This was my original project proposal posted on my drawing blog on 22.05.2013. I've decided to remove it from there so it's going up here hopefully in entirety, to be used as a reference point from time to time. Actually not a lot has changed in my intentions, only more specific thinking has occurred. Here it is:

FMP

Final Major Project Proposal

To produce a series of drawings at the Cheltenham Racecourse over the course of the racing calendar, to develop these drawings into finalised artwork/products and market them to a race going audience.

Summary

The main communications objectives of the project will be to amuse/engage the viewer through a recording/satirising of events, situations and characters on race days at Cheltenham racecourse. The process will combine reportage and cartoon and the final work will be designed to appeal to those interested in the sport/activity as well as this type of illustration in general. The project will involve a large amount of research drawing at the racecourse and the structure of the racing calendar will provide regular dates to work towards and, when reaching the end of the project, present work to its intended audience.

Project Aims

Aim is to find and observe moments/themes/people to focus on (humorous, poignant etc) during the course of the day(s). The ‘reportage’ element will focus mainly on those elements aside from the main event of horse racing that make ‘a day at the races’ what it is; the crowds, characters, the happenings in the peripheral vision. This is not ‘horse art’ although horses may feature – in the parade ring, on the way back from race, in stables etc. The most likely focus given my interests (and, I hope also the audience) will be on the world within a world of people at the racecourse – punters, stewards, racecourse staff, bookies, jockeys, trainers, veterans, newcomers, ‘connections’ and so on. Observational humour, character based humour, background colour, using drawing.

This will require a deal of understanding events to make the best judgements as to what to focus upon and what to draw. E.g. the cartoons of Sue Macartney-Snape and Annie Tempest, who draw upon ‘country life’ existence to make specific humour applicable to a wider audience; Posy Simmonds’ critique of the middle classes. Or adopt the outsider approach – Ralph Steadman and the ‘real beasts’ at the Kentucky Derby. So I will need to know what to look for at the place reasonably well if I am to aim work (at least partially) at this audience. The tweed and corduroy brigade. The nervous jockeys and tight-strung trainers. The cocksure bookies and ruined punters. The lads and ladettes on ‘office days out’. The horrors of the Guinness Village. What makes the racing at Cheltenham different from other national meetings? Etc.

Structure, Organisation, Timeframe

I am keen to build structure into the project. Conversely, I can work efficiently and quickly under pressure. An advantage of this proposal is that it gives me regular calendar dates – the days of race meetings at Cheltenham, of which there are 16 during the period of study – around which to structure the project. I can use these days as primary drawing/research gathering/drawing experimentation opportunities, and also as a way to regularly introduce new material and also assess the state of the project and the work. It will hopefully provide dates to work towards (and in between) regarding research, experimentation, preparatory drawing and planning etc. As the meetings are fairly evenly spaced (roughly, one in the late ‘teens of every month from October, with a day at either end of January and nothing in February) this should allow reasonable amounts of time for developing the work, identifying what is successful and also ‘dead-ends’. This should enable me to approach each new meeting with a better, or at least different, idea of what to look for and draw on the day. Also practical considerations can be explored – location, medium, sketchbook size, photos etc.

Thinking ahead, this might suggest the lead-up to February as an opportunity to try things out, research and explore, with February itself as a ‘decision making’ time as far as the final direction and product is concerned, and the remainder of the time executing this. Potentially, the main Festival event (March 11-14) could provide a climax for the work with all the previous project development building up to this point. This gives about 8-9 weeks until the project deadline to finalise the material. The final meeting of the year (proper) from April 16-17 might provide an opportunity to display the work in some form and possibly sell some as well, conditional upon…

Market Research/ audience identification:

Part of the project would be to do market research into the commercial application/viability of the work. A place to start doing this might be at the racecourse itself, where stalls selling race art are present at most of the meetings. Research will be required into this market and I would aim to meet some of the dealers and consult them regarding my work if possible. The aim would then be to investigate the possibility and desirability of aiming some or all of the work at this market/ the race-going audience, as well as those interested in reportage/satirical illustration work generally. There may be a chance to trial some of the work at some of the earlier meetings if the project has progressed to a suitable stage by then. The final meeting (April 16-17) might provide the best opportunity to aim the finalised work at, meaning that some of the material would have to be finished with the course deadline still a few weeks away. This might be good practice!

Visual language/ Aspects of production

The project would aim to make use of some of the strengths of my work as well as address some conflicts/decisions within it; i.e. the balance between representational drawing/reportage and a more humourous/satirical approach. Also light/dark regarding content. The process itself may inform what decision I take on this, as well as research into both other pertinent practitioners – historical (e.g. Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Goya etc) 20^thC illustrators (e.g. Searle, Steadman, Paul Hogarth) and contemporary (e.g. Olivier Kugler, Lucinda Rogers) and the market as it is.

The artwork can build upon my previous work and its strengths – character, line, observation and humour. Reportage has formed the bulk of the work I have produced for the Authorship module in the last two years – a Scotland sketchbook, drawings around Cheltenham which I worked into postcard designs, a sketchbook blog (asmalldrawingblog.wordpress.com) featuring drawings from live music and other events as well as drawings from the racecourse (http://asmalldrawingblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/cheltenham-festival/ ). Some of the things I had begun to experiment with in 2^nd year projects including stencil and pattern work could prove useful especially regarding architecture as well as the number of ‘props’ on view at the racecourse – hats, scarves, coats, dresses, betting slips etc. My fluency in drawing these props as well as the environs of the racecourse will be important. Researching methods of drawing the surroundings quickly in reportage mode as well as coming up with solutions to this in the studio will be vital. Needless to say, some practice at drawing horses will also be essential:

Outcome

The final outcome of the project may be able to take advantage and use the experience gained through the market research periods of the project. This may be the key factor in determining whether the final work is designed for a particular ‘product’ or adaptable to different uses. There may be one ‘product’ or several different ones produced. This decision does not have to be made at the beginning of the project. It may be that work could be produced at several different points during the project and decisions made later on the success or otherwise of this work. The aim could be to make works geared more towards an art market – i.e. sketchbooks of drawings, prints – or towards commercial application – such as race cards, calendars, yearbook, diaries, badges or stickers, small postcards/cards or prints etc.