Scottish Skies 3 – Sunset Silhouettes and Impressions

Posted on 27/07/201825/07/2018 by Alastair

The silhouettes of stacked and jagged rocks and dark hills give a realistic impression of the scene they describe, but it is an impression. The camera (without any filters) provides more contrast than is there in reality and there have been occasions when I have increased that contrast further in order to provide a better sense of what the scene felt like.

The Impressionists did a similar thing in painting scenes that, while not perhaps accurately or photographically depicted, gave a more accurate impression or sense of life. Photorealism in paintingContinue reading→

The Light in Scottish Skies 1

Posted on 23/07/201821/07/2018 by Alastair

I have some Scottish skies to show you. With all the dry weather we have had this Summer the light in SW Scotland was unique. In some of the photos below it may look as if we had some poor weather while there but that is not really the case.

At times the light was such that it was difficult to differentiate between the different aspects of the sea, landscape and sky. It prompted me to go abstract and emphasise the effect because that seemed more realistic. The second shot below is deliberately out of focus, blurred, but the only reason the shot of the swans is not sharp is because I was having to act quickly to capture them in flight.

Over the next couple of weeks or so I will not be posting My Walk this Week – instead I would like to show a selection photos I took on various walks in Scotland while on holiday.

sea and sky

abstract mood – sea and sky

flying swans

monochrome gulls

distant Isle of Man

Isle of Man close up

evening view

My Walk this Week – Skeletal Station Architecture

Posted on 09/07/201807/07/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week is at the end of recent travels and depicts the skeletal architecture and structure of York railway station and more. The rib-like structures of the station design are fascinating and while all the photos were taken on my iPhone, perhaps that forced me to be more selective about the views and angles of the images I took.

I found myself unexpectedly with time to spare due to a cancelled train, and so, apart from exploring the station, I also went to York Art Gallery for a lot at this year’s Aesthetica exhibition. It was very interesting but many of the exhibits were in video form and therefore less immediateContinue reading→

Urban Walk – Second Side of the Triangle

Posted on 28/03/201824/03/2018 by Alastair

Looking at some of the patterns and features on my triangular urban walk this week, the second side of the triangle provided me with a number of everyday aspects of the city with, to me, points of visual interest. The angles and perspectives of architectural features, when looked at on their own and viewed without the context of the wider urban environment, become simply lines, shapes and patterns and can be seen as works of abstract art.

Those lines and shapes are reflected in the design of murals on the walls of the Elysium artists’ studios but opposite this is an apparent anomaly – Continue reading→

My Walk this Week – Travelling in Time

Posted on 19/02/201816/02/2018 by Alastair

My walk this week is a little bit abstract in walking terms. There was some actual walking involved but I will get to that later in the week. Today I want to walk back in time first of all to 1915 and then 1942 and 1963.

by Alastair Duncan 1942

In York recently I added a few items to my growing archive of images of my family. My intention is to digitise them over time but there is a huge collection going back many years.

Below are two photos of my Grandfather (known as Tiger) – one from each end of his life. It can be seen that in 1915 he was a soldier and in 1963 he was an artist. The next photo is of my namesake, Alastair, who died of septicaemia in 1942 – from the art and design work he had done that year at school, it can be seen that there was the potential for him also to go into the arts.

T. G. McGill Duncan (nee Brown) 1915

Tiger – T .G. McGill Duncan 1963

Alastair Duncan 1942

by Alastair Duncan 1942

An finally another reference to travelling in time – a list of all the cars my father has had from the first to the last.

Art and History at The Glynn Vivian Gallery and Museum

Posted on 07/02/201802/02/2018 by Alastair

On my walk this week around the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and Museum in Swansea, I looked in a number of the rooms. In the main gallery I observed, listened to and contemplated the various abstract and video art works to be experienced in the current exhibition – “These Waters Have Stories To Tell”.

This exhibition is part of the Ephemeral Coast series of touring exhibitions and includes six different artists. The first of the works I have shown below is one of the most deceptive – this (apparent) swimming float is in fact made of concrete and knowing this, my perception of it becomes confused. I am being deliberately deceived, and this brings to mind so many parallels in todays society that I have to start thinking more deeply about it in an effort to figure out my understanding of the themes of the exhibition and the connections the works have to us and the relationship we have with the/our environment.

On the top floor I enjoyed some of the older works in the museum – not just the works themselves but also the displays and the patterns of light and reflection created.

Alexander Duncan

Art at the Glynn Vivian

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and Museum

Glynn Vivian ceramics collection

Glynn Vivian reflections

Distant Horizon – Reviewing the Walk

Posted on 23/12/201714/12/2017 by Alastair

In reviewing my walk this week I can see that I have posted another set of very dark images – it must be the time of year! The selected photos from my posts about this walk illustrate both the urban start in a multi-story carpark and the approaching light of dawn on the horizon in a windy Swansea Bay.

The soundscape for this week backs up the images as always but while it includes the sound of crashing waves towards the end, it does not include the noise pollution of street cleaners and leaf blowers being used at 6 AM. Continue reading→

Christmas Lights and Lights at Christmas

Posted on 20/12/201714/12/2017 by Alastair

My walk this week, being in an early morning urban landscape, remained dark almost to the end of the walk. Some of the Christmas lights of Swansea were to be seen creating abstract growth patterns against the night sky, but there were more abstract patterns than this to be seen in the lighting at this early hour.

Some long exposure and movement of the lens allowed the traffic to create light trails en route to daytime and the darkness in other areasContinue reading→

Tag Archives: abstract