PICTURE BOOK: EXTERIOR
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It was harder than I had expected to create one long continuous image in photoshop. I ended up editing the base of the water on one image file, and then cropping it into eight separate photoshop files to make it easier to edit and print. When laid out the full extension of the concertina measures at 233cm long. I was an idiot for choosing a continuous design.
The idea I had was simple, the cover page would show a marmalade jar sinking in water, the back would show a plastic bag at the bottom of a river with rocks holding it down. This way the audience would be given little information to begin with when looking at the picture book, much like me when researching Clara, but by opening the book they would find all the answers, the viewer would see the family photos, and small hints towards the final answer. The whole concept is subtle, I didn't want to be too direct and make the audience uncomfortable, I think if they pay attention to the small hints on the pages, they will figure out what happened, and thats easier than outright drawing it in the book.
I chose to include real family photos of Clara from the time with her family as I thought it might bring a sense of personality and honesty to the piece. To show that this was a true story, not something I imagined for the purpose of an interesting narrative. When drawing the photos digitally I tried not to focus too much on the small details, I looked at the basic shapes and tones to create the images, thinking they would only appear small when printed out, I didn't want to spend time on something that wouldn't be seen. However when seeing the printed out version I noticed the photos appear bigger than I had thought they would, and small mistakes are more noticeable, though it doesn't draw away from the overall image so it may not be noticed by the viewer.
