Mood Board - Georgian Follies

I went forth and collected some images of Georgian era Follies. At first glance there are many similarities that stand out to me - a lot of them are circular and feature some form of pillar structure around the main building. Perhaps it would be a good idea to consider a variation of this when creating my folly.

I also noticed that a lot of them share a similar kind of texture. As to what it is exactly, I am unsure. It seems like it would be stone but it would also be difficult to carve and haul such large shapes up to where they are ultimately located, so I am led to believe that it may be some form of plaster instead. Either way, it would be a good idea to investigate both these materials to get an idea of what to use in mine.

Mood Board - Georgian Architecture

I collected some images of  Georgian architecture to help get a better understanding of what I'm supposed to be looking for and the general characteristics that are prominent throughout this era of architecture.

One of the most noticeable features is the striking symmetry and geometry that a lot of Georgian architecture bears. In the late Georgian years, this, alongside using mathematical rules to determine exactly how many rooms a house would have, as well as the dimensions of a building, were strongly approved of whereas asymmetry was frowned upon. Regularity in general was desired, which is why there are a lot of similarities amongst the different images, much more than what would probably have been found looking at most other areas of architecture.

There were a lot of inspirations that Georgian architecture took on. Having succeeded Baroque, it took on a little of its form, whilst also including Palladian architecture and, in a lesser sense, Gothic. Later on, a Greek Revival was also incorporated.

In terms of materials, it is clear that stone and brickwork is the primary backbone here. Ashlar (very finely cut and shaped) stonework was popular around this time, and makes its way in here, show especially in pictures like the top right. I will have to do more material research later on.

Mood Board - Limestone Statues

Since most gargoyles are made out of limestone or marble, I decided to go with limestone as I feel it would add a better texture and encourage me to, in effect, 'destroy' my sculpture with erosion and lichen growth. Because of this, I needed to collect some images so that I can get a feel for what limestone looks like so I can better represent it when I come to paint my gargoyle.

Mood Board - Snake Statues

Since I was quite unsure as how to create the scales on my cockatrice, I decided to gather some references from existing statues to get a better idea as to how they're done in real life. While these are not taken from the same culture, there is no reason as to why similar techniques would be applied across the world in sculpture. 

Mood Board - Scorpion Tails

Since there is no other real-life reference that I can think of for the tail of a cockatrice, I thought it would be interesting to experiment a little. As I said before, I will exercise caution with the inclusion of other animals into my interpretation of the cockatrice, but I will work on some iterations for the tail so that I can see what it would look like if I were to take inspiration from the tail of a scorpion.

Mood Board - Bat Wings

Even though the cockatrice's wing is not directly influenced by the wings of a bat, many of the leathery wings that are seen in fantastical creatures are not unlike the wings of a bat. However, I feel like this may detract a little too much from the theme of the cockatrices as I will be mixing in creatures that were never a part of the folklore. Therefore, I will be careful when incorporating this, and may end up not going with this thought at all if I find that it will not fit in with the structure of the gargoyle.

Mood Board - Snakes

Since in folk-lore, many cockatrices are formed from an egg incubated by a toad or snake, I decided to collect some references. I felt like a toad would be deviating too much from the theme of the cockatrice so I went with only the snake, so I could get the feel for their scales and possibly include some features such as the fangs of a snake or the rattle from a rattlesnake.

Mood Board - Bird Feet

Although the head of a cockatrice is the only part that is truly like a chicken, the feet are not too dissimilar to have some inspiration from a bird. So, in this respect, I took from a more generalised set of birds, choosing the feet from chickens, eagles, owls and pheasants to provide an idea as to how I am going to sculpt the feet of the cockatrice.

Mood Board - Chickens

Having settled on the idea of the cockatrice, I need some real-life references of the animals they are inspired of. Since the cockatrice only really had the head of the chicken, this is the focus of the mood board, so that I can get an accurate representation of the head when I start iterating in both 2D and 3D later.

Mood Board - Cockatrice

The cockatrice, in folk tales, varies from place to place. The most popular tale is that a cockatrice is birthed from a chicken's egg that is incubated by a toad or a snake. In other tales, it is said that a cockatrice can come from a cock's egg (a yolkless egg, also known as a 'wind egg') and that it can be prevented by tossing the egg over the house without letting it hit the house. A cockatrice is said to be able to kill with just its look, so cockatrices were generally associated with evil because of their dangerous gaze.

I thought this was a good idea as a cockatrice would be a good guardian due to this feature. As was said earlier, many gargoyles warded off evil but were also designed to look evil at the same time, so as to intimidate people into going into the safe haven of the church. With the gaze of the cockatrice, this would be a perfect match so I think that this will be the main basis of my design.

Mood Board - Monstrorum Historia

Monstrorum Historia is a book of strange beasts composed by Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1642. Some of the creations he presented in this book were already based behind a myth or an existing fantastical creature, such as cockatrices, harpies and centaurs, but others were more interesting, inspired from his own research into natural history. This is an unique insight as to the though processes of people from these time periods, who believed that these sorts of beasts truly existed, which may be the basis as to why fantastical creatures are quite prevalent in gargoyles from this time.

I won't use these images as a basis as the exact animals that they were taken from is vague - I would have to do quite a bit of guesswork - but I know that I can have some more freedom with the designs that I take, as well as the aesthetic that was generally popular around this time period.

Mood Board - Stone Textures

This is a mood board to gather a feel for the texture of stone statues, as I am planning for this to be the material for my gargoyle. A lot of gargoyles from the medieval and Gothic periods were made from either limestone or marble. Since limestone was easier to carve and was fairly plentiful, it was used more, but over time it suffered from erosion. Marble was popular for sculpting due to its lucrative texture and the way it refracts light, but was also more expensive, thus not being utilised nearly as often as limestone. Some gargoyles had features rendered in lead, such as their waterspouts to lessen erosion even more.

In this respect, I am most likely going to make my gargoyle from limestone, so as to be as realistic as possible. This will mean I will have to keep in mind especially the aspects of erosion from rain and the water running through the spout, which may obscure many detailed features in my gargoyle.

Mood Board - Modern Gargoyles

Here are some pictures of a more modern take on gargoyles. Since there are more sculptural options with the use of supports built in the inside, gargoyles can become much more varied. However, due to an act passed in 1724 in the UK, gargoyles became a lot less popular as downpipes were required on all new buildings.

In a personal consideration, I will probably not pursue the design of a newer gargoyle as it will mean it will not be as much of a challenge, even if I do trade off a bit of creative freedom by doing so. If I pick a design of a traditional gargoyle I will have to consider more elements such as the possible erosion from weather damage, as well as where lichen and/or moss would grow. I will also have to consider historical and cultural aspects which simply do not exist to as big as an aspect as time goes on. This will help me practice more on a specific theme rather than being given as broad as just 'Gargoyles'.

Mood Board - Traditional Gargoyles

Here are a few images collected of older, more traditional gargoyles. There is an apparent theme throughout most of these, in that many of them are quite solid and jut far from the side of the building. Many of the gargoyles sport wings of some descriptor, often bat-like in nature. However, my idea is not to form my own creature out of parts taken from other creatures, but rather to take an established fantastical creature and try and interpret it into a sculptural form. These pictures instead are better served as an architectural resource, so that I can better understand how to pose my gargoyle so that it looks realistic when it would be mounted on a building.