Artistry in Action: Props Designing for HS Musical

I started Art Club this year to focus on my goal of exploring various art media and techniques. However, as I joined this after-school activity, I was allowed to help create the props needed for this year’s high school musical, ‘The Little Shop of Horrors.’ I accepted this offer and used my weekly Tuesday art club sessions to work on these props.

Working alongside 3 other DP 1 students, we started by looking at our plan and timeline, with the props that needed to be made, such as signs, plants and pots, flowers, etc. For instance, an example of a prop that I made was the sign for “Home of Audrey II”, which was quite a process to make. This is because it took many tries, as several changes had to be made. After all, I first made it on poster paper, where I was investigating my artistic approaches by deciding on how to illustrate the letters and words. I came up with the idea of writing it myself free-handedly, using stencils or printing out outlines, but then the idea of this being on a poster paper had to switch, because of the size and material. Then, I had to adapt to this new change, and I decided it would be best to make the sign-on a canvas, in which I used a stencil to outline the letters. This process of creation for this prop helped me realize how different artistic approaches are better for different intentions, and how the context of the prop plays an important role in artistic elements such as the colors, etc.

All in all, I feel that this experience of helping out with props designing and creating for the high school musical/production helped me improve my artistic skills, which I can follow through and carry toward my DP arts course. Not only did this experience help me academically, but I was able to effectively work and collaborate with other students. I was also able to work on my time management, as we had a list of props to get through in a certain amount of time, which by the end we were able to manage.