Inspiration & Ideation
Since I was young, I always had a passion for Japanese animation & manga. One of the stories that inspired me and had a significant influence in my life is the story of a pirates' adventure called"One Piece". For me, One piece is not just a comic for children, but it reflects political aspects and social issues in our real world. My favorite character is the main character named "Luffy". He is the captain of the Straw Hat pirate group. During his adventure seeking for One piece, the great treasure of the world, Luffy and his friends always fight against the villain and corrupted system in every island they anchored.
Meanwhile, in Thailand, a small country in South East Asia, There are people who fight against injustice and disparity for there future. The young generation is risking their lives to protest demanding to reform the corrupted government and challenge the monarchy of Thailand. As a Thai citizen, it is crucial for me to be a part of this movement even I'm not there. It is important to speak up and demanding a better society. Like a Straw Hat pirate, the youth of Thailand and this movement are the hope for a better future.
In this project, I want to combine both sides of my passion together by incorporate mt design into One Piece characters. The characters will raise their three-finger salute as a symbol of this powerful movement and hope for the Thai people.
Sketch
I did multiple sketches to figure out the shape of the character. I decided to choose a simple form in order to make it easy to adjust. This simple form can turn to be a blank canvas and replace by any characters representing everyone.
Process
blending the wire
After drawing a precise dimension in Illustrator, the first thing is to build a structure for the figure. I decided to blend the wire a little smaller, so I can add some meat on it later.
applying the aluminum foil
On the inside of the figure, in order to save the clay and build a strong structure, I used aluminum foil to wrap the wire. It was easy to blend to adjust the pose as well.
giving it some meat
Now, I applied a clay on a structured figure. To make it as precise as possible, I used the printed sketch to measure the size.
sculpting details
After getting the right size model, It's time to decorate! To make a shirt, I rolled a clay into a thin sheet and cut it in to a shirt. Then, attached the pieces with to figure.
I also did the same trick for the hat. For the eyes, I mold a teeny-tiny dots and attached it to the face and use a Sharpie pen to color it. For the scar, I used a sharp-edge tool to make a mark.
For me, the figure is turn out to be a little chubby which I might adjust it in a CAD file later.