London Paper Cut

Paper Cuts and The Final Piece

Half way through this project, I got a little bored with drawing so I wanted to try something different. After talking to one of my tutors, I decided to have a go at converting some of my character drawings into paper stencils. I'd done a little paper cutting prior to this project and had been really pleased with the outcomes. It was the same this time. I gradually managed to add more detail to the pieces, and so I decided that, instead of painting scenes from Mortal Engines, I would progress out of my comfort zone and produce a single paper cut. Simple but effective. Shrike has always been a stand-out character for me, and I was so happy with my detailed designs of him that I decided I would depict the scene where he confronts Tom and Hester on Airhaven for the very first time. 

I didn't want heaps of detail in the background, simply because Shrike was to be the focal point. I chose green as the backing colour because of the toxic colours I wanted in the sky (see Credenhill Photo Edits), and because the green light of Shrike's eyes would show up on the reflective surfaces on his body. For the shape and size of the body, I looked at other artist's interpretations of the character, but I took the detail and features from my own designs and ideas.

The backdrop, instead of being all green, is in fact a layered sheet of green and blue ink, with green, white, brown, yellow and blue water-based oil paint rubbed over the top. I struggled to make a cloud effect with the ink and began to rub the paint over the top. The brown makes it look a little rusty while the stronger patches of green shine through to resemble small clouds. The whole piece is the size of A2 paper.

Overall, I am massively pleased with how this project has gone. I have kept to deadlines, had a little bit of fun experimenting with materials (and cakes) and produced a plethera of work that I would love to take forward into the detailed paintings that I originally planned to do.

Some Short Videos From Broomy Hill

Broomy Hill Waterworks Museum

These are the photos that I took on Sunday 31st March, at the Broomy Hill Waterworks, just outside of Hereford. The museum was holding a steam display, so I thought that it would be prudent to attend the event, due to the large likelihood of steam engines and machines being featured in my project. All of the machines were working and on display within both the modern building and the Victorian sections. The noise and close proximity of the machines gave me an effective sense of how a busy engine room would both look and feel. Not only were there steam engines, but also water pumps, early internal combustion engines, boilers and turbines. The quick movement of the counterweights on the active machines gave me a brilliant idea of just how large, heavy and dangerous these machines would be in a working environment.