Gathering Storm

Gathering Storm
Originally uploaded by Ben Mottram

This is what happens when you expose for the bright bits of a picture - you get underexposure elsewhere. In this instance it doesn't bother me - the cloud over Weymouth (right hand side of the picture) really was dark and the slight underexposure emphasises the menace. Shame about the stern of the tanker on the left of the picture though -perhaps I should crop it off then again I don't like doing that because the picture is the picture not something I have messed with.

Fingers Of God

Fingers Of God
Originally uploaded by Ben Mottram

This is one of two pictures I want to waffle about from today's little trip to Ringstead. The weather, as mentioned on Flickr was Turneresque - lots of sky features and interesting interactions with the light and sea. The sun is, of course, over exposed, yet that is how it looks in many turner paintings (where there is sun). I suspect I should have set the shutter speed a bit lower to try to blur the water a little - I must get the camera off aperture priority once in a while - and for that matter get the 50mm off the front of the body as well.

Boxing day Walk

Well today we went for a walk on the beach. It was a lovely autumnal afternoon with intense sun slotted between heavy rain showers. Typically it wasn't cold and we had a good time with Dan & Harriet.

On to the pictures - well I will blog in a bit about the ones on Flickr, however here is one that I didn't Flikr but will post here. Dan and Daughters.

Finally - it is done. The green panel is quite uneven, however without the sun behind it I think it will be OK. The final intention is to hang the flag from the tent, although a pole may be in order - fresh cut each camp would be best, I guess, to save having to carry one around. I will leave it until tomorrow before thinking about fixing it - the patches where the yellow goes over the pencil need thought - if I fix the dye will it also fix the pencil? who knows... I guess I will find out

Well here we are 2/3 done, just got the green to do next. The red is much more striking in real life than on the photo. The silk does relax somewhat when wet, so next time I think I will be stretching it tighter. The other issue I have is that an even colour is impossible to achieve without airbrushing the design - there is just too much space around to keep the ink even. Perhaps an airbrush is the next thing to get, though it will be even less authentic.

Start with the light and work to the dark. I picked that up along the way somewhere, so yellow it is. Portcullis en Or where Or is yellow that is not too red or orange but fits with the artists palette. My eyes were playing silly tricks after painting this - ghost yellow portcullis shapes floating in front of my vison. The anti-dispersant works extremely well. I am so glad, because that means I won't be messing about with guta; I have a congenital shake so straight lines or even straightish lines are virtually impossible.

Anti-Dispersant II

Well here is the anti-dispersant having been painted in a thin(ish) band over every junction of colour on the map. It is quite sticky but even so seems to go in to the cloth well. I just hope it performs for real as well as it did in the test.