Zaika 9

Body Contouring Designs

I didn't come across many images when searching for images of artwork that included tigers and henna designs/Indian themed designs. Despite the lack of reference-able images, I did come across this one however was unable to find out who the artist was as I would have liked to see whether they'd created any more similar looking pieces. I was initially looking for images that would show designs that would be aiding the contours and natural features of an animal. This picture does show how the detailed designs almost create the features of the tigers face such as the nose and ears and outline of the head which helps represent the tiger in an abstract way.

Zaika 8

Tiger's Body

Just like the peacock and elephant I also want the tiger to be facing straight forward and at the customers. As I've flicked through images of tigers I'm very set on drawing a laid down tiger. The picture below has the perfect pose and is exactly laid out the way I want my tiger to look, therefore I shall be continuously referring to this picture when I begin to draw the outline of my tiger.

This picture also shows a tiger laid down and also shows how the tigers whole body is aimed towards facing the front, however even while it is positioned like that I don't think I would be able to involve a lot of detail. The whole of the tigers back isn't accessible like it is in others pictures and the back would be the main focus point of drawing the henna designs because it offers such a large space to play around with.

An in motion and stood up pose is also a possibility when it comes to drawing the tiger however I think the laid down position is much more elegant and engaging. As my peacock and elephant illustrations would be in a still position I would also have to make my tiger look like its standing as it wouldn't suit the other two animals if it were to be showing movement.

Zaika 7

Design Ideas

Regal Peacock
by Lia Dia

Paisley Peacock
by Punch Studio

Zaika 6

Peacock's Body

When looking at images of peacock's I wasn't sure if I wanted my image to show a peacock with its feathers open on display or closed and trailing behind it. The tail being open seems to be a traditional and well known decorative way of displaying a peacock whereas I wanted to steer away from something that's been seen plenty of times before.

Rather than going for an open tail approach, I thought I'd look at more images of the tail staying closed to give me more ideas. By looking at images in different angles I was able to understand how the tail would be positioned if it was relaxed however I didn't think it brought out the peacock's greatest asset enough. I prefer the peacock's body to be facing sideways however the feathers of the tail aren't on show as much in this position, therefore if the tail was to be tilted to a side slightly then the image could look intentionally decorative.

Zaika 5

Colour Scheme

When looking at this print I realised how it'd be a great idea for the décor artwork to just be a simple line work drawing with the help of a complimentary colours and a matching background. Before I saw this image I was thinking of more complex and complicated ideas however this image has inspired me to consider a simple and 'less is more' approach.

Indian Elephant Seamless Pattern Wallpaper
by Anna Reichel

This image instantly caught my eyes as it was so full of colour and also looked as though it contained a lot of texture and depth. The elephants stand out from the background because of the way they have been embellished with accessories but also because they appear to have a different texture to the background. I think the splatters of paint have been cleverly used to break up the image and ass more of a celebration type of feel. The amount of colour used is crazy but looks great and the elephants actually have a lot of detail on them when looking at them closer.

The Universal Indian Elephant

by Nick Gibson

I was amazed by this bright pink elephant because of how much is stands out and how vividly bright it is. As the restaurant's interior is mostly and orange/gold colour I've decided to go with a colourful approach to match the colour scheme of the restaurant.

Zaika 4

Elephant's Body

I've chosen to create a picture of an Asian looking elephant that will be covered in henna designs. However whilst flicking through pictures of Indian elephants I thought that the elephants didn't look feminine enough which wouldn't suit the henna theme. Henna is heavily associated with femininity as in Asia it is mainly used by girls to decorate and embellish themselves. The elephants have quite small ears which is the main place I was imagining to draw my designs. To me the large humped forehead doesn't appear very girly nor aesthetically pleasing. Because of these reasons I've decided not to focus on Indian elephants and look at African elephants instead.

After looking at images of African elephants I was happy that they would be focus of my image. I've researched various pictures which contain the full body so that I can observe exactly how the body looks and how it looks in different angles. I intend to illustrate a full bodied elephant therefore these pictures are helpful as references. I think I will considering to design my elephant in a facing forward composition rather than putting it to its side, this is because it'll be a décor image after all therefore facing the customers will hopefully attract more attention to itself. Although I may have to tilt the body to a side slightly as whilst the elephant is facing forward there won't be as much surface space to draw my henna designs on whereas if its tilted then I can use it's back and stomach as well as its legs and face.

Zaika 3

Indian Dinnerware

Since coming back from my holiday in Turkey I've become a bit obsessed in decorative bowls, plates, glasses and cups. Therefore I've decided to create my own Turkish style art but give it a more Indian hint to match the restaurant's cuisine. I've been collected empty jars of all different shapes so I intend to paint and decorate them and see whether they could possibly be included in the restaurants décor.

Research

I've brought back some bowls, cups and hand fans as presents from my holiday. I'll be referring back to these and other exams of Turkish art and combine the style with Indian looking art to create decorative ornaments with the jars. These are some more examples that I'll be using as guidance when developing my decorating ideas.

Zaika 2

Restaurant Art

My oldest brother asked me to create some paintings and pictures to hang up, and become a part of the décor, in the restaurant. Therefore my initial thought was to create Indian themed images that appear very stereotypically Asian. I thought I could combine aspects such as henna art, Asian elephants, peacocks and tigers, etc and decorative clothings designs together to become a theme. 

Research

I've researched some Indian art by simply searching on google images and picking out images that stood out the most to me. These will help me have an idea of how varied in style I can go about creating art for a restaurant.

The Universal Indian Elephants
by Nick Gibson

Sandra Kali
by Sabina Espinet

Royal Peacock
by Chariklia Zarris

Indian Peacock Hand-pulled Linocut
by Anna See

Zaika 1

Advertisement Poster

This was the poster that my dad was using to advertise the 'soon to open' restaurant. He'd asked whatever company it is that he goes to to whip up an advertisement style poster. After coming back from my holiday I decided something had to be done about this! And now that a date has been decided for the opening I took the opportunity to design my own advertisement poster.

Company's poster design

Research

I wanted to go for a traditional Indian theme with a sophisticated font throughout the poster. These are a few posters that I quickly had a look at to help give me some ideas as to what other ideas and features I could include in my design. I've chosen these posters mainly because they caught my attention and hence why I feel the need to refer to designs that are the most eye catching.

Summer brief: Zaika

Zaika

So my dad's started another Indian restaurant business. Having three others (Tandoor Mahal, Zaffran and Alishaan Tandoori) wasn't enough.

The first task was to decide on a name, this is when my mum popped up with 'Zaika' and we settled with that instantly. The second task was to create a title design/logo. At first my brothers asked me to look for some suitable fonts online and choose one and one only. Having three brothers and a dad means that there's too many opinions when it comes to choosing a font therefore I was assigned this task so that my choice would be final and there would be no further deliberation about it. My brothers also added that if I can't find a font online then I should design one myself.

So I began my journey online to look for the right font. I realised I was very indecisive and collected a page full of varieties. I wanted my brothers and dad to have a say in my choices just in case my choices ended up being something completely different to what an Indian restaurant would have (I've never done anything like this before so I wouldn't have a clue). Dad didn't seem to like any of my designs and threw a strop so I decided to bring the task to a halt. My youngest brother doodled a design later one day and then I went on to clean up the initial sketches and then develop the design further. We opted for the third design without the involvement of the chilli pepper and the differently shaped 'Z'. This was when the design/logo was born!