Wind In The Willows

This is a new brief I am working on at the moment thinking about wind in the willows creating characters, scenes, a sense of place in my own way. 

Here is what the brief is asking of me; 

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Spend a season on the river bank and take a walk on the wild side...

Spring is in the air and Mole has found a wonderful new world. There's boating with Ratty, a feast with Badger and high jinx on the open road with that reckless ruffian, Mr Toad of Toad Hall. The four become the firmest of friends, but after Toad's latest escapade, can they join together and beat the wretched weasels?

First published in 1908, and inhabited by anthropomorphic creatures with quintessential English charm, The Wind in the Willows possesses a wonderful fascination for children of all ages.

Students are invited to design a whole new cover look for The Wind in the Willows, in order to reinvent this classic for a new generation of readers, encouraging children (and adults) to revisit it time and time again, and ensuring that it remains an integral part of childhood.

I found this brief very interesting to comprehend as I will love to give the wind in the willows this whole new look with the taste of collage and other techniques and skills I will learn exploring and experimenting. Wind in the willows was a book  used to read when I was a child and its fascinating to revisit the book however with a whole new look at it. 

Here is an image of the very first book published by Kenneth Grahame in 1908

To start my sense of place for this project I have looked at a variety of images, textures and objects that I feel relate to wind in the willows in my own little world. 

I first look at a description of the main characters to get a feel for who they are; 

Mole – A mild-mannered, home-loving animal, and the first character to be introduced. Fed up with spring cleaning in his secluded home, he ventures into the outside world. Originally overawed by the hustle and bustle of the riverbank, he eventually adapts.

Ratty – Ratty (actually a water vole) is cultured, relaxed and friendly, with literary pretentions and a life of leisure. Ratty loves the river and takes Mole under his wing. He is implied to be occasionally mischievous and can be stubborn when it comes to doing things outside of his riverside lifestyle.

Mr. Toad – The wealthy scion of Toad Hall. Good-natured, kind-hearted and not without intelligence, Toad inherited his wealth from his late father. Spoiled, conceited, and impulsive, he is prone to obsessions and crazes (such as punting, houseboats, and horse-drawn caravans), each of which in turn he becomes bored with and drops. His motoring craze eventually sees him imprisoned for theft, dangerous driving and gross impertinence to the rural police. Several chapters of the book chronicle his daring escape from prison.

Mr. Badger – Gruff and solitary, who "simply hates society", Badger embodies the "wise hermit" figure. A friend of Toad's late father, he is uncompromising with the disappointing Toad yet remains optimistic his good qualities will prevail. He lives in a vast underground set, part of which incorporates the remains of a buried Roman settlement. A brave and a skilled fighter, Badger helped clear the Wild Wooders from Toad Hall with his large cudgel.

Otter and Portly – A friend of Ratty with a stereotypical "Cockney costermonger" character, the extrovert Otter is tough and self-sufficient. Portly is his young son.

The Gaoler's Daughter – The only major human character; a "clever, wise, good girl", she helps Toad escape from prison.

The Chief Weasel – The story's antagonist. He and his band of weasels, stoats, and ferrets from the Wild Wood plot to take over Toad Hall.

Which then leads me to found out what do these animals look like just to give me a sense of idea of how they should look ,for instance; 

Toads

 

Badger

Moles

 

Rats

Here is some of my own work of how I interpreted the characters throughout a skill-full format of collage, cutting up materials to make up there physique!

Here I tried to get a feel of the animals Badger and Mole and a little bit of there personalities.

Here is Ratty with picnic food surrounding him.

This is a painting a created of mole trying to get a feel of what clothes he would wear.

Here I painted how I felt the forest may look like.

This is an evil Stoat or Weasel.

This is a sketch of a horse that would pull the cart at the beginning of the story of wind in the willows.

Here is a painting of the car trying to get a feel for what the car may look like during that period of time.

This  is a collage of the shiny red car, Toad falls in love with, 'POOP, POOP, POOP'
Then I started to collage my work to the different objects and characters to give these compositions  a more unique flavour.

Here is wise old Badger with his glasses on and his walking stick.

Here is a collage of Mole with his jazzy pants.

Here is  collage of  Ratty with his dinky Bow Tie!

                                                  

And here is the famous Mr Toad!

Here is a collage of Ratty's picnic blanket and basket with some food and drink peeping through at the top.

Whilst thinking about my composition for the wind in the willows front cover  my Ratty character looked like he needed to be doing something so I experimented with making a fishing rod with some little fishes in the see.

After a discussion with my Tutors we agreed that the walking stick my character of badger  was holding wasn't good enough as it wasn't that bendy so I tried again and feel this walking stick looks a lot better.

Here is a collage I produced of the Horse and Cart Toad obsesses over at the beginning of Wind in the willows.

Here is my first draft for the wind in the willows front cover.


And Here is my Complete Final Wind in the willows piece with added changes from my draft!
I am very happy with my final outcome!