Elephantine Update

AHHH! I wrote a blog entry and then conveniently forgot to post it. Oops. Well here it is, revised and updated a little unfortunately you will have to cope with older pictures of what's been going on.

4 days after receiving my elephant I was still drawing in my design! Usually a painting of a similar size to it would take an hour or so to do this so I really wasn't expecting it to take so long. I will admit that without the use of an OHP and having to do it entirely freehand must have put a crimp in my style. The fact is that there is no original photograph, only a roughly sketched design and what's in my head. The design while it took influence from many sources could not be projected well, even if there was room to do so.

Additionally the design requires that each side of the elephant be the same image with a few alterations so I have found myself spending more time walking around the 'phant than drawing on it. Happily I finished the drawing just a few days later and started painting him on day 5 of receipt.


It has been quite a challenge so far, I had not anticipated a few things and they came as a little bit of a shock. For one the drying time of acrylics is very different to oils, far faster and while I had used acrylics before and realised this would be the case I had forgotten quite how fast they can dry. This has taken some getting used to and has forced me to rethink a few minor details. But it has also come as a godsend for (and I know no idea why I didn't think of this) in many areas the paint has required a second or even a third coat to produce a properly opaque and even covering which has slowed me down a tad. But the days get longer and the work is now progressing at a good pace. I actually think I am still on target.


I hope to write another entry sometime next week or early the week after with a photo of an almost (or even finished) trunk, bearing in mind that the entire upper section of the 'phant will have to be done before I even get that far. But for now you will have to cope with the drawn version.

A parade under my hat

OK so the big reveal.. Well if you've scrolled ahead to look at the pictures you may already have a good idea what is going on.

As I have mentioned to many of you insisting on finding out what I have been so secretive about, I did tell many of you about this when I was applying in September time. I know it was a useless hint but I was so excited about it I was half convinced I'd jinx myself.

Well today I had a fibreglass elephant delivered.

As some of you might remember I was rambling at one time about applying to paint an elephant and as some you may have guessed by now I have indeed been chosen to do just that.
I found out in November time that my design had been approved and all that was needed to be done was sort out a few logistics. I also decided then to not say anything until I actually had the elephant under my roof.

Now I have to say although the delivery date had been fixed for about a week, after all this snowfall we'd had I imagined that it wouldn't make it. While I'm very glad it did, the delivery men had a whale of a time getting it through my back garden into the conservatory and even more fun trying to get their van full of elephants back out of my road. Apparently Wimbledon just isn't all that bad snow wise, after this weekend they might change their minds. Unfortunately their early and slightly unexpected arrival caught me alone in the house (unusual with this weather) and sitting on my own foot (literally! Stairs at speed with a dead foot... dangerous) as a result my plan to document the hauling of the beast through the snow was left upstairs with my camera.

So for those of you who still have no idea what I'm talking about.
In the summer of 2010 there will be a parade of elephants throughout London. Approximately 200 fibreglass elephants painted by artists and celebrities will be scattered around the city. Not only creating a talking point and a colourful fun scene but also highlighting the plight of the Asian elephant.

I was privileged in 2007 to see something similar happen in Bath with pigs.

More information can be found here: http://www.elephantparade.com/london/ and indeed here http://www.elephantfamily.org/

And that is all I had under my hat.
Expect occasional photos on twitter and maybe even the occasional blog entry chronicling it's journey from white to glorious technicolour.

Boating 12th - 19th December 2009

Oxford and Grand Union Canals between Brinklow and Stoke Bruene (there and back again)

So it's taken me a while to write anything about this trip. I know, I know, I am not exactly quick with my blog entries but although I don't complete and upload them right away ,I usually write at least a few notes or a draft within a day of (or even on) the trip. That is mainly because I have thoughts at the moment that I know I will forget if I take too long in committing them to 'paper'.

So why not this time, well I'm not exactly sure, one part of me was somewhat scared at the prospect of trying to document each day. Eight individual entries seemed like a really huge task and I didn't feel like I had much to say for each day. In fact I don't remember thinking anything about events of any day that made me think 'I must write that/expand on that in my blog'. Also the nature of the trip went against many of my usual habits on a day out, there was no non stop walking around, no particular places to document and a fixed route to deal with. It was frankly a lot more relaxed and I quickly fell into that pace so I guess my thinking relaxed. Alternatively I just forgot any thoughts I had by the time I got back. By no means did my artistic eye slacken nor my thinking stop, I just wasn't in a rush and it was for all intents and purposes a holiday not a task. But I think that that was what was important to realise, it didn't need 8 entries it just needed one.
Well the relaxed nature of the trip had me thinking less about photographs to become paintings but more about what I was seeing around me. I guess it has more in common with my previous post than any other. So what to say about it? Well I'm not sure. With the other posts I have been slow to start but once I get going I find I already have a point to talk about and ramble on and on no problem. This time I'm not at all sure what I want to say about it.

It certainly was relaxing, 2- 4mph speed limit is a perfectly wonderful speed to be going at when you are sitting in the bow watching the world go by. It was really cold and we had plenty of weather conditions to photograph in; sunshine, rain, snow. We even had a rainbow on the second day, gorgeous sunsets and sunrises and a frozen canal on the last morning. It was also a great change of scenery from the woodlands and heaths of my home, big flat plains, green pastures and hills. I saw a kingfisher which was a real high point, I even managed to get it on camera, of course it is only a vague turquoise and orange blur among a greater green blur of foliage. But you know what that's ok. So maybe I don't have much to say because for once my mind stopped trying to see these places as an artist all the time, dealing with all the people and trying to photograph a perfect moment for a potential artwork. I was forced to slowly go past the world, at a speed where I could happily indulge my shutterbug tendencies while still being able to sit back and use my eyes rather than only my camera to frame the beautiful images I see and enjoy what I was seeing. No deadline no train to catch just fresh air and a little exercise mooring and operating locks.

Maybe that's why I don't feel like I have much to say, because what I noticed above all else was the profound peace and calm of the waterways and rural landscapes and that is really plenty.

Oh and I probably drove my boat mates a little batty stopping to take photographs of frozen leaves and sheep and fields while we were trying to get through sets of locks. I'm sorry but it was a compulsion impossible to ignore. :P

Incidently if you want to see my photos from the week you can see them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/noblueskies/sets/72157623087122470/

Walking

Well since Cardiff I have hardly gone anywhere, certainly no where specifically for photographic purposes. A number of factors have caused this:

1. Winter. It is just not that great weather all the time. When it is sunny, it is beautiful but as I have said before, the light quality isn't the same as summer, people are not out as much, or wearing giant coats and many places are closed.

2. After such an early start and a long and intensive day in Cardiff, I realised after a variety of unpleasant reactions to that days exertions that I just didn't have the fitness for it. Frankly I think my stubbornness and unwillingness to stop and take a decent length break when I am tired was my downfall. It is a testament to my passion that I manage to completely ignore (in fact I would go as far as to say not even notice) that I am pushing myself to far. Well I figured that if I cannot change my mind set then I must bring myself to the point where I can better cope with it.


Most days in most weeks I do no exercise at all. This is not healthy but I've not found many ways to exercise which I am not either scared stiff (ice skating, swimming) or completely bored by (the gym). I am also someone that is naturally skinny and struggles to put weight on.


While I was at University I did Taekwon-do, that was fun and very intensive, a great cardio workout and there was a pride aspect to it. You would be mercilessly mocked if you missed a class without a very very good reason and you were aiming for that next elusive belt. Additionally you would see your class mates all around campus, there was no escape. Also while at University I started Archery, great for arm and back strength, posture and a nice gentle repetitive stroll to locate your arrows. Unfortunately I have never planned to be where I am for any length of time, so as I am in flux I cannot afford to take up either of these, subscription fees being pricey and for a full year. Which knowing my luck I'll get a job in London just as I subscribe.


However as you can guess I am an ardent explorer (at least certainly of the British Isles). I like the certainty of home but I also like to get off the beaten track, poke through woods and hedges and see what's over that next rise. So why not do a little something to improve my fitness levels and do a little exploration. So I started going for walks.

Now at the same time as this was filtering through my head I had been filling in applications for residencies. Now all of these had involved to a certain degree the idea of not only (or not at all) creating work subverting the postcard image. They had at least some relation to the local area of the residency and I was more interested, with the information I had, in thinking about producing a body of work to in fact reflect accurately the local area. The importance of local tourist sites (if they even had any) was not as important and I was becoming more interested in not playing the traditional tourist roles , rather seeing what really is there and reproducing that. After filling in two of these with similar ideas well, it just all kinda fell into place without me even realising at first.


By the time I had realised I had already gone on a few walks and started taking my camera out with me. I am now going on walks everyday (apart from Saturdays). Generally lasting between 30 mins to and hour and a half depending on where I decide to go and how much time is spent taking photos . I am often not in motion for the entire time since if I find an interesting shot I may just be playing with it for a while, trying to perfect focus or light qualities. As to where I walk I don't really follow a strict plan, there is some wonderful national trust woodland within a stones throw from my house and other than a walk up or down the main road it's the only direction to go. It certainly proves to be the more interesting. I also usually end up near or at the local pond, the round trip of the pond is a pleasant 30 min walk, it is beautiful and the pond itself is at my end of the woodland anyway so its kinda hard to avoid. It has ducks and I know in the spring the geese will return to make a violent racket and sit on the island in the middle.

From these trips I have been amassing quite a collection of photographs, some good, some mediocre and some down right fluky. Everyday I post a single photograph to Twitter that I think fits the walk or the atmosphere of where I went. I try to make it a photo that is at least interesting, if not the best photograph I have taken that day. The fact that sometimes the photos I come back with are a little mediocre or dull I am zen with. Sometimes the weather just isn't in my favour. The point of the walks were firstly a way to gain some exercise, secondly to explore and thirdly to create a personal and truthful perspective on the area.


How it will all turn out is yet to be seen as is what, if anything, I will do with it. Either way I am exploring those woods better than I ever did as a child and finding out all sorts of things I never knew.

I imagine I will blog more about this as I see fit. Every trip need not be written about and certainly the walks that have already occurred cannot be since I have only got round to this first draft over a month into it. Plus I don't want an in depth analysis of every walk, the photographs should go a long way towards that. But as important things pop into my head I will endeavour to write them down.

As you will notice my blogging now includes pictures. Just a note to say the photos here are a selection from the walk photos. You can see the whole lot at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/noblueskies/sets/72157622935946910/

Cardiff - 26th September 2009

I like travelling by rail and while cars and even buses have their own appeal there is still something to be said for a good train journey.

I guess I can understand why people want to read on trains, I have done so on many an occasion when I am on a route I frequently travel. But today when I am travelling into new and unknown pastures it seems needless to bring anything more for the journey than my Ipod. I wanted to use the opportunity to soak up where I was going and even now as I draft parts of this entry on the train, I am glancing up more at the passing scenery than I am writing. Soon enough I will put paper down and watch the landscape roll by.

All around me adults are sleeping (it is 8:30am on a Saturday morning and I have been up since 6!) or are reading newspapers. Most are also hidden in plain sight by a pair of headphones much like I am. Only the small child sitting in front of me is taking in the joy of a journey and a landscape never seen before and not seen for long. I find this kind of sad yet endemic of life today. People are so intent to get to where they are going that they forget to just enjoy the journey. I'm not saying I am not also prone to this but I guess this journey today brought that little snippet of thought to the surface.

The only thing that would make it better would be for the train to have a steam engine.


As to Cardiff itself, well the weather took a while to improve. After starting out beautiful and sunny the clouds rolled in while in the Swindon area and stayed until midday in Cardiff. I was somewhat upset to see the bright morning skies disappear under cloud and the wide flat fields and gently rolling hills of western England become that little bit murky. It was defiantly autumnal weather. I had been 'promised' excellent sunshine and I was keen to steal a last bright and sunny day before winter set in. While the morning was less than perfect It did improve markedly. In fact as soon as the sun came out it became very hot, almost unseasonable.


Cardiff struck me as very quiet for a Saturday, I soon found out that that was due to two things. The cheese festival in the Castle and the newly opened 'largest John Lewis store in Wales' absorbing the majority of the population. Now while I had first hand experience of the packed John Lewis store (I went in there to look for a loose leaf tea strainer device and yes it really really was a mistake) seeing the quantity of people in the cheese festival was coincidental.


After walking around Cardiff and the bay all day I had got most of the photographs that I wanted including images of the Castle, Millennium Stadium and an unrelated to my practice yet amusing shot of the closed up entrance to 'Torchwood's Hub' by about 4pm. While wandering through the city centre in the last of the decent light I came across a church that I had tried to get a photograph of earlier. While trying again (with much better light this time) I spotted people on the tower top. I decide to investigate further and found for the small donation of a pound I could also go up for as long as I liked. It was a long climb on very steep winding stairs and included an angry buzzing insect of some kind (I assumed it was a wasp but was paying more attention to my steps that whatever it was I had just disturbed) but I got some excellent views of Cardiff, including into the grounds of the Castle and of the sheer numbers of people milling around for cheese.


These days out are all about the exploration, the journey. Granted there are rules and ways in which the day can be made preferential but most of these you cannot control nor should you worry about trying to do so. The final product, the goal, is the collection of postcards and photographs from the day, but to get there you must enjoy the journey, let your day unfurl as it wants to, embrace the oddities, unusual occurrences and strange urgings you get to investigate places that may or may not end up being interesting and give you that one photo you want to make into a work of art.

Relish the meandering path.

Brill - 21st September 2009

Never Trust the weather forecast.

I mean it, never never trust the weather forecast!

Late last summer, while returning from Sheffield my father mentioned the existence of a windmill at Brill. I had no idea where Brill was, except that it must have been near the M40 and Chilterns as that was where we were passing. At the time I didn't really react but inwardly I was intrigued. I've not seen many windmills and certainly one so near to me would be worth the visit. I think the last time I'd come across a windmill was on a 10 year plus old family holiday in the Norfolk Broads. Personally I wasn't aware of any windmills near to me by a long stretch but then again I live in a valley which is generally not conducive to a frequent and decent breeze.

I was aware that for the distance I would be going and the things I would be photographing that I needed the day to be glorious sunshine. So I decided to keep an eye on the Met office forecast and only go when it was meant to be sunny, not sunny intervals mind you, full sunshine. From previous experience I knew that sunny intervals might not be often or even definite sunshine and I knew that I couldn't in this case tell the difference by just looking out of my window. Unfortunately the days passed and all the forecast sunny days turned to overcast as they approached or I was unavoidably busy.

Suddenly a few days before I ended up going I saw that the mid range forecast was saying that Thursday was going to be amazing glorious sunshine. This seemed to be good news but it was too many days away to know for sure. I had been cheated by the positive weather forecast before. But only a day or so later the forecast changed to have that very day good sunshine (for at least the morning) and that was enough for me. I wasn't busy and although I could have waited till Thursday I decided that I might as well go that day than wait for a day that may or may not just be as good.


Photographing the windmill was not exactly as I imagined. The landscape was amazing, high up on a hill in Buckinghamshire, but in the immediate vicinity was the most hummocky undulated ground I've ever seen. I understood why some think Brill was apparently Tolkien's inspiration for the village of Bree in Lord of the Rings. It looks like Hobbits would have a wonderful time there. Unfortunately the weather forecast that I so pinned my hopes on was not entirely accurate. It was sunny but it had that autumnal haze that obscures the sun and loses the intense shadows and highlights that are so desired. The fact of the matter is that the forecast just cannot be that specific.

Usually I wouldn't care, Summer is usually easy to predict, bright sunshine will be bright strong sunshine and you can deal with the occasional fleeting cloud. But the autumn and spring months are more changeable. The sun is weaker and less likely to burn off high cloud, you have to know each season intimately and even then I am not sure you can really tell. So while the little sunshine I got from up there was a little on the weak and watery side the nature of the colours I use will undoubtedly make the whole image more intense. The view was still amazing, it is very nice to get to high places once and a while and I can always go back when Summer is in full bloom.

Sheffield 19th August 2009 – The importance of sunlight

While the trip to Sheffield was for a purpose other than sightseeing. I did manage to make a little time for my favourite activity. Since this trip was date specific rather than weather I have the opportunity to talk about difficulties related to poor weather and poor lighting.

First of all Sheffield is a very pretty city with an excellent travel system. Trams, Trains and more buses than you could shake a stick at. A few of those buses were free and the trams were in my opinion well priced, £3 for an adult day ticket anywhere on the tram network. Plus for an industrial city it has obviously had a lot of money spent on it to make an attractive and unified city centre and a green city. The council obviously had an obsession with fountains, there are at least half a dozen in the Peace Gardens alone plus goodness knows how many more dotted around the city.

This proves to be useful when finding good postcard sights, fountains are an excellent draw to people especially in the summer. In fact after locating the Tourist Information Centre (a criminally small and poorly marked shop for the size of the city and the tourism potential in both the city and surrounding areas) and purchasing a selection of postcards I found that I had already taken one of the depicted shots of the Peace Garden fountain.

Unfortunately the sun refused to come out until I was just about to leave. I did get a few nice shots when the sun made an appearance but they obviously looked rushed and left no time for the random and unexpectedly brilliant shots that always come. While the shots I got while it was dull helped prepare me to get the same shots in the sunlight it was never the same and lost a lot of its spontaneity. As a result I have a few images that would make excellent postcards if not for the fact that the light quality is flat and dull. The sunlight is vital to the image, bright light and shadow and the intensity of colour are needed for interesting and vibrant location shots. Images that would encourage others to visit.


While I can fake the light quality with paint it is extremely hard and I would prefer not to do that. Especially as it makes matching the right new sky to the work very hard. Light makes an enormous difference and a sky that suited the dull colours may not at all suit bright ones. In addition some colours, especially buildings, change in unexpected ways and the way the shadows are cast can be almost impossible to add to an image. All you have is a 2 dimensional representation of a complex 3 dimensional scene, you can guarantee at least some of the shadows will look out of place. While I like out of place I do need a certain amount of reality to be retained in my images.