When I was told the title of this project ‘Gameplay’ I immediately began to think back to my childhood. Old board games, children’s toys and then I remembered the fairytale stories and colouring books I used to love as a child.
To start with, for my idea of using the themes of storybooks and colouring books I decided to look at one particular author and illustrator, Beatrix Potter. I love her illustrations in the way she gives human characteristics to her animals. I liked this idea and may use it similarly in this project. Here I have drawn one of her illustrations to get me into her drawing style and to help develop ideas.
As well as this I also began experimenting drawing other subjects of my own and tried out different styles such as realistic and cartoon to create my own illustration style.
(Realistic sketch of a baby and cartoon sketch of girl)
Here I have drawn 3 sketches of the same dog but in each I have reduced the level of detail so the end product looks like a colouring book insert.
I also had an experiment with animating a character in Beatrix Potter style.
(click the rabbit to view animation)
I really liked these outcomes but I felt that I should again go back to my area of interest, Set Design, to consider an outcome in that field. This is where I found Victorian Theatre Dioramas.
I liked these styles of theatre because of the level of interest and interaction with the audience. Characters could be put on sticks and backgrounds easily changed allowing simple scenes to be played out in front of an audience. I like all the intricate detailing put onto them and I am also interested in looking into the clever way that these theatres are constructed. So I decided to build my own.
This is the image I am working from. I’m measuring each section of the picture and doubling the length.
Construction:
After I built the theatre I stumbled upon some other artists that had interesting techniques in illustration, and I liked the playfulness as they place these scenes into recycled objects. Like discovering hidden worlds. I have left the theatre for the moment to explore other potentials my project could go in.
Jim Doran
Charles Steckler
Anastassia Elias
I absolutely love this style of illustration so I thought I’d have my own go at it.
This was a really tricky thing to make as your working on such a small scale. I enjoyed making it but I felt that creating this for an end outcome may be risky as it takes time to perfect and because of the amount of time I had left. After looking at these artists work I also considered whether it was the scenes themselves that were most important or whether it was the casing in which they are housed, for example I felt Anastassia Elias’s work held more amazement due to it being in an object you wouldn’t think to look twice at. So from here I went back to my victorian theatre which I then decorated, added lighting and sound.
My Theatre in the Foundation Informer Exhibition.
I feel it explores the childish emotions, the curiosity of a child, their need to explore their surroundings and discover unusual hidden worlds that fascinate them and allow their imagination to run wild. I felt the theatre was the best way to portray this as it plays on these emotions. Anticipation for the show to start, an actor to walk on, suspense, the thrill and the excitement of being inside a large theatre in all its grandeur architecture.
This piece also reflects all the memories I had as a kid going to the theatre to see the pantomime shows. I hoped it would remind the audience of similar childhood memories and relight that childish glee and excitement of the theatre within them.
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