My brain is full of paper
In response to my Peak District experience, I wanted to begin thinking about artwork and how I can portray the landscape I was exposed too on my trip.
As always my brain resorts to paper - it's as if I can only think in this medium! As a result of this I managed to find a few books in the library with artwork inside that inspired me:
Book 1: 'Papercut' by Owen Gildersleeve
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| Bombo |
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| Anonymous |
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| Helen Musselwhite |
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| Hattie Newman |
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| Elise |
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| Ciara Phelan |
Book 2: 'Trail' by David Pelham
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I would really like each page of my picture book to transport the audience into the valley itself (similar to the amazing 'Trail' book above) and take them on an interactive journey. This is when I began thinking about scenes. Each page could possibly represent a different scene/stage/checkpoint along the journey, eventually ending up at the main scene - the stepping stones. A simple idea, but one true to the journey I underwent on New Years Day.
Pop up and paper engineering
In looking through the books I had on loan I made the mad decision to try pop-up. I have always admired the true paper - engineers who manage to bring a 2D media to life in 3D just by cutting, folding and sticking and it is something I think (if successful) will work really well with this brief and my location.
I did tons of research into how to create simple pops ups and I soon came to realise that this avenue was not going to be easy.
I found links to commercial pop up creations and design, and also simple tutorials on you tube, but nothing was more valuable than this pop up book I had found in the library. This book had examples of everything I needed to know in terms of basic paper engineering and this is what I came up with:
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| Sliders and rotating disks for text |
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| Wild flowers |
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| Attempt at a log over a river |
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| Hill scene |
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| Ferns, grass and foliage |
I have nothing positive to say about this process. I don't even have satisfaction in knowing how to do it and achieving the pop ups that I have. These 4 pop up pages took me a day - a whole day, and these aren't even anything to do with original artwork, just the structure in which the artwork is meant to sit! And they aren't even very good and keep falling apart!
It is safe to say that attempting pop up for my final book is a step too far for me - it will add immense pressure in terms of time management and extra work to complete and I am worried it could take away from the actual artwork in the book. I love the idea, but I think it should be a task for when I have more that 2 weeks to complete a book.
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After the disheartening attempt at creating mock up pop up scenes for my book, I decided to stick with the paper and scene idea and try something a little different. In looking at the module brief it is really clear than an element of the artwork for this book needs to be digital, so that it can be scanned in in the finishing stages, arranged in InDesign and printed professionally. This narrowed down what exactly I can achieve for this artwork with paper. I cant realistically make scenes completely out of cut coloured card, like I would like to (something similar to Elise's work above) as that wouldn't be hitting the brief. It would only hit the brief if i created these paper cut scenes, photographed/scanned the and had them printed into a book, completely taking away from the presence of cut and assembled paper and pointless in my eyes.
With this in mind I started by creating backgrounds with water and ink. I wanted something subtle, that would remain as a background only and not interfere with the artwork on top. These backgrounds could be theoretically the artwork that gets scanned in and printed digitally , with the paper cut scenes then made, assembled and added on top after the printing stage.
Once all the backgrounds were complete and drying, I began to draw up some mock scenes to lay over the top. These scenes were then cut and stuck in place with double sided tape once I had the positioning right which made the most of the background colours. I then added certain elements resembling souvenirs and common elements that I had come across whilst on my research trip in the peaks. (Berries, leaves, vines, reeds, ivy etc)
In addition to creating scenes, I wanted to test out other forms of creating backgrounds and block colour for natural elements/items that could feature in the book. I experimented with water colour and brusho, coloured paper and cut card for a front cover mock up and attempted to create an few intricate pine cones in crazy colours (to reflect the colours I experienced on my research journey).
Successes
I really like the idea of bringing a scene to the audience and paper cut being my thing - I think I could make each page really intricate and beautiful. These mock up are in white just to have a play with layout and to see how a scene would work with the ink background. The actual artwork I expect o be in full colour, whether cut coloured card, or hand painted elements that I have created myself.
I really like the textures created for the ink backgrounds and also using brusho for the separate smaller elements. They add a lot of interest to the pieces and I feel quite free when using this form of media.
Failures
I am still unsure as to wether this is hitting the brief. I almost feel like I am forcing myself to create elements (painted backgrounds) to fit the brief, and not making decisions on what is best for the final artwork and outcome itself. I am not sure if paper is the best solution for the artwork in my book despite how much it inspires me - as it is now such a late stage to be starting and will require a great amount of work to complete a whole 16 page book. Another worry is that a book full of these paper cut scenes might be an overload when altogether in a set. Will it convey the story correctly or will the audience become lost in the imagery? Maybe I should think about one scene being paper cut (maybe the climax stepping stone image) and have the rest of the artwork completed in another medium for impact?
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