Darn and drat!

Confidence cometh before a slap in the face with a wet fish.

Getting together work for a competition got me lost in research, and there was a lot, so for 'research' read procrastination. I could not settle on style or medium and in dithering ran down the clock and so lessened the choices. No lino prints for me!

The remit was to produce three illustrations and a design for the binding for 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley. Despite being set in the future it is very much about the 1920s and 1930s. My thoughts turned to Metropolis by Fritz Lang.

I find the Art Deco designs
so very attractive

I really like the travel posters of the same period they have such wonderfully strong designs and colours. They are outrageously optimistic, and like all advertising selling the lifestyle and dream of health, wealth and beauty.

So many to choose from, they are appealing for their nostalgia
and their artistry.

Steve Thomas's fantastic retro future Posters. He has
captured the quality of them perfectly.

The finished Malpais image.

Huxley's descriptions of London, the surrounding countryside and Malpais, which are very attractive and he takes great pleasure in its portrayal. As you can see I was getting completely diverted by this and  while I had many ideas they were not appearing on paper.

Some early design thoughts for the cover.
Based on the colour strata of the different
social castes.

Different ideas for Malpais, starting with a sweeping view
of the mesa and then focusing in on the ritual.

John the Savage's point of view - seeing the
gawking child twins, staring at this mother.

Rough of the cover. The finish would have all the figures
coloured.

In the end however, my designs were very different as I focused onto the human moments that had a very strong cinematic feel to them.  But lessons to be learnt...work faster...and don't get distracted...learn more Photoshop sometime soon! I was pleased with my ideas, but really unhappy with the results.

Happy New Year.

Hello. There has been quite a gap since the last blog, something to do with the holidays and work.  I have just uploaded a (rather long) film of the jigsaw being painted. It is not very exciting, but I hope that the music will help it to seem a little more vibrant.

Music by Holy Moly and the Crackers.

http://www.holymolyandthecrackers.co.uk/

Finished work, photographed sitting in the lid
of the box made for it.

The back of the work needed to be sealed as well.
Considered that on another occasion I won't mind painting a
different picture on the back - to make it harder and a little more interesting.

Since finishing the jigsaw I have made it a display box for it - based on a wonderful box that contained a circular cheese board...it almost fitted the jigsaw, but not quite! So I had to make my own.

This is the little prototype I made to try the design out.
Covered it in a photocopy of a photo of the jigsaw.

The full quote is: 'Life is the flower, of which love is the honey'
said by Victor Hugo, supposedly.

And then while thinking of a way to create an information sheet containing both the outline of the jigsaw - for those wishing to remake the jigsaw - and to tell you the flowers and insects on it, my husband mentioned seeing artisan film canisters in an art gallery which had a padded filling to stop the contents from moving around.  This seemed like a perfect coupling of the two needs - so I've made a padded/quilted insert which has the outline and names embroidered on it. I managed to do this fairly quickly by using the wonders of a sewing machine which had an embroidery foot attached.

Calico put over the outline on a light box.
The outline was photocopied from the Illustrator file on many bits of paper, due to a size issue.

I really enjoyed the free hand embroidery - it will look shockingly
amateur but it did the job.

Waiting to be cut to size and neatened - and in need of  a bit of bias-binding.

And a quick look at the Bee Box. Almost finished, sans
glue and a magnet to work as the catch.

All that nearly complete...and now onto the Bee Book!!