Forest guardians for Nature School Mt Fløyen

I was invited to create illustrations for Naturskole at Fløyen in Bergen (Nature School), and I’m so happy to take on projects with an agenda for the nature we live in. I live at the base of Mt Fløyen and hike there regularly, and on one of my hikes Mr Moss, a character that later spurred this project, popped up in the scenery. More about the drawing in this post.

Nature School at mot fløyen is an outdoor classroom, where kids learn by exploring the forest, lakes and streams and wildlife that lives in an around them. (like us!) My task was to translate that sense of wonder and curiosity into visual form.

The concept

The goal was to desing illustrations that educate and inspire, large scale artworks that celebrate the natural environment while blending seamlessly into learning spaces. I drew inspiratin from the forest’s eco systems; ligchen and moss, undergrowth, and the wonder of discovering living things in the undergrownt.

What I enjoyed about this task was that the client didnt want drawings of kids with magnifying glasses looking at the ground, but the kids in the illustraions are emmbodied nature, antrpomorphic and a part of the environment they live in habit. Be immersed rather than be oberservrs.

The illustrations are used when teaching visiting classes about the diverse life in the undergrowth at Mt Fløyen, and how we are dependent on the smallest creatures on so many areas of our lives.

The process and technique

This project already had the concept in place when we started, that Fløyen wanted nature figures to teach us about nature. I already had Mr Moss, so next step was to I give him a family. I kind of knew where I wanted to take it, I had a sketch from the Ulriken Sodas that I ended up scrapping but now found a use for. And also a lot of sketchbook hikes and a sleepover in a tree. His family in the end consisted of his wife, the pensjonert biologist called () and their three grandchildren Stein, Bjørk and Bøk. And Aunt Oak with the magnificent beard.

Since the characters were to be used large scale I wasnt sure at what size to draw them and did different tests with line weight vs scaled up, and eventually decided on a much smaller original size than what i first thought would be needed. Balancing detail and readability to where people would see the characters from.

I did the drawings in watercolour and ink on 300 gr paper, scanned at 600 and 1200 dpi and broke my mac and had to start thinking about buying a new computer to handle large format. (I eventually bought the new computer when working on another large scale project for Kystmuseet) Then I assembled the characters as a collage in Photoshop in large format psb, in case I had to move a part of the drawing a few mm to not overlap a window and since these were to be mounted on the wall one by one. The printing was done through Kopibutikken.

I earlier made a map for Fløyen, and use the trails there alot. On one of my hikes, a character emerged, that the Fløyen crew thought maybe could fit as guardian of their Nature School.

Along with these illustrations you can also find plaques with drawings and info, and follow a trail where you have to answer questions and tick of “geotags” on a printed map that you can get from the Fløyen shop.