So, there I was (pre-pandemic) just casually minding my own business in the queue at the art shop when BOOM! – an impulse purchase incident – and before I know it I’ve got a little Sunogrpahy ‘solar powered photography’ kit clutched firmly in my hand. Fast forward to about a week ago when I find the kit in a pile on my desk. It’s sunny outside. The game is afoot.
A quick search reveals a transparency with a printed design from another project and we’re good to go. After 15 minutes on each side I had a surprisingly clean image using just the power of the sun. How very wholesome. Now I’ve got my proof of concept I just need something suitable for the other four sheets and then to find out where I can I lay my hands on some larger A2 size sheets before the next bright and shiny idea comes along to steal all my attention…
Let’s take a trip down memory lane. The year is 1948 and most of the UK is looking for a good long sit down for a year or two. Twelve year old Tom Carruthers however has other ideas. After witnessing the ravages of war first hand he wants to create a noble protector so it won’t happen again. After some basic genetic tampering with a (what would now be highly illegal) chemistry set and some stuff he found in his dad’s shed he managed to embiggen his pet rat, Twinkles, by a factor of 2. Fearing he’d get in trouble from his dad for having a giant rat he did what he thought was the decent thing and let his now super-intelligent rat free into the London sewers. If we skip forward 50 years then Twinkles is still very much alive but now he’s still super-intelligent, has grown to over 200 foot in size and goes by the name Ro Don’t. If you have a problem… if no one else can help… and if you can find him… maybe you can hire… Ro Don’t.
If that isn’t the best B film you’d watch this year then I’ll eat my cheese shoes. It is A4 in size and made using Watercolour, acrylic and tipex. Drop us a line if interested.
If you’ve ever had the misfortune to be on the receiving end of a serious tantrum from a disgruntled toddler because they were denied another hour of toy unboxing videos on youtube or somesuch then you’ll know where I’m coming from with this one. One minute they’re all cool and calm and within seconds of giving them the bad news that they’ve got to put the tablet down you can see the drawbridge coming down and the big guns coming out.
Before you know it they’re shouting and screaming and then you’re stuck in the moral quandary of being emotionally blackmailed by a small child. Do you back down and give them the tablet back ‘just for 5 more minutes’ to get a bit of peace and quiet or do you stick to your guns and force them into a highly melodramatic blowout? The choice is yours…
As an aside, cutting through thick perspex with the cheapest jig saw money can buy was somewhat problematic and the kid cutout we have here is actually the second version as I managed to snap the head off the previous one. Needless to say I almost had a temper tantrum myself.
It’s funny isn’t it. If a 4 year old passed you just about anything and motioned there was someone on the phone for you you’d probably have a quick fake phone call using the banana (or whatever you were handed) before passing it back and suggesting whoever was on the line wanted to speak to them again. You would probably feel a bit stupid doing it but you’d do it all the same to make the child happy.
Somehow, on the transition from childhood to becoming an adult we lose this mysterious skill of being able to imagine just about anything is real. Or face being carted off to the nearest mental institution. Which is quite a harsh penalty for something that’s positively encouraged as a child.
Anyway, this little girl is strolling round without a care in the world as she has her imaginary ‘dog’, Mr Snuffles, to keep her company. And who’s to say she’s wrong. Not me as I did the picture in the first place.
As a little bonus here’s my original child-like sketch of Mr Snuffles…
On Saturday we packed up the id-iomobile with just about as much stuff as we could get in there (as we never like to travel light and be without something we may need) and headed for Peterborough for the Overground Arts paint jam. This collaboration piece was actually our second piece of the day and was painted alongside the ever affable Parlee. Our barely thought out plan was to have Parlee’s ‘Rocket’ character being attacked by our large and angry looking Godzilla. As we progressed we thought what better than having Rocket deal with two Godzilla’s – both of which were now to be sporting laser eyes. Whilst Rocket seems to be defending himself from the blasts his little fly companion seems to have suffered a direct hit. If it wasn’t for those pesky Godzillas…
We also had some added assistance from Process Smith in creating the clouds and rather surprised looking budgie at the bottom and Miss Wah for the kind loan of her bunny skull stencil which we turned into a little swarm of flying bunny skulls hovering near Godzillas’ head. Their intentions aren’t entirely clear but i suspect them to be evil.
Our ‘l’esprit de l’escalier’ moment came when driving back and we thought we should probably have added some parachute lines to Rocket. Ah well, c’est la vie…
What is there to say about this poor soul apart from the fact that he’s called the Frankenbeast and is one in a number of experiments by eccentric scientist Victor Frankenstein. First there was Frankenhand, then Frankenfoot followed closely by Frankenfeet. The Frankenbeast was the final experiment before Victor decided to change the name up to “creature”, “monster”, “fiend”, “wretch”, “vile insect”, “daemon”, “being”, and “it” as Victor thought it was a little more personal and sounded a bit more dignified.
Cheers
id-iom
Title: Frankenbeast
Materials: Acrylic, spray paint, paint pen and charcoal
Size: A2
Please email if interested
Bathmophobia is the fear of stairs and a common cause is an early negative experience with stairs. This much we all surely know. However, this ‘early negative experience’ can be hard to pin down yet can persist for years. After much research and hanging around in the wrong kind of places id-iom can reveal the real cause of this debilitating illness and can embiggen medical knowledge all in one fell swoop. His name is Bob and if i’m honest it was quite tricky to get any more than that from him. He didn’t seem particularly keen to see me and i’m not convinced of his assertions that his intentions are strictly honourable… Either way I got the photo so at least that one is now sorted.
I think i’m finally getting a bit of a better idea of how to work the video editing software which is definitely a good thing. We have already done a post on Jealousy (see here) but i have now managed to work the video into something watchable. Our green eyed monster was a quick hit (well – quick for us at about 45 minutes) on an abandoned wall. He’s about 8ft tall and definitely has something of a worrying look in his eyes…
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