Installation

I just completed the skyline for I Remember. This illustration now has my record for the longest time taken to complete. I created the skyscrapers out of balsa wood, bass wood, and popsicle sticks. I tried several different glues as my main adhesive including super glue, gorilla glue, goop, and rubber cement. Rubber cement worked the best overall, the other adhesives either took too long to set or were absorbed too much by the wood. Super glue worked well but I found myself running out of the small bottles very quickly, and I became nauseated by the fumes. I have yet to decide whether or not I will digitally install windows in the skyscrapers. I really enjoy the look of them right
now, but I am uncertain how they will look when I shoot the model and place him in front of this background. The next two steps of this lengthy illustration will be shooting the model and the installation of the many papers reading “Those are pearls that were his eyes.”

I chose to complete the head portion of I Remember first. Initially  I considered making a paper mache mask of my own face with the help of my wife. I have never attempted such a feat, and the thought of scarring my wife for life by having her assist me in my own suffocation finally deterred me from trying. The less threatening Plan B, which consisted of using a Phrenology head with poor facial features as a base, was a more appealing route to take. After covering the Phrenology head with plastic wrap, I then built a better nose, brow, lips through the use of modeling clay. Next I covered the head with paper mache ( I used corn starch and Elmer’s Glue.) For the proceeding step I used a hot glue gun to affix red yarn to the paper mache head. For each strand of yarn I cut a decent length piece so there would be extra free-hanging yarn on the top of the scalp and the lower neck. I was able to shape the extra yarn at the base of the neck to resemble being tucked into the collar of a dress shirt and tie. The top yarn was tied to a wooden clothes rack to create a good base for what will be seen in the final image. There will be a need to shape and multiply the yarn digitally to gain the same effect seen in the sketch.