roaring afterburners

I am still shaking the noise out of my ears. I had the good fortune to be next to the runway at the Maple Flag exercise when a whole lot of machines leapt off the ground. Miraculous I tell you! This new flying machine invention will change things a lot.
I don't get out of my studio enough, that is evident.
It was quite a thing to watch F16 and F18 planes rocket off the runway of Cold Lake air base. The sheer intensity of the subsonic shock is exhilarating. Lady Sandra was on hand to hold my camera bag (occasionaly) and also to snap some photos with another camera. She was also one of three ladies there and drew enough attention to cause a pilot to wave at her while he was taking off! She is the type of beauty who would have been painted onto war planes as a pinup girl. She has decided that her life wont be perfect until she buys and flies her very own F18 Hornet. Seems I will need to sell a few paintings.
There were quite a few planes from distant lands as well as their crews. Interesting to see and experience. Apart from the jets, there were also some transport Hercules and Transalls from Germany, France and New Zealand.
I have been at work on a digital piece that shows most of the planes I saw on the day. Its a collage of sorts
with a drawing as main image.
I have yet to devise a way to show the roar of the engines. Meanwhile Hoarknockle has been tasked to make jet noises in the background to inspire me. (Just between us...he isnt really succeeding)
"Hoarknockle!"

reflections

there is a lot of staring and pondering at times...and its not the kind of thing people should see. I mean.... its just the kind of thing that brings people to believe that artists stand around, doing nothing.
In spite of the problem, I do stand and squint at the work a lot...its my method.
This is the current state of the Snowbird painting.
To me, the reflection on the shiny skin of the plane is so seductive and the challenge of making a flat piece of canvas look like shiny metal is just too good to pass by.
The work is something of an abstract because its not immediately recognisable as a plane.It is a collection of colour planes (no not the aero-plane kind... this sounds too pun-like and not intended). Then hopefully it will lure the viewer in to look and see or be beguiled by the illusion of volume and reflection. In a perfect world it would.
Hoarknockle has been hard to work with...his simple mind sees nothing of this and his opinion has been of no use to me. He keeps asking when I am going to paint a nude. Suggesting that we call on Mr Gorefinch's niece to model. I see a pattern developing here. Fortunately for us both, Hoarknockle still possesses the ability to make tea and relieve my thirst with suitable libations.
This work is almost done... some last touches here and there after some intense staring.
Imagine a small plastic trumpet fanfare accompanying my announcement.
toot!

jet in abstract

My head is still ringing with jet sounds after going out to the local air force base to see the national display team, the Snowbirds, fly their official first display of the season.
They were great. I snapped hundreds of pictures. So far so good. I want to use the images for artworks.
I am currently working on a large painting, canvas stretched onto an old door. Normal size person door, not a Hollywood size portal.
I have taken an image from a photo and reduced it to something closer to abstraction than a pretty rendition of an aeroplane.A Snowbird display plane. It doest have any recognisable wings or engine...or pilot for that matter. What I am hoping to do it paint the sexy reflections on the highly polished paintwork and use the actual colours of the surfaces to take it to the edge of abstraction.
It involves some large scale brushwork and some fiddly smaller stuff...a good mix to prevent me from getting bored.

framed

Here is a shot of it framed, as I am about to walk it out of the house. Hoarknockle is all bundled up against the ...the ...the...the... I am at a loss for any word strong enough to describe this most malevolent and rapacious chill that sits outside the door in wait of some poor creature. I don't know how the squirrels do it.
I keep looking at this piece and wondering about that narrow line between the technical details of the plane and my artistic interpretation. I believe fellow artists will support my artistic rendition. Its all about who you ask. I have planed an interview with myself for later tonight. I hope to shed light on the exact thrust and thought of this concept and what I had hoped to achieve by it. I have a pad of paper and a few sharpened pencils and feeling quite unusually nervous about the interview. Not sure if I am more nervous about interviewing the artist about this recent work or nervous at being interviewed by a probing person wielding a notebook and sharpened pencil. Lady Sandra may be able to defuse the tension by sitting in on the interview in her red, skin tight leather suit. (I do believe I feel the tension dissipating as I write this)

There is a powerful aroma of mutton soup from the kitchen. Anything to battle the agony of this pernicious chill!

I hear the baying of sled dogs and the crack of a whip. Seems like Hoarknockle is ready to go.
I do believe a bold libation of brandy is justified.

plane threesome

Eventually, after some tough negotiating with myself, I got the threesome sorted out. The three planes drawn in fairly small format, almost more of a sketch and trial than anything major. The planes took center stage and the clouds a close second. I think its evident I had fun with them.
There is always the issue of detail and accuracy when dealing with technical objects like planes. They do so need to look like the real things and have sufficient number of parts...wings, tails, propellers (or not). I was trying to come up with satisfactory combinations of all the vital parts, in correct proportion and also using the right balance of artistic flair. The old content versus form issue.
To me these images firstly need to sing of flight and exhilaration, before the pundits can come and count the rivets and wrinkles. I wanted to create a poetic justice to these fabulous craft that do the impossible: Lift free of the earth and move into the air in almost any way they choose. To me THAT is still a magical thing. No matter the physics and the mechanics of how it is done, its still a marvelous impossibility that happens in front of my eyes. Rabbit from a hat, all over again. And again.
I have framed the three pieces, they are smallish, about 15cm square (thats 6 inches, more or less) in a long rectangular frame with three windows through which you can see the pictures.

Lady Sandra gave it her approval. Enough said. Hoarknockle has been plying me with Campari and orange since early today and I see a new bottle of untasted French Sauvignon Blanc chilling.
Tora! Tora! Tora!

hawk trainer jet

The problem with having different screens and printers is that they too often dont speak the same language or use the same reference on which colour is darker or more saturated. The images off my screen dont seem to have the same quality as those spewing from my printer. After some tweaking I think I have the prints the way I want them.
After some revision of the Hawk image and adding some more to it, the picture finished itself late last night. The clouds seemed happy and the slight background gave it just the right amount of depth. I discovered a small detail in Painter which has made work a little easier. Thanks to Don Seegmiller's book on Advanced Painter. Thats the shortcoming of teaching yourself a a software system, you might miss out on the basics you should know... and because you don't know it as you should... you don't teach yourself the stuff that will matter. This allows one to learn something even years after learning to use it the first time. Note to self: Remember to learn things properly before teaching yourself.
At least now I can still fall back on the old excuse of having had a stupid teacher. I should refrain from explaining who the teacher was.
Here's a toast to all gifted teachers who have the knowledge to teach and inspire. They are jewels to be treasured. To the awful teachers who leave scarred and bored students in their wake: "You suck!" (I am compiling a list with names of awful teachers)

Cheers

Hawk trainer jet

I have been enjoying the process of the Hawk picture. As it progresses, I keep finding things to add and do to it. Wonderful.
Not often does a picture allow me to have all the fun, they can be cantankerous and difficult and wont allow me to have my way with it. Maybe this one realises I will respect it, no matter what.
I am working on the clouds and this is only a process image to show where its all going.
I have a final addition which I will be throwing into all three images after I complete this one.
Lady Sandra is having fun with her collection of snow shovels.

jet whoosh in full digital appreciation

Sitting here with my feet wrapped in a warm blanket while Hoarknockle massages my shoulders, I can occasionally hear the planes rush overhead. Working on the delicate details of a Hawk jet trainer tailpipe, I dont always have all the detailed information I need to make sure it is anatomically correct.
In the past I would have had to dig out the trusty Nikon F, full manual 35mm camera and get myself out to the base and spend an entire afternoon trying to avoid frostbite and getting a decent photograph through the imperfect window of the Maybach. In all probability I would not have managed a perfect photo of the part I would need. After having the film processed and only two days later would I discover that I would have to go back and repeat the exercise. Thank goodness for digitality and the wonderful webbed world which will now bring the images to me in delightful crispness. My thanks to everyone who puts beautiful photos online. Although I would never dream of any possible plagiarising of such images, they are useful to confirm the existence of detail which my own photos may lack. Every darling little rivet is plain to see. (although how some racy pictures manage to find their way into my search for a Hawk trainer I cannot fathom. If I had searched "rivet"...well then maybe....)

What it is about the glistening surface of an aerodynamic object that appeals so powerfully, I cannot say. But there is a true visceral thrill about the nature of beautifully crafted objects. Michelangelo would be proud of some of these sleek shapes.

This Hawk will be the other bookend to the three craft triptych. Harvard, Snowbirds and Hawk. A quick sketchy image which I hope will capture the fast nature of these dart-like objects. All I have to do is complete the entire image now...so far only the lone Hawk hanging expectantly in a undrawn vacuum. All I need now is a quick spurt of Instacloud from a spraycan. If only!

Lady Sandra is oiling her collection of snow shovels.

flying cloud tag

The image I posted seemed rather wan and colourless alongside the richer one with the Snowbirds. I couldnt let it go.
Hoarknockle boiled up a cauldron of marshmallows and threw the sweet lava into the frigid air (minus 30C, minus 22F) and they solidified in a perfect towering mass, which I drew into the waiting image of the 3 Harvard trainers of yesterday.

All 3 the Harvards came over and thanked Hoarknockle for the beautiful marshmallows. He is a prince.
Obviously I had to use a little poetic license to change the marshmallows a bit, had they looked exactly like marshmallow, too many prints of this image would have been eaten by accident, and as we all know, Harvard trainers can cause serious indigestion if eaten with marshmallow. ( no ice cream was harmed during the making of these images!)

I have developed a lot of respect for artists who paint beautiful cloudscapes. They are pretty difficult to do well. I also suspect that my rendition of the Harvards dont have quite as many rivets as the real ones. (all aviation buffs please excuse this)

Next is a picture of a lone Hawk jet trainer. (I may draw another one to keep it company)
I am thinking of a new way to draw dramatic clouds for the background. Hmmmm, shaving foam?

jet trails

I came across the work of Brian Despain. What a wonderful surprise! Rich intense and beautiful. When someone does something that well, it inspires.
I took one look at what I was doing and immediately added "Instant Cloud" effect from my collection of clouds from a can. (part of the "Landscape from a can" collection) Just one spray and you are smiling.
The small red and white aircraft are the Canadian display team, the Snowbirds, who fly out of the airbase nearby. I had Hoarknockle carve each one from a rare hardwood, starting from a cubic meter of wood and ending up a small model about the size of my hand. They were painted and hung from invisible strings. (OBVIOUSLY!)
This image will be the centerpiece of the triptych I am working on. It has an apocalyptic glow to it.. an ominous golden resonance that I quite like.
Its rather cold out still. Axel the hound couldnt find his feet after going out for his early morning, backyard visit. He came galloping through the backdoor in a rather uncoordinated way. Thirty below zero in centigrade isn't funny.
Lady Sandra is using an electrically heated snow shovel in her daily shoveling adventures. Hoarknockle walks behind her, carrying the batteries.
Cheers!

flying around

In the spirit of flight, I decided to continue and make a three part image of planes taking off and landing at the airport. They will become three smaller panels framed together as separate images which all belong to the same idea.
On the one side will be three Harvard trainers, center will be the Canadian show team, the Snowbirds trailing smoke and on the right side will be a Hawk trainer.
I'm working from a series of photographs I took myself on a rather cold day when my fingers ceased to function effectively and refused to tell me when they pressed the shutter button.
I'm doing it in a loose style...sketchy and quick.
I occasionally hear the planes overhead although the current outdoor temperature of minus 26C (minus 15F) discourages me from running out to wave at them.
Hoarknockle has been forced to accompany the dog outdoors to prevent him from becoming frozen to the spot when he undertakes his communion with nature.
I very much want to get out and capture some different photos of the flying machines. Not in this chill .Hoarknockle is too busy polishing up the brass sleighbells to come out and keep me covered in electric blankets.
A parcel arrived today, addressed to Lady Sandra, which looks alarmingly like a Zonda sportscar.
Time to soothe my nerves with some tea....

flight of planes

After some time in process, the first 25 prints of the aeroplane arrived from Squareflo printing. What lovely prints they are. Done beautifully on watercolour paper.
A small issue was raised concerning copyright. Hmmmmm. Not something that fills me with unbounded joy, having to defend my right to make art of something in full view and of an object that my tax dollars fund. I guess they are just being careful about who and how imagery is used. But I do find dealing with burocracy tiresome. Even more so when it is something I know is within my rights and I dont need to defend it. The notion that I should be challenged on this is irritating. Raises blood pressure.
Anyhow, this is being processed at high level and I hope to get the green light (even though its my artistic right to make images!) to continue.
I have consulted with some established and renowned aviation artists on this issue and they have all chuckled at the challenge saying that this has been explored many times and the artist is within his rights doing just this. But it seems that the powers that be dont tire at this game. A game funded by tax dollars. Hmph!
Ah well.....
Lady Sandra has added another snow shovel to her fine collection and Hoarknockle is converting an old violin case to house her new high speed, low volume, front pathway shovel. We may have to add another storage room to the east wing of the manor.
Overnight temperature dropped to minus 26C and I am thankful that my wine collection is below ground in a thermally stable environment. I may go down and visit them in a while....just to chat and see how they are.
The wolf painting is being presented tonight at a dinner in honour of the recipients. I have wrapped it in purple velvet.
Lady Sandra has just called for me to attend tea in the drawing room.... I cant keep her waiting.

soaring above

I think Ive got it!

Some more tweaking and fine adjustments and I do believe its almost done.

flying off the paper

The smell of jet fuel in the morning. It wafts off my drawing board all warm and fragrant. The little aeroplane that could...and does...and will!

Its still not complete and requires some delicate tuning, but its on track.

cheers!

emerging aeroplane

Its happening at last! The digital birth of a delightful little aeroplane.

So far the propeller has emerged and seems to be swinging happily.

There is still quite a lot of work to be done... ultimately it will result in an 8 by 11 inch image.

I think the swarm of planes senses that this is happening and I heard a lot of them flying about today. I may go out and capture some more for other images.

D-Man showed me how to catch and handle these beauties. He has since left on a hunting trip to capture some rare twin rotating machines up north. Its migration season and he said he was optimistic about getting one.

The portrait is still going along nicely too. After some loud profanities today I managed to get the images closer to the quality I want. I dont know why I still try and paint without a large container of profanities ready and waiting. Lady Sandra feels that too much profanity can be bad for my health. Nothing like a finely applied profane-urethane glaze to bring out depth in a painting.

I hear Hoarknockle bringing the tea....

empty nets

So far the expedition to capture an aeroplane has not been successful. One pair of dragonfly wings and the skeleton of a magpie with a lot of feathers still attached, the only concrete results.

But the picture of dozens of people stalking around the clearings and woods with butterfly nets and more recently joined by relatives trailing fishing nets (the entanglements have been spectacular!) has been something to behold. Terry Gilliam is the only movie director who could pull this off.

The highlight of the hunt has been the Lady God Diva the third, running around naked with her butterfly net streaming behind her. The paparazzi have been out in force and not managed to snap their shutters on her pale form. The Pale Pimpernel? The rain we have been having brought out a fine crop of goosebumps.

Hoarknockle has been hard at work removing the seeds from a large bowl of fresh strawberries. They stick in my teeth and I dislike it rather.

For now I shall sit here staring at a blank canvas as I sip a Howling Bluff Pinot Noir.

catching aeroplanes. literally

I think we may have brought the entire village to a standstill.

I was under the impression that the aeroplane would be brought to my studio in order that I might do my sketches in preparation for the images I wanted to create, but it turned out that the aeroplanes don't just come willingly, one has to capture them. (bugger!)

I have employed a number of local peasants along with my entire estate staff, to catch me an aeroplane. They have all been running around the woods and clearings brandishing butterfly nets in an optimistic manner. So far no aeroplanes caught.

To assist, I have been playing Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries". Loudly.

I remain optimistic that we will soon have one for me to draw.