Developing BUT the character and experimenting with text



Having come with the idea of using threads as hands and feet, I thought I would actually thread the real thing through a drawing of BUT, scan it in and then remove my pencil lines with Photoshop. I also moved the writing to the top of his head away from the "eye" so it was clear. Using cotton threads is in keeping with the sewing aspect of buttons and the fact they were attached or once attached to something. 

 

from my sketchbook with threads sewn in

 

scanned image in and used Photoshop to get an idea of BUT's dull colour

Original stitching on sewing machine

taking stitched drawing and playing about with Photoshop

 

Creating BUT the broken button

My first initial idea for this module was to write and illustrate a short story about a broken button who gets rejected from the button tin because of his imperfections and the fact he can't remember where he came from.

Although I had an idea of the character BUT in mind, I used my writing skills to get a story into shape so I had some words to work with. I attempted to break a couple of buttons to work from. This was no easy task and it required some tin snips in the end. But working from my tiny model, I created this character. His limbs will be cotton and his hands and feet will be knots.

The Beefeater button was a proud button who often gave after dinner speeches
 about his tales of guarding the Tower of London, whether invited to do so or not

Finding his other half

rejected from the button tin

He became the butt of jokes

Developing ideas - which one to go with

I have explored the idea of Outside In as well as the outsider feeling happy about being the one that is different. These were some of my thoughts and experiments about turning things inside out. But it looked dull and I couldn't think where to take it than to make the book the object and turn the pages and cover inside out, so that the index etc. was on the front and the pages stood outwards instead of within the book cover. But I was still not entirely sure where to take the images.
 

 

  

So then I looked at the idea of having funny scenarios of putting a man amongst a queue of pregnant ladies, or a young child bouncing high on a hopper in a fitball class. But again it didn't flow and I couldn't quite see where I was going.

 

 





And I started to make a concertina book using letters and turning one around. I didn't use the alphabet as in my original sketch, but the word outsider in German with the letter t turned round. If you are an outsider, you do feel foreign and it was this concept I wanted to get across. If you don't know German, you won't know what it says. Auyenseiter means Outsider. Concertina books work well when you want to show something as a whole as I did with this word. Even if you can't read the word, you would know there is something odd about the letter t just by looking at it.

Auyenseiter is German for Outsider

Making a book with one page only

Found this very useful. It is an easy way to print a 16 page story very economically as the story is printed on double-sided A4 or A3 sheet.
Divide an A4 sheet into eight and mark it carefully with the following numbers. Once you have done your narrative sequence, put the right drawing in the box, then when you come to cut it at the end, they should all be in order - easier said than done.
This was my narrative and it followed my idea of inside out, outside in.....as he literally gets inside the balloon.

 

The Balloon Boy

But this was how it was put together:

Unpacking the meaning of OUTSIDER

"I often say to people that artists' books are sort of a step-child of contemporary art. They are highly respected for the most part, but as gallerists fear not being able to sell them, they have much more limited channels of circulation, and consequently, less viability economically....... I think artists will make artists' books because it is not a choice…they can't help themselves." (Lorenz, Angela. 2014)

Angela Lorenz is one of many artists who make books, something which has been going on for many years. I will explore the history in a later blog.

By introduction, this blog is about recording making and designing artist books and the value of self-publishing. The task for this particular set of work is to make a book with 16 pages exploring the theme of THE OUTSIDER. One of my aims will be to look at OUTSIDER ART, who the artists are in connection to this aspect of art and what they achieve and why.

Before I look at this, I want to outline my initial thoughts about Outsider, just to see if any of these initial ideas come into fruition. By writing them down, it gives me chance to stand back and analyse whether sparks of imagination come.

But first what is the Oxford Dictionary's definition of outsider:
1. A person who does not belong to a particular organization or profession.
2. A person who is not accepted by or who isolates themselves from society.
3. A competitor, applicant thought to have little chance of success.

Challenging myself, I decided to draw my ideas rather than write them down:

 



It was very useful to draw my ideas - especially the last one. This can't be explained. By simply turning a letter round speaks volumes - dyslexia, not quite right etc. I may well turn this into a simple book as a practice for my stitching.

Ideas I am going to pursue for now:

The INSIDE OUT idea - looking at ordinary pieces of food/objects and putting what should be in the inside on the outside. I have bought a kiwi fruit, pepper and purple cabbage to start with.

The queue ideas - looking at different queues and putting an odd one out in there. But instead of making the outsider feel uncomfortable, my outsider will be happy about it. ie. a row of pregnant women with a man.