The Beginnings Of A Little Cardboard Box Project.....

I have just embarked on another little scene for our local miniatures' club main project, and like the attic scene which I featured on KT Miniatues Journal in it's various stages (a while ago now)....I will do the same too with this project and hope that it may inspire!

As club members, we have a choice of making a miniature scene inside a cardboard box based on "A Childhood Memory" or "A Nursery Rhyme" in any scale. 

I should have started this over 2 months ago but never seemed to find the time somehow, then with yet another club meeting looming next week, it was time to get cracking on this! Much pondering took place on my part as I found it difficult to formulate an idea on quite what to do. I eventually found on the internet, several vintage children's book illustrations of children sitting in various poses in front of a window looking out onto a night sky and it was those that  finally gave me the inspiration needed!  Haha....can you guess what scene I am making?

 

I 'd hoped to use a vintage cardboard box but simply could not lay my hands on one of the right dimensions. Similarly a shoebox was an obvious choice but again, none that I had were of the right dimensions needed so I ended up buying a sturdy box from my local art and craft shop (it was not expensive and saved me loads of time from actually making one from mount board-which was to be my last resort). This one measures 11" high x 7 1/2" wide x 5 1/2" deep.

Then it was time to get my paints out and create a backdrop of a night sky with an outline of rooftops and trees etc. After painting the whole of the back in a deep blue acrylic, I then embarked on painting layers of  various shades of blue with darkest at the top (with addition of black) and lightest at the bottom (with addition of white). 

This backdrop is to be ultimately viewed through a window of a bedroom wall, so I needed to work out exactly where the window would be set and which part of the backdrop would be seen. Then, using a small brush, painted freehand with black paint an horizon line of trees, rooftops and even a church steeple!! Using a finger, I added a highlight of pale blue arournd the horizon line ie. around the trees, rooftops etc., just to give added depth...was quite pleased with the effect.  Have you guessed what this scene will be about yet?

Once all paint had dried, with a very fine brush, painted randomly lots of white stars in the night's sky! I found that once the fine white dot of a star dried, that if I splodged it very lightly again with well diluted white paint, it gave a kind of fuzzy effect that when viewed from a short distance away looked quite effective and...twinkly!

Yep...the title of this scene is going to be TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR.....one of my most favourite nursery rhymes of all time! . 

A bedroom wall was cut out of thick grey cardboard, then a 4" x 4" window was cut 3" up from the base.  I will be making up my own window from oddments of wood so was free to have the window whatever size I wished.

The wall will eventually be glued in at a distance from the backdrop but for now.....that will have to wait for another day.

TO BE CONTINUED ANOTHER TIME WHEN THERE IS MORE TO SHOW YOU.....

Hope you are enjoying it so far!