iteration of my animal. I started off with the head because I found it to be the main issue with my form. I wanted to address the cartoonish look by taking a closer look at both the proportions and layering of the eyes. I first tackled the eyes by cutting out holes in the coffee lids (rings of the eye) and placed the eyes within those new holes; I cut shaved off some of each side of the eye in order to create a more accurate form to the real animal. I then moved on to adding volume to the head. It felt very flat and unnatural to just glue the eyes onto the base of the head like I did previously. I decided to add volume both under the beak to remove the distinction between head and body.

I also restructured the wings by reorganizing how the different pieces of plastic overlapped. I realized that the tail was flat compared to what I had before, so I used a long, flat piece of plastic to represent that form. I also added an extra piece on the neck to create a smoother curve from neck to body.

I was able to incorporate my simple interaction without any difficulty. I thought I would struggle with moving the head because the pieces of the jaw had to hang down lower to remove that distinction between head and body; however, by elevating the neck piece slightly, I was able to turn the head no problem.