Thursday 16 June 2011

Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

For my self-intiated project I decided to make a variety of pop-ups for the The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. One of my favourite books of the Narnia series. I thought that the journey was surreal enough to make some quite interesting pop-ups from.

Here is one of the spreads.











"Slowly the door in the hillside opened again and out there came a figure as tall and straight as the girl's but not so slender. Light seemed to come from it. As it came nearer, Lucy saw that it was an old man. His silver beard came down to his bare feet and his siver hair hung down to his heels. He looked so mild and grave that once more all the travellers rose to their feet . But the old man came on without speaking to the travellers. Then both of them held up their arms and turned to face the east. In that position they began to sing. Lucy said afterwards that it was a high, but very beautiful, cold kind of song, an early morning kind of song. And long afterwards the east began to turn red and at last, unclouded, the sun came up out the sea. And as Edmund said afterwards, "Though lots of things happened on that trip which sound more exciting, that moment was really the most exciting." For now they knew that they had truly come to the beginning of the End of the World. Then something seemed to be flying at them out of the very centre of the rising sun. Presently the air became full of voices - voices which took up same song but in far wilder tones and in a language which no one knew And soon after that the owners of these voices could be seen. They were birds, large and white, and they came hundreds and thousands and alighted on everything, till it looked as heavy snow had fallen.

Then the birds stopped their singing and appeared to be very busy about the table. When they rose from it again everything on the table that could be eaten or drunk had disappeared. But now, because they were not singing, the whir of their wings seemed to set the whole air a-tremble. Now at last the Old Man turned to the travellers and bade them welcome. "Sir," said Caspian, "will you tell us how to undo the enchantment which holds these three Narnian Lords asleep." "To break this enchantment you must sail to the World's End" said the Old Man. "and you must come back having left at least one of your company behind. He must go on into the utter east and never return into the world." "That is my heart's desire," said Reepicheep. "Have you any knowledge of the seas and lands further east than this?" asked Caspian. "I saw them long ago," said the Old Man, "but it was from a great height. I am Ramandu. The days when I was a star had ceased long before any of you knew this world. But come, are you yet resolved? Will you sail further east and come again, leaving one to return no more, and so break the enchantment?" "Surely, Sire," said Reepicheep, "there is no question about that?" "I think the same," replied Caspian. "And even so, it would break my heart not to go as near the World's End as the Dawn Treader will take us." That night they all ate together at the great table where the feast was magically renewed: and next morning the Dawn Treader set sail once more. "Lady," said Caspian, "I hope to speak with you again." And Ramandu's daughter looked at him and smiled.


(Its not completely finished, I still need to add in the table and men, but hopefully I'll get to that over summer!)


2 comments:

  1. oh my god. these pop ups are BLOWING MY MIND. that ship must have been a total mind fuck to put together... i am so in awe right now.

    but seriously, i would have thought you'd learnt about not driving yourself insane drawing birds by now.

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