Inspiration: The Hunger Games (novel)
Time: approximately 8 hours for 2 shirts
Completed: 23 March, 2012
Text on Shirt:
Front: (picture of Mockingjay symbol)
Sleeve: HG (The Hunger Games initials from book cover)
Back: It isn’t in my nature to go down without a fight, even when things seem insurmountable.
While Frances and I considered trying to attend The Hunger Games premier in London, it was not a good time of year for us to attempt such a feat. Instead we settled for watching The Hunger Games movie on the first day it was in our local cinema. However, I wanted something to mark the occasion, and I really wanted a Mockingjay shirt, so I decided to make us some.
Turing the mockingjay symbol into a stencil wasn’t too much work. It was a bit difficult to make it in just two colors with no shading, but in the end it was easily recognizable when worn. With the sleeve I took a picture from the cover of one of the books and then cut out around the symbol.
One of my favorite things with making stencil shirts, as opposed to just buying a shirt, is that I can pick whatever I want as the quote. The obvious choice would have been, “May the odds be ever in your favor.” However, this didn’t really sum up the book for me, and it was the main phrase throughout all of the marketing. Instead, I wanted a quote to show the strength of the characters, and a quote I could get behind. The trouble with odds is that they lack a certain amount of responsibility for a person’s actions. Either the odds are for you or against you, but it has little to do with your response. The quote, “It isn’t in my nature to go down without a fight, even when things seem insurmountable,” is more about the actions of a character who is strong.
Out of all the t-shirts that I have designed and painted, this is the one that gets the most recognition when I wear it. I have been stopped many times to ask where I got the shirt, and usually get at least one remark on it whenever I wear it (usually from someone younger than me). It is great at starting conversations with other literary people. An unintended benefit of the paints I used is that while the paint is fading, the shirt now has a nice almost vintage feel to it. So I plan on using similar materials for my Catching Fire premier t-shirt.
Final Verdict: While the photo doesn’t do it justice, this is my most recognized t-shirts, and the one I have the fewest points that I would change.
Frances and Lynne 