sepia skecthes

i produced these as part of the summer project they were sketched in some sepia fine liners i felt they gave a good representation of the times as well as the town, the individuals were part of a much bigger image in market square i just focused on the most ominous and characterful and the little old building is a pub which has been mostly unchanged since the event, its called the Olde Leathern bottle and was used by the local constabulary to assemble the remains brought in in an apron as if it needs justification. i think the storyboard could have looked quite good in this style im just gutted i forgot i had them, theres always next time i suppose.

who was Fanny Adams

Fanny Adams was a young girl of eight, she had four siblings and was described as a “Tall comely and intelligent girl” she appeared older than her age and was widely known for her “lively and cheerful disposition.”  other than that there is very little information on her, she was yet to live her life. 

Being that Fanny was described as comely and intelligent i imagined her to be quite a cheeky child, curious. i took the same approach as before with the same level of failure leaving me with a single profile and portrait sketch of the child. the most difficult thing about it was the proportions it was something i worked over tirelessly, leaving me with some good insight into the anatomical structure of a child and its differences to an adult.  if i was to change anything in these sketches it would be the variety of perspectives i tried to draw their faces from, and the feet and grounding of Fanny Adams, there is something which looks wrong with her legs.  

 this was my initial sketch of the young girl, i wanted her to be grinning so much so that with just a glance you knew she was a cheeky little child.

 i took the same process of character sketching as i did for Frederick baker, my biggest regret with this image is the various perspectives i tried to show her face at, although they supported the larger drawing they look weak especially when the intent is expressed.

this sketch of Fanny in her element was supposed to be the opposite of Baker's, i wanted he viewer looking down on him as though he was up to something, and with this sketch of Fanny i hoped to elevate her stature into a position of power, although her top half does look a little skewiff  

who was frederick baker?

Frederick Baker was a solicitors clerk in the town, originally from guildford he was a respected member of the tight knit community coming from a background of wealth. his father a tailor was quite abusive to the children and for much of his childhood a young Frederick Baker suffered with illnesses including tuberculosis. he was a quiet unassuming man described as tall at 5ft 4 inches weighing 8st 10lbs it was remarked he had a thin and spare frame with a continence approaching the cadaverous. the young man was set to be engaged until his fiancee broke it off, this sent Mr Baker on a downward spiral, when he reached 26 he started to frequent free houses consuming vast amours of liquor and food. his attention seeking and care free attitude eventually led to him to involvement with the infamous guildford guys, a gang at the time. it was in Guildford he was accused of luring a young girl into an old chalk pit colloquially known as the echo pit for “felonious purposes” to spare his family shame he was sent to Alton, he moved to the town seeking reform. 

this was my initial sketch of mister baker i wanted him to look as he was described, young and gaunt, quite well dressed as well, he often wore a top hat. this was my starting point for everything to follow as there were no photos of the accused. 

when i came to refine these sketches i initially tried to sketch their faces from a variety of perspectives, this was quite unsuccessful it did however give me a series of sketches from which i could base the characters on. For Mr Baker i wanted to create an unassuming gentlemen, he was respected, well dressed, and described as a steady young fellow. i hope this is conveyed i my sketch as it was the over riding theme of the design.

 this sketch was intended to be him in a candid manner, i wanted to show the relaxed manner with which he was described, it was only supposed to be a quick sketch and the left arm is awful, which does make me question why im uploading it, but i think it helps to build the character profile i hoped to establish.

autopsy sketch

this is the original autopsy carried out by a Dr Leslie at the Winchester assize, it is quite graphic but shows the extent of the crime. “ The remains are that of a female child, head, arms and legs were separated from the trunk. There right ear was severed from the head, both eyes were cut out, and there was a cut extending from above the ear to the lower part of the jaw. there were three incisions on the left side of the chest, and a deep cut on the left arm, dividing the muscles, the forearm was cut off at the elbow joint, the left leg was nearly cut off at the hip joint and the left foot cut off at the ankle joint. A deep incision divided the chest between the ribs. the right leg was torn from the trunk, and the whole contents of the pelvis and chest completely removed. Five incisions were made on the liver, the heart cut out and missing, a dislocation of the spine, and the vagina was cut out.” 

this really puts into perspective the barbaric nature of this crime something which occurred 20 years before the ripper murders, it was a crime which gripped the nation. The Standard Newspaper of Thursday the 29th of August 1867 said this. 

“the neighbourhood of Alton, that pleasant little market town of Hants, on the skirts of the beautiful landscape and encircling the kingly city of Winchester, will henceforth possess a dreary fame.” 

because of the graphic nature of the crime i wasn’t keen to illustrate it word for word, instead i thought about producing an autopsy image, with an overlay of tracing paper or acetate to demonstrate the severity of the injuries, although this has been described as a hard way to process the information being that there is still a visible victim. for this sketch i looked at the anatomical work of Da Vinci and aimed to produce something in a similar way, using cross hatching i thought it could be a good way to take the viewer further away from the actual crime, had i drawn it in a subtle photo realistic manner i feel it would have been too much, instead i hoped to infuse a bit of artistic license. i am relatively happy with this image, although it could be improved with the eyes shut, as my tutor pointed out. 

i had real difficulty putting together this autopsy sketch, i did a lot of research into the anatomy of children anyway (this is where the sketch above comes from), a large degree of what i found to be essential in depicting a child was the same as an adult just slightly wider with a big head. 

the tale of sweet fanny adams

 the tale of sweet Fanny Adams is a story everyone from Alton knows - with varying degrees of accuracy, i set out over the summer to find out and hopefully retell it. the local Curtis museum had a few pieces about the incident, however it was the library and a book called Sweet F.A The True Story Of Fanny Adams, it was written by a man called Peter Cansfield and illustrated by Charles Richards, it was first published in 2000 by Peter Cansfield associates. it is the definitive resource on this event, without it i wouldn’t have been able to produce any of the work i have consequently.

the Tale of sweet Fanny Adams in my paraphrasing is three young girls Fanny and Lizzie Adams and their neighbour Minnie Warner, on a hot summers day August 24th 1867 in the rural market town of Alton Hampshire set off for Flood Meadows, a stones throw away from their house on tan house Lane. as they got to the meadow they engaged in conversation with a young man called Frederick Baker, he proposed to the girls that he should watch them play on such a fine day, and so off the four went away to a hollow where the girls played. Baker sat watching, smoking his pipe until the girls got bored it was then he requested fanny would walk him home, he had already given the two other girls money this was the last thing Fanny had to do for a half penny, not keen she refused. this drove Mr Baker to take her over his shoulder and away into a hop field nearby, there he savaged the young girl (i will post the original autopsy report ). the two other girls home and safe told Mrs Warner but she thought they were making up stories and sent them to play, it wasn't until another neighbour noticed fanny was missing that a search party was assembled, at around eight o clock that evening Mr Thomas Gates whose job it was to patrol the hop field found her remains. Baker was accused as the last individual to of seen the girls and tried at the Winchester assize, after two weeks in trial he was sentenced to be hung. this was the last hanging in Winchester. 

composing the image

i explored a variety of compositions starting with the man gazing down the table towards the chicken, and then turning tat perspective on it is head having the chicken gazing down the table at the man, initially i thought a shadow or a hand would be strong enough to suggest this composition however it was soon decided a man from the back of his head would be a more visually interesting composition. my reason for depicting the man from behind was simply to put the chicken in a position of power, i noticed the head of the table is often in this position and that if the chicken was placed at the head of the table, then the animal instantly becomes judgemental staring down the diner. 

my initial sketch showing the man quite shocked by the appearance of a chicken at the end of the table

i think the idea of a chicken in a position of power is best shown here, although they look naturally inquisitive it is also very easy to make them look quite and angry and domineering.

these quick sketches were exploring poses and compositional elements and is one of my favourite pages of this brief, partially for the fact it is so stripped back but also because i think the ideas are learly conveyed in very simple media and style. 

fish print scan

this is a scan of the fish print which i have produced, it shows them a little clearer than the original photo, unfortunately it has had some modifications so there will be another further refined one coming soooon.