Diorama With Magic Window-- A Look Inside, and Tips How To Build
art·@therealpaul·
0.000 HBDDiorama With Magic Window-- A Look Inside, and Tips How To Build
<html> <p>Tiny worlds inside of worlds-- are they a chance to 'zoom out', and get a new perspective on things? From snow-globes to miniature trains, people love to get small, and there is a certain fascination with being able to visit these little worlds. Since reality can seem so overwhelmingly big sometimes, it might be that these places offer an escape from the life-sized walls and buildings that we have crafted around ourselves. We can appreciate the tedious details of life that we'd never appreciated before, when we see them made so small before out eyes.</p> <p>I made this diorama in around 2006, as a gift for my daughter. Below, I'll show how it was built, and with some tricky <em>(and lucky) </em>camera shots and lighting<em>,</em> we can get a glimpse through it's tiny stone window to see what's inside.</p> <p><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa41/beehelicopter/DiaCover.jpg" width="683" height="1024"/></p> <p><em>This shadowbox is 6 inches (15.3 cm) wide, 2 inches (5.1 cm) deep</em></p> <p><br></p> <p><br></p> <p><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa41/beehelicopter/DiaTopL2.jpg" width="683" height="1024"/></p> <p><em>The rocks, pillar and tree branches are made from a bake-able modeling clay, then painted and stained with acrylics. Foliage is purchased from hobby shop-- spongy model train tree leaves. On far right, some of the rocks are painted aluminum foil, wrinkled, but not too much. (Some sections got too wrinkled, and then it looks too much like painted aluminum foil instead of rock!) </em></p> <p><em>Paint will stick on the FOGGY side of the foil-- the SHINY side tends to bead up the water in the acrylics. Using a wash, I 'stained' all of the rocks with centuries of lichens, mineral deposits and moss.</em></p> <p><br></p> <p>A clear quartz crystal is mounted in as support for the balcony<em>.</em></p> <p><br></p> <p><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa41/beehelicopter/DiaLiteleph.jpg" width="1024" height="683"/></p> <p><em>The elephants were salvaged from a small antique carved African piece I'd found which had been damaged. They are probably ivory-- or possibly some kind of bone, and I can only feel bad about the elephant or whatever creature that they may have come from. After some thought, I decided to use them, but I definitely do not support any ivory trade or the unnecessary killing of any animals, so the carved elephants were installed with some hesitation and a lot of grief. I decided that if I'd died to make some tourist art, I wouldn't necessarily want it to go in the trash with any ease. Further, the diorama pictured here is not for sale, it is a tiny replica of something imagined, and is only an attempt to create a bit of beauty out of the found objects of a former world.</em></p> <p>The elephants are mounted in baked modeling clay, and below that is a piece of stained glass, which allows light to go <strong>inside </strong>the wall. A window in the balcony lets us see what's inside. <em> </em></p> <p><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa41/beehelicopter/Diawind1.jpg" width="683" height="1024"/></p> <p><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa41/beehelicopter/DiaWind2.jpg" width="683" height="1024"/></p> <p><em>A lady in a white dress sits inside the structure.</em> </p> <p><br></p> <p>She is also made of clay, and sitting down, she's about an inch <em>(2.5 cm)</em> tall. <em>(My eyes are still in therapy ten years after building this </em><em><strong>without using eyeglasses!)</strong></em></p> <p><br></p> <p>Since the shadowbox is only <em>5 cm </em>deep, I created the <em>illusion</em> that it is deeper, using small mirrors from a disco-ball.</p> <p><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa41/beehelicopter/photo%2018_3.jpg" width="640" height="478"/></p> <p><em>Light passes through the translucent 'rock' face below the balcony to light the figurine.</em></p> <p><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa41/beehelicopter/DiaWind3.jpg" width="1024" height="683"/></p> <p><br></p> <p>Down below, I made some 'water' with a piece of glass. There's a tiny clay turtle on the bottom of the pool, but the camera angle never defined it well here. Not the camera's fault-- I painted the bottom of the turtle, and tried to position it where that detail would show, but in the end there is no good angle for a picture of it. I remember liking it a lot before I glued it in place where it is now. </p> <p><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa41/beehelicopter/DiaUnderw1.jpg" width="683" height="1024"/></p> <p><em>Under the turtle is a fossil (crinoid stem?) and a piece of pyrite (fool's gold!) Other rocks in this shot-- the porous grey ones on right-- found around some railroad tracks-- very light weight. Some of the things on top of the glass 'water' must have fallen from above over the years, and they feature some old glue. Moving along now, lets back out again, slower shutter speed, and move the light again.</em></p> <p><br></p> <p><img src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa41/beehelicopter/DiaCoverbright.jpg" width="683" height="1024"/></p> <p><br></p> <p>There are tiny lights which are designed for doll houses, which can be installed inside of a diorama like this one. By drilling a hole in the back, power can be sent in to the shadowbox for even more effects. I wanted this one to be naturally lit, and the translucent wall works fairly well, but the doll house lights are actually better for consistency, and a translucent wall is not always an option as a light source. I have to shine a flashlight through the stain glass to really see the lady in there with any clarity on this one. </p> <p>The diorama pictured above was not particularly hard to build, and it was a lot of fun to create. By sharing this, I aim to inspire new ideas for dioramas, and more creative applications of the mirror trick shown above. </p> <p>Worlds within worlds are endlessly inspiring for me <em>(or maybe I just like being the giant for a change),</em> as I imagine the inhabitants of my diorama; busily building their own little dioramas infinitely inward, and all of our little imaginations getting bigger together, transcending size and scale.</p> <p>--------- </p> <p>Thanks for looking! I'll answer questions about the diorama below in comments, or if I've left out some important detail above, let me have it below. </p> <p><em>all images by me. Let me know if you liked this presentation</em></p> <p><em>up-votes are good, up-vote with comments is better, new followers... priceless!</em> </p> <p><em>follow me</em></p> <p><em> @therealpaul</em></p> <p><br></p> </html>
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