Self defined- Review

At the start of this project I knew I wanted to produce work involving surface pattern design using elements of nature but didn't know in what form the end result would be in. By giving myself such a broad project to focus on, I found it difficult to define which direction within my idea to go down and I spent a lot of time trying to find a set topic and project. I tried various types of image making such as watercolour and print making in order to gather material together that I could combine to make patterns and perhaps learn how to repeat these elements. However it became evident that I was just producing motifs a lot of the time and my organic and linear approach didn't always go together. I was very confused about what type of imagery I wanted to produce and therefore found it difficult to make anything that I wanted to commit to.

After struggling, later on I was able to define a clearer direction, producing imagery to go on the walls of the National Theatre. Although I was happy with these experiments and felt that the painting of the fern in particular showed some improvements in my skills at painting with watercolour, I was still producing motifs and found it hard to think of other imagery to produce and get these to all match up together. It was suggested that I look at the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, particularly their preliminary sketches for the application of their large-scale installations. These two artists wrapped architecture and natural elements in fabric on unprecedented scales and, because of this, their designs needed precise planning through detailed drawings. This reference helped me a lot, giving me ways to visualise my own ideas and allow me to better illustrate them to others. I was able to experiment more freely, drawing over photographs I took of the building and playing around with ways my designs could be applied.

With a more clear idea in my head about what I wanted out of the final concept I set about producing imagery including painting a trail of pebbles like the one Hansel and Gretel create in the story. I liked the way the pebbles turned out because I felt like the deep blues and greens went with the atmosphere and the colours that other artists also envisioned when creating work inspired by the story. However I do think that the colours are maybe a bit too intense and there could be more of a contrast in tone or perhaps this could have been applied in more of a subtle way by watering down the colours and using less pigment. I always seem to do things in extremes and get carried away with the process by trying too hard to illustrate all the shadows I see. How I depict tone and colour in my watercolour paintings is therefore something to work on. I am not sure if I liked the final application of the collaged pebble design better than the original purely watercolour version however I did like how this imagery, blended with the forest, better illustrates the story. The pebbles almost seem to be reflecting what is in the surrounding environment in the story and I like how it adds additional depth to the piece as a whole as the pebbles almost act as a portal into the invented world/narrative of Hansel and Gretel. 

If I were to expand this project further I could make a mock up of an animation that would show the sequence of pebbles as they would appear on the National Theatre walls. I'd also like to be a bit more playful with where they appear, not just showing up on the walls but also the floor outside of the building and under the roofs of the platforms. Perhaps if I had found a clearer direction earlier on I would have been able to produce an animation showing this sequence to better explain the idea. For the next project I do I will need to start by doing a lot of research into the area I am interested in to define my direction earlier on instead of wasting time at the beginning trying to produce work that wouldn't be of any use to the final product.

Self Defined- Development and presentation of final design

Story board for possible animation over the walls of the National Theatre

Initially I thought about just having a trail of pebbles going across the walls of the National Theatre, however I did this story board to illustrate the possibility of transforming the design into an animation. The idea was to have the design projected onto the walls with each pebble coming up one after the other like the trail Hansel and Gretel leave in the woods in order to find their way home. This trail could lead the viewer around the building perhaps to find hidden elements to do with the story to better illustrate its narrative. The projection displaying each pebble consecutively would lead the person in the intended direction showing them where to go to find the next section in the story. As I said earlier this might be a nice way of advertising the play to the public, involving them in playful way with the story, so that they might be encouraged to buy tickets to watch the theatre's performance.

This kind of interactive narrative experience/installation could be applied to other plays shown at the theatre and as the designs will be projected the possibility of the imagery being difficult to remove had been eliminated. Also as the building is grade 1 listed, presenting the surface design as something material that could be fixed on the wall might be futile anyway as sticking something on the building's exterior may not be allowed. At least by projecting the design, it is not permanent and can be altered when the plays inside the theatre change.

Painted pebbles using watercolour to use for the final design.

I liked the way the pebbles turned out because I felt like the deep blues and greens went with the atmosphere 'Hansel and Gretel' and the colours that other artists also envisioned when creating work inspired by story. However I do think that the colours are maybe a bit too intense and there could be more of a contrast in tone or perhaps this could have been applied in more of a subtle way by watering down the colours and using less pigment.

I always seem to do things in extremes and get carried away with the process by trying too hard to illustrate all the shadows I see. How I depict tone and colour in my watercolour paintings is therefore something to work on.

Initial application of pebbles on building

Edited application of pebbles on building, merging the imagery with woodland.

I am not sure if I like this version better that the initial applications of the trail of pebbles on the building however I feel like how this imagery blended with the forest better illustrates the story. The pebbles almost seem to be reflecting what is in the surrounding environment in the story and I like how it adds additional depth to the piece as a whole as the pebbles almost act as a portal into the invented world/narrative of Hansel and Gretel. 

If I were to expand this project further I could make a mock up of an animation that would show the sequence of pebbles as they would appear on the National Theatre walls. I'd also like to be a bit more playful with where they appear, not just showing up on the walls but also the floor outside of the building and under the roofs of the platforms like in the design shown above.

Self Defined- Mock ups and sketches for final outcome

For the development of my final design I did some digital sketches over the photographs I took of the National Theatre, inspired by the detailed preliminary sketches done by Christo and Jeanne-Claude before the production of their large scale fabric installations. 

The design above was based around the point in the story where Hansel and Gretel leave a trail of bread crumbs in order to find their way back home through the forest. However as there are birds in the forest, they come along and eat the bread crumbs and therefore the path they created disappears, leaving them lost in the forest. To illustrate this idea I thought about having a trail of bird foot prints in white following a disappearing trail of bread crumbs. As the foot prints are in white they give the impression that they are invisible or fading into the surface representing the vanishing path.

The second mock up features a forest photographic and watercolour mixed media piece placed on another one of the National Theatre's walls. If I were to take this project further it might be nice to think about having a narrative going across all the walls of the building. Therefore there must be a uniformity of colour and imagery throughout all of the surface designs which is something I would have to consider when expanding the project.

Self Defined- Primary research photographing the National Theatre

I found this particular angle of viewing the building interesting as this is the sort of idea I was thinking about for the final design, layering natural imagery such as a forest or trees over the plain concrete walls of this Brutalist architecture.

The are a few instances of nature in the area however as plants are seasonal it might be nice to have a surface pattern design featuring nature present all the time. Despite London's unpredictable weather, passers by will be reminded of the beauty of nature + colours that come with it even if the surrounding environment has no leaves and flowers are not in blood. People will also be able to benefit from the calming qualities of nature imagery as they walk by a busy part of an already busy city.

This building itself was quite hard to photograph because it was so big with little room either side to stand back and take pictures. I therefore decided to photograph it from angles where the view of the walls was clear enough for me to later sketch designs on top of.

I did find some examples of where artists have already been commissioned to produce work that brighten up the area adding a bit of life and colour to this otherwise quite dull and grey environment. Like Christo and Jeanne-Claude they have worked with the already existing environment and based their ideas around it. In the first example part of the building and stair case has been coloured yellow and in the second the abstract bench almost doesn't function as a bench and rather acts as a frame highlighting different aspects of the landscape.

After visiting the building I realised that with so many walls, the building provided multiple surfaces in which to showcase my eventual design. I therefore thought it might be a good idea to have a narrative along the different walls of the building that people could follow as they walked past or around it. This could also be extended to the other buildings in the area and maybe if I were to take the project further it might be a nice idea to have a narrative displayed along all the buildings along this part of the river.

Because one of the main themes in 'Hansel and Gretel' is being lost in the woods it might be a nice idea to have certain images hidden under the roofs of the parts of the building that stick out. That way the people who walk past will actively have to look of the designs and it might be a fun way to get people involved with the stories being performed at the theatre. This therefore might be a good way of advertising the performances to the public.

Self Defined- Christo and Jeanne-Claude research

It was suggested that I look at the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, particularly their preliminary sketches for the application of their large scale installations. These two artists wrapped architecture and natural elements in fabric on an unprecedented scales and because of this their designs needed precise planning through detailed drawings. 

In the above examples of their sketches before the application of their ideas we can see that they have recreated the chosen environment perhaps by drawing their designs over pictures of it or even tracing it. They have also considered what the final piece would look like and how it would be applied from different angles. This reference showed me ways i could illustrate my ideas without having to create the final finished piece because obviously with the time available this was never really going to happen. However their work gave me ideas of how I could present my surface design ideas to prospective clients, showing mockups that take into account all aspects of the surrounding environment in inventive ways. I therefore to use similar techniques to Christo and Jeanne-Claude when constructing my design, tracing over photographs of the chose building and considering the environment around it. This will not only help me to visually represent my ideas and understand how they would work but it would also aid me in explaining them to others. 

Self Defined- creating story specific 'Hansel and Gretel' illustrations

This watercolour and pencil illustrations were in direct reference to the woodland and birds within the story and I wanted to make multiple images like this to combine into one pattern design or composition that I could then repeat. Although I was happy with these and felt that the painting of the fern in particular showed some improvements in my skills at painting with watercolour, I was still producing motifs and found it hard to think of other imagery to produce and get these to all match up together.

After being a bit stuck yet again, I decided to do some experiments using ink, watercolour and other materials I could find such as ground coffee. I wasn't really sure what would come of this but I liked the combination of textures and colour. Then as I was creating the piece pictured directly bellow, I started to produce something that looked like a trail of pebbles and therefore began to form the composition in this direction. For my final design I would not use black as I don't feel like this properly depicts the atmosphere of the story however I did get an idea from this experimentation that I could work with and develop to better fit the narrative.

Self Defined- Finding a direction

After being a confused about where my project was going and being stuck for ideas on what to put in my designs I started searching for a more defined direction.

I thought about other ways surface design could be applied and other object it could be put on other than the usual commercial objects such as cushions and mugs. I then came across the idea of putting surface designs on buildings and searched for places it might be good to put this in a city environment. Brutalist architecture might seem beautiful to some and is definitely a reminder of the 1950'd to 70's and the emergence of using concrete as aesthetic. However in many cases it can often look very dull and bland as its concrete appearance doesn't allow for much colour. 

The first example that comes to mind of this kind of architecture in London is along the South Bank of the River Thames near to where the National Theatre is located. The strictly uniform shapes and colours that make up these buildings adhere to the typical monotonous tone of city life. Just like the huge abundance of people in the city can often reduce the value of identity, all the buildings in this area seem to merge into one. They all seem to be built with similar structures out of the same material and it can be hard to differentiate what each building is meant for. Therefore I think that an artistic design on the exterior walls of the National Theatre would help to bring the internal atmosphere of out, allowing the outside to reflect the building's creative purpose. By putting a nature based design on such a surface I hope to find an antidote/alternative to this rather plain facade. 

http://charlottesteel.com/hansel-gretel/

Hansel and Gretel illustrations by Charlotte Steel

I found it interesting to look at how other people have interpreted the story and what elements they choose to focus on. This will help me to pick out elements of my own to include in the designs for the pattern/mural on the walls of the national theatre.

It is important to see how others view the story so I can properly communicate it and people will be able to walk past and identify what the artwork is illustrating.

Whilst doing research into previous Hansel and Gretel imagery I found these, the first is used to advertise the Edmonton opera's production of the story and the second has been used for the Scottish opera's. Both images are very similar in the fact that they clearly focus on the woodland particularly at night with the colours presenting the environment as one that turns slightly sinister at this time of day. 

I will need to look at the way I want to present the woodland in my depiction of the story. Perhaps it can show two sides to it since I want to introduce nature into this city environment for calming purposes but I also want to properly depict the atmosphere in the story.

Nevertheless the woodland environment seems to be an important factor in the story that others also identify so it seems right to depict this in my imagery.

(Images from Pinterest- artists unknown)

I liked the way this print seemed to have a narrative built into the composition and is maybe something to consider whilst making my own.

Although the incorporation of characters is interesting in this piece, I don't think it is something I want to include in my own designs. However it is interesting how both pieces seem to pick up on the birds in the story and this is also something that I noticed when reading it. Therefore it might be useful to include this in my design so again if people know the story they will better understand what the imagery is communicating.

This interpretation of the story is interesting as it illustrates the woodland as a colourful but also dark and sinister environment.

Image from Website advertising Carl Grose's adaptation of the fairy tale.

Ellie Davis' installation art (seen above) features lengthy paths through the forest. She constructs these installations using paint, powder, wool and paper to create paths through very natural landscapes. The project was an exploration of her own relationship with nature as she suggests that if natural landscapes such as these are always shaped, maintained and farmed by man then we can never access them in completely "untouched" circumstances and experience them as they were meant to be.

These trails could be compared to the ones the Hansel and Gretel create to find their way home in the forest and I found this particularly interesting as this is the part of the story that I wanted to focus on in my designs. There is something mysterious and unknown about this concept of being lost in the forest and finding your way back to safety. The ongoing exploration of a trail also allows for the discovery of a narrative as the person moves from one area to another and I thought it would be interesting to play with this in the creation of my designs.

K. Fogle Photography

 I have found it interesting looking at other artists' interpretations of the story, not just illustration but photography and installation as well. It seems obvious that the majority of these would focus on the forest as the majority of the story is set in this environment, however it is interesting how most of these illustrate is as a scary place with the same sort of colour pallet to project this atmosphere. These colours include dark blues and greens.

This photograph is from Opera North, Leeds’ production of Hansel and Gretel (photo by Robert Hugill). I thought it was very inventive how they utilised projection and the space available to illustrate the different environments in the story. It seems to be that the stage is constantly set to depict the inside of the house at the beginning of the story, however by projecting imagery of a forest environment over the top they have solved the problem of lengthy set changes. By doing this they have been able to easily depict the different environments in the story and quickly change from one scene to another.

As I plan to create a surface design on a building/s I need to be mindful of the fact that, depending on the material, I may not be able to stick imagery directly on the walls. Projecting the eventual design onto the building may be a good way around this as it is not permanent and can be easily changed from one design to another.