Fun memories from my School days - Avcon Ink #2-

Back in the 1970s, I had a green fibreglass Golden Breed 'slalom' skateboard - the long thin ones that went faster and raced around the cones. I saved up 30 weeks (at $1/week pocket money) to get that skateboard. When I think about my high school days, I remember that skateboard. They were all the rage. There were movies (like surfer movies) and there was the clothing (yeah, I had a Golden Breed  tshirt as well.) We used to go boarding in the shopping centre car park, on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. (The shops weren't open on weekends, after midday on Saturday, back then.) We used to dodge the learner drivers who also used the car park. I still have the scars to prove it! (Still haven't told my mum that one).

Books: They were another thing that I enjoyed at school and they dominated my high school life (and still do).  My high school librarian went out of her way to find new books that the students would enjoy, often introducing us to new genres. She was that kind of person; she had a passion for books and longed for the students to experience that for themselves. She handed me a copy of The Dark is Rising and then more fantasy and SF followed. My lifetime addiction to Lord of the Rings and Agatha Christie are her fault. Thank you! Life would be so dreary without books...

Why the reminiscing?

I had originally planned to do try to design two entries for the Avcon t-shirt/hoodie compeition that closed on Sunday. The first was a cheerleader design, with books. I had wanted a second design with more movement than my first design - my school days were dominated by skateboards and books, so that was my next focus. I forced the perspective for emphasis and to provide the perfect platform for the logo. 

A rough sketch was made to get the bones of the composition. Switch on his skateboard (the shapes have changed since my school days) and Ayvee, the more serious character, reading her book. 

I inked the main drawing but could not make up my mind on how to finally position Ayvee. While I was waiting for the ink to dry on the first part of the image, I draw this separately and used GIMP to marry the images.

 

+  = 

For the first entry design, I spent an hour hand tracing around the image. Since then, I have discovered that GIMP can do this, so I gave in (and the ink took much longer to dry than I had hoped and the deadline was looming)... This was the final image:

Two entried planned. Two entries finished and arrived before the deadline. Had some fun. Got some pratice in a slightly different style. So whatever happens, I am satisfied.

... Next!....

Nightmare Muses

As a child I had two recurring nightmares. Both we were set in a dark space with nothing visible but the object of the dream. Both were strange and probably say something about my pyche; in some convoluted way they could be twisted for either good or malice, I am sure. I have had not had them for decades, so whatever caused them must be long gone... but the memory remains. They more curious than frightening now.

In the first one, I was sitting at an old-fashioned styled bedroom dresser with a large, ornate mirror. As a child, we lived on goat dairy. (you will see why I mentioned this, soon). I had hair so long that I could sit on it. This meant that I had to spend a significant amount of time brushing it. My mum used to threatened to chop it all off, if I did not look after it. (maybe that had something to do with it). So, there I was sitting, in front of the mirror, brushing my long hair.. and then a goat would come up behind me and ate my hair.

The second was set in the same dark space, with oversized toy robots watching me ominously. (In more recent years, I re-watched The Toy Maker episode of Doctor Who - there was my dream setting! but... if that was all, it would have been boring. In my dream, there was this old fashioned television set with arms.The tv stand was replaced with very fast moving legs. Its 'rabbit ears' antennae wiggled furiously like large insect antennae. (ewww) The face of the television had large angry eyes and big gnashing teeth. It would chase me all night long.


So...
I was doodling and all out of ideas, this week. Before I knew it, I doodled my nightmare televsion. My daughter happened to walk past and glanced over my shoulder. "That is cool! You should make it into a tshirt." she said.  Why not? So I did.

I redraw a larger version, inked it up and added colour. I did think of making one in purple but decided to stick with orange and blue. I did not want my favourite colour forever associated with one of my nightmares. (and then RB ended up putting it on a purple tshirt anyway) oh well...

So here is the inked drawing and the final tshirt, now on Redbubble.

Killing writer's block... hopefully

For the past month (almost two), I have been concentrating on my photography and inkwork; I did not want to admit that I have been suffering from a writing dry spell. I knew where I wanted to go but did not know how to get there. I have a short story on the boil as well as the bane of many writers - 'that novel'. I also have a kernel of an idea for another short story pushing in... but I wanted to finish the other one first! By concentrating on other creative areas, I was hoping the prose would bubble away in my subconscious, mulling over and eventually something useful would percolate through.

I remember some good advice I was given: Practice writing. Try to write or read 1000 words a day even if you don't ever use it, even if you don't like it - just practice! So when I can't push out 1000 words of prose, I read... and read... Now you know one of the secrets behind my creating Off the Artboard; I am trying to write something here every day:

P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E! 

Finding something for you to read, gives me practice at stringing words together in a ramble that might actually be informative, interesting and maybe even entertaining (one can hope), while forcing my brain to behave and produce something I can use in my writing, as well.

And it has worked! All this week, I have been hearing a small voice, gaining in strength, developing its own accent, its own voice... Last night, I was so tired. I just wanted to lay my head down and sink into blisfull oblivion but there was this character knocking on my forehead demanding to be let out. A hour later, I finally put down my pen and sank into my pillow! He is a grumpy fellow. Understandable given his circumstances, yet hopefully he will be loved once people get to know him. I think he will be one of my favourite characters... even if he hates fish!
(still don't know exactly how to get where I want to go, but am having fun discovering some characters, while I am working it out).

Now that I have stated some of my alternative objectives for writing this blog, I have no choice but to be diligent and practice. Luckily I can rave on about how much I love creating things... now if only they will behave and introduce themselves to me in a timely and orderly fashion. I would be very grateful.

425 words down...
and a I also took a gratuitous photo of my notes... cos people like pretty pics...

ha! 441 words...

Re-Learning 'new' old skills...

I have said it for many years; 'You can learn something new every day'. 

Whether a novice, an amateur or a professional, you can never know too much! Technically, I have been taking photos since 1979 (when I started taking it seriously), with over a decades hiatus (personal reasons) during that time. 

Now I am re-learning things I had thought I had forgotten and learning new things with regards to digital cameras. It is a whole new ball game with a new set of rules! I am having to change my habits and assumptions from my old 35mm film SLR and deal with a whole new set of settings and technical stuff to drag me into the digital age. 

I have a love/hate relationship with computers on the best of days; you will rarely see me talking about computer enhancing photos. Most of mine are as they are made, in camera, at the time they are shot. I have just starting shooting RAW which I am told (and seems to be) so much closer in colour variations to that of my old beloved film. 

Don't get me wrong. I am loving the fact that I can fire off tens of photos, for a subject, instead of having to eek out or two and hope I get one that will work. The immediacy of viewing the photo and removing the prohibitive cost of film is a huge bonus. But... 

I read and hear so often : "Don't worry you can fix it in post production'.

I am so glad I learnt on film. (... trying not to sound too old here) Film taught me to think about the composition of the photo, to be aware of little details and think twice about the lighting. I am grateful for that as not being able to 'fix it in postproduction', has made me a less lazy photographer and more aware of seeing the world for the beauty it can contain, in colour, light, shadow and form. I highly recommend that people try (at least once), using just a 24 roll of film of a set ISO(ASA) and then have to wait for it to be developed. Or, if cost is an issue, try to limit yourself to taking ONLY 24 shots and a set ISO. It really makes you think about what you are photographing.

Workshops: 

What I was originally going to post about (before I went off on a tangent, sorry) was that every one can learn something new. Last month, the Australian Costumers' Guild had a photography workshop held by Emmanual. Some of us had been photographing for a while and some were novices. He went through info on digital 'stuff' which I was grateful to hear more on. I learnt a new setting on my new DSLR and he helped me work out how to set my new flash up as a wireless slave. (techies will know what that means). This has given me a whole new set of lighting possibilities with minimal equipment. Happy me!!

Afterwards, we were set loose to take some pics....

'Pegs' is available on Redbubble.

Back home, I quickly shot of this, with my new flash- detatched from the camera.. wahooooooo! (warning: I am a big fan of dark shadows and high contrast)   My poor hubby is always being roped in as a model.. 

I highly recommend attending a workshop or trying something new that you may have read about. It could become a favourite.

It is always a good thing to listen to the ideas of others, how they approach challenges and creative ideas. You can (well, I can) always learn something new, get inspiration or an idea of your own. We do not live in a vacuum. We are part of a wonderous world - if only we can learn to see it's beauty.

Opprtunities... and Serendipity

Last month, there was an old Austin car parked by the curb. The pale blue paint was fading. There were areas of rust. The car was full of textural character and the rust looked like brown clouds on the pale blue sky of the original paint. I had seen the car, over a few weeks; it was crying out to be photographed up close!

Then it went away. The opportunity was lost.

Yesterday, the opportunity resurfaced! The car had returned. I was determined that I would take advantage of the opportunity this time. So while the rest of Adelaide is smelling the petrol fumes of the Clipsal 500, I am having fun recording the colours and textures of this re-owned classic in the quiet of the suburbs. I met the owner who seemed very happy that someone else appreciated his car (which I think is destined to be reconditioned).

I chose the morning light (behind me) to reduce the glare of our (just out of official) summer sun and to hopefully elongate the shadows to add more depth to the  photos (I love shadow!!) Unfortunately, as is the  serendipity of random shots, on this day there was a car parked directly behind the Austin. This meant I could not get direct on shots, from behind the car. It also meant that I had to squat down to get a low angle  (facing upwards to catch maximum sky as background) at the front to hide the car behind and unwanted domestic backgrounds such as houses and fences. I also had to dodge roadsigns and trees that emerged from the body of the car (in the background). 

Having said this, I love serendipity! I found in the low angle shots, there were lines  made by the background power cables, echoing the line of the car. This can be seen in the hood ornament shot. The sky was almost cloudless so the lines gave interest to the otherwise plain sky which dominated the composition. I took a few shots of the winged 'A' without flash. To me, it felt lifeless, I added a fill in flash, showing how shiney it actually is - in contrast to the rest of the car. The palm tree was a bonus, creating a feeling of fun in the sun!

The logo and winged 'A' images are available on Redbubble.

(update: and the car is now gone again.. it was only there 2 days. I am so glad I got off my butt, this time)

Good things come to those who wait but grab that opportunity when you can - you may not be as lucky to have it resurface a second time.

Luckily, I was. 

New original t shirt design on Redbubble.

Just finished colouring a tshirt doodle tonight: the living chair, inspired by a garden. Now up on Redbubble

Latest Ink: Avcon 2013

Avcon is an Anime and Video convention held annually in Adelaide. Each year they have a tshirt/hoodie design competition with the chance of having the winning entries for their convention tshirts. Avcon provide the theme. The characters are their 'mascots' Ayvee and Switch. This year, I decided to try my hand at  an anime-ish design and this gave me something to aim for. 

Theme: School Days.  Competition closes this weekend.

The process:

1. Research: Many of my works start with researching either the theme, the style or the commission brief. In this case, anime 'school days'. Reference pics for the characters outfits and the year's logo are supplied.
2. rough out a composition.
3. flesh out the detail in the sketch 
4. 
5. procrastinate... but just enough to let the whole project cogitate to see if I am happy-ish with it and so there is not too much stress in timing to finish and polish it. (in this case I was not happy with his arm  or leg position)
6. Ink the sketch. I prefer to use  Windsor and Newton waterproof ink and a nib pen. I have a range of nibs for calligraphy but prefer the Postman's nib for drawing. (then I erase the pencil work) I really should get a light box....
7. 
8. Recently, I have been learning to use GIMP... or trying to. I am not a huge fan of computery drawing. :/ For this image, I  scanned the original at 600 dpi, ten used GIMP to clean it up, added the logo , traced around the edge with the 'pencil' and used bucket fill to fill the outer with black. I have found this saves on time and ink for large blocks, rather doing them by hand.
9. The final entry can be seen at the AvConAdelaide page on Deviant art.
10.