Illustration pen pal: anglerfish box

-

 My Griffin and Sabine pen pal sent me the first book to read, and this is the box I made to return it.

photo of anglerfish; silver and gold lines on black paper, the lure is an illuminated amber-colored LED




The box design went through several rounds of changes and it didn't end up perfect, but overall I am very happy with it This is the first time I've used a magnetic switch – the light only turns on when the lid is opened.

concept sketch, shows rough 3-D box and first draft of anglerfish drawing
Concept sketch

photo of unfolded box schematic with measurements

first attempt at box assembly in paper
First try

first try at box, paper, folded into shape

second version of box, still paper
Second try

second draft of box, folded

photo of third box design on cardboard
Third try, bottom half

bottom half of cardboard box folded into shape

third try at cardboard box, top half; pattern laid on top of cardboard
Third try, top half

photo of top half of cardboard box, cut out but unfolded

photo of pencil drawing of anglerfish on black paper
Pencil drawing

photo of laptop and monitor showing reference photos, sketchbook and final drawing in progress in the foreground
References are helpful!

photo of final anglerfish drawing, silver and gold pen and marker on black paper
Gel pen and marker on black paper looks GOOD

photo of soldering setup to hook up LED to battery and switch
Attaching the LED to the battery and switch

photo of inside top of cardboard box with spacers to allow room for the battery and light without being crushed

photo of inside of assembled cardboard box with light and switch installed; light is on when the lid is open
There is a magnet in the bottom front edge of the box;
when the switch at the top center gets close to it,
the light turns off

photo of assembled cardboard box with light and anglerfish drawing, the LED appears at the end of the fish's lure
Ready!

photo of cardboard box closed, a pull ribbon was added to make opening easy. Seaweed and bubbles have been drawn on the black ribbon in silver marker
Finishing touches added


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Starbucks Siren Costume

-
Image
Don't want to read? Here's a 2-minute video instead! The concept for my 2023 Halloween costume was the Starbucks siren, as seen in their logo (although taking some artistic license to wear clothing from the waist up and not doing gymnastics, so we're not going for 100% accuracy). Image from  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/starbucks-logo-evolution-tale-design-history-kaizen-tech-global My starting point was the leggings from my Amabie costume and a green bodice I got a million years ago (intending to make a Poison Ivy, although that has yet to happen). Phase 1: Bodice The first step was to add scales to the bodice to match the leggings as much as possible. I used my scan of the leggings from Amabie to make shapes to send to the Cricut to cut out of fabric. I wasn't convinced that sticky vinyl would stay put on the satin, so I ended up backing some polyster with fusable interfacing for durability and hand sewed it on. This was a beast of a project, but it was the best wa...
Read more

Fairy Queen costume

-
Image
The original plan was to go as a dragonfly, but the thing about dragonfly wings is that they stick out perpendicular to the body. This is not practical for moving around a small apartment or a crowded city, so they needed to be able to move.  And then the wings took so much time that I just couldn't pull together anything else for a dragonfly (I also couldn't decide how to handle the eyes). So I pulled a white dress out of my closet (from my  Bast  costume), made a quick zip tie crown, and called it a fairy queen. The moving wings required a TON of trial and error. This was the first concept test. Gears may have been a more solid construction if they had worked, but it didn't end up being practical. It went from gears to pulleys, then there were changes in the placement and pulling mechanisms, then figuring out how to keep the wings from hitting each other, then testing which direction to pull (around the waist or over the shoulder), then how to divide the wings so each h...
Read more

MYSTERY GIFT: Cats

-
Image
I shaved my head for charity last year. For a small number of donors I offered thanks in the form of a mystery gift, built around a theme of their choosing. This isn't the first one I've started, but it's the first one I've actually finished. I was inspired by  Hari and Deepti 's light boxes and I'm just thrilled with how mine turned out. This theme was "cats" and I know this particular person likes fables and fairy tales, so I started with the illustration of the Jabberwock from Through the Looking Glass. Step by Step (including some trial and error) Hello pen tool, my old friend. Add some happy (stock vector) trees. Figure out some basics for layers. Add some detail. Start to think about how the environment might look. Also realize those layers are completely impractical and consolidate all of the Jabberwock into a single layer. Test cut several practice Jabberwocks (not by hand! I have a  Cricut .) and struggle w...
Read more