The final resting place?

From my travels I feed a photo file called “Relics”.

A typical example from “Relics”:

The fascination is pondering on the story behind these orphans. How big were the trees when the car was laid to rest?  Was it the owner's intention ever to have use from it again? If so, it is interesting to note this was not chosen as its final resting place. Would there be any chance of it being moved again, and if so for what reason, and if not, how long will it take nature to make it disappear?

This next relic inspired a Photoshop painting.

I once owned a Land Rover and have a soft spot for them. This was the most detailed Photoshop painting I have done.The result is hardly a work of art - just an attempted meticulous copy of the photo, but it took skill, time and patience to achieve using many Photoshop techniques and I was proud of the result.

This one is from the Languedoc in France.

Apart from being a souvenir of the walk it conveys to me the essence of much French design: eccentric, childlike, feeble, wet, not built for strength, vulnerable and soppy, but despite all this having a certain charm that makes me smile.*


* Having just watched a documentary about the new French AGV train and its accompanying infrastructure, my comments do not apply there - what an astounding feat of engineering.

I just like this picture for what it is.

On the Norfolk coast - perhaps the most attractive section of my Lowestoft to Lakes walk. I know it's a cliché type photo, but the beauty of the lines of boats relates directly to their need to interact with the beauty of nature in order to move efficiently through water, and this is an aspect of design that always gives me a tingle - I have the same feeling for elegant aircraft design.

Having perused these photos whilst constructing this post I have come up with a ghoulish Photoshop idea for the first one.

Photoshop painting - Attermire 3 (for my nerdy followers). Katie progress (for real humans)

 Painting update: the trees are still work- in- progress. Blotches on the white (unpainted) part of the sky are my improvised palette where I have been testing different brushes - the blotches will be painted over white before I tackle the sky. I have created another problem in not first completing the sky behind the trees, but this can be sorted, albeit somewhat laboriously.

To post this pic I  "save as" the Photoshop file (psd) as a jpeg, then downsize from 3000 to 600.  I inadvertently reduced size first and continued to save as a jpeg. When I set it back to 3000 as a psd the picture was hopelessly lacking in pixels, and I thought I had lost many hours of work. Fortunately, even after all the aforementioned sequences,  Photoshop's powerful "undo" facility got me back to my original 3000 psd again.

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Katie is  gaining weight via breast feeding. During daytime she has some baby crying episodes, and sleeps a lot. At night she has been tuning up around 10:00pm and carrying  on until 3:00 am, but last night, after 12:00 pm, she "slept through". Jill's bedroom is crammed with furniture and baby stuff making it almost soundproof, and contrary to comments received, I have not been worn to a frazzle.

I have joined the ranks of macho males observed over the years who have degenerated into soppy, sentimental adorers of grandchildren, and like them all, I think my granddaughter is the most beautiful.

Photoshop Painting - Attermire Scar 2

Here is the latest update.

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7:30 - Sunday evening - still no baby news.

Photoshop Painting - Attermire Scar

A new Photoshop painting is underway. The subject is Attermire Scar, a craggy limestone hill in the Yorkshire Dales.

Click pics to enlarge

I start with the original photo in Photoshop, then put a white layer on top of it, and then make the white layer semi-transparent so that I can see the photo through that layer. I then draw the outline of the main features using a thin grey line with the Brush Tool. Next I bring the layer back to solid white showing the outline drawing. From then on I only use the photo for reference.

This post was conceived after I started my painting, otherwise I would like to have shown the sketch before I started applying colour and detail, but a lot of the sketch can still be seen - those lines are generally eliminated as I progress with the painting.

If the motivation continues I will post progressive versions.

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It is 3:30 pm on Saturday, and so far there is nothing to report on Jill's imminent delivery - due date was 16th October, so we are on amber/red alert. Son William has moved in and is sleeping the caravan.

Photoshop Painting - Clachnaben - The Fife Coastal Path

Clachnaben (589m) is a modest, but interesting hill which I climbed on my visit to Banchory last October. The interest lies in the granite tor on its summit and my painting shows the bottom north-east slopes, with the curious elongated globular rocks.
 

This photo looks up to the face in the painting

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Today I packed my rucksack for The Fife Coastal Path walk which I start next Tuesday. The weight, including food for one meal, is just under 20lbs (approx 9.25kg). I reckon I will never be far from shops and see no need to provide for more than one meal. My provisions consist of: eight packets of Cup-a-Soup (enough for the trip), one packet Smash (instant potato), one Mattesons Pork Sausage (vacuum packed), one small tin peach slices, about twenty tea bags, and a supply of instant coffee; I may add some powdered milk.

Photoshop painting - Land Rover

A new picture is underway. This is the embryo stage. I trace the outline from a photo through a semitransparent layer and then return that layer to light grey opaque. The sketch remains visible. Painting proceeds and the photo is only used as a visual reference thereafter (I have a full screen version alongside on my laptop screen). The initial outline is only used for rough orientation and becomes obliterated in the painting process. I have started some painting on the roof.

My photos folder on the computer contains a file called “relics”. On my travels I snap anything that qualifies for that description. The new painting shows an abandoned Land Rover in a farmyard seen on a walk not far from my home.