Day 21: Pot

No not cannabis...old pottery.

Archaeology largely revolves around pottery...it is used to date features, in some cases to identify the purpose or nature of a deposit, feature or room. As a result I do a fair ammount of illustrations of it in various forms. Today I am only digitising drawings done in the 1970s for my Italian friends Phd...I have tried to train him to do them but I don't think that he is really interested...as he has now asked me to do them for him...hey ho I tried...I'm not really sure what I have let myself in for really...the number of pots that he needs drawing is undisclosed...am I a mug?...probably!

Pottery illustration, and archaeological finds illustration in general within the UK, has developed a very well defined idea of style and convention...which is nice it means from my perspective that I know exactly what it is a client is requiring from me...which makes a nice change! 
The left hand side shows a section through the body of the pot, the right hand side the outside of the pot. This will require some shading before it is finished but at the moment I am just digitising the main lines and features.

Day 18: Asparagus & Salmon Pasta Recipe

I had dinner with my Italian friend who I am helping with his Phd a couple of days ago...he cooked a lovely dinner! So I have produced a recipe sheet of what we had. Not sure if you can read it on here though!
the photos were taken by me...very inexperienced with a beautiful camera that I bought just prior to christmas...it's a Nikon D90 digital SLR...expensive...but worth every penny!

Day 17: Forbidden Planet

...for some reason this popped into my head today...I'm sure it's been done before but I couldn't find any examples on the internet.

It was done in Adobe Photoshop...not quite as easy as it might have been as I had to recreate the areas where the legs and head of the woman that the robot is carrying in the original had been. Just a bit of fun.

Day 16: Part done...

The story of my day today is part done...nothing complete or finished...lots done though!
But nothing that is in a fit state to post...in truth if I were to look around my house at the number of part complete projects around the place...I'd probably find as many if not more than the number of complete ones! I'll try and finish something for tomorrows post.

The only thing that I have actually finished I am not willing to post up on here...my italian homework...I had to create a number of sentences based on the past, present and future tenses...so I wrote my teacher a postcard...I'll stick it in tomorrows post. It should get to him in time for my lesson...if not I can blame the post office! He probably wouldn't believe me!

Day 15: Skull & Cross Bones 2

I have had a second stab at the skull and cross bones that I did yesterday. I have made it x2.5 as big, used printstick instead of spraymount and used two sheets of card for each layer. Each of these aspects has definitely improved the general effect of the piece. I have also taken a picture of it...please let me know what you think!

One thing I did think about...after I had already gotten too far is that I could have had a sheet of black card for the background...next time if I do it again!
The other thing that I might do is get it cut from acrylic with each layer in different colour

Day 14: 3d Picture

I came up with a concept a while ago of creating a 3d picture from card based on the contours of an object.
At work today I was looking at the contours around a site my company is currently doing and it reminded me of the idea...I know it isn't particularly original...but it is something that I haven't tried before.
I found a picture of a 3d skull and crossbones on the web and converted it into contours in illustrator...I did this manually...I had a go at doing it automatically in photoshop but it resulted in too many really fiddly bits so just drew the ones that I thought would result in an understandable 3d picture. I then broke this down into layers with a frame for each layer. The frame was important because it meant that locating the largest part of the design on each layer would be really simple. It is only 90mm x 60mm but it could easily be increased in size. I used spray mount to stick each piece of card down...I would like to find a better glue...it's a bit messy and quite often ends up on the wrong side of the card when spraying onto the back...might try printstick and slightly watered down wood glue. I would post a pic of the final product but I'm not sure that it would be show up very well. I might try doubling up the card to make the thickness more obvious. But in general I am very pleased with the result...

Day 13: Acrylic Picture Choice...

There isn't really much for me to post about today...rather than doing anything creative I watched Robin Hood...2.5hours of brain turn off if there ever were any! Still enjoyable though...!

Anyway one thing that has been rattling around today is that I have a space on a wall above a fireplace that I would like a picture for...I don't have one so I am going to paint one in acrylics.

I have painted with acrylics before...and have adapted a fairly simple and well developed style that I have seen in many galleries and pubs...it basically involves using 4 or 5 colours to depict shade...this usually means not mixing the paints at all...which is the bit that I am rubbish at...seem to get to brown just by touching one colour into another! I did a picture of Michael Jackson for my brother as a christmas present...he was a big fan...it came out ok...not the best I've ever done but it was instantly recognisable and gave the right affect. I stupidly don't have a photo of it to post here...the picture I have got was a commision from a friend that I did a couple of years ago...it'll give you an idea of what I am planning! 

I would like to do something similar to add a bit of colour...I have been reading A Louie Knight mystery called Don't Cry for me Aberystwyth...entertaining if a little strange...anyway it involves the story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid quite heavily which reminded me of the movie...haven't watched it in years. There is a scene at the end of the movie where they are forced to meet their destiny and a bunch of bullets...it's a classic bit of cinema...and hence just what I want for a picture like this...something that is instantly recognisable (I grant you the one above isn't that!) with a lot of contrast in the picture...but that doesn't have too much going on to make the project a complete nightmare to produce.

The picture above is what I am planning on doing...it's probably 10-15 hours work...but it'll fly by with the radio on...will probably watch the film whilst painting it...I only have it on VHS so that will depend on if the VCR still works!!! Fingercrossed...