Vintage: Lara Croft

The previous posts showing my Capital of Culture project got me thinking about other past work I have created. Therefore, I searched my pictures saved to the hard drive in the hope to find some nostalgic material I had saved from extinction. Now that college has finished, I thought why not and so when I found this the memories immediately started flooding back. I remember, about 3 or 4 years ago, drawing Lara Croft from a battered copy of a Tomb Raider comic I had bought. I remember drawing it on an A3 sheet in pencil and trying to scan it into an A4 scanner (hence the missing toecap!), having to resort to scanning the drawing twice- the top half and bottom half. I then connected the two best as I could on Photoshop; this being the result. I still plan on adding colour to it at some point...

Withering City 3/3

The final piece of the series shows a bordered up house in the heart of the city centre. The first shows the eyesore at day, whilst the second shows it at night, illuminated by he countless bars and clubs surrounding it- almost giving it new life.

This concludes the project... it would be interesting to hear your views on the city- local or not- and what you find/found positive and negative about Liverpool, Capital of Culture 2008.

Withering City 2/3

Funnily enough, I passed this very wall a few weeks ago and I thought 'Where have I seen that before?' Of course, I had stood in the exact same position
roughly two years ago with my Vivitar digital camera. Amazingly, the scene is still exactly the same; the peeling wooden sign board, the rusty looking bricks and the draping vines covered in rotting leaves. Capital of Culture obviously didn't reach everywhere...

Withering City 1/3

This is a mini project I made about two and a half years ago... It contains 3 illustrations (each with at least one variation of the original) showing different areas of Liverpool. The reason behind the project was to highlight the less known, slowly deteriorating parts of the city whilst the city centre was rapidly being modified and  built up as part of the 2008 Capital of Culture scheme.

It was great seeing plans for new spectacular buildings, but the reality soon hit you in the face when, just around the corner or across the street, you were greeted by a crumbling house, a peeling row of doors or an angry looking reel of barbed wire strung across a decaying wall.

Three Years Later...

I still can't believe I finished collage last Friday. Three years passed in the blink of an eye. Them last few weeks were the most intense weeks of work I've ever done. Looking back, it's only now I truly understand how much the course has helped me develop as an artist and a person. I've met some great people over them three years and friends for life I hope. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still slightly heartbroken about leaving the place and most importantly the people. Fortunately, the end of year exhibition is still to come on the 15th June, allowing everyone to see each other gain for the last time...

Anyhow, about the piece. As stated, my final project was based on the classic tale Hansel and Gretel. Although the year is over I felt like creating this additional piece as a sort of tribute to the time I've spent on the course. It includes some of my cutouts and a lot of photoshop brushes!

It's been a pleasure knowing everyone and now I guess it's time for the next chapter, hopefully we'll all reunite in years to come at a gallery showcasing our work :)

The Print Room - Day 2

The last two days have been quite full on as I've been in the print room creating these prints from my cutouts.
The first two prints are from yesterday as I finally found the right style and technique. For the last two I created a new plate, allowing a larger print; the area below may yet be filled with text, though
I can't really decide what would look stronger- leave them how they are and give the cutouts space or include text. Hmmm...

Indian Intricacy

I spent all day yesterday on this piece, mainly the tight detail found in the smoke/ collage/ bubble thing! It is completely made up of ink and this is the first piece I have created on my newly acquired handmade indian paper. Fortunately, the paper soaked the ink up really well and gave it a really authentic quality with the brush strokes still visible.

The intricate detail came after I seen the work of Rob Ryan. This guy is simply amazing and in fact I found a brilliant video of his latest work earlier today... it really is unbelievable the detail he manages to capture.

Rob Ryan timelapse at Pick Me Up gallery from karl sadler on Vimeo.

... you're sure of a big surprise!

Part 2 of If you go into the woods today...

As I finally have a bit of time to spare, I thought I'd upload the other two cutouts I produced. The first image in particular I feel was a success- directly influenced by Rob Ryan as it is more intricate and delicate than my previous three.

Yesterday I started producing my photograms. Out of eight, I'd say two were a success. Today I look to make contact prints from these as well as experimenting with new techniques. Hopefully I'll upload soon!

Knock Knock...

These are some photos I took in the darkroom with Natalie Bengochea. These are mere experiments and are admittedly not outstanding but still play a part in my project. Here I tried to create a modern day scene showing a mysterious lady (the witch) slowly open the door to inspect her visitors. You can imagine the children's delight when they finally stumble upon an old gingerbread house wooden shack after walking in complete darkness for hours on end. Hungry, tired and gullible, they enter...

Blessed God, How Beautiful It Sings ♪

Just some experiments combining my ink pieces (which I will upload soon) and text- some colourful, some not so colourful.

I enjoyed making these pieces, but on reflection have found they are not as suitable as my cutouts (see below post). Click Read More to view the other three variations...