A Candle's Fire — Akshatha

Overview

A Candle's Fire is a popup book based of the song of the same name by the band Beirut. I was inspired by the song as well as the name, and wanted to create a piece that played with light & shadow.

Light a candle's fire

Carries a good name

What would you ask a campfire

That scares me just the same

And knew you had it all along

An endless need for games

Don't forget a candle's fire

Is only just a flame

I, it's certain from afar

Failed to pull my weight

But you and I traveled through the fog

To arrive at our front gate

At night we rest beside the fire

And smile upon your face

Just don't forget a candle's fire

Is only just a flame

If I had known

That to carry on that way

It wouldn't show

In the creases on your face

If you should go

But you carry on my name

Just let it blow

In the fog of Bishop's Lane

Production

This popup book is an accordion fold star book. It is 4.25 inches tall and 9 inches in diameter. All of the images were co-illustrated by Akshatha Puthuraya & Danielle Drummond. The lyrics are printed on dark red card stock, and the illustrations were printed and hand cut from black card stock.

Process

The images this song created in my mind were hard for me to express through illustration. I enlisted the help of my friend Danielle who is a talented illustrator. I described the images to her and she drew them. Since her drawing style is different from what I wanted the images to look like, I drew my interpretation of her illustrations. From there, the rest of the process was digitizing the images, printing, and spending a weekend cutting everything precisely with an exacto.