Setting the scene: Part Four

As I was hanging the washing out I realised I never explained the red chair in my recent post. And then, when I came upstairs to clean off my work desk, I somehow found myself playing with said red chair instead of putting it away...

The idea of painting one of the ugly brass chairs red came from this image, spotted in the Conran blog:(which I duly saved for future inspiration)

Then, last night I remembered these cutouts in an old issue of Dolls House and Miniature Scene I picked up cheaply at last week's show:And I started thinking about a Royal Wedding scene: someone watching the wedding at home on the TV, having decorated the room with bunting and stuff for the occasion.

(Of course, I learnt long ago that what you think you're going to create and what you actually end up with are usually quite different.)

A quick google for "Royal Wedding design" turned up some potentially useful wallpaper from Graham & Brown. So I stole the image and printed it out on A4 paper. Pulled out a Lego Scala TV from one of my houses (it has a great back) and the crown I pulled off the top of a Re-Ment clock (storage beauty #3). Cut out the bunting. And pulled together a test scene to photograph:
Nup. Not right. (Although I wonder now how it would work if I'd made the bunting and had it hanging across the top?)

I quickly added a vintage tea towel Union Jack cushion and shot again:Even worse.

Maybe if I balanced the red of the chair on the other side of the scene? I cut out the party hat from the printables and tried:

Better but still boring.

The hat one the chair?Nup.

By now the next load of washing was done so I stomped downstairs grumbling about it serving me right when I wasn't supposed to be making scenes anyway. And on the way out the back door I noticed the blue version of the red chair waving at me in an "I'm dry enough to play with" way...

And I instantly thought "Royal: blue blood"Nice try but... meh.

I (finally) realise I forgot to add the skirting...Which didn't help much.

Hang on: maybe the issue is that the scene looks lonely! Most people got together to watch the wedding. And (if you want to get deep and meaningful), a pair of chairs, one red (female) and one blue (male) might add extra meaning to the scene:
(You can see the edge of the papers in the photo: I left it there as this series of posts is to show my process. If I'd been satisfied with the test photo, I would have moved the furniture further to the left to shoot the final version)

I'm pretty happy with the test, but swap the chairs around for a second test shot: And decide to leave the scene alone, get on with what I'd planned to do today and wait for further inspiration.

First though, I'll share a shot to the right, showing an idea I had of using the window in the scene, with a picture of a street party outside: And, finally something I threw together as I continued to put things away: my funny little head from the show, looking all regal, wearing a crown and watching the TV... (Crap, maybe that was the scene I was after all along?)

Time taken: Around an hour between clothes washing, lounge tidying, and studio clearing.