I had to look up the word menagerie to see what it meant, before even deciding what light box this would be a part of. Once I knew the meaning of the word, I knew it would fit perfectly with the arachnophobia light box.

I wanted to create a poisonous spider exhibit that would serve as a large prop and part of the backdrop to highlight the fear felt by the main character.

I began by cutting out a rectangle in the size that would make sense in the light box. Once I cut out the base of the exhibit case, I decided on the number of boxes I wanted it to have, measured how small they would be and then cut out those pieces.

I then proceeded to work on the doors. I used the exhibit case as reference. Then I moved on to the top and bottom parts of the exhibit. I didn’t want it to just be a rectangle with smaller rectangles inside.

I glued everything together and then added three different shades of marker.

Then I worked on the spiders, cut them out and colored them with marker and colored pencil.

Lastly, I taped on green semi-transparent paper to the back and taped the spiders to the front.

This one wasn’t very exciting to work on, but once it’s in the light box, with the rest of the pieces, it will really add to the overall look.

Make sure you check back and follow me on Instagram (@WhimsicalStoryBooks) to get sneak peeks, updates, and opportunities to win some of my art.