The “obelisk” in this photo is a simple fence post but that everyday country object takes on a lot more importance in this composition. Finding the right angle and position for the depth of focus proved a bit of a challenge.
If the image does not present the beauty that is in the surrounding landscape, it does, for me, provide a fascinating range of textures, pattern and colour. The composition itself could be interpreted in any number of ways, but I will leave that to your imagination.
My project work earlier this year with the Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru involved using iPads for drawing. I was interested in using the iPad again on the art walk I went on recently but on this occasion challenged myself to use a much broader “pencil”.
I had asked some of the children on the Josef Herman project to do this in order to emulate Herman’s style more closely. For myself, I thought that it might help me to find a way of working with the iPad that I felt was more suited to the characteristics of the implement.
However, I think I would have to do a lot more in this way to achieve a better degree of comfort with the iPad as a tool for drawing. As I will be returning it to its owner very soon, this is not likely to happen. It’s a good job that real paper and pencil / charcoal is lot cheaper!
Last weekend I went on a art walk with Sarah Abbott from the Mission Gallery in Swansea. We went down to the dunes at the eastern end of Swansea Bay with sketch books and cameras, etc.
Sometimes the places you know best are those that are hardest to “see”. I have done a fair amount of photography in the bay but I have not produced a StillWalks video there. Taking a look at a place with someone else can be helpful in that the interaction of perception can prompt a fresh way of seeing the familiar.
Black and white / monochrome? You might expect these images to have been produced in monochrome but in fact the last one is the only one that I felt merited the change from colour.
I like the subtleness of the colour in the first two and although I tried the third in B&W and made the necessary adjustments, I found the blue at the bottom of that tyre well to be just right along with the a-concentric curves of the layered rubber.
All images taken on my iPhone with ProCamera.
The abstract patterns of water in the River Morlais which runs through Troserch Woodland in Carmarthenshire, Wales.
If I had used these images, it would have been in the second StillWalks video I made in the Troserch area. The first was through the woodland (see below) and the other was walking from the woodland, across the fields by the river and back to civilisation.
All StillWalks videos are available to buy as High Definition (HD) downloads. Just click on the Shop drop down menu button. Or you can pay what you like for this video (normal price £3.00) with the donate button below and I will send you a link to download this featured video in HD. Please allow up to 24 hours for delivery of the download link.
I am currently working on the post-production for a StillWalks video in Cwmdonkin Park in Swansea. It is a while since I was able to look at the photos and I was surprised to come across the image below. It is not one that I am likely to use in the video but I love the abstract nature of this tree bark.
The colour and texture make it a painting for me, one which makes me feel a little uneasy! Is that a face in there? Can you see it?
I saved the images below from those I took recently while away visiting family. I used my iPhone for all my photography while away and posted images to Instagram.
I wanted to post these images here because, despite my familiarity with the design of MIMA and the obvious link in the arrangement of shapes in the interior around the cafe area, the illusion that is created by this arrangement when seen from a specific angle did not properly register with me until I looked back at the photos.
I was in the shade of Cwn Nash woods when I did the last of my iPad drawings on the Walk and Draw day on the South Wales coast and so it was done in more comfort than the previous ones.
My conclusions, for now, regarding the iPad as a tool for drawing are that I will not be splashing out on one just yet. I prefer using pencil or charcoal on paper. However, if I were to get one, it would be with the purpose of finding other approaches to drawing with it. I have no interest in trying to produce a “watercolour” or “pastel” drawing with the iPad, but as David Hockney showed, it can be used very effectively as a medium in itself and not as a means to imitate others.