Saturday 30 December 2017

Scene 2 Character - Secret Agent/Spy


I had a lot of fun with this image. Usually, I am influenced by the subjects I like which means I gravitate to the same sort of character. With this image, I was mostly influenced by the stories people described in the survey responses.

Friday 29 December 2017

Character Roughs - Scene 2



Responding to the ideas from the survey responses to scene 2, I started outlining features and clothing around a character based on this. One of the answers described a female character with an occupation like a secretary, or something with a uniform. 
From this, to make a good outline for a story, I decided to play around with the idea of her being a spy or secret agent.

Thursday 28 December 2017

Scene 1 Character - Woodcutter


This is the first finalised character design. I enjoyed thinking about the context of who he would be in relation to Scene 1. I tried to keep to the colour scheme and tone of the corresponding scenes. Also, making the image digitally, with the input of painted textures, was a very efficient. I feel that my digital skills have improved drastically over the course of this project. I think this was partly helped by including painted elements as well as digitally produced shapes. I am a lot less cautious when painting with a wacom now, and find that I can visualise how I want the final image to look.

Wednesday 27 December 2017

*Reflective Summary - Survey Stories, Words & Images*

One of the most interesting aspects of my project so far has been the origin of images and the relationship they have with text. I feel like I have learned a lot about the subtlety of image making and how this relates to perception. As I proceed with the practical outcome, I want to compile stories from the survey responses. Therefore, my final outcome will be a story book, the written element of which came from the images themselves. Flipping the role of words and image changes the importance of them, but when sat side-by-side in a book, does a viewer know the difference? Arguably, an image is more striking and immediate when establishing a tone or sense of the narrative.

Including a red item of 'mis-placed' clothing seems to have been a catalyst for some of the interpretations I received, and therefore served its purpose as a symbol. When writing the short stories, these will certainly be emphasised in order to enhance the content of the narrative.

Character Roughs - Scene 1


After looking at the stories from my survey, I noted down the most popular characteristics listed for each image - in order to design a character for each scene. Hopefully giving a potential viewer even more of a context to what could be going on.

For the first image, the most common answer for what character could be present in the frame was that of a woodcutter. My favourite description mentioned a medieval-looking man with a beard. I took these ideas as a starting point for the character design.

Tuesday 26 December 2017

Survey Results Stories

I took the results from my survey and documented the answers as individual case studies from the people who answered the questions. Each one is a brief story. Here are their answers -

 Images 1, 2 & 3


1. 18-24 year old.
Image 1.
What just happened? Someone's been taken.
What intrigues you? The hat on the twig.
Character - 16 year old school girl. Carefree and mysterious.
What happens next? Something weird inside the house.

2. 18-24 year old.
Image 2.
What just happened? A young woman has ran away, in to the night. In her haste, she's fumbled with her gloves as she got them out of her pockets and dropped one. She was more concerned with getting away than retrieving the lost item.
What intrigues you? The contrast of the bright red glove to the rest of the setting.
Character - Early 20's female, non de-script occupation, like a secretary or office worker. Demure, often overshadowed, vulnerable.
Other.. The red gloves were a gift, something she would not have normally bought for herself because of their bright colour.
What happens next? The person chasing the woman finds her glove, but the woman is long gone, having caught a night bus to a mysterious location.

3. 18-24 year old.
Image 3.
What just happened? The character fell down the hill by slipping after investigating the house.
What intrigues you? The steep hills.
Character - 20 year old female. Unknown occupation. Adventurous and curious.
What happens next? She treks down the stream to see what else she can find.

4. 25-34 year old.
Image 1.
What just happened? Perhaps a child was playing and a storm came so they rushed inside and forgot the hat.
What intrigues you? The possible narrative.
Character - 6-11 year old girl.
Other.. Perhaps has a dog or something.
What happens next? Shows an image of the family by the fire.

5. 45-54 year old.
Image 3.
What just happened? Someone climbing to or away from something. Looks scary/challenging.
What intrigues you? Where is the person going?
Character - Man in his 20's. Hunter, prince or expedition-er. Brave, daring, has perseverance.
Other.. Magical, intriguing.
What happens next? Not sure, which is why it's exciting. Can't see all of the figure so want to know more.

6. 18-24 year old.
Image 3.
What just happened? I feel that it's a picture that has a journey more than a destination. Seeking to explore and looking for adventure.
What intrigues you? The ropes that look part of a swing leading to a cave.
Character - 8 year old female child adventurer. Wilful, curious and adventurous.
What happens next? Will probably end up on adventure through cave, discovering new things as she goes, probably ends up getting lost during the adventure.

7. 45-54 year old.
Image 2.
What just happened? I get to see the lightening strike the ground for the first time ever.
What intrigues you? Why it's so dark.
Character - Man over 40. Strong.
What happens next? It starts to get light.

8. 18-24 year old.
Image 1.
What just happened? Somebody found a red hat on the floor and put it on a tree that fell during a storm just in case the owner came back looking for it later.
What intrigues you? The owner of the hat.
Character - Old man. Woodcutter who lives in a cabin. Sort of medieval-looking, has a beard.
Other.. Seems like a nice guy.
What happens next? The owner of the hat COMES BACK.

9. 55-64 year old.
Image 1.
What just happened? I am the woodcutter's wife and he had felled the tree outside our house. He got hot and took his hat off. Leaving it on the tree. He came in for tea and we are having a beautiful evening in front of the fire.
What intrigues you? The footprints in front of the house.
Character - 35 year old woodcutter. Strong, self sufficient, hard-working.
What happens next? Relaxing evening and then in the morning he gets up and finds his wet hat.

10. 55-64 year old.
Image 2.
What just happened? A loud electrical storm rolled through the countryside, and little Sophia was running to the house and dropped a glove. She dare not go retrieve it, for fear of the Thunder Gods choosing her as their bride.
What intrigues you? Besides the artist? Lightning, I've always loved it.
Character - 14 year old female student. Loves the outdoors, has a vivid imagination, can't wait to grow up, has a cat.
What happens next? An elderly man in a yellow raincoat and hat stumbles across the lost glove. He recognizes it as the girl's glove who was at the library at the same time he was. He follows the path to her door, and returns it. She offers him refuge from the storm, but he says 'Naw. Thanks, but the thunder and lightning is just Mother Nature with a cold. She'll get over it.' And, he rambles upon his way.

Monday 25 December 2017

Survey

Blank Survey
Q1. How old are you?
  • Under 12 years old
  • 12-17 years old
  • 18-24 years old
  • 25-34 years old
  • 35-44 years old
  • 45-54 years old
  • 55-64 years old
  • 65-74 years old

Q2. Choose an Image




Q3. What just happened in the story you chose? (This could relate to an action or brief story attached to the image)

Q4. Name one thing that intrigues you about this image.

Q5. If there was a character/figure present in the scene, what would they be like?

Q6. What (if anything) happens next?

Q7. In relation to the story behind the image, in which category would you place it? (You may select more than one option)
  • Fantasy
  • Action/Adventure
  • Horror
  • Mystery
  • Fiction
  • Non-Fiction
  • Aimed at Children
  • Aimed at Adults
  • Supernatural
  • Romance
  • Comedy
  • Sci-fi
  • Historical
  • Travel
  • Educational
  • Futuristic
  • Present-day
  • Other (please specify)

Tuesday 19 December 2017

Strange Disturbances Scene 3

'the sound came from the back of a building standing alone in a solitary place'

Friday 15 December 2017

Francesca Sanna Interview

1. What is your favourite type of brief to work on? 
(Any particular topics/themes you like working with?)


It is very difficult to find a "type". Anything I feel a connection with, anything I know I can bring into my world (if not entirely at least some elements of it). 
Of course there are themes I immediately feel connected and interested with, like anything that has to do with diversity, feminism, storytelling in general.


2. I am particularly interested in your book 'The Journey', it's so beautiful! What was your process for coming up with ideas? 
What research did you do?


The research behind The Journey was a long process. I spent sometime listening to stories of people from different countries that had undertaken very difficult journeys. 
I also did some research on historical document of Italian immigrants in America, for instance, and on current newspaper and social journals, because I wanted to think about the topic in a more "universa" way, rather than just focus on a particular experience. 


3. Do you think images can be just as important as words when telling a narrative?


Absolutely, and even more interesting is the relationship between text and images in a visual narrative. Playing with this you can show different points of view in a single page, or underline metaphorical aspects of the story. 


4. How do you find a balance between personal and professional projects?


This is a great question. Many of the projects I started as "personal" found a "commercial" use after I made them. On the other hand even with a brief that has nothing personal I always try to put something from my "experience" or from "my obsessions", something I like or I can relate to. And when I don't feel very connected with a project I am working on, I usually try to start with a much more personal one, that I keep on a side.


5. Where did you grow up in Italy? And do you think this influenced your work in any way? 
(I have worked in Bergamo and Desenzano and have a soft spot for Italian culture)


I grew up in Cagliari, Sardinia. The window in my bedroom was directly in front of the sea, I used to follow the ferries as they entered in the harbour as one of my main hobby when I was a child! 
Of course growing up on a (quite big) island influenced many aspects of who I am, included my work. The sea is a very important element in my illustrations and my stories, and its dual aspect – the fact that it can be a very positive but also a very scary, dangerous element, always fascinates me. 


6. Is there any advice you would give to someone just starting out in the industry? (Like me) and are there any people you can recommend that I talk to? (About how the industry works, etc.)

Maybe the main one is to share your experience with other people that do the same job, or that have similar professions. Friends and colleagues for me are the main source of help during very stressful periods of time. 
I think that if you are interested in picture books a very different point of view could be the one of a publisher, or someone who has more an overview on how "the market" works. 
I always find interesting to hear that side of the process of making and selling books, so I would suggest you to look for these kinds of insights.

Thursday 14 December 2017

Scene 3 Paintings





Creating the Images
Painting textured elements that I may want to use, scanning them in, and then playing around with placement and scale has been a good way of testing compositions. Adding detail afterwards also meant that I could get the same sense of tone, charm and quality into the work, without hindering the potential narrative which is hidden in the composition and meaning behind motifs included. This way of creating imagery seems to be working well for me at the moment, enabling me to experiment and play in my sketchbook, whilst utilising my digital skills.

Wednesday 13 December 2017

Scene 3 Roughs



Layers & Depth
Another aspect I looked at when composing scenes was scale. This, and the layering of the landscape to create depth, meant that the image could be viewed as a setting for a potential story. Creating a sense of height was important for this image in particular, as I wanted to convey the ideas of adventure and risk.

Strange Disturbances Scene 2

'every rut and gutter a flowing river after the deluge of rain that had fallen'

Sunday 10 December 2017

Scene 2 Roughs


Symbolism - Weather
Something I want to consider throughout all the scene images is the role of the weather in relation to the tone set in the overall image. After looking at the symbols and hidden meanings found in renaissance and surrealist paintings, atmosphere is often described through specific elements, such as; rain, clouds, sun, moon, stars. Encompassing one or more of these elements in each image is a way of highlighting the overall feel of the image - whilst providing a visual cue to a viewer.

Saturday 9 December 2017

Strange Disturbances Scene 1

'The cock he flew, away then flew'

When asking people about the image I think I will leave out the quote I used as inspiration - so it's a singular image without any written clues as to what might be happening. I loosely based the image around phrases I found in the Victorian Ghost Stories book but not so much on the actual plot of the storyline, just in case someone might be familiar with the story already.

Friday 8 December 2017

*Reflective Summary & Practical Outcome Proposal*

Discovering the case study of 'The Mysteries of Harris Burdick' was a real turning point for my project. Until recently, I was unsure of where my investigation was going and what my final practical outcome would be. However, as audience perceptions are crucial to my overall investigation, looking at the different stories written from Burdick's images made me think about ways in which I could do the same with my own work. 

I intend to create three of my own scenes, gaining first-hand research around the stories within them through the means of a survey. Within this survey I want to ask open ended questions, leaving room for the viewer's creativity. I also want to ask about characters. Although initially I will keep the scenes free of people, I will ask about who could be present in the scene, and what will happen next. Hopefully from this I will have enough information to create three character designs, responding to the answers I get.

I also want to include some kind of emblem in all three images, which could elude to something happening in the potential stories. This will coincide with the theme of mystery and situations with a twist (something that shouldn't be there).

Thursday 7 December 2017

Scene 1 Paintings



The process I am using for the images is a mixture between analog and digital media. This seems to be working for me at the moment as an attempt to get more texture and charm back into my work.

Tuesday 5 December 2017

Some Strange Disturbances & Scene 1 Roughs

The Story
At this point, I am still using Victorian ghost stories for the starting point of my scene images. However, I don't think sticking to the details within these stories necessarily relevant to what I want to get out of the final outcomes. Because of this, I am composing the scenes in a way that I feel appropriate to provoke the best response from a viewer. I aim to print the images and give them out to people, getting them to write an individual short story around what could be happening. I might also make some kind of questionnaire alongside this.

Roughs



For the first scene, I used the setting of a farmhouse in the countryside to begin my ideas. The roughs are based around mystery and things in the wrong place. I am thinking about the different themes I could use as a base across all three images - maybe a bit of clothing? Or small object in the same colour?

Monday 4 December 2017

The Blue Lady


Temple Newsam Ghost - The Blue Lady

I chose to keep this image quite mysterious and ambiguous. I love frames and victorian elements included in my work, and for this subject matter it made sense to include them. Especially as there is said to be a portrait of 'Mary' still hanging in the house at Temple Newsam.

Saturday 25 November 2017

The Blue Lady Roughs

Roughs
Following research into the story of 'the blue lady' I decided to start roughing around some ideas. I wanted to focus on the aspect of her looking for her pearls.

Paintings


Character
I am in two minds whether or not to include characters in the final scenes, but for now I have having fun playing around with ideas. For the final images I may just focus on the scenes in relation to things that are about to happen or just happened.

Wednesday 22 November 2017

Harris Burdick - 'The Third Floor Bedroom' Stories


The Third Floor Bedroom - 'it all began when someone left the window open'
1. Greta Gervasoni's story, age 8.
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/readers_stories.html


A long time ago there was an ancient cottage in which lived a family.
In the morning mum and dad always used to go in the yard to work, And the two children stayed with their grandfather. One afternoon it was raining so the two children played in their bedroom with their grandfather Luciano, who was very clever at the Chinese shadows game. The two children were fascinated about that game and they tried to learn haw to make a bird. At the end of the evening Sandy the little girl was very good at doing this game and looking on the wallpaper her brother and her grandfather noticed that Sandy's shadows hands were exactly the same shape as the birds on the wallpaper. While they were looking at the wallpaper Sandy made her birds wings flying and simultaneously one bird on the paper became alive and tried to move its wings. The next day the bird near the empty space on the wallpaper was found by the family with a followed wing. They thought that it tried all night long to follow the missing bird! The magic of that night never came back but it stayed in their mind for ever.
The End

2. Jamie H's story - Honor Winner – Grades 2-3.
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/submit_story.html

             It all began when someone left the window open in Steve’s room.  On the wall were pictures of birds.  One of the birds came to life.  Then Steve came in.  He closed the window without noticing the bird.  The bird fell to the floor.  Plop!  Next, Steve’s sister, Kim, came into his room.  She saw the bird on the floor.
            “Why’s there a dead bird on the floor?” asked Kim.  Steve looked at the bird and yelled for Mom.
            Mom came upstairs to Steve’s room, “Why did you call me?  Also, why is it so hot in here?”  She opened the window.
            Then, the birds were all flying.  Steve and Kim were catching birds.  Some of the birds flew out of the window.
            “I’ll close the window!”  Kim shouted.
            “Don’t!!!!”  Steve yelled.  Slam!  Plop!  Crash!  Boom!  Thud!  Every bird fell on the floor.
            “Here we go again!”  they both said.  Mom told Dad.  Dad told Uncle Jerry.  Jerry told Aunt Ant, and they all kept telling people.
            They tried everything that they could think of—luring them with birdseed, taping the wall, and calling the animal rescue organization, but nothing worked.
            Kim had an idea.  Dad put a sign on the house.  It said “Grand Opening!”  Next, crowds of people came to the house.  Only one room door had a sign that said, “Museum.”  The crowd saw birds flying everywhere in there.  The window was open, and the curtain covered it.  The family smiled.  “What a perfect day,” Dad whispered.

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick - Chris Van Allsburg

Andersen Press 9781849392792


Van Allsburg, C (1984) 'The Mysteries of Harris Burdick', London, Anderson Press.

https://www.clpe.org.uk/sites/default/files/Wordless%20Picture%20Books.pdf

'The premise behind this unique book of pictures is that the fourteen drawings within it were left with a publisher by a man named Harris Burdick who subsequently disappeared. Each black and white drawing purports to be a single illustration from a different story. Each one has a title and a brief caption but otherwise the only clues to the context are in the pictures themselves, providing a great stimulus for children’s own creative writing.' 

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/readers_stories.html


The stories on this page were all written by young writers who were inspired by the illustrations in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.
Read them, and then see where your imagination takes you!
Captain Tory
Rachel Lefebre, Age: 10Captain ToryOne night in 312 Maple Street a man told his grandchild of the legend of Captain Tory. It all started on a dark night on the OREALLY ship of Captain Tory's crew. The men were on lower deck telling tall tales . . .READ MORE >
The Harp
Alex Treadaway, Age: 13The HarpGrandfather rocked slowly on the rocker, descending back and rising slowly. His dark eyes were cast down on the boy before him. The wrinkles that decorated his lips and skin were sagging. His hair . . .READ MORE >
The Third Floor Bedroom
Greta Gervasoni, Age: 8The Third Floor BedroomA long time ago there was an ancient cottage in which lived a family. In the morning mum and dad always used to go in the yard to work, and the two children stayed with their grandfather. One afternoon . . .READ MORE >
The House on Maple Street
Dasha Homeyer & Dylan Walsh, Ages: 14The House on Maple StreetDr. Fleinenstein lived alone in his 1800s style house on Maple Street. Every day, he would get up very early for work. He worked only in his house in the attic. He never stepped outside, only . . .READ MORE >
The Third Floor Bedroom
Caitlin Pickhaver, Age: 11The Third Floor BedroomIt was a warm night, so I opened the window. I never thought that leaving the window open would lead to what it led to . . .READ MORE >
The Harp
Mark Penrose, Age: 11The HarpOnce upon a time in the city of New York, a small American boy, age 12 and a half, was reading a fairy tale about an ancient harp . . .READ MORE >

Tuesday 21 November 2017

*Reflective Summary - GIFs & Tone*

Creating GIFs from penny dreadful stories has been the starting point for more ideas around the themes of ambiguity and mystery. The subtle movements included within the GIFs helped me to think about reducing down more predictable imagery of what people associate with a ghost story. I think so far, I have been using more obvious interpretations to note down what I think about in relation to penny-bloods. 

Developing my practical work and thinking about the final outcome, I want to move away from the typical colours and motifs I associate with this subject matter and start thinking about the images in a way that they will be more open to interpretation, as in accordance with my research. Also, the penny-blood stories are more likely to be known to a viewer already, therefore influencing their ideas, such as 'The Flying Dutchman'. As I continue I want to create scenes that imply a more suggestive and less definite meaning.

Monday 20 November 2017

Pam Smy - Thornhill

Related image

The aesthetic tone and practical application of the images found in graphic novel 'Thornhill' are relevant to the themes and theories around composition and tone I have been looking at so far. The absence of colour lends itself to ambiguity and the viewer's understanding of the atmosphere described by the arrangement of the frame and the elements within itOf course, the lack of colour could also be representative of the bleakness within the narrative of the story.

The Visual Narrative Reader - Neil Cohn

Image result for the visual narrative reader

Cohn, N (2016) 'The Visual Narrative Reader', London & New York, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Visual Narrative Theory
  • pg.2 - 'in all channels we use systematic patterns stored in our long-term memories: words and idioms are systematic patterns of sound mapped to meanings...'
  • 'Gestural emblems are systematic meaningful manual expressions (like 'OK' or 'thumbs up')...'
  • Drawings also use systematic patterns whether as conventional ways of drawing people, houses or stick figures...'
  • pg. 3 - 'Just as spoken languages and sign languages differ from around the world, we should expect that different visual languages manifest in unique cultural contexts.'
Sequential Imagery
  • pg.1 - 'Drawing is a uniquely human capacity for expressing meaning'.
  • 'This unique capacity for image-making is pushed further by the use of sequential images to convey meanings beyond single expressions'.
  • 'Sequential visual narratives date at least as far back as cave paintings and have appeared in numerous cultural artefacts - woven into tapestries, painted on pottery, and drawn in sand, among others'.

Thursday 16 November 2017

The Flying Dutchman GIF


Final GIF Idea
This GIF is made up of a lot more frames compared to the last one. Although, it was a lot simpler to put together. I decided to add in a bit of a fade to show that the flying dutchman is a 'ghost ship' - without it, I felt it looked a bit more like a real ship sailing past.

The Flying Dutchman


The idea behind this image (to be made into a gif) is compositionally very simple, which I like. Making each element separately will enable me to move things around much easier. I think the window of a circle works well, it could be interpreted as a porthole or through the lens of a telescope - either idea is relevant to the story of 'The Flying Dutchman'.

Wednesday 15 November 2017

The Ghost Story 1840-1920, A Cultural History

Image result for the ghost story a cultural history

Smith, A (2010) 'The Ghost Story: 1840-1920, A Cultural History', Manchester, Manchester University Press.

Notes
Dickens on Ghosts - 
'always elude us. Doubtful and scant of proof at first, doubtful and scant of proof still, all mankind's experience of them is, that their alleged appearances have been, in all ages, marvellous, exceptional, and resting on imperfect grounds of proof; that in vast numbers of cases they are known to be delusions superintended by a well-understood, and by no means uncommon disease'.

Sasha Handley in Visions of an Unseen World: Ghost beliefs and Ghost Stories in Eighteenth-Century England (2007) maps the development of the belief in ghosts from the medieval period to the eighteenth century.
- religious connections between religious notions of the ghostly in both Catholic and Protestant contexts..
- For Handley, 'Ghost stories, whether real or imagined, were good for thinking with'.

Seeing the spectre: an economic theory of the ghost story
Gothic Marx

  • Pg. 11 - 'Marx developed his theory of 'The Fetishism of Commodities' in Capital (1867), where he argues that an object, in the example of a table, contains the labour (life) which produced it. The question is one of visibility, an issue that is central to notions of spectrality:
A commodity appears, at first sight, a very trivial thing, and easily understood. Its analysis shows that it is, in reality, a very queer thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties [...]. Yet, for all that, the table continues to be that common, everyday thing, wood. But, so soon as it steps forth as a commodity, it is changed into something transcendent. It not only stands with its feet on the ground, but, in relation to all other commodities, it stands on its head, and evolves out of its wooden brain grotesque ideas.'

Final Squire GIF


I had a lot of fun with this image! Making it into a gif was a last minute decision, it was quite easy to manipulate the eyes and candle flame. I may experiment with this a bit more, making my images into a series of simple gifs - I really enjoyed making this one!

Looking into the story of 'The Flying Dutchman', I thought adding a little suggestion of this in the form of the ship in a bottle, tying in nicely with what I plan to do within the series of images. At the moment, I am doing a series of 3 but I think I might end up making a few more.

Squire


Final Image - The Ghost and the Bonesetter
I wanted to focus on the tone of the image first and foremost, thinking about the composition in terms of the things I have found out in regards to rules and how to give an image more of an impact. I placed the eyes within the rule of thirds, with the intention of making this into a gif.

Squire Tests

Experiments with my scanned in paintings. I played around with the character a bit more, adding beards and changing the face slightly to fit in with the atmosphere I want to create.

Tuesday 14 November 2017

The Blue Lady - Temple Newsam

I contacted Temple Newsam in relation to the ghost of 'The Blue Lady' who is said to haunt the manor house. Deborah, who is one of the tour guides, kindly emailed me back with more details on the story.


Mary Ingram our Blue Lady. Mary (1638 – 1652) was the daughter of Sir Thomas Ingram, later Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Lady Frances Ingram (nee Bellasyse). The traditional Story is that one day, while returning to Temple Newsam House after visiting relatives at Barrowby near Garforth, Leeds her coach was attacked by Highwaymen. All her valuables were taken including her precious pearl necklace. The pearls were a Christening present from her Grandfather, Sir Arthur Ingram who had purchased Temple Newsam in 1622. The shock of the incident quite unbalanced her mind and she had no recollection of the attack. Today we would have diagnosed her condition as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. At the time, of course, this was unheard of. Mary was repeatedly found by family and servants in great distress asking “where are my pearls?, Where are my pearls?” She began searching everywhere, in draws, under the beds and even under carpets! A Doctor was consulted and advised the family to remove her from the scene of the crime and her mind would be restored. They removed to London but Mary’s condition only worsened. Mary died aged only 14 and is buried in Westminster Abbey, London.

We do have a portrait of a young lady here in the House, we believe is Mary, attributed to the artist Sir Peter Lely and hangs in our Gothic room. Many people say they have seen Mary still looking for her Pearls  (as her spirt can’t settle). On these occasions She appears with a blue mist / aura all around her.

Focus practical work on portraits??

Monday 13 November 2017

*Reflective Summary - Practical & Theory Synthesis*

The legacy of the ghost story has been vital to my investigation so far. Looking at all the reasons why they were and remain so popular has helped to inform the work I am producing. The curiosity with eerie tales and the macabre is definitely something I want to take with me as I move forward with the project. I want to continue testing and experimenting with imagery and thinking about how I can bring everything together. Printed books, paintings, and the link between have helped me to think more about the content of my work. Writing more of my essay, I am realising the importance of what I am arguing - that images can tell just as much (if not more) of a narrative as written words. Although I love written narrative as much as visual, I disagree with the opinion that text is more important. According to the well-known saying, 'a picture paints a thousand words', and even if that image stems from a piece of text, the image itself is more than capable of telling a story - sometimes even more capable, as it is culturally inclusive.

Levi Pinfold - Horses of Briar Hill

After looking at 'Black Dog' in Waterstones, I researched more into Pinfold's other works. I came across 'Horses of Briar Hill' on his website, which encompasses all the things I am looking at in regards to my own practical project.


http://www.levipinfold.com

Wordless Narrative
  • Makes you wonder what is happening outside of the frame. 
  • What just happened and what will happen next. 
  • Not so obvious within the actual frame, that is the power of a single image narrative.

Tone - Ghostly and Mysterious
Lighting