MATS Bootcamp {February - week 1}

 

DAY 1:

I liked January's assignment a lot, so I was very eager to get started with whatever February would bring. Today we received our new MINI assignment to loosen up and find an inspirational thema for the MAIN assignment. Our MINI is based on: 

"PLATE SCENICS"

Basically, we'll have to research scenes portrayed on (antique) plates and get inspired! Lilla Rogers showed us a part of her own plate collection, and asked us to figure out which one we liked the most and -more importantly- why. 

My favorite, the one that drew my attention immediately, was this one:

And here are five reasons why:

1. The mystery – It’s almost surrealisitc; the lonely landscape, the snow, the small house with gigantic rocks/ice(?) towering over it… It’s scary and cozy at the same time… Awesome!
2. The “Feel Good Vibe”, the orange glow creates warmth and a feeling of peace. The bird and the branch gives me reason to believe there’s life possible. I think if it weren’t for the bird and colors, this scene would’ve been cold and lonely (still beautiful though!)
3. The sense of depth – this always fascinates me. Usually, storytelling goes from left to right. In this case, storytelling goes from front to back (en vice versa).
4. The cozyness – The large rocks/ice are very interesting; they have a frightening hight, yet give the house a feeling of security, of shelter.
5. The wondering – what’s the story behind this scene? What kind of person would live in that house? Why would someone build a house there?

With these things in mind, I started sketching.

 

DAY 2:

More sketching, this time I added a ferret (always wanted to give it a shot).

DAY 3 - 5:

Lilla's plate has a great sense of depth; it kinda reminded me of Caspar David Friedrich's paintings:

("Wanderer above the sea of fog" & "Chalk Cliffs on Rügen", source: Google images)

More sketching! I thought it'd be nice to tell a story in one image, using depth. This was my first try:

In the background, a frightening large ferret is curled around a small home. It's protecting it, guarding it. The lady that most likely lives there, sits in the foreground; working on something to keep him warm(er).