Mr Cadey Poster

    I felt that the refined sketch of Mr Cadey and the little plan i drew in the corner of the page still worked so i followed the developed, original sketch. I drew out Mr Cadey first, larger scale, including the oval shape that he breaks out of. I then drew the little girl which i found difficult due to finding the size scale for a small child to a freakishly tall skeleton but still make it look not ridiculous. I also dont want the little girl to be too big/distracting as the focus should be on Cadey.
However, my first drawing was ridiculously small and bad of the child. I also find 1950s style illustration of children difficult to draw. They have a simple appearance like the adults for instance the women have the hourglass body shape and thin face, the children have round faces, tiny features. But no matter how many times i draw them i still always make the same mistakes the first time. I used my illustration books to reevaluate my drawing and began again from scratch.
  I made the girl bigger as she was minute before. Her legs longer so the walking forwards its clearer and body proportions appear more correct. Head shape is also more round. I do think the arms still look a little stiff but i also think 1950s illustrations are always too perfected and unrealistic appearing in poses so i think it works.
   I included Zelroths shadow again, behind the little girl. I dont think i can have him in this position though as its very similar for Weeping souls poster which is more grounded so it appears the shadow is coming from the side of the stage. However here with no placement it looks odd coming from the side. I think Zelroths shadow could come from behind the girl so hes more subtle people may mistake him as the girls shadow but would find some discomfort kn owing that the shadows not the right shape for her. It also suggests he is following the girl. I thought i could have Zelroths hand reaching out for here to  look more menacing, however that doesnt fit his simple no form design. Additionally i feel Zelroth is not threatening like that.
  Zelroths shadow is very subtle here but i think the positioning definitely works better. I do need to make it darker otherwise it wont show up when scanned and printed out. I need to remember to exaggerate some colours so all details show up on the printed version.
   I painted the background dark purple to mirror the light lilac of Gazelles cloak. Cadeys poster is on the dark side of the poster order. I left some areas patchy in the paint to connect to the patchiness of the curtains on Weeping Souls poster.
   I did these small experiments to see how to create the background details. For instance in Kaens poster theres the swirly scratches in the dark blue that represent the snakes that Kaens connects to. Here i wanted to do lines to represent the dynamite lines that are lit. I thought i could use an edge of a wet sponge to remove the paint in a line, and dab an area for the fire. However through the experiments i discovered that the lines were too faint and wide. Instead i tried a small paint brush to remove the paint which worked more effectively and was clearer.


I painted the oval yellow as Cadeys coat will be dark navy blue/black and the poster needs a lighter colour so it doesnt all blend in together. However i think this colour is too bright, almost sickly. I think i will try tone it down by applying white over the top or a lighter yellow. However, if that doesnt work i will paint over in a darker colour that hopefully doesnt clash with the colour scheme.

   I decided to leave the vibrant yellow as i felt it complimented the navy blue coat. I also painted Zelroths shadow darker so he is more visible as the printer will probably fade him out anyway. Im aware the hip bones are not entirely accurate i got a little confused on the angle as i couldnt find a reference photo at the same angle, and when i painted it i got confused where the hole on the left side was.
 Other than that i am quite pleased with the shading and tones on the bones, especially on the legs with the more shadows from the coat around it. Lastly, the pen i had used before to write on a smaller poster was all of a sudden difficult. The ink wouldnt come out without making it be unnecessary thick. I found it easier to use a paint brush to paint on the words with the same ink. I decided to write the word "Fun" twice for the bottom message, to create a mistake in the poster with an overkill of repeating the word as if they are really trying to convince you with every last breath. It was difficult to get that loose font at the bottom of the page but i do enjoy how the words break out of the border. In the future i could try and write the words on the printed poster instead of the painting. Therefore any mistakes i could just print another version out. However, it may not appear as flat due to not being printed out, also i dont know how it would react with PVA glue, like the printing ink. If i had more planning i could have cut out the name of the circus in white card to just place in front of the painting when copying it in the printer.


   I copied the painting on the printer and printed it out. The details obviously faded a little but i think it isnt a massive loss here, for instance the lines in the purple paint are softer. It also printed out with a white border which definitely helps add that professional finish on poster paper. I painted the paper with PVA glue to add a shine and make the paper stiffer. The glue did cause a little bleed in the ink in some areas, like around the skull. I didn't mind as i chose to start with the last few posters as any flaws play into the appearance i was aiming for, and fix any issues for the cleaner posters. I think it can be fixed by focusing on lighter areas first, also not pouring the glue on the page so it has time to sink into the ink as i spread it around, instead using the brush to apply to the glue as i go. The posters do dry with some curls in the paper around the edges, but i can flatten them afterwards plus they will be pinned/pasted up anyway by each corner. I took this photo with the light shining on it below, which does cover up some details like the shadow but it depends where the light is and it wont be as harsh in natural light.