Brain the Badger
Alcoholic Markers, Acyrlic Paint Pens, Collage Pencil, Gouache, Paper.
A2 x 4
This work is a class project, where we looked at wildlife crime in the UK, & I focussed my attention on badger baiting. I started with a good amount of research into the topic in the UK & found it to be very interesting. In this piece I was exploring as much of the space as possible, trying to utilize the paper to create a sense of size & depth. Mixed media with a touch of collaging, then gouache, alcoholic markers, & acrylic pens on heavy duty paper. Everything was worked out separately over the semester, taking initial ideas from early on & working them out. The characters came together through some initial sketches & were worked into the finish subjects seen. The Farmer’s tweed ensemble is taken from a beautiful collection of papers I found with all different tartans, using collage as an element which I haven’t done before. I used stencils for the clothing, then glued them on. I built up layers of gouache in the backgrounds & finished them off with acrylic pens & brushes, to create a sense of environment.
This piece was something I thought would be fun to do, being hunted down in the peace of your own home. This is the badger kid, not Brain. This piece also demonstrates the sheer difference in size between man & creature. I wanted to capture that moment where the badger notices the farmer at the window.
Farmer George slipping & taking a fall was a little pay back for the culling over the years. I wanted to do something fun again & also have sense of space & depth. The sun was glued along with the coat & sleeves.
The meeting of the two masters of the house. I wanted to have the two meet, this was worked from a small thumbnail I did. I always like the way it looked it the rough sketch. Using the fence to create a sense of depth & separation.
I realized this piece must have been inspired by the scene in Lord of the Rings when they are almost caught by a ring wraith off the side of the road, but at the time of the idea to me I wasn’t directly thinking of it relating. I wanted to portray the sheer size of the Farmer George & Bull in comparison to Brain & his family. This is shot at night in hopes of catching the badgers on the move. For this one I also applied Bull’s head from another piece I drew to create a better layered affect.
