When the design was created digitally, shapes were repeated to create an even, consistent appearance, ensuring all the rounded corners were the same, the pipes the same width. This made it easier to reproduce by hand as stencils were produced using acetate to reproduce the consistent appearance. The use of stencils was made as from the research it appeared as this was the simplest and easiest method of applying a set design to a surface, and you don’t require any expensive materials. Acetate was chosen as the material to create the stencils on as it was cheaply available and meant that they could be easily reused by washing them. This also sped up the painting process as well as less time was spent trying to make everything look even. Stencils also ensured the scales were correct, as the stencils were made from the original digital design evenly scaled up to real size.
Simplifying the Design
When creating the design digitally, there was a lot of detail in it. This detail, even though it was simple, would of added a lot of time on the painting of the box. The design was therefore simplified when painted onto the box. Such examples include the people, they’re unisex skin coloured silhouettes, the houses don’t have as much detail, and the trees are all the same size as well. However, when painting the design on, there didn’t seem the need for added detail, the design was complicated and full enough as it was in it’s simplified form, and any added detail might of been too much.
The Paint
The paint was premixed by the two people who ran this brief, under the guidance from myself, to ensure the colours were as close to those in the digital design as possible. Having the paint premixed was really helpful as it meant there wasn’t any time wasted mixing paint once the painting started. For specific colours, such as the people, my own specific acrylic paint in tubes was used, as these colours wouldn’t be able to be mixed effectively, and through broader research acrylic kept coming up as a popular paint choice to use for stencilling, due to it’s durability and ease of mixing and quick drying. Cutting Edge Stencils recommends the use of craft acrylic specifically, however I had to use what was on hand and available, trusting in the anti graffiti coating to ensure durability of the design.
The Cold
Because of the time of year the brief was set (autumn), as time went on the weather deteriorated quickly, even battling a snowy outburst at one point in the middle of painting the box. This meant though that only a few hours at a time could be spent on the box as it was so cold outside you got cold very quickly, no matter how many hot water bottles were used for warmth. This put pressure on finishing the painting as quickly as possible to miss even worse weather, which meant the simplifying of the design was essential.
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