'Action Chick' Context of Practice: Essay Response

In response to my exploration of the female gender and their representation within contemporary gaming, for my media artefact I worked within the are of digital art. I felt this would be an appropriate way to both contextualise my findings whilst also offering me the chance to work in my chosen area of personal practice. My response depicts a faceless, athletic heroine, bound by ropes like a puppet:

The character in a sense satirises the character of Lara Croft, presenting a toned and slightly convention breaking character, who ironically is being controlled and scrutinised by the puppeteer.

Practically, I explored further uses for custom brushes, capturing the fabric of both the brown tight jeans and the tank top that my heroine wears. Linking both personal professional development with the contextualisation of my essay, I could have perhaps explored the composition of this piece further. In my personal and professional practice model, I have spoke about exploring life drawing, working on drawing objects from different perspectives considering depth of field. Possibly by depicting my character from an elevated angle looking down on the 'Action Chick', I could have given a more dominating feel, emphasising the presence of the male gaze. Taking this concept further, perhaps I could have moved from the two dimension media of digital painting to the a game engine, modelling my action heroine and giving the user the ability to orbit and assess the virtual character's form. This third person orbiting perspective is a subject that I have discussed briefly in my essay, and would really put the male gaze into action. At this stage, I feel my response is almost like a piece of conceptual design work, which could then be adapted into the platform of gaming, exploring my idea of gender representation in contemporary gaming further.

In conclusion, I feel I have merely scratched the surface, depicting this idea of cynical puppeteering in the media of painting. With the resources available within my course, and with perhaps some collaboration (working with people who specialise in different areas) I could have put this concept to work in a virtual three dimensional environment.