Activity 7: 'That's what rocket science and photography and all those things are for: being precise, getting it physically right.'

• Search the Magic Pencil exhibition to see if any other artists might have used photography. Which might have used photography to get the details of their painting or drawing right, and which have used it directly in the image?
• Do you think photography and digital technology means we can will eventually do away with manual illustration (painting, drawing etc)?

BM: Did you do any sketches for this image that tried out other solutions to the composition?

Angela Barrett: I think this is one of the things that came fairly fully-formed into my mind, but I do remember tinkering about with the proportion of interior to exterior. I think I would say even now that I didn't really like the way it divided into three. There's the division into inside and outside made by the wall of the castle, but then there's another division made by the gutter in the page, but the only thing I could have done about that was to make the interior section smaller, and I didn't want to do that, because it's small enough.

I remember messing about with the perspective, and the decision to show the light coming in through the window, out of which her head is leaning. And it's not the sort of thing for which one has any reference, but ultimately that's the joy of illustration, it's a picture: what does it matter? Sometimes I do get bound up with this anxiety over whether a thing is working in real space, and it's a silly thing to do. That's what rocket science and photography and all those things are for: being precise, getting it physically right. So I have no idea whether this castle could stand.

There are very few windows, it seems to me, and I may have thought when I was doing it that it would be a castle in a bleak place, and there wouldn't be lots and lots of windows. Maybe there's another side of the castle that was the sunny side of the castle and this is the bleak side. Although I don't know that the queen would choose it as her place to sit. I suppose she could have her pick of rooms... Lots of these things go through your mind - trying to inhabit this place in your mind. That is one of the lovely things about it, when you're sitting and working. You feel you've created this place, even if it only exists in your mind.

I've just noticed that there's something strange: the interior perspective doesn't seem to be going up at the same rate as the exterior perspective. But you never know, there may be some steps through there. There doesn't appear to be a door there either.

I do like things that you look at and you think, 'yes, that does function as a window.' Especially in the context of a painting that has a vast emotional element as well. But on the other hand, there are times when [trying for accuracy] just gets in the way, and you have to say it just doesn't matter. When I was doing The Emperor's New Clothes I did a picture of an interior scene where the emperor was having his imaginary costume put on and all his pet dogs were looking on in amazement, and I wanted to also show the procession outside that was being prepared: all the soldiers in a state of disarray because they hadn't quite got it organised. Some of the courtiers were still putting their wigs on. And I wanted the inside to flow to the outside quite seamlessly, and that meant a window, and the window frame would have got in the way, so I ended up doing this vast window - the panes were held together by nothing more than a width of leading. It went against the grain with me. I thought, 'that's not a proper window'. But it would have got in the way, so that was that.

I've always loved theatre sets. I've always been very interested in what theatrical designers do, and always rather envied that, and thought what fun it would be. I get all sort of pleasure out of looking at good theatre sets and I always feel very cheated by minimal stages, where there's nothing much going on. That may be where I got the idea to split scenes. Who knows? But I only like to use them where it seems there's some logical reason for them that fits in with the narrative.

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