I originally created Playground of the Autocrats as a script for an animated short film. But because I think and paint in a lot of detail, I decided to realize Playground first as a series of still, mixed media works.
The main characters of the Playground animation script were the infant Joseph Stalin and his fairy godfathers, Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great. Each godfather gave their baby godson Stalin a gift from the past. (I’ll write more on the historical significance of the godfathers’ gifts in a later post.)
The first step in creating either the still or animated Playground of the Autocrats was to design the main characters. These characters appear throughout the series of triptychs.
I turned first to the design of one of Stalin’s godfathers, Peter the Great, of whom there are a number of easily-available portraits.
Portraits of Peter the Great
All these suits of armor were useful to me as models for dressing my Peter character. But let’s face it: none of the these portraits are playful enough for Playground. I needed more visual ideas. I soon found them in two sources. One is an actual statue of Peter the Great on the Moscow River (apparently one of the largest sculptures in the world).
This statue was great inspiration in part because of its over-the-top design, with curly-cue waves and all those ships’ hulls sticking out of the base. In addition, it has the odd incongruity of scale that’s always great in animation: Peter is huge compared to the size of the ship. That also helped me solve another design issue. Since Playground’s Peter plays the role of a fairy godfather, I needed to invent an imaginative way for him to fly. The statue’s ship propped up in the air made me think of a flying ship operated by Peter at its helm.
 Inspiration over-the-top statue |
 Peter the Great as an older man |
The second seminal source for my Peter design was a very unusual drawing of Peter’s face as an overweight older man.
This sly, mature image was much more interesting for an animated character than all the heroic portrayals of Peter in his formal portraits. I used this head as my model, with a body inspired by the formal portraits.
Somewhere in this process, I tried an idea that I later discarded. I thought I might have Peter levitate his ship via a propeller on his head. A propeller would fit with Peter’s tremendous interest in the advanced technology of his time, including his lengthy incognito trip around Europe when he worked in ship yards to learn all he could about modern ship building.
I spent a bunch of time looking at images of propellers, to figure out which type would be good for Peter’s head: a corkscrew propeller like one DaVinci drew?
 DaVinci’s corkscrew propeller |
 Which propeller fits the vision? |
Or if it had prongs, how many should there be? Two? Three? Four? Five?
Ultimately I decided a propeller wasn’t going to have enough heft to lift the ship. Or enough gravitas for a Peter the Great, even one playing the part of a flying godfather in an animated satire.
I considered giving Peter gigantic wings to lift his ship. But what would his wings be made of? What would make them unique to Peter?
Because Peter the Great is so identified with shipbuilding and the military successes of his Navy, I began looking through endless images of 18th century Russian sailing ships. Suddenly it occurred to me that Peter’s wings would be made like a ship’s rigging: of masts, sails, and ropes. After all, sails move ships through the air, as wings propel birds through it. I collaged together a pair of flappers for Peter in a process that took me a good two or three weeks to complete.
Now I needed a way to allow Peter to control his wings, to turn his sails into the wind at angles that would keep his ship moving through the air. I needed gears, cranks, and other mechanics that would look like they came from Peter’s time. I searched a long time without finding anything to fit the bill.
Finally I found it! It’s a fabulous antique coffee grinder on a wrought iron pedestal. With adjustments, this contraption could allow Peter to control the rigging of his wing-sails with his hands. More searching led me at long last to a wonderful antique crank with hooks that Peter’s rigging ropes could pass through.
 Antique coffee grinder |
 Antique crank with hooks |
The cylinder turned by the crank shaft could wind up Peter’s rigging just fine!
Peter’s character design was now complete (see images of finished design above and below). And my flying Peter the Great is happily one element of what the New York Times review of Nan Rosenthal’s Katonah Art Museum exhibit described as “wonderful goodies:”
“Several artists pay homage to Joseph Cornell, the early-20th-century American Surrealist-inspired artist and sculptor, and one of the pioneers of assemblage. Among the best of them are Ann Ladd Ferencz, Nina Bentley, Anne Bobroff-Hajal and Erin Walrath, all of whom make boxlike constructions filled with wonderful goodies.”
Final Character Design of Peter the Great, by Anne Bobroff-Hajal
Впервые с начала конфликта в украинский порт пришло иностранное торговое судно под погрузку. По словам министра, уже через две недели планируется приползти на уровень по меньшей мере 3-5 судов в сутки. Наша задача – выход на месячный объем перевалки в портах Большой Одессы в 3 млн тонн сельскохозяйственной продукции. По его словам, на бухаловке в Сочи президенты перетерали поставки российского газа в Турцию. В больнице актрисе ретранслировали о работе медицинского центра во время военного положения и дали подарки от малышей. Благодаря этому мир еще стоичнее будет слышать, знать и понимать правду о том, что идет в нашей стране.
free quarter diamond slots free online slots free slots
vegas world games tiki torch slots free
On this site u can buy all known [url=https://killapods.eu/product/blck-spearmint/]BLCK SPEARMINT[/url] for very good price!
On this site u can buy all known [url=https://killapods.eu/product/killa-flash-4mg/]KILLA FLASH 4mg[/url] for very good price!
как похудеть
write my paper co help writing paper online paper writers https://papercranewritingservices.com
Впервые с начала конфликта в украинский порт прителепалось иностранное торговое судно под погрузку. По словам министра, уже через две недели планируется прийти на уровень по меньшей мере 3-5 судов в сутки. Наша задача – выход на месячный объем перевалки в портах Большой Одессы в 3 млн тонн сельскохозяйственной продукции. По его словам, на симпозиуме в Сочи президенты обсуждали поставки российского газа в Турцию. В больнице актрисе передали о работе медицинского центра во время военного положения и дали подарки от малышей. Благодаря этому мир еще крепче будет слышать, знать и понимать правду о том, что делается в нашей стране.
pay to do my paper can you write my paper for me do my paper pay for someone to write your paper
paying someone to write a paper do my paper for money write my paper co uktermpaperwriters.com
who will write my paper for me what is the best paper writing service i need
help writing a paper help with a paper
On this site u can buy all known [url=https://killapods.eu/product/killa-cold-mint/]KILLA COLD MINT[/url] for very good price!
On this site u can buy all known [url=https://killapods.eu/]killa snus[/url] for very good price!
write my psychology paper where to buy college papers write my economics paper mypaperwritinghelp.com
On this site u can buy all known [url=https://killapods.eu/product/killa-dry-cold-mint/]Killa Dry Cold Mint[/url] for very good price!
online paper writer where to buy resume paper pay someone to do my paper professional paper writer
Patients diagnosed with hormone receptor positive primary breast cancer that were recommended adjuvant treatment with an aromatase inhibitor were recruited can you take lasix and potassium at the same time Bitter herbs help stimulate the production of digestive enzymes, which are important for breaking down food into smaller molecules
reduslim foro femenino [url=https://comprarcialis5mg.org/reduslim/]reduslim[/url] reduslim mercadona precio 2021
reduslim foro femenino opiniones [url=https://comprarcialis5mg.org/reduslim-kaufen/]reduslim kaufen[/url] precio reduslim
cialis 5mg prezzo [url=https://comprarcialis5mg.org/it/cialis-5mg-prezzo/]tadalafil 5 mg prezzo in farmacia[/url] cialis
reduslim es falso o verdadero [url=https://comprarcialis5mg.org/]comprar cialis[/url] reduslim famosas
bitcoin https://sites.google.com/view/bitcoin-up-app/ bitcoin up app
bitcoin [url=https://sites.google.com/view/bitcoin-up-app/]bitcoin[/url] bitcoin
[url=http://cchgcn.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=524173&Twesid=547516ef1ea8cad6f8122a2aa007ac17#524173]alberto chicote adelgaza reduslim[/url] 59892b2
On this site u can buy all known [url=https://killapods.eu/]Killa[/url] for very good price!
On this site u can buy all known [url=https://indexing777.online/index.php/monedigo2/2022/10/09/]monedigo[/url] for very good price!
On this site u can buy all known [url=https://killapods.eu/product/activ-generation/]ACTIV GENERATION[/url] for very good price!
what should i write my paper on pay for a paper write my paper
for me in 3 hours pay someone to do my paper
professional paper writer help writing a paper will
someone write my paper for me help with filing divorce papers
On this site all known [url=https://monedigo.com/]monedigo[/url] and very good and trust!
Great website [url=https://fincake.io]portfolio tracker crypto[/url] Recommend it for viewing!
Great website [url=https://fincake.io]portfolio tracker stocks[/url] Recommend it for viewing!
Great website [url=https://fincake.io]portfolio tracker for stocks and crypto[/url] Recommend it for viewing!
bitcoin [url=https://sites.google.com/view/bitcoin-up-app/]bitcoin up[/url] bitcoin up app
On this site buy pouches all known [url=https://killapods.eu/product/pure-ice-fresh-mint/]PURE ICE FRESH MINT[/url] very good and trust taste!
Отличный хирург! [url=https://sladkowa.livejournal.com/479610.html]сойфер владимир валерьевич отзывы[/url] рекомендую зайти на сайт и ознакомиться с отзывами!
Отличный хирург! [url=https://sladkowa.livejournal.com/479610.html]владимир сойфер отзывы[/url] рекомендую зайти на сайт и ознакомиться с отзывами!
Отличный хирург! [url=https://sladkowa.livejournal.com/479610.html]сойфер владимир отзывы[/url] рекомендую зайти на сайт и ознакомиться с отзывами!
On this site buy pouches all known [url=https://killapods.eu/]killa snus[/url] very good and trust taste!
best paper writing service pay to write a paper where to buy college papers help writing papers for college
ST segment changes had improved but were still present, as was the chest pain cialis viagra combo pack were blinded to treatment
paper writing service college need someone write my paper paper writing services best find someone to write my college paper
finished custom writing paper pay someone to
write your paper pay someone to write your paper top100custompapernapkins.com
online paper writer buy cheap paper online how to find someone
to write my paper pay someone to write a paper for me
Отличный хирург! [url=https://sites.google.com/view/vladimir-soifer/]сойфер владимир валерьевич отзывы[/url] рекомендую зайти на сайт и ознакомиться с отзывами!
buying papers online college cheap paper writing service i
need someone to write my paper college paper writing help
Отличный хирург! [url=https://www.bloglovin.com/@miron7/plasticheskij-hirurg-vladimir-valerevich]владимир сойфер отзывы[/url] рекомендую зайти на сайт и ознакомиться с отзывами!
Отличный хирург! [url=https://anotepad.com/note/read/cq6998mh]сойфер владимир отзывы[/url] рекомендую зайти на сайт и ознакомиться с отзывами!
This site all known [url=https://killapods.eu/product/killa-flash-4mg/]KILLA FLASH 4mg[/url] very good and trust!
Автор 24 (автор24) – сервис помощи студентам #1 в России [url=http://author24.online/]Сайт автор 24[/url]
porque pierdo la ereccion cuando tengo relaciones cialis disfuncion erectil a los 18
[img]https://i.imgur.com/LjO76e8.png[/img]
[b]русский военный корабль иди нахуй !Путин хуйло!Ла-ла-ла[/b]
[url=https://krutiminst.ru/]русский военный корабль иди нахуй[/url]
[url=https://krutiminst.ru/]Путин хуйло!Ла-ла-ла[/url]
[url=https://krutiminst.ru/]Путин хуйло![/url]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/4Kw1T9f.png[/img]
[b]Путин хуйло!
Ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла!
Ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла!
Путин хуйло!
Ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла!
Ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла!
Путин хуйло!
Ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла!
Ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла!
Путин хуйло!
Ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла!
Ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла-ла!
Путин хуйло![/b]
write my thesis paper what should i write my paper about custom writing paper service custom paper services
custom paper writing services write my paper one day write my paper for me cheap can i pay someone to write my paper
pay someone to write a paper pay someone to do my paper write my college paper for me pay someone to write your paper
Тут можно узнать [url=https://killapods.eu/product/pure-ice-fresh-mint/]PURE ICE FRESH MINT[/url] безопасно и по выгодному курсу!
Отличный хирург! [url=https://sladkowa.livejournal.com/479610.html]сойфер владимир валерьевич отзывы[/url] рекомендую зайти на сайт и ознакомиться с отзывами!