When in doubt....draw mermaids

2nd Term Helmet Project

I just finished my first year at Art Center and thought I would share what my big final project for my 2nd term. We had to make a life size helmet, of our own design, entirely out of clay and found objects. The story for my helmet is as follows:

“Long ago, the seven seas of the earth were ruled over by seven different kingdoms of merpeople. The seven kingdoms were constantly at war with each other, trying to expand their territory into the other’s sea with the goal of one day ruling the entire ocean waters.

The Kingdom of Atlantis ruled over the Atlantic ocean and was currently at war with the Indian ocean. One of the recruits was a young merman. Although very enthusiastic about supporting his kingdom, he lacked the skills to do so. During training he was the worst in his training class. He lacked grace in weilding the Atlantian spear, showed poor depth perception when launching and fleeing from underwater bombs, and was extremely clumsy when it came to sneaking and spying on enemy lines. He was recklessly picked on by his fellow soldiers and was nicknamed, “Bubble Head” because of his overly round helmet.

The helmets that the warriors of the Atlantian army wear varied depending on the fish tail they were born with. Some were born with the tails of sharks and were given fearsome helmets with jagged shark teeth, others were born with the tails of pufferfish and were given round helmets with spikes all around. The young merman was born with the tail of a dragon eyed goldfish and was given a helmet designed with their signature round eyes. The eyes of the helmet was designed to zoom in and out like a telescope with the added addition of night vision if a night attack should occur. A ventilator was placed on the helmet to filter the water in case the enemy should launch bombs that emit a toxic sludge that would kill anyone who breathes it in. 

The young merman was proud to be fighting for his kingdom, but scared he may not live to come home to it again. Unfortunately he was killed at the front lines, leaving behind his helmet.”

I also attached sketches of my character who would be wearing the helmet, as well as the initial ideation sketches of different areas I could go with the helmet. This was such a hard project for me, but I think I pulled it off pretty well and I’m proud of the finished product :)