Shay Mouse design for the Galway Arts Festival!

A month or two ago, the the lovely Galway Arts Festival folk asked me to do up a design for a play they were rehearsing called "The Adventures of Shay Mouse - The Mouse from Longford" by the fantastic Patrick McCabe.

So I roughed them up a couple of mice, and told them they could pick and choose ears and noses and legs etc., from the various mice and I'd try make an ultimate better mouse, or... if none took their fancy I'd go back t the drawing board. I didn't have a scanner, to they had to make do with this photo of my doodle page.

The first stage of the Shay design

They went for the chap at the far bottom right, but wanted him with with dungarees and a bit more of a belly as with the chap at the bottom left. So off I went. I roughed up a more graphic mouse that wasn't 100percent the design yet, but the bones of it was there. I gave them a few colour choices, and "with or without" outline options, and they went with the top right Shay. So off I went to add the whistles and bells.

The second stage of the Shay design

So I tweaked his nose design, added some hi-lights and shadow, and Hey presto! 

Shay was done. :)

The Final Shay design

All was quiet on the contact front then, as I was busy readying myself for my new job, move back up to Dublin, and planning my trip to Galway for the Galway Fleadh, organising the BCFE Animation showcase etc etc... until I discovered this!

There was Shay! 3d and rambling down the streets of Galway! I laughed for 10 minutes solid! Never in my life had I made a design, that had been suddenly made 3d! It was amazing to see! 

He was also plastered in shop windows and pubs all over Galway in the form of this lovely poster :)

Not only that, but Shay was in big demand! Doing tours of Galway city! Popping into local shops, pubs, theatres etc. Everyone wanted Shay! How exciting! :D (Several of the photos are courtesy of Shays twitter page! :D )

There he is above, ordering a pint... then checking out the local cheeses on offer...

        

wearing a scarf from a local wool shop.. then getting involved in the local busking scene...

     

...Here he is in Charlie Byrnes book shop, signing a few copies of his book...

.....and here he is on a t-shirt!!

Needless to say, i HAD to meet Shay!  And with my trip to Galway for the Film Fleadh already planned (which my short film "The Sweet Life" took part in) it simply had to happen! so here it is.... I finally met Shay!

Best of luck to the Shay Mouse team! 

:)

maureen