'Hide and Seek' Exhibition

Statement along side exhibition:

'My inspirations for this project were derived from the film ‘Drowning by Numbers’. I decided to use the themes in the film as a direction for my work including: numbers, death and games. One particular game featured within the film inspired me to create my own pack of playing cards: ‘Dawn Card-Castles’.

The illustrations for each card are based on a variety of symbolisms and research into the suits. To reflect the film, my illustrations all contain the suits and numbers in subtle ways, sometimes more obscure than others. I feel this helps my illustrations become more fun and the viewer will sometimes have to find the symbols to figure out which card they relate to. This creates a light-hearted notion for some themes that may not be seen in this way otherwise.'

The title 'Hide and Seek' came from the playful idea of games and the concept of hidden numbers and imagery which I have included in my playing card designs. This idea was taken from the film 'Drowning by Numbers' as the numbers 1-100 are integrated sequentially within the scenes; sometimes the numbers are more visible than others, and from personal experience when I watched the film initially I did not find all 100 numbers. This idea has been developed into my own designs where sometimes the numbers and suits are more obscure than others.



Presentation of Exhibition

Four images just less than A3, over-mounted onto black A3 mount board to give a visual look of frames.

This aesthetic decision was made as I felt that the white background of the images would cause them to fade into the white wall. The black frame enables the imagery to stand out and also gives them a professional finish.

The inclusion of these images was to give the viewer an insight into all 40 of my playing card designs as I was unsure if the finished pack of cards would arrive on time for assessment. This was successful as it illustrates how all my designs would look when put into their desired context; you can see them on a closer scale on a previous blog post 'Final Playing Card Designs'

 

To compliment the mounted images, I picked out 5 of my favourite designs, all on watercolour paper including 3 originals. I really wanted the viewer to see the designs as finished artworks on the textured paper so they could see where I started out. The frames give the pieces a professional look for the exhibition space, and their rectangle forms take a similar shape to the playing cards which are the intended contexts.

I was extremely relieved when my pack of cards finally arrived! Therefore, this allowed me to incorporate the cards into the exhibition space and give my designs a visual context as a finished product. 

Simply hanging the cards sequentially on string with pegs add a final touch to my exhibition space. The viewer is able to see each stage I underwent to produce my final playing card designs. 

The back of the card was a collage I created earlier in my project which I made with a mixture of newspaper cutouts, ink and acrylic, layered and edited further in Photoshop. I think the abstract composition compliments my designs effectively and the darker background contrasts with the lighter face of the cards; this is reminiscent of real playing card backs which always have some form of pattern on the back which continues through each card.

Final 'Hide and Seek' Exhibition

Overall, I am very happy with the presentation of my work in this exhibition set-up. The entire look is professional and finished, including all of my designs in a contextualised form. The layout is simple and straight to the point, with no extra props which distract from the artwork itself. This is all that is needed, with an added statement, to explain the intention and aims of my entire project.

A very successful outcome.

Final Playing Cards Designs

After much experimenting with different mixed medias and techniques, here are the final playing card designs which I decided to include. I have only designed for the numbers within a pack of playing cards as this was the main focus on my project and therefore did not feel the need to design for any of the royal cards. 

Inspirations

My main inspirations were derived from the research I did throughout the project. This included finding out the symbolic meanings behind the numbers 1-10 and the four playing cards suits. Initially, I found this quite difficult as there were so many varied interpretations, so I decided that I would use this as initial research and and other symbolism would come from my own imagination. Many of my designs were thought out through the experimentation of media, i.e. watercolour, which allowed me to create unique and simple designs incorporating the numbers and suit symbols.

All in all, I am happy with the outcome of my designs and believe they fit together stylistically between each suit and also as a pack of cards.

Alan Driscoll's Fascinating Deck of Cards

For my final body of work I have decided to produce unique designs based on my project and the themes in 'Drowning by Numbers' to create a pack of playing cards. Having figured out about half of the designs, I came to a mental block and found myself struggling to think of the rest of the designs. Therefore, I spoke to my tutor Ian Massey who gave me a link to a fantastic set of playing cards where 56 contemporary artists/ designers collaborated to make individual card designs. Included, there was a description of the cards:

THE DECK OF CARDS Fifty-six contemporary British artists have been especially commissioned to contribute to this unique interpretation of a pack of playing cards. Each cards represents the original work of a different artist, together with additional designs for the reverse and for the box. The cards have been printed on Superluxe board and have been produced in the traditional Old English size.
Although some of the artists are better knon than others, all have examples of their work in public collections in Britain or aborad. A list of the contributors involved and details of where their work can be seen in presented below. Numbers alongside each collection relate to the numbered alphabetical list of artists' names that follows.

From the abstract to the surrealist to the representative, this deck represents a fairly wide variety of modern art forms, media and technique. In the works depicted in this deck you'll find portraiture, pure color studies, primitive work almost cartoonish in its aesthetic, even photography, retouched and pure, and more. Most every modern school can be found here. And there is no lack of visual puns. Each of the artists represented here took their own particular inspiration from the card they were given in a strange and unique direction. No two paintings are more than superficially alike, and they are worth studying together as much as they are worth studying separately. In their similarities you can find the soul of playing cards, and in their differences you can find the soul of the artists.The box design is by Tim Whitmore, the back design is by Kenneth Martin, and the joker is by either Anthony Green or Anthony Donaldson (it's not clear from the documentation).


Here are some examples of the cards:

 

Some of the artists involved in this project are:

Artists include:
David HOCKNEY
John HOYLAND
Maggie HAMBLING
Patrick HERON
Howard HODGKIN
Patricki CAULFIELD
Sandra BLOW
Terry FROST
Philip SUTTONAllen JONES

Having seen the variations in the designs, it has given me more confidence in my own designs. Initially I was worried about my designs being too simple, but having seen the success in the simplicity of these creations I feel that sometimes simple can work better than complex artwork. From looking at this pack of playing cards, I feel that I can provide a wider variety of work in my own designs without worrying if they all link together stylistically and visually. 

Dice Printing

What's more obvious when thinking of a link between numbers and games? Dice! Therefore, having decided I had found an ideal link, I went and purchased a couple of dice with the intention of printing with them.

Here are some of the outcomes of my experiments with dice printing:

I really valued the initial dice prints and how they turned out. At first I wasn't sure because the numbers and spots from the dice were unclear once printed, however I began to like this effect when greater quantities of the prints were put together. Right: the number 5 created with the number 5- a quirky but fun idea.

These images made from the same printing technique are more refined. The left is an image of a clover, reflecting the 'club' suit from playing cards, whilst the image of the right is reflective of the Ace of Spades. Both are made from the number which reflects the image the most i.e. the number 4 to reflect the amount of leaves on the clover, and the number 1 to reflect the Ace.

Illustration created by layering two of the dice print images in Photoshop and altering the brightness, contrast and tones.

Overall, I think this printing technique is successful, however I feel it could be quite limiting when wanting to produce stronger, detailed imagery. This method is more suited to simple pattern or images though I could test it out on a bigger scale to see if more detail and tone could be added to make a better illustration overall.

Experimenting with Playing Card Ideas

To get some of my initial thoughts flowing, I began by creating some quick watercolour and ink thumbnails of potential playing card designs. 

Above: Original designs manipulated in Photoshop.

Left: This design for the 9 of Spades was inspired by a deeper meaning than the others. It is based on one of the final scenes in 'Drowning by Numbers' where Smut, a boy who plays the role of game maker throughout the film, commits suicide by hanging himself from a tree. 

In the illustration I have included the tree as a more literal connotation of the boy's death, whilst the spades act as leaves. I chose 9 spades as, through research, I found that this specific number has symbolism relating to loss which is ideal for the portrayal of the tragic scene.

Below: As I thought my original design was too brightly coloured for the subject matter, I altered the tones and contrast in Photoshop to create these more subtle images.

Overall, I think that my designs are a good starting point for further development of my work. However, whilst I like how they come across quite playful, I would like to create designs which reflect upon the film's theme of tragedy so I need to create imagery more suitable whilst still keeping the association with numbers.