Standing in my Impressions of the past

Standing in my Impressions of the past

I can finally show one of the most fun projects I worked on this year. I made panorama-illustrations for a video installation in the archeological exhibition “living and working 3000 years” at museum Castellum Hoge Woerd. The panoramic animation was animated by the talented guys from Plus-One. Over the course of roughly 4 months I created 11 panorama illustrations, that based on archaeological findings, show how the people in the area of the Leidsche Rijn worked and lived. To give you an impression of the scope of these illustrations I made an interactive demo:


(It can take a while until the unity webGL demo is loaded.)

The animation is projected all around the viewer. You can literately step into my illustrations and see them come to life!

Hoge-Woerd-2-600x400

© NRC

It was very inspiring to work with the archaeologist of the municipality of Utrecht. There is so much to tell about about the landscape, the people and the way they probably lived.  I gained a whole new appreciation for the very, very flat dutch landscape and the history that shaped it. Plus I got to paint Romans and knights!Castelum_Siege_Web3
The animation starts in the bronze-age with the creation of a tool from a deer antler and ends with the excavation of the same antler. It was really interesting to represent all these different time periods.

castelum_Bronze_age_Web2Below is a small video to give an impression of the magic Plus-One did to bring my illustrations to life:

In the end it was a rewarding but extensive project.  The illustrations where big, very big, and with a lot of historical details to illustrate. My hand-painted style was not the most efficient style to work in. Though it really helped give a human touch to the impressions of the past. I sure learned a lot, and gained valuable insights in improving my work. One of the most rewarding things of this job is looking at the world with a new interest in the familiar things around me. I would catch myself thinking while cycling to my studio: “how would I paint that tree? did I paint it too small in my illustration?”

illu

w00t, I’m officially hanging in a museum now :)

This is probably only the beginning of my journey into representing the past. I’m already working on a personal project about the two biggest religions and their shared holy-land in the middle-ages. But more on that in the future.  إن شاء الله! (Insha’Allah!)

If you want to experience the video-installation yourself:

Tue/Sun: from 10:00-17:00
It’s free!

Castellum Hoge Woerd
Hoge Woerdplein 1
3454 PB De Meern (close to Utrecht)

www.castellumhogewoerd.nl