Surf Trip FWDing Fun

Diana Mini Big ❤

I got my first roll of film back from my diana mini yesterday. All in all I'm pretty happy with the results. I don't think I like the film, but I have a whole range of different ones to try. You can switch between formats (square and rectangle) so the negatives are pretty messy. This meant that a few of the images didn't make it onto the disc the lab gave me.
This was my set up to try and digitise the negatives. I followed a process along the lines of this to compensate for the orange cast and to invert the image. I'd previously tried to shoot them using white sky as backlighting, but this left a very blue tinge to the images. So I needed pure white.

The only problem with this set up was that the closeness of the negative to the screen left the grid-like pattern on my digital image. (below)

This one below is much smoother because I photographed it about 20cm from the monitor, but it's blurry. I need a holder to keep it still, so my focus is sharper.

Some funky double exposed images.

Sketchbook

I made a series of scrap/sketch books a number of weeks ago. The concept was one I'd seen demonstrated by Traci Bautista who does funky, urban inspired art and bookmaking. So I've taken a pile of photocopies of my work, along with coloured paper, watercolour paper and some b&w photocopies and bound them using my zutter bind-it-all. 

It's actually been really liberating. I made sure I had lots of colour and lots of different sized pages. So now when have an idea or want to draw something, I open up to a little page that is just the right size and off I go.  It has also enabled me to make it a work in progress and I've been sticking in things: yoga stickers, festival flyers, cider bottle labels, lyrics. fun!

Ocean inspired collage in the background. Sketch inspired by camping trips down south to Denmark, one of Maddie Joyce's camping adventures and, well, all this.

Desert Lefts

Beach in My Backyard

Psychodelic 60s page - Sandtracks

Beach in My Backyard

Drawing Down the Moon

I've been beavering away drawing and filling my sketchbook. These are the first paintings I've finished on this theme. I'm a bit bummed because the watercolours I've used let me down a bit. They didn't deal with being diluted for a wash and became grainy. I've ordered some winsor newton cotman's half pans from the UK. I've done another drawing but don't want to finish it til I get the new paints.

We spent the weekend down in Margaret River watching the finals of the Drug Aware Pro. Kelly Slater got knocked out before we arrived, along with Mick, and Taj lost his quarter final. The swell died and the finals were a real struggle, waiting for waves. Courtney Conologue was great to watch. Couldn't believe that everyone left after the men's event finished and didn't bother to watch the women's finals. Says something about people's interest in surfing. I'd hoped it would be more equal. Pretty sad.

We've finally had some rain after the longest Summer we've ever had. It is very welcome. The image below is inspired by our last girls surf trip up north, back when it was 40 degrees.

Backyard Bliss

In the Zone

So something has happened. Maybe it's the change in season. Maybe it's this moon, but I finally have some ideas cranking and I feel like they're taking me somewhere!

About a year ago I had a total epiphany realising I could combine my art and my surfing. Kind of obvious, I know... But there are so many super super surf artists out there. I'm just blown away at the endless number of ways people find of drawing waves! What can I bring that is new? So I've really struggled to figure out how to make it mine. My style.

When I was painting my first surfboards I was trying to think about what surfing in Australia is like. How are the images and culture different? What's unique? So that's been rattling around in my head for a few months. Answers are now starting to fall out.

I'm drawing and painting and even have ideas for how to incorporate my textile work in a way that I think will work!

How do you find your own style? What's your point of difference? What is the unique thing you love about the place that you depict in your art?

Watercolour course - final week

 

Here's my finished painting with details added and the tones in the car darkened. Getting the right balance with light and dark has been a challenge. Plus figuring out what to try to paint in and what to leave out.

This painting was inspired by a photo by photographer, Ryan Tatar. His photos have a wonderful retro feel and are often themed around surf culture in California.
Click through on the images below to visit his flickr photostream.

Booty!

 

My goodies have finally arrived in the mail. My Diana mini (bottom left) was bought off ebay and it took a few weeks to arrive. The rest of the booty arrived in about 3 days from Lomography! I have a veritable rainbow of film to experiment with. I can't wait to finish my first roll of film and see how it turns out. Today I've been photographing negatives (my camera is far superior to my old scanner) and trying to get decent positive images with it. Still working on that...