By the way, 2002 is not a typo ― I’ve been raiding the vaults again : )
Has anyone seen my submarine?
art
Shoot it, Sketch it: Historic Empire Hotel
Fresh off the drawing board, here is a little sketch of the hotel we stayed at in Ross last weekend. The town was established in 1865 during the West Coast gold rush and once had a population of more than 3,000 ― now it’s closer to 300. We had a wonderful time at a friend’s ‘When I’m 64’ birthday party and jam night : )
On the way there, I took a few photos of the mountains which are looking positively picturesque at the moment (Christchurch to Ross via Arthur’s Pass). I’ve posted my absolute favourite shots on my Facebook page.
The Prisoner
The Prisoner (1968-1969): The prisoner is a former British spy who, having abruptly resigned from the secret service, has been abducted and imprisoned in a strange village…and he has no idea who his captors are. “I am not a number, I am a free man” was the catchphrase of the series. The stamp depicts the prisoner being apprehended by a large, white, mysterious bouncing bubble called ‘Rover’.
Those bouncing bubbles used to give me nightmares!
The stamp design, poster and text are from one of my favourite student projects. Each stamp depicts an iconic science fiction TV series from the 1960s. For a recap on the project, click here.
A sparrow’s tale
These photos show the progress of Sparrow (Monday’s In the style of…) painting. I started with an underpainting of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber ― I’ve fallen in love with these two colours because they blend together to make the most beautiful black (see the note below about chromatic blacks).
I’m a big fan of chromatic blacks (made using colour rather than a specific black pigment). It’s so satisfying to mix your own ‘black’ and achieve subtle variations of colour — it’s much more fun than simply reaching for a tube of Ivory Black (although I do that too). I’ve used both kinds of black in my little sparrow painting.
I got a bit carried away adding white to his feathers and ended up with a colour I didn’t like ― a sort of pale grey-brown ― so I waited for the unfortunate, dreary colour to dry and painted a more cheerful pinky-brown over it (see below).
I also made him a little bit fatter and a whole lot fluffier. And I still really like that strand of spider silk in the corner.
Thanks for reading.
In the style of… Celestino Piatti
It may seem a strange thing for an arachnophobe to say… but my favourite thing about this painting is the thread of spider silk.
I’ll post my work-in-progress photos later in the week.
Celestino Piatti
Images from http://onceuponabookshelf.com
Prolific Swiss artist and designer Celestino Piatti (1922–2007) has an instantly recognisable style. I may be wrong but I’m pretty sure I’m one of his biggest fans. My favourite Piatti quote: “You can draw an owl a thousand times, and never find out its secret”.
In the style of… appears occasionally instead of my regular Shoot it, Sketch it posts. Using my own photographs as a starting point, I’m drawing inspiration from some of the world’s greatest illustrators. It’s not about slavishly copying someone else’s art; it’s an experiment in seeing things differently.
This is home
I originally created this landscape as a digital illustration (it’s the background of this poster). The scene is based on a number of different photographs and even though it is not an actual location, it is typical of the scenery here in Mid Canterbury ― the snow-covered Southern Alps, the colourful Canterbury Plains ― except that I omitted the rivers… and the houses… and the sheep…
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 