Our animal hero emerges....from collage

Well. After being nearly foxed out, there seemed to be hope with the world of collage. After encouragement to experiment with collage — despite me thinking it wouldn't be appropriate for the age group — a hero or heroine was born. I am not sure why I didn't jump into collage head first to begin with, given the incredible creative worlds of the likes of Lauren Child. To quote the tutor, " you can never be too arty for children". 

Once I had determined the textures for my fox — a slight earthy, tweedy texture — the next design step to take was to enhance his character. Although I am saying he is a 'he' for now, he will appeal to both genders within the 10-13 demographic. I chose to focus on his head and face only (no body), to make him more up close and personal. But he needed more features: clothing, accessories, something quirky even.

So he started off as this:

And, with the help of more fox-like spiky hair, a pair of smart-looking (and trendy for kids these days) glasses, some intelligent and characterful eyebrows, and a cosy abstract art sweater, he morphed into this:

Our hero is now ready to lead the way into the world of traditional food trading cards. The background for this side of the cards needed to be as textured and interesting as the fox himself. I used watercolours, a salt treatment (which removes some of the paint to give a blotchy texture), and a layered effect with another abstract texture. The result is a night sky enriched with the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. Final touches include the addition of some stars from Cree syllabics. I have chosen the word "Taapwaah" which is an interjection commonly used in conversation meaning "truly, really, it is true, very, true, yes, for sure! 

And here he is!