New piece just in time for hand in

As discussed earlier in the week i proposed that i was going to make a new image to prove that my images could be made in range of sizes. I decided to bring together a family snap of my grandparents with my uncle and placed them in front of their first house. I used similar techniques to those in the shopping scene, however these were in simplified manner. The house for example probably would have reached about ten layers, but in miniature it was only about 5. Ironically, I am just as satisfied with this piece as I was with the A2 piece. I was impressed how quickly i turned it over with professionalism and finesse. This shows my ability to produce intricate paper cuts in a short amount of time and has potential for possible editorial work if it were to crop up, or in the context of my career aspiration to small sketches for theatre designs in paper cut.

Framing

For the shopping scene, I think a deep box frame is definitely the way to go for exhibition presentation. I want it showcase the theatrical quality I have been working towards throughout this project. As my work was a particular size and depth, I felt it important to have a frame custom made for me. At first, I enquired with with framing shops in London such as Atlantis and Jacksons. However, only Jackson's could make my frame to the specs i needed. After asking the advice of Joel, he reminded me that if the frames were to be sent in the post, as planned, i would have no coverage on glass breakage. Therefore it would be better to go to a local framing shops such as Flux and Wessex Fine Art. Without the access of a car, Wessex Fine Art was a little far out and I was familiar with flux for buying art materials.

After phoning on wednesday, I decided to take the piece in to be measured and maybe left to be framed before hand in. However, it was stated that the frame most likely would not be ready until after deadline. Therefore, either i left the work and used photographs for my deadline or got it framed afterwards. The latter was far more appealing as either way I would not get marked on the frame.  In the shop Tristian recommended i put a mount board spacer in front of the piece to exaggerate the 3D quality of my piece. He gave a range of different colours to look at, as seen below. The frame is a 40mm deep frame and the wood he has available can be stained as seen below as below.

I finally settled on euro grey mountboard with a stained frame. As it cannot be framed in time for hand in, I intend on getting it framed in time for the grad show in Bournemouth. Approxiamtely it will cost me £65 and a week to make.

Reconsideration of final imagery for hand in.

Originally I proposed to make three scenes for hand in next wednesday. However, taking the time and effort i put into the shopping scene into consideration, it seemed daft to attempt to make something to a similar standard in less than half the amount of time I spent on the other. This dawned on me whilst I was in the midst of making the second scene. I could see the amount of painting and cutting and i'd need to do and it was a little sickening. I was also aware that I had already started this piece before the shopping scene and apparently before my decision to start including more than one of my grandfather's photo's within the image. This made me feel like i was going back a step and that wasn't great. I could feel myself getting more and more agitated so I stopped and considered what I could instead. That is I could make a another scene on a smaller scale that combined two images together and altogether could prove that my technique could be showcased in a range of sizes.

Finishing and putting the Shopping Scene together

Tuesday and wednesday have been solidly dedicated to finishing the 'shopping scene' and to high standard. Each area of the foreground required meticulous detailing, working in layers as do with my paper cutting techniques. Its amazing to see how by combining the two techniques, they have crossed over quite a lot to create a brand new way of working. The following images show the process I took, firstly finishing of the foreground adding more foliage and fruit to the stall to give the foreground more of a base and to guarantee that it won't be too flimsy and ruining the 'illusion' of the piece. Then i started to cut away at the foreground to reveal space behind. This made it easier for me to start realising the positioning of each object in the composition. As and when I had made the decisions and created a path to connect the two layers, I started to add foam pads to layer up the objects and create the scene. Originally I had planned to add more foliage to the back but similarly to how i'd felt about the limited colour palette of the post office, I felt it important to keep the background clear, with only a hint of colour to give it context.  The foreground felt a little flat, even with the figures added. My creative solution was to create more foliage to place at the very front of the piece to give a sense of depth, These too i put a lot of detail in, even cutting out tiny yellow teardrops to portray flower buds.

I decided on a sky blue background, this i feel suggests a vast landscape that compares a lot to build up 1950s Britain. 

Preparation for Job applications and more branding!!!

This week past week has been a big confidence boost for my practice and with another long weekend, I decided to put a lot of effort into branding and creating a creative cv ready to start sending to theatre companies in the next couple of weeks.

Business cards

I am aware that much emphasis is put on business cards for making a good and lasting first impression. I didn't want to overcomplicate it and make something garish but at the same time i didn't want it to be dull and forgettable. Therefore i strategised a colour palette that reflect on the colours that appear in my work: Blue, orange, pink and green. Each of these has a complimentary image on the alternate side. I chose a mixture of both papercut and drawn elements of practice that I can pick and choose which ones will appropriate for certain people.

This colour scheme is also being applied to all other examples of my promotional material to keep a consistency going to make my brand recognisable among the many. This too will be applied to my CV. This I have made very simple, using colour as a main feature to make it stand out in a pile of applications. 

Over the weekend I discovered the perfect opportunity for my early career- a Marketing and Producing 6 month internship with Bristol based Theatre company Cirque Bijou. The application states that it only requires a CV and a covering letter, therefore I want my CV to be as punchy and something that truly represents me as a creative person. The company will undoubtedly be getting applications from a wide variety of people with different skills. However, this opportunity as Gina Cross pointed out that I can use to my advantages.

http://www.cirquebijou.co.uk/latest-news/news/we-are-recruiting.html

Stickers

For my pick 'n' mix packets I wanted to do something a little different and get coloured logo stickers to make them obvious as promotional product rather than something just selling sweets.

Strike! Performance in Eastleigh

A friend of mine has been working on a set design for some theatre/circus performers and she was invited to watch the premiere showing of one of their other projects on friday night. After hearing so much about them and seeing some of their previous work, I was intrigued and went along with her as a reward for myself but also some professional practice research.

What i witnessed was something amazing and daring that caught me for words. The performers combined experimental performance with acrobatic dance. Something that I later learnt is a growing trend in contemporary theatre. The set was really interesting as well as it was completely constructed out of cardboard boxes except for the metal frame used as a desk and a tool for their acrobatic tricks. Sets like these make me realise the possibilities for my own practice in theatre as experimental sets, if they work, really add a new dimension to the performing arts and far more memorable than your standardised promenade stage and backdrop combo.

I also got the opportunity to meet one of the performers after the show and Hannah introduced me as an Illustrator interested in theatrical design. I was chuffed to see how excited the performer was by the concept of an illustration getting involved in the industry. 

Following the show, I researched a little into people involved in the production and a particular practitioner caught my eye- Anna Barrett. Her contribution to the show was creating light installations within the cardboard boxes. I was particularly impressed by an light installation nearing the end of the performance that saw a large section of the foreground set be transformed into a cityscape of lights. This was a significantly small aspect of an overall great show, however it had a profound effect on me. I found her website and discovered she is based in Bristol, which is fairly close to where I will be moving to in the next months. I am curious to know if she'd need any volunteers to help her out on her projects.

Anna Barrett- website

Making the shopping scene...more characters and more stress!

The stress has been building today after the realisation of how much work I want to do with the time I have left and how slow I am working. I am thoroughly enjoying the making process, however it is particularly frustrating that I have elongated my the process by deciding to paint all my papers before i cut out numerous layers to build up the finished character image. I can appreciate the the improvement it has made on the overall image, which is why I am sticking to it.

The last couple of days have been about finishing off the characters within the scene, which includes people in the background layers. As I am merging two of my grandfather's photographs into one new original scene, I have thought how I could add more playfulness and a hint of story to the still image to transform it into a 'performance' as such. With that in mind, I decided to create a short narrative portraying my Grandmother's local shopping trips in Trinidad- keeping the character consistent with the same clothes- a white blouse and red shorts. By repeating my grandmother's figure in the image, the audience develops an attachment to my Grandmother and she is therefore outlined as a protagonist in the sequence of images. This compares to the lack of consistency in the collection of other images where characters have not been as easily identified. This is something to keep in mind for my future images.

 I have also been busy making the background layers needed to construct the post office. This has been overall fairly tricky trying to work with the foreground image that has not yet been completely finished and cut out to reveal what will be seen. This has of course again made the process all that slower and alot of planning was planning was made, using tracing paper to work out how to create perspective with the steps and the porch area. 

I also decided to make the background colours quite blocky in colour to not distract the viewer's eyes from the drawn details in the foreground of the image.

As we're at the end of the week and I find it much easier to do making work at uni, I aim to finish the shopping scene by the end of tuesday (taking into consideration the bank holiday!)