Nelly

WHAT'S THE PROJECT?

Create four stamps commemorating Nell Gwyn, actress and mistress to Charles II. Packaging for the stamps should also be created.

RESEARCH

WHO IS NELL? READING ABOUT HER

I began this project by researching all about Nell Gwyn and the Restorian period. I looked at podcasts, books and videos.

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED ABOUT HER?

Cinderella story, came from nothing and made something of herself
Very attractive, major sex appeal, Samual Pepyes wrote about her
One of the first actresses- performed at Drury Lane
Enjoyed gambling, had Bassett games with the King's friends and the other mistresses
Mistress to Charles II
Witty and intelligent
Beloved by the public, IT girl of the time

ARTIST RESEARCH

I had a look at artists that create work in historical contexts.

Al Hirschfeld

Jill Calder

WHAT DID LADIES LOOK LIKE?

I collected images of upper class women in the Restoration period to base my depictions of Nell off.

FIRST IDEA: SET OF PINUP STYLE STAMPS

After the research, one of the main takeaways of Nell is that she was a sex symbol. She is almost always depicted in art as suggestive or parcially nude. I want to explore this by creating pin up stamps.

PINUP ILLUSTRATIONS

IDEAS

THUMBNAILS

I began the ideas page exploring compositions for stamps with pin up style illustrations. Compositionaly they work, but need to be more linked to Nell rather than just being sexy.

NELL AS CUPID

Nell was referred to as an angel by Samuel Peypes and he had this engraving made of her that he had displayed in his office. I want to referance this in a stamp. I refered back to the research on Restoration women and pinups.

THUMBNAILS

REFINED THUMBNAILS

DEVELOPING IDEAS

LOOKING AT 1600S WALLPAPER FOR BACKGROUNDS

https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/a-brief-history-of-wallpaper?srsltid=AfmBOopOqhJUzBlDHwDKEqmUsJzdf6NcCaFJtw1aJZWfg8t-1ibOwY89

DESIGN

TESTING AT SCALE

I think the design works at scale, but I'm not sure they work tonely. They a bit decortaive and don't really say much about Gwen other than her being attractive.

DESIGNING THE BOOKLET

To try and add a bit more of a concept to the peices, I have the idea to make the pin up stamps like the hidden nude portaits the King had of Gwyn. The cover for the stamp booklet will be like the sceneic landscape that covered his nude paintings of Gwyn in his office. I looked at 16th century decortaive frames to start off with.

LOOKING AT 1600S PICTURE FRAMES
https://nowframes.com/product-category/17th-century-frames/

PAPER MOCKUP

The idea for the booklet reflects the lanscape painting that was placed over the King's nude painting collection of Gwyn. It swings back and reveals the paintings, with illustrations of onlookers pointing and gawking at her.

FRAME DESIGNS AND ITERATIONS

STARTING AGAIN.

This all just feels too seedy and objectifying. I want to try a differant angle. Through my reasearch into her, I found her potraits where displayed in many famous aristocrats galleries. I want to refernace this and the over the top style of Restoriation Britiain by making a gallery wall stamp set, building off the work I did for the stamp booklet.

NEW IDEA: GALLERY WALL!

I wanted to make the work more reflective of me as a practioner, so I looked at some artists that really inspire me.

MORE RESEARCH...

SARA OGILVIE

JILL CALDER

PROJECT PINTEREST BOARD

I gathered an inspirtaion board on Pinterest, reflecting the tone I'd like my work to be. I still want Nell to come across as attractive, but in a more classy way.

ROYAL MAIL STAMP SETS

I looked on the Royal Mail website. I want to take inspirtaion from the Mary Anning set specifically, but update it with more contempory illustrations.

RESEARCH INTO CHARLES II PALACE INTERIOR AND ART COLLECTIONS AT THE TIME

SKETCHING IDEAS

REFERANCES

THUMBNAILS

I based my designs off four stamps off different things Nell was known for: being pretty, her relationship with the King, her job as an actress and her love for gambeling. I used exisiting portaits and painitngs of Gwyn and other people of the Restoration period as refernace.

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS

I placed the thumbnails of the stamps together on the stamp sheet to work out the composition.

DEVELOPMENT

AT THE THEATRE STAMP

I wanted to go back to my way of working during the Cat project from last year. I used lots of geometric shapes mixed with hand drawn textures to create digital work that has a analog quality to it. I used the same brushes and used the selcetion tool to try and get the same effect. I drew on Jill Calder and Sara Oglivie's style to render the figures after some feedback after some feedback of the stamps looking too digital.

GAMBLING GWYN

Working in Procreate means I have a limit to the number of layer I use. I had to combine two canvases to make a complicated illustration like this. Canvas one with the men round the table amd canvas two being Nell herself. I added the old wallpaper textures I researched before into the background to make it seem more 17th century. Knocking back the male figures was a good decision, bringing more focus to Nell herself.

NELL AND THE KING

This is my favourite stamp design of the project. I think it doesnt objectify Gwyn but still shows her attractiveness. Also the King Charles Spaniel links the stamps with King Chales. I added pink curtains to frame the figures and create a better composition. Again, I used the wallpaper pattern in the coat and the backgroundfor more visual interest.

DRURY LANE

I struggled with this illustration the most. I find architecture hard work. I think I got there in the end but it's still not the most clear. As it's not a stamp, just a decortaive element, I didn't want it to take too much attention away from the other designs.

STAMP SHEET

I wanted the stamp sheet itself to be part of the design. I wanted it to look like a gallery wall that could be hung in the King's palace. Each frame showing a differnat part. of Nell's life.

SKETCH

DEVELOPMENT

I used my research into 17th century frames and architecture from before when designing the basic layout for the sheet. I wanted the focal point to be the portiat of Nell, so I placed her into a rounded thicker frame.