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Final thoughts... 6/6

With the project now finished, I am glad that in the end I have managed to make the book as the final outcome to my FMP. However, I could have done things differently with how I spent my time in the project and I think this hindered me from being able to create a few more pages (which I would have liked to have added to the book!)

Originally, I wanted to have 12 pages in the book and I would have depicted some more scenes in Edinburgh such as drawing the tax office on chessels court, Brodie in the act of burgling and at the end his execution.

From this I am disappointed that I did not see the book to its full completion. Also if I had planned my time better earlier I would have planned to experiment with fonts for the story in the book.

In the end, I had handwritten the words on an ink background next to my illustration and I think this would have looked much better if I had practised calligraphy in the style of the old writing uses at the time or taken the story on the computer and printed it out on a different font. In terms of my timekeeping in this project, I think I had spent too much time trying to perfect my drawings- I was very careful how I went about my illustrations and working out what I wanted on each page took me a lot of problemsolving to do which ended up to the point where I became unsure about whether the idea was good or not.

But I have learnt a lot of things from this project including how to make your own book! I feel that my experiments with painting onto fabric has lead me to create and problemsolve the outside aesthetic of the book. I was able to revisit the textiles workshop and work on the sewing machine which I really enjoy doing.

In terms of looking at this final outcome against my proposal, I hope I have achieved some of the things I set out to do and that the final outcome sums up this project about my findings in Edinburgh and how I have been inspired by the life and past of William Brodie which I came to know about from a pub on the Royal mile.

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Final Evaluation ^ Posted 6/6

Heather Rhodes Evaluation.

My original starting point for this project came from my interest in illustrating historic buildings. Every building has its own narrative and has witnessed many things. Buildings stand the test of time, and see generations move through them. I wanted to encapsulate something of this in illustrations for my Final Major Project. Illustrations can take people on a visual journey through time and reveal secrets from the past to those who look closely enough. I wanted to develop my visual storytelling and capture the characters of people who have lived in and used these buildings. In my first proposal for the project, I mentioned that I was thinking about creating either a tunnel book or an installation that would reveal the buildings’ past and take the viewer back in time. Initially this meant finding a particular place or  building and doing research. I had thought about basing my project on a historic building in Carlisle for example looking at the train station ( which had been suggested to me in the first group critique). But I quickly came to realise that I wanted to research somewhere I was less familiar with so that there was a keener sense of discovery for me in this project. This made it seem more of an adventure.

It was only after seeing a documentary on iPlayer: ‘Sam Willis’s Britain’s outlaws and highway men’ that my ideas for the project started to change. The documentary really caught my attention when it started talking about Edinburgh in the 18th Century and how there is one particular pub on the Royal mile named after someone from that time,  a notorious criminal called William Brodie. From this, I decided to go to Edinburgh and explore this city for myself. I was keen to explore further and take pictures of my findings whilst also visiting this pub which I began to think would be a possible focus for my Final Major Project. This was on my first trip to Edinburgh and the information  that I found on a mural outside the pub about William Brodie intrigued me so much that it made me want to focus on and research further the life story of William Brodie.It turns out that Brodie was an interesting character - He was a talented cabinetmaker and locksmith who would make copies of his client’s keys for himself and would return to their houses and rob them of their money. He was not caught or suspected by anyone for a long time but he soon met his end after a daring robbery on a tax office.

Throughout the project I think I researched William Brodie and Edinburgh in the 18th century quite extensively.  The research I collated from different sources such as in books (eg: Rick Wilson’s ‘The man who was Jekyll and Hyde) which I borrowed from the National Library of Scotland and programmes both on Youtube and on BBC iplayer  as well as information gathered from the National Museum of Scotland helped me to move on to the next stage of the project which involved planning more visits to Edinburgh, going back and taking photographs of the places relevant to Brodie’s story that I had read about in my research. It also, I believe,  helped inform my ideas and image making later on.

Looking back at what went well, I  feel that a lot of the photographs I took to make up my primary research really helped inform my drawings and sketches later on  in the project. Most of the Blog I put together consists of the photographs I took whilst in Edinburgh and I was able to go back to them when I needed to when illustrating Brodie. My photos are of the places I have read about in my research and I felt confident that I could plan my visits around this.

When I came onto the next stage of illustrating scenes, I began to mind map ideas for a possible final outcome and  the one which I thought would work best for my project was to create a book that would tell the story of Brodie’s life and the places and buildings  he had been to and burgled. However with no previous experience of making a a book I felt very uneasy about practically how well I could make a book.  This meant doing some research on book binding and I tried and tested ideas and designs for the book. I revisited the textiles workshop and I began to both paint and sew onto fabrics using the sewing machine. I felt using fabric for both an inside and outside cover for my book would give my book more of an edge and my research on handmade books helped inform this decision.My biggest problem in this project  was figuring out how I could fold the pages and sew them all together. Some of my first attempts at this did not work properly and I found it difficult at first to hand sew the paper together precisely so that pages would not be attached to the spine of the book loosely.

I also had to think about how I could make each page accommodate pro- markers (strong coloured pens). I used these pens at the time to make my illustrations bold and eye- catching to readers.  I explored ways where I could spray mount pro- marker paper onto card without the pro-marker paper bubbling or peeling away which was my biggest worry even when I came to make the final book in the end.

Before  I made my Final book I tried ironing interfacing on the back of the paper to give it an old crinkled  and authentic look but I did not feel that it was the right thing to add to my pages. The hardest part of this project was to make the final book as I was determined to get it right. Making this book, consisted in me preparing my illustrations beforehand and spray-mounting them in to card that I would fold and bind to the spine of the book ( which I made using two pieces of card and masking tape to help make the cover).

Many things did not go according to plan,  for example some of my illustrations that I spray mounted onto the card did peel back and I had to “pritt- stick” them neatly back into place. Also I felt that I could have managed my time better at different stages in the project and I think this was due to the time I spent working on refining my illustrations towards the end of my project. This consequently left me little time to put my exhibition up, however I made it a priority that  before I would go back into college I would present all work onto card and have an initial plan as to how I could present my book on a plinth but also my work across two boards.

From this project I feel I learned new things and made mistakes with my time. Overall I  feel that this project was hard to do but I feel happy that the book has been made and I have managed to create something that I originally set out to do. I  really enjoyed learning new things in the textiles workshop - eg: making the book with fabrics and sewing and having advice from my tutors on how I could make the book and  how I could draw scenes using photoshop which helped me solve problems a lot quicker. It has also highlighted the importance of planning and keeping to short but manageable timescales as it reduces the stress towards the end.  Putting up my exhibition could have been a lot quicker if I had planned it more carefully and considered how I would like to present my work. This is an experience I will be taking forward and working upon in the next few months

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Exhibition planning/preparation 6th June

Over the past few days I had presented and mounted some of my work onto black card ready to be put up on two boards at college. I did a brief sketch in my sketchbook of the plan for my exhibition(forgot to photo this!),but when I started to pin them up and follow my plan, it did not look right and the black card was not exciting enough when it was put up (pictures above). I also felt it took away the focus from my book which needed to be the main focus against my board. With the advice of the tutors, I got some help remounting some work onto foam board and I asked one of the tutors to help me photograph the different options(in different orders) as to how I could present them against my book on the plinth.

I am really satisfied with the panel of the three going cross the two boards. (Picture 2 at the top of this post) It was between that one and 1st picture at the top of this post. I think this a simple layout but quite effective and I feel it will give a nice introduction to my book below.

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(Flicking through my Book)

I forgot to mention this in an earlier post but before I put the book together( 2nd/6 ), I inked the opposite page of the illustration with ink and I wrotr the story In my handwriting. This process was a bit nerve wracking as the paper would bubble when I was quickly drying with a hairdryer and I had to iron it flat too many times to get rid of the bumps!

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(Support from Cat)

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Illustrations 6 and 7 underway! 1/6/19

Again I have attached the images that I was using as reference next to my work Today has been tiring - I don't think I will be able to achieve my goal (due to time) l of illustrating at least one more where I was hoping to just finalise the book with an illustration of Brodie being caught in a cupboard in Amsterdam. So I am going to have make a change and just focus on completing my last illustration to the best I can.

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Progression :Illustration 5 Brodie in a fire lit room contemplating his next move. 30th/5

This is my next illustration that I am working on, images attached that I used to help inform my decision making process with this particular illustration. Although I am almost finished with this one the hardest part about colouring this in is about how far I should go in making certain areas in the room darker. For example the mirror behind his he'd is something I have yet to figure out and I may take a picture of my mirror In the dark to help me visualise this better. Overall I am glad with how this is coming together but this page is taking some time to complete and I may need tomorrow morning to help me finish this completly..

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Illustration 4. Brodie in his workshop.again, I have attached the images I used as reference beside. 29th/5

With this illustration I am hoping to depict the good side/hardworking side of Brodie in his workshop as part of Hsi daytime work making keys for his clients. So far, I have finished Brodie's figure and now it is just the case of filling In the background with my promarkers pens and coloured pencils. The background may take me less time to do, as I am planning of building up tones / adding shadows by layering the colours of the promarkers. With the promarker pens, you can make a colour darker each time by recolouring the same original patch you coloured. I am planning on making certain elements darker than the figure like the wall so that Brodie figure is highlighted and the viewers attention is drawn to his character on the page.

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Illustration 3 progression with images used as reference attached 28th/5

I have started these illustration a little later than planned but I am sure that this illustration will be completed today. My plan for this illustration is to go next to the part in my story where it says that' at night Brodie would turn to crime' as I am going to make this image look like he is at one of his clients door at night ready to break in. My plan is to keep Brodie in the same outfit in the next few pages so that the readers can distinguish him from the other characters in my book which I am going to draw in if I get time to complete what I am hoping to do this week before I go back to college. I really worked hard on Brodie's face to try and make him look sweaty and unappeay to the reader.

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Spray mounting promarker paper to card update and ironing interfacing on promarker paper/ cartridge testing posted 27th/5 done however 24th/5.

Forgot to mention this in an earlier post, but when I was at college on the 24th I was thinking about the type of feel I wanted to give to my pages inside the book. I originally planned to spray mount the promarker paper onto card as I could not use the promarker paper only in the book as it was too thin and the promarkers could be seen on the back of the paper. I also needed to write of the opposite side so I did not want the promarkers from the previous page illustration to be seen through the paper. I had tested spray mounting the promarker paper to card in college and the result was hit and miss as sometimes the promarker paper would show bubbles once I spray it onto the card and I did not want this to affect my illustrations once I spray mounted them down.Other times I was able to flatten them down and get rid of the bubbles which was a bit of a relief.

I was shown another option by a tutor for the book where I could iron interfacing on the back of the promarker paper to give it more of an authentic feel which I really liked. There was also another option to iron interfacing on the back of cartridge paper, which would have been ideal if the promarkers did not show through the paper. Once I got home I tried more samples with the interfacing onto promarker paper however the paper curled with the interfacing on and I was worried that the paper would be curled in the book which I did not want . However I think the interfacing was another possibility because I really liked the feel it gave to the pages.

But I have decided to stick to my original plan of spray mounting my promarkers paper on to card despite the card not giving the authentic feel to the book like the interfacing did (which I was after). I have already spray mounted one of my illustrations to the card ( which later the card will be folded in half for the next illustration to spray mounted on the other side) and the illustration has not bubbled yet although I have placed some heavy books down onto the (paper mounted to the card) on the floor.

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Plan of Action for this week(half term break) 27th/5-2nd/6 aim: 1.5 illustrations to be done per day

(Due to time will have to reduce illustrations down to 9)

Monday 27th - Finish illustration 1 of the stone man/narrator

Tuesday 28th Begin illustrations 3/4 promarker first but colour in 3 with pencils

Wednesday 29th finish 4 promarker 5/6 in again colour pencil 5 in and complete 6 on thusrday

Thursday 30th finding study 6 in the morning promarker 7/8 colour pencil in 7

Friday 31st finish 8 promarker 9 and colour pencil it in

Saturday 1st/6 fold pages and ink opposite side- test font styles/ calligraphy for the handwritten story - more testing and refining illustrations. prepare the order of pages for Sunday Morning

Sunday 2nd /6 :Write the story and bind book together

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Photoshop on illustration 24th/5

At college, I got some advice from a tutor to work out this piece using Photoshop. The problem that I was having was that I was stuck on how I should colour in the background because when you are in s firelit room everything surrounding you is in the dark and the only light source comes from the fireplace. this creates shadows on anything in front of it as the light hits the object/subject facing the fire but does not light the object/subject from all sides. Because I don't know where to place my fireplace yet or how to draw my chair I have scanned my image into Photoshop and I got some help working into the image with photoshops brushes. The aim is to work out where I need to place the darks and the lights in the image and I was shown a technique to help me do this.

'The Rembrandt technique' is is where you place an dark ink wash onto your work and then you rub away areas of the dark wash to place highlights in the picture. Rembrandt apparently did this to his painting where he would paint his paintings on a canvas and then proceed to paint the canvas black (my idea of a nightmare) but rub the wash away to introduce the highlights

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Using Photographs and model to help create an image. 23rd/5

With this idea, I am hoping to capture an evil-looking Brodie (bad half) meditating his next robbery. I would quite like to depict this in a firelit room to give the impression of night and also to give a sinister feel to the picture as Half of Brodie will be in the dark? My A2 illustration took some time to do using the photos above and my grandad to inspire my drawing of the character. But I am conscious of time and I need to figure out how I am going to promarker/colour pencil the rest in without ruining the piece. The photographs I have taken above are of my Grandads fireplace but the logburner will be replaced with an actual fire with firedogs by the side.

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Photoshop work on first illustration for book 23rd/5

I have decided that this will be my first illustration for my book. As I would like to introduce the reader to a narrator who will tell the story. This study is inspired by one of my pictures I took of the stonework façade on st Giles Cathedral on one of my trips to Edinburgh. Because this man is holding a scroll, it is like he is telling a story and I think by putting him at the front of my book would make it seem as though this stone figure has stood through time on one of Edinburgh's oldest buildings and is about to reveal its past. Using promarkers and coloured pencils I've already started to create the illustration however I would really like to incorporate another idea behind the man's head making the gap in the stonework seem like a window to the past - as if the Old city of Edinburgh can be seen.

Using Photoshop, I have stretched an image off the internet of a scene of Edinburgh in the past (18th century) and I've tried to fill the background sheet.

On paper I have printed off the different options for this space and I am currently thinking about using this image below as a reference for when I draw the scene in by hand faintly into the picture to make it seem like it is a memory from the past which the reader is about to step into /get to know more about. The white swirls on this page are meant to be whisps of wind coming from behind the man's from the Old city to introduce the idea of the past coming. Back to life in this picture.( I have yet to promarker these in a light grey)

Revisiting Proposal and Bibliography 22/5

Extended bibliography/h.ref:

'The art of the marbler' (Youtube from video filmed in 1977) http://YouTube/vyga8VMWYKg

Website: https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2017/04/27/rare-books-and-the-marvelous-art-of-marbling/

Daphne du Maurier 'Jamaica inn'( Little Brown and company 2013) (first published 1939)

Alfred Hitchcock 'Jamaica Inn' film(12th May 1939)

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Artist research 2: P.J. Lynch illustrator. 22nd/5

 Patrick James Lynch (born 2 March 1962), known professionally as P. J. Lynch, is an Irish artist and illustrator of children's books.

I came across these illustrations while looking for 'children's books on the 18th century' on Google. After some thourough digging my searches lead me to find these illustrations which I find really great inspiration for what I am about to do. I am looking to give a sense of atmosphere and the past in my book and I think these illustrations are a good example of how that can be achieved- by the certain colours used and the scenes chosen.

Artist research:Angela Burdett illustrator.

Not much information of this artist on the internet but I have this book at home. When illustrating a person's life story (which I am looking at doing with Brodie') it is important to carefully pick scenes that will take and draw the reader into the the story .I think this illustrator has done this well with the type of scenes she has depicted - some of the illustrations are unsettling like the one where Anne Frank is glancing over the man's shoulder while being arrested. I would like to do something similar with my illustrations and cause a similar type of effect where I drawthe reader in with interest and caution. I will also think carefully about what scenes I will use and the impact they have in my book.

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Final edited version of my Story for the book.

Edinburgh, a place full of stories and mysteries. An old past brings a new one. .

Its not what you can see, but what you can’t see that follows you down these dark closes and leads you to one particular close..

Brodie’s close.

This is where  the story begins. A  door yet to be opened in this book is hidden in the dark

It is the tale about a Cabinetmaker but a thief too. A fellow of two fellows, William Brodie alarmingly had two sides to him. Brodie was a skilled tradesman and a Deacon of the incorporation of the wrights. This grand sounding title meant that he was respected by most. He could make you a piece of furniture or fix the locks on your doors. He came from a wealthy family and was a member of the City Council.  He had hold of one of the highest offices that a man in Edinburgh could aspire to . This was not all however.

In the depths of night  unbeknown to the many residents of Edinburgh his other side would come out. He would turn to crime.

Cleverly, Brodie  would use his daytime work to support his night time activities by making exact copies of his client’s keys so that he could burgle their houses and steal their money!

No one in the town suspected that it was him because in his role as  deacon of the incorporation of the wrights, he had high status amongst all tradesmen in Edinburgh and many people were under the carefully cultivated impression that he was a talented craftsman and a honest trader. How wrong they were.

Brodie’s trick was to make more money for himself by returning to his clients houses to get more work, suggesting better locks and security mechanisms for their houses were the answer to night thefts.  In this way he fooled many unsuspecting people in Edinburgh.

His motivation for this daring double life was because as a rich man Brodie would be an accepted part of Edinburgh's wealthy gentry and  could belong to their clubs. To this end he would gamble his money away on sports like cockfighting in the Grassmarket in order to take chances to make more money . He even kept his own cockerels in his backyard for this purpose.

The cunning Brodie was  also a cheat at cards, and gambled on this too. Another, more pressing reason for his gambling and his cheating was that he had a complicated personal life with two mistresses and 5 children to support.  He was therefore a cheat in more ways than one. At least however he tried to provide for Anne Grant and Jean Watt and his children. In another twist to his life he had to cover yet more of his own tracks as the women lived very close to each other but amazingly were  totally unaware of the other’s presence.

To keep up with this extravagant and duplicitous  lifestyle, Brodie became more and more desperate and so  turned to more crime when he ran short of money. He was known to team up with a few accomplices to support him with his night time activities. One of these was English thief, John Brown  himself trying to evade capture being on the run from a seven year sentence of transportation.

It was in 1788 when things  inevitably took a wrong turn for William Brodie and this was when  his lifestyle finally caught up with him. He and  three accomplices  raided the tax office on Chessels court. They only managed to steal £16 and they shared it between them the following night. John Brown however was not satisfied with his share of the money. An advertisement of £150 reward and a kings pardon for  wrongdoer’s crimes had been put out if information was received on this daring crime. Brown turned Brodie in to the authorities. Upon hearing this, Brodie immediately fled to Amsterdam with the hope that he could eventually escape to America.

 In a final twist, this plan of escape never happened as he was recognised on a ship over the English channel and escorted back to Edinburgh for trial. He was hanged at the old Tollbooth along with one of his accomplices. It was  at this point that a somewhat shocked pair of mistresses found out the truth about their lover.

Legend has it that Brodie survived even the hanging by bribing the executioner and being spirited away, only to emerge in Paris  some time later according to witnesses. Given his life history it would hardly be surprising if he did get away but this is unlikely even for someone as crafty as Deacon Brodie.

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Jamaica Inn film (1939) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Posted 22nd/5

On TV there was this film that I watched called 'Jamaica inn'. It is based on Daphne Dumauriers story about a young lady called Marywho stays with her Uncle Joe's ( a landlord who owns a stay called the Jamaica Inn on the coast of Cornwall) The story is about her encountering a group of smugglers/ship wreckers( that her Uncle surprisingly hosts at the inn unbeknown to Mary( who lure ships to their doom on the rocky coast of Cornwall. It is an interesting film however I was only really watching it to get an idea for the type of clothing they wore in the 18th century/early 19th century for where this film was set. The images below from extracts of the film are chosen because I quite like the look of the men's jackets and I planning on taking inspiration from this for William Brodie's clothing.

If have time I may try and read Daphne du Laurier novel which is in Carlsile Library to help move along my writing for the story...