summer work (projects)

Mind Map

This is my western mind map, this is the outlines of what I think of when the words “western” or “wild west” come to my mind, this covers a range of areas which I can go back to for ideas on what to add for my diorama projects.

Mood boards

For This project we have to create a diorama scene which will be western themed, to prepare for this I have created a number of mood boards which I have annotated giving my reasoning as to why I have chosen to make A mood board about this and why it relates to the theme.

western guns

As a start to western one of the first thing to come across my mind was the weapons they used, most importantly guns which is a big part when we think about the wild west, I’ve chosen to research into western themed guns such as a .45 rifle or a .44 or a .357 caliber revolver. These are the most common weapons used in the wild west, we see this in the actual weapons and the legends from this era, not to mention the seemingly endless films made around the wild west. to model these into my diorama scene would be good however it may not be necessary, it does entirely depend on what scene I choose to make.

western tumbleweed

Tumbleweed in the west is a high belief and there is a ring of truth, firstly I chose tumble weed because it is almost all western films and is a heavy influence in what we think the wild west was like, however tumbleweed was originally non existent in the US. The tumbleweed from today only exists because it was shied over from Russia and began spreading around 1877.

Unfortunately the wild west time duration wasn’t very long..

only a mere 30 years but in that time many legends and rumors were made about people some true some maybe not. the wild west had heavy influences on people at the time as it stories and poems were made. I do believe tumble weeds would be a very good thing to model into my scene ad a cross plane image however it be very difficult to actually model but it would look great in my diorama scene.

western barber wire

Barbed wire was a very likely choice for me because it speak the entirety of the wild west for me. barbed wire was created in 1874 just under half way through the wild west period

Barbed wire was also very heavily used in the wild west and was made into a common scene on the “frontier” as it was placed around make shift camps towns cattle grids and fences as a security measure, its very much used in images of the wild west and is used quite a bit in western themed films. barbed wire would be quite a hard thing to model and very time consuming for my diorama project however I can make a small cube and model that into my barbed wire which would look good and quite realistic until we have to get proper close to the object which is the way I would probably model this objects

western lightning

lighting in my diorama scene would be very good to include, while it does depend on what the scene will be of what what it includes it was a good idea to research into it, the wild west did indeed have electricity and power cables however most of the light in the building and illuminating them were electricity which means I would have to model/texture all the wired in each individual light but they would be realitivly dim and heavily tinted in yellow.

western wanted posters

Wanted posters are one of the main first thought when the theme is western. they are a common sight in art pieces based around the theme as my own research suggests. these were often weather eroded and worse for ware but would be on the inside of establishments such as the bar or general shop but could be found at the stables or at the sheriffs station. these would be easy to model and would fit in well into my diorama if it included a public building or possibly stuck to a post in the open word, one thought that crossed my mind was it swinging in the wind

western wagon and wagon wheels

The wagon would be any staple for wild west town built on the frontier, its the only way to get good between tows in a large number apart from big towns where the rail roads would of been used for transportation but the chances are that on the frontier these would of been the main source of trade. I have chosen wagons as they would work well in my diorama scene weather that on a lone road in the middle of the desert or in a ton at a saloon or a general store. I also lie these as we have a few that have different design such as open top wagons which I presume would be used for carrying materials and boxes an closed good while we have the open top which may have been used for transporting clothes or fragile materials leaving me with a little bit of variety in my designs.

The wagon wheels would be good object to make, while I would be making one if I include a wagon in my diorama scene it would be good to induce them to my scene weather it be with a broken wagon or by itself as maybe a discarded wheel in the shop or by a building which I think would help make the diorama scene much fuller in general.

western dessert

The outer dessert is a great place to create a diorama which is why I have created this mood board so I can gather a general idea of what my scene would look like if I did A desert scene for my diorama project, this gives m ideas of what I can include with objects such as rocks a cacti, I have noticed small patches of vegetation often quite dry and thin as well so I have a general ideas for the textures needed.

western buildings

Buildings would be an essential in making a good diorama, I have chosen to research western buildings to get a rough ideas and starting idea of shape, design and spacing fr my diorama, this mood board tell me that the building were made of straight planks of wood and was made very neatly. This Mood board also tell me about certain factors with these buildings.

For example the buildings have windows and door, these are included in some of the pictures meaning I can get general idea of shape size color and general look of these objects ready for my diorama, another objects is the small hand rail on the outside, fir the western period they were quite small to save wood so in my diorama project i would have to make these smaller in length to make them scaled to the buildings.