Wacky Wallpaper

I thought the logical progression from my previous post was to release some other shapes into the fray. Triangles are fun, but circles too? And semi-circles? Kid in a candy store, here. My intentions were of a similar natural, springlike bent and sure enough, I came up with some designs which rather fit the theme.

The usual Photoshop breaking and making followed.

Then I started playing with the circular and mostly symmetrical nature of these, cutting a quarter of each piece, flipping it and rotating around the centre. Quite possibly, this is some of the gaudiest work I have ever created; I tend to design patterns in black and white or a limited selection of colours. That’s just how I was taught. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with leaving the comfort zone and going all out.

At first I was thinking seamless floor tiles, but the ‘boldness’ of these brought to mind the interesting wallpaper choices of the mid-to-late twentieth century, coming out of the war and injecting some much needed colour into life. When my parents moved into their house back in 1976, apparently every room was done up in contrasting colours and patterns – bright purples, yellows, greens. They soon got rid of all that!

Imagine your boudoir done up with these bad boys:

I don’t think I’ll be snapped up by Changing Rooms anytime soon; Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen, you’re safe for now. But don’t let my sneering give the impression I didn’t have fun. This was an absolute blast!

Tri Flowers

Remember those art lessons in first school where you’d be given sheets of tissue paper to cut out flower shapes, and have to stick them to sugar paper using those glue spreaders? Wasn’t it always a mess, with the tissue paper getting all crumpled if not outright ripped? Maybe that was just me? Should I stop with the questions already? What is this?

Well anyway, this geometric exercise was reminiscent of those days, just without the heady whiff of PVA. I wanted to do something with flowers and spring again, but quite where or why the triangle fetish emerged I have no idea. Still, I’m always willing to give new things a go and what we have here is me just drawing triangles in rather a carefree manner (for me at least) to give some semblance of a flowerhead.

Of course, then came the onslaught of Photoshop effects! Similar to my previous spring exploration, mostly dropping old pieces or textures over and under the drawings. Some flower power vibes coming through here, especially with the pink.

When I got to a rose – or at least that’s what I’m thinking it is – and found I was thinking about composition too much, I decided it was time to call it a day. But it was interesting. The layered outlines below are something, though. I think this could be the way to go in future.

Triangles are fun. Not as good as hexagons, but still rather neat.

Wheel of Wonder

Round and round we go, for it’s something of a circular journey here in blog land. Is it? I’m not sure. But, here we have a Ferris wheel, which certainly does go round and round. I tried one way, way back in January 2016 which looked to be a whopper of a thing, but this time I’ve opted for a smaller, more rudimentary model, the likes of which you might have seen at the town fair years ago, or at a vintage fair today. At least there’s a bit more to the scene than five years ago, and, yes, I have worked out how make the chairs rotate in sync with the wheel without them going upside-down. Progress.

I went with the name Wonder Wheel, which I saw given to a real-life version somewhere but can’t place. Maybe it was a common name. It certainly seems fitting to me; few rides are as wondrous or iconic as the big wheel.

Vintage very much the word of the day here, hence these black-and-white renders, perhaps taken in those days of yore when the sun went gone down and the big bulbs started to light up the rotating wheel. It’s quite a magical sight and one which encapsulates so much of that atmosphere about the fairground which I love. Wonder wheel, indeed.

Some Strange Spring

Spring 2021 has certainly been a weird one. We’re locked down for it, and it seems the weather knows. The temperature here in Norfolk rose to about twelve degrees in February, then decided to pretty much stop there. I don’t normally feel the cold, and I can’t remember such a chilly April; my winter jumpers are still in rotation! And now it’s bucketing down with rain which, if nothing else, has made things a little more interesting.

With this in mind, it would seem fitting enough that these landscapes – if indeed that’s what they are – do not entirely conform to the standard vibe of the season. I can’t claim to have had much of a method behind the madness. It was raining, so I returned to some old drizzle-spotted glass textures I made some time ago.

Then followed a spot of experimentation with different gradients behind the glass, to see how it looked. I also threw in some old landscape drawings and pixel art pieces to see how they turned out. I think it’s the simple gradients that have achieved the best and least contrived results, and that’s why they’re heading and footing the post.

Here’s a song that sounds of winter turning to spring, possibly helped by a very green and sunny video. I can’t believe I’m talking about the transition to spring at this time of year but, well, that’s 2021 for you. And long-time readers will know, any excuse for me to share this! I hope it’s nice and comfortable where you are.