The book of poems

Alongside the boxes will be the book so it can narrate to the visitors of the exhibition and make them understand the meaning behind the piece.
I needed to use water colour paper to print the poems off onto as I want my original watercolours to be shown. This means not only will there be my interpretation of the text, there will also be my interpretation or my illustrations. This will result in a more interesting experience. I want to go a step further. 

Rewind back to the 2D paper in the boxes

This design will be simplistic, like my card board experiments. It isn't going to be a big 3D sculpture. I am not a 3D artist however I wanted to push the boat out for the exhibition. I am thinking of my audience and how I want them to engage in something more than just a book of watercolours. Although it is going to be a sculpture, nothing about it will be very much 3D. The animals are going to be cut out of lined paper; lined because that is what the character Daisy is writing her wishes on. Amongst puffs of thought-clouds each animal will placed, each on higher than the other going through the box floors. There will be no colour as these animals have come from a black and white written letter. This will complement the watercolours in the book, Daisy's Giraffe, which will be alongside the boxes. The book will have the original poetry and illustrations in it which will narrate and explain the boxes.

Joel Henriques

Invisible string will be used to hold my drawings up but will not be noticed which will make it look like they aren't being supported by anything.

My drawings will be simple like this, the black ink contrasts massively against the white and I like that.

3D just isn't my thing

During the making of the frame I was feeling confident, I really though this was going to work. Then when applying the Fimo I realised it's as if I physically can't create the image I have in my head. This is frustrating for me as I have now practiced with Modroc, plasticine and modelling clay. Perhaps I can still have them in the exhibition? Just smaller versions that passerby's can pick up and interact with alongside the book? Or maybe I should go back to the 2D idea with the paper cut outs standing up, I know I enjoyed that.

Nick Park

This is the kind of design I had in my head, such a strong image I had however it just isn't in my skill to create such things but it was still fun and gave me further ideas.

12 hour drying modelling clay disaster

I am not a 3D artist however I want to create a 3D piece for the exhibition to compliment my illustrations in the book which will be places alongside it. I didn't like the modelling clay. It was messy and I admit to rushing it thinking it would be easy. I need to purchase some Fimo as the results would be so much better and so much more like what I have in mind.

Thinking about scale

I've just purchased 5 packs of Fimo. 3 yellow blocks, a light brown block and a dark brown block. My first step will be creating the giraffe successfully. In total just 5 packs of Fimo cost me £10 so I can't afford to make a mistake. After experimenting with the modelling clay, I know I need to focus a lot more on the structuring of the model rather than moulding the clay straight away. I have begun to think about the scale of my boxes, have I done them too big? One block of Fimo itself looks just about big enough to complete one leg of my giraffe!
My idea is to create a frame first with newspaper like I did with the Modroc. I have bought some building straws that will help serve as a sort of scaffolding. By doing this I save myself a lot of Fimo as I will only need to wrap it round the paper and mould it into shape with more detail. I have an image in my head of how my final outcome will look and I need it to be that.

Life Drawing: String

Tonight I drew the model using PVA glue and string the proceeded to trace the outcome onto other pieces of paper using oil pastels of various colours.

MY IDEA

My second idea was to create a doll-house like piece of work that an audience can involve themselves with. This has now developed into a third idea which is the best one yet! It won't be interactive however it will ve fun to look at.

Modelling clay 12 hour dry

Today I bought some clay-like material which is like plasticine but it can harden in 12 hours whereas plasticine never solidifies. With this substance I can paint it once it is dry, the only problem is is that it'll need to harden in a certain shape so it can stand up on it's own. I did a small practice giraffe and got the idea to hang it on string. After experimenting with this, I am not overall happy with the way it works. However, doing this gave me a really good idea! I have an image in my mind of how I can display this in exhibition. I want to pursue this straight away however I want to look into buying a material that dries instantly for example Fimo that goes into the oven. If I buy this I will not need to paint it, I will have to buy each colour separately which is more expensive however I will be much more happier with the outcome.

Making the boxes

Making the boxes was a lot easier than I anticipated, regardless of the fact that my first attempt was horrifically bad. Instead of thinking about it I simply put the nail to the MDF and hammered. This resulted in cracks and major unevenness. I also learnt that it would work a great deal more of the sides were on either side of the back slab rather than on top, this would result in more room to work in.

After the realisation that I needed help off a technician, it wasn't long before I was alongside Bill creating my boxes much more efficiently. Working as a team, I drilled holes into the MDF whilst proceeding to pass them onto Bill in which he'd hammer the nails into them. Once this task was complete, I measured the sides of the boxes and asked if he could saw them accordingly, once this was complete we continued working together to complete the boxes.

Now they are done, I need to give them another layer of paint before proceeding to find ways of how I can officially create my interpretation of the poetry in an interactive way for the end of year exhibition.

Organising the slabs

MDF

Today I visited B&Q to get some MDF. I think MDF will be the perfect material to use for the creation of my boxes. It isn't too hard nor is it too soft and it is easy to paint on as I will want to cover it white. There were variations of thicknesses of which I had to pick one. I went for quite a thick piece as I want the blocks to be sturdy. Originally I wanted them cut 4x4 inches. This wasn't accessible as the guillotine wasn't able to cut down that small so the staff cut it down as much as they could. This got me thinking; do I really want 4x4 squares? I need to remember I'm depicting a story and this needs to be clear for when it's exhibited. The most the B&Q staff could cut it down to is 4x12 inches. I decided to stick with this size, resulting in having a block each per set of poems (request and response). Once I got home, I painted them white using matte emulsion paint. 

Some blocks still need cutting for the sides, I can do this in college with the help of Bill the Technician using the jigsaw.