My inspiration for the portrayal of the character Mr Punch came from traditional depictions of the character created in pen and ink, as well as Dave McKeans portrayal of the character for Neil Gaimans 'The Comical Tragedy or Tragical Comedy of Mr Punch'. I looked to the traditional depictions of Mr Punch to inform my practice in terms of colour palette and Mr Punches attire, but Dave Mckeans illustrations and puppets had a great sense of character and malevolence, which helped me decide on my own version of Mr Punch. 

I have created a series of illustrations some produced in full colour and others in black and white, as I often found that I struggled with knowing which colour palettes to use without overpowering the composition. I wanted to create thumbnails which were inspired by different elements of the art direction and subsequently the text itself to gather multiple ideas for composition and the story that i would be telling about Mr Punch. The thumbnails which I found to be most successful were the ones of Mr Punch inside a box with a more limited/ subdued colour palette, as I felt that they helped to tell the story of Mr Punches anger at his entrapment as a puppet. 

The Part of the text which I have focused on for my final piece is as follows,

'Punch disappears, his faced rammed into the dark of the box.
The thing called wife takes over and laughter rings.
The policeman and the judge behave like clowns.
The dark of the box whistles. Punch cannot hear.
He wraps his face in a piece of the dark

and the huge doubt bleeds.' 
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I feel I have managed to depict a malevolent scene through the use of a receding shadowed background, which induces the pull of the dark, as it contracts into Mr Punch and adds to his already overflowing cup of evil. I have used perspective lines to depict the inside of a wooden box, as well as appearing prison like, which is metaphorical as Mr Punch feels trapped. Mr Punch lies, as if he has been dropped into the box carelessly, his position with an arm wrapped over himself, as if for self-comfort. Being cast off has further fuelled anger and misanthropy towards his jailer, as he plots his escape.  I have used the traditional colours for his costume, but muted them to reflect the darkness of his surroundings, the red being the most prominent and used to guide the viewers eye through the piece from Mr Punches hat down to the blood splatters. 

​This weeks thumbnail project is all about body language and understanding how to depict that within figures to be able to tell a story through imagery. 

​The titles/scenarios are as follows:

Angry Boss - two figures - an office setting
Good News - a single figure holding a phone - 1950s
Mum can we go now? - two old friends meet on the street, the teenage daughter of one doesn't want them to talk for long
The Anniversary - a couple celebrating an anniversary in a restaurant. They hate one another...
The Big Jump - a figure in an aircraft just before having their first parachute jump
Genius at Work - serious concentration in an academic or scientific setting

This set of thumbnails needed to convey the anger of the boss and the fear of the employee as they're being reprimanded for something they have done wrong. I used mundane colours to convey the office setting and tried to focus on the body language of the figures. The boss leans over the employee which comes across as threatening and the employee has her head in her had which conveys disappointment.  

These sets of thumbnails aimed to highlight the sense of joy felt when receiving good news, which happened to be heard of the telephone. I liked that this piece was set in the 1950s, as it made for a more interesting setting. I wanted to convey a stereotypical 19502 setting of a woman wearing an apron, as if she had just picked up the phone while cooking. I think from her facial expression i have depicted more of a sense of shock which is an emotion that can be closely followed by joy. 

This was by far one of the most difficult pieces to thumbnail, as I struggled with knowing how to visibly show the teenagers impatience while also showing people talking  while making it an interesting composition. I found that putting the annoyed teenager in the front of the composition allowed the viewer to see their facial expression of pushed out cheeks and rolled eyes. 

This is by far my favourite piece, I found that the thumbnails really helped to inform my understanding of body language and unpack the idea of two married people who cant stand to be near each other. I also feel like I have captured a sense of sadness between the figures and a sense of unspoken disappointment. 

The direction for this piece was to depict a figure in an air craft before their first jump. Now depending on your personality you could be really excited for your first jump or you could be terrified. I chose the latter emotion when deciding on the body language that i wanted to convey within this piece, I have done this by drawing the figure crouched as if about to jump, but then also gripping onto the side of the plane for support. 

This piece needed to depict serious concentration in an academic or scientific setting. I chose to convey a genius at work by looking at scientists in their labs. For this piece I wanted the focus to be on the face and hands of the figure, as these are the areas where you can physically see the concentration in action: the focused eyes and the steady hands both showing the seriousness of the work. I also wanted to create a slightly unfinished feel to the piece, as if a geniuses work is never done.