Thursday, December 4, 2008

The Ancient Mariner!


From a long time ago, from the distant, dreadful waters of the Arctic Ocean, where Death and Life-in-Death gamble on the souls of a frightened crew of seafaring men, comes my newest customization. It's name is "The Ancient Mariner -or- The Rime of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's FoldSkool." It is built from the FoldSkool Papertoy by Marshall Alexander, done with watercolor digital painting on a Wacom Bamboo.


For those unaware of the poem this is based on, it is the story of a man haunted by his grisly experience on a boat that wanders into strange waters. It is a grim, sometimes psychedelic, and very quotable poem. One of the most vivid themes of the poem is that the Mariner is condemned by his crew to wear a dead albatross around his neck, after he kills the bird--which was considered to be a good omen. From there, the death toll rises, and the ghosts, zombies, and green oozing ocean begin to liven up the poem. In the end, he is repentant, and the crew of corpses help him make his way home, so that he can pass his story to others.


Don't forget to see Marshall Alexander's other Foldskool offerings, at his site which is linked over on the left side of the blog.


The Ancient Mariner can be downloaded here:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

very nice papercraft, love the idea!