Fourth card from The Wilson Musuem with comments on the colour wheel and design

 

The above card has no indication of who designed it on the back but advice can be sought from The Wilson museum shop, Cheltenham

This has the appearance of a sketch with an everyday pigeon and civic buildings. This is the first of my featured cards to have black on white sketching (two neutrals and not on colour wheel), which always looks good in design and was used widely in linocuts. It is given an unusual twist by a splosh of colour which seems a bit random.  The last building remains with an unfinished outlined so perhaps a random sketch as well as random splosh of paint. It has an immediacy, spontaneity and lack of artifice that makes you feel you are looking into someone's private sketch book. The fact that everything is not coloured or coloured in a recognisable pattern gives it an unusual and unique quality. Not an everyday occurrence to have patchy random colour across the black and white. The colour choice too is more unusual as not the normal key colours but turquoise as a variation of the primary colour blue and a salmon pink. (Acrylgiessen.com has a write up on the colours salmon pink and  a separate write up on coral). The salmon pink has a delicacy and freshness about it that contrasts with the work a day world of civic streets and a pigeon.  Turquoise also has a freshness about it and a brightness that lifts the scene.

This is my favourite card.  I think it seems contemporary with addition of unusual colours to life the black and white sketching  and is both simple but detailed enough to give you the background story.  It reminds me of the good landscape architect sketches that authors on our reading list can do or that a fellow student may have in their sketch book, whilst also having the authenticity of a street artist.

When I got it home and I looked at it more, I realised that the tall building displayed a clock so was probably an illustration of Big Ben so we were seeing a London pigeon. Cockney if born within the sound of bow bells. The pigeon is the largest item so shows it is the main focus and looks robust and healthy and in charge of its' own world above the city.  It can see across the city which gives it the vantage point and has it in a commanding position.  I like the rough perspective of things shown farther away and below it.

One word summary - Authentic.

Successful design? Yes and it translates well onto a card.  You can send someone what looks like a hand drawn sketch which has something of the genuine feel of making them a homemade card. I wondered if I would have appreciated this design as much as before my study of landscape architecture.  I think I would for its' simple and detailed outline and odd random sketched beauty, elevated and further highlighted by unusual fluorescent colour.