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Saturday, April 28, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
NINE YEARS OF BLAUGUSTINE
It's the Blaug's birthday today.
We are among the veterans, those who started and kept
going in a cyber world that was still a novelty nine
or ten years ago. People used to ask: what's a blog?
Now everybody knows and nearly everybody blogs, even
politicians. Along with FaceBook,
Twitter and umpteen other forms
of internet-based socialising, blogging has become
as ubiquitous as a mobile phone.
I'm certainly not one of the most
regular or consistent bloggers but I'm hanging in there and I
hope that what I do post has some interest and value
to others. On the other hand, even if no one was coming
to see what's up on Blaugustine, it would still be valuable
for me to keep blogging. It gives me a window to look
out of and look into, a way to escape from ivory-towerism.
And it's provided me with some wonderfully creative new
friends and connected me to the world in ways that would
never have happened in the pre-blog era.
So happy birthday
to Blaugustine and thank you very much to all who have
visited her and all who have stayed
and all who drop in and all who comment. We are truly, deeply appreciative of
your support.
Here, to celebrate, is a photo
of a puppet I made some time ago to practice stop-motion
animation and two ferocious creatures found at the Natural
History Museum which she seems to be taming.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
WRONG TIME FOR TECH PROBLEMS
Update: 12:30
am, April 23 - Success!
It took the whole of Sunday up to this early
hour of Monday but I've done it - solved the
Photoshop disappearance mystery. Don't ask the
details. Unless you're an uber-geek (like me)
you don't want to know. But below is the more
manageable-sized image, via the restored Photoshop
CS2. Bravo moi!
I just wanted to upload a picture
of this new double page of the accordion book but the
original (which sits in iPhoto) is huge. I was
able to export it to InDesign and
scale it down a bit from there but can't make any
other adjustments. This can't go on! And suddenly all
the photos below this one have gone pale and faded-looking...why???
Does anyone have solutions to all this?
By the way, if you're wondering
what these two new panels mean, stop wondering. I'm not
going to provide the story behind all the images in
this book since this is strictly a visual, not a verbal
autobiography. You can interpret them any way you wish
and whether your story corresponds to mine or not is
irrelevant.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
TITLE PAGE OF ACCORDION BOOK
These photos don't show that the profile and the lettering are gold (the close-up on the left is better). If the profile is reminiscent of masks on Egyptian sarcophagi that's because it's intentional. Not only do I have a thing about ancient Egypt but I was thinking metaphorically: the masks of identity, individuality, personality hiding something impossible to pin down. All the images in the book are really just symbols and the memories they represent have been given substance on these accordion-folded pages but they will eventually turn to dust.
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Sunday, April 15, 2012
FINISHED ACCORDION SIDE ONE WITH NO HELP FROM PUSHKIN
Here are the last two panels of
this side. The title page is also done but
I may alter it so I won't post it now. The
second side is under way but this technique demands
such an enormous amount of energy, I have to keep going
downstairs for coffee and stroking the cat. Pushkin
is now a daily visitor and spends most of his day here.
I'd like to train him to be my studio assistant but unfortunately
he doesn't have the personality or stamina for it.
Saturday, April 07, 2012
WORKING METHOD
To make amends for the long pauses
between blog posts, I thought I'd share some photos of
the rather complicated technique I'm using to create
images for the accordion book. Of course it would
have been simpler and quicker to draw directly onto the
blank pages but I love
the bold-edged shapes, textures and unexpected effects
that can be achieved by printing. Normally I would use
my etching press if printing from stencils, collagraphs,
plates or blocks but it's not possible in this case because
the bound book would be damaged. So my only tool is a
wooden spoon and a great deal of hand/arm pressure as
well as tons of patience.
After making a rough pencil
drawing for each double page, I modify and cut all
the shapes out of thin card with a scalpel
and/or scissors, deciding which parts can
remain joined and which must be inked separately. Here's
a sample of some stencils for two current panels.
Stencil
being inked.
The dark area behind the man's
coat after printing. Below are the two new panels, finished
except for a few details to be drawn in.
A very happy Easter, if you'll
be celebrating it, or a very happy Sunday tomorrow if
you're celebrating anything religiously or non-religiously.
There, how much more all-inclusive can I be?
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Tuesday, April 03, 2012
A FEW MORE NEW PANELS
A FEW MORE NEW PANELS
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At last I'm back. Please ignore
the long wait between posts and stick with me, I have
no intention of disappearing. Working non-stop on this
project, it's going well but I really can't concentrate
on anything else. Have almost reached the end of the
recto side and will be moving to the verso (adulthood)
this week, so I'm halfway to the finish line.
Am having difficulty photographing
the panels - can't get the right focus or angle or lighting.
Any suggestions from photographers
of artwork?
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