Spheres one and two

October 9, 2012March 26, 2014 | Anna Cull

Anna Cull Nelson beach sphere1 — Nelson beach sphere one, 2012.

Anna Cull Nelson beach sphere2 — Nelson beach sphere two, 2012.

I’ve been messing about with the polar coordinates filter in Photoshop and getting some nice results. Some photos definitely work better than others but even the ‘failures’ are interesting. Quite a few people (and I’m one of them) use the filter to create weird little planets but I’m interested in seeing what else I can do with it.

This is the original photo before it was duplicated, flipped horizontally to create a mirror image, resized into a distorted square and transformed into spheres.

My thanks to Leanne Cole for posting a tutorial on the polar coordinates distortion filter.

Experimental collage

July 26, 2012July 7, 2013 | Anna Cull

happy birthday Jess – mixed media, 190 x 255 mm, 2012.

Question: what to do when you want to make something a bit special for an arty friend who has seen practically everything you’ve made over the last three years?

Answer: something else.

The background photo and the toy museum dolls (in the window) were taken in Nelson, December 2011. The vintage circus girl, shell and chrysalis are found images. Acrylic paint, a black copic marker and felt pens (probably also vintage) were used to complete the design.

I wouldn’t mind making a few more like this.

Finding myself

May 23, 2012September 15, 2013 | Anna Cull

Anna Cull here1 — I’m right here #1 – ink and digital, 175 x 205 mm, 2012.

Anna Cull here2 — I’m right here #2 – ink and watercolour, 145 x 190 mm, 2012.

Two versions of a dip pen doodle — full of unexpected outcomes. A lot like life, really. They were inspired by Anne Onsøien’s recent “Lost or found?” post. The first image is the original sketch which has been added to and messed about with in Photoshop. The second is the final watercolour sketch.

Experimental typography

April 14, 2012October 21, 2013 | Anna Cull

A doodle based on various sketches used for the Happy Easter illustration. Coloured in Photoshop.

Self-portrait in vector

April 12, 2012July 7, 2013 | Anna Cull

Anna Cull popart — Pop art self-portrait, vector illustration, 2010.

This was a personal project undertaken when I had time on my hands following the September 2010 earthquake(s). The illustration has proved to be quite useful.

I tweaked the colours for print, added a background pattern, and used these as the first and last pages of my D&A diary.

I’ve also been using it as my WordPress Gravatar and as my profile picture on Facebook.

Self-portrait in pen

April 4, 2012February 8, 2014 | Anna Cull

Anna Cull diary self-portrait — Objects as self-portrait – sketches.

One of the first projects of the D&A graphic design course was similar in nature to the still life/oil painting: a self-portrait using objects. The objects in my portrait are a character teapot from Golden Bay, a bottle of Pinot Noir, precious family letters, a little leather bag (for guitar picks), greenstone earrings made by yours truly and my 35 mm camera.