KateMail #122
You may have heard buzz about the Bayeux Tapestry. That's because it's displaying in England for the first time since its creation there, the artifact on loan from France. The 70-meter-long embroidery (tapestry is a misnomer) tells the story of the Battle of Hastings between the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans.
Pretty boring, right?
But what is interesting is:
- The vibe.
- The merchandise.
I've been busy screenshotting the British Museum online gift shop.
If you thought I was already agape over the thing itself, imagine how I reacted to a notebook, a bag, a goblet, a Staffordshire figure, an EMBROIDERY KIT. But my biggest freakout might've been a greeting card: it imagines the present-day museum facade with a row of Middle Ages visitors in front and a clunky comet in the sky.
Again, not because of an intellectual interest in the history, but because of a fantasy of an anachronistic past largely based on the Robin Hood where they were foxes.
What I love about it:
1. Primary colors plus green.
2. Flat style without perspective or shadow.
3. Simple people whose most distinct feature is one gesturing hand.
4. Buildings with what one YouTuber called "dollhouse scale", scenes in one room taking up an entire floor.
5. Aesthetics of royalty, nobility, serfdom, and Christendom (even though I'm Jewish atheist).
But the shipping is crazy. And over my shopping career, nothing I've ever bought made me feel like I thought it would (barring the hunter green sweatshirt and royal blue shorts I'm wearing as I write this. With my stocking-red headband I feel like I jumped off a manuscript page).
So I challenged myself to make my own souvenirs—and that starts with some practice in my sketchbook.
Why this felt as significant as entering battle: I haven't drawn as much lately and wasn't pleased with the recent times either, finding them indistinguishable from my teenage drawings. Like all artists I thought I'd lost the ability.
Then I KNEW I'd lost the ability when I started today.
But then I made a horse I was happy with...
And then I made a museum I was DELIGHTED WITH!!!!
Huzzah!!!! ❣️💛☘️🐦⬛
I feel invigorated like I've crested a hill, and the city of my style lay before me! Onward!
Thank you for reading!! ✒️🩷
*The little man with the clubs looks like A.I. but is NOT. I'm just a woman who does it all, including accidentally taking A.I.'s job by giving someone a bizarre leg. The linework is like that because I had to (manually) digitally enhance the line weight.*
Read more like this at pencilbooth.com/katelyn, sign-up nice but not required!
