Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 15

Last Sunday, Snoo, Teresa and I walked from London Bridge to Canary Wharf. For a change, we went along the North Bank which made for an interesting change of scenery. Naturally, my camera came along for the ride...



Flickr fun and games...

One(s) for the bookshelf...

I am definitely going to be buying these. Yes. All of them.

Yep, even that one...

I have never read a word of Elmore Leonards writing, but such is my love of Tim Marrs' work that I will be buying this entire set (over time, I hasten to add) just to marvel at the covers if nothing else. They look amazing together!

Also, his website's been updated as well. Check it out...

Origins of Symmetry...

This seems to be becoming a photography blog... Don't get me wrong, that's certainly no bad thing! But I just feel something of a fraud considering the URL. It has to be said though, that I've always thought that the two aren't mutually exclusive - especially in my work. Either way, I hope that you (the "Royal You"...) are enjoying what I have to offer. I've had two very successful trips out with the camera recently, and it's certainly reaffirmed my love of the different forms of creativity I partake in.

Anyway, waxing lyrical aside, lets get down to business. I've been playing with the idea of mirroring and stitching on Photoshop, after seeing some pictures by Dave Gorman (that man is supremely talented!). I tried the similar technique with some shots from Kennington station (see a few posts earlier). Canary Wharf tube station, with it's expanse of space station-esque style architecture seemed to lend itself well to not only some flipping and stitching, but also to some nice black & white/spot colour stylings as well...

I think I need to set myself up a new Flickr set/collection for my various Potatoshop jiggery-pokery!

EuroHip T-Shirts...

Ok, I know that most of the regulars (I hope I have regulars!), with the exception of a few, that read this blog will probably be sick to the back teeth of hearing me bang on about my Trip to Europe to see the Hip, but I'm afraid you're going to have to sit through another post about it. Or, well, more specifically, a post about the official t-shirts that are going to print this week! I was given the great honour of designing the shirts for the (ever expanding) group of travellers who will be hitting the continent in the autumn. Corby, of Unique Motel fame, has very kindly given us a great deal on the shirts - and yesterday I recieved the proof of the design. What do you think?...


I can't wait to see them for real - I shall be sporting mine with pride!

Join Me!...

Well, it was actually me that's been doing the joining... Of photos that is! It's been a sixth-form-nostalgia-a-thon over the few days, as I've finally vowed to actually piece together the joiner photos that I insist on taking but never seem to do anything with. I think these two of Canary Wharf were a success. What do you think?

There are others that I'm in the process of putting together as well. I have a great one of the plaza in front of Canary Wharf. It's amazing how much the perspectives change between the photos - It's been very tricky to line up! Stay tuned - Hopefully I'll be able to put a joiner specific flickr set together before too long.

AOTM - July 2007: James Carey

http://www.theaoi.com/artist/jamescarey/index.html

Sorry it's a bit late this month!...

Anyway, I was having trouble deciding on who to feature as this months AOTM, until I was wandering around WH Smiths on Oxford Street on Saturday. I was surveying the magazines as I often do, when the beautifully illustrated, lastest issue of 'Golf Punk' caught my eye. I regonised the style instantly as being that of Mr. James Carey. I first came across Carey's work while searching for inspiration on the Debutart website (and there certainly was inspiration a plenty on there!). In much the same way as Laura Quick (June's AOTM) JC's work helped to shape my with the mix of pencil/pen drawings and digital additions. He has a really great, detailed yet minimal style of drawing which is really interesting - Check him out...

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 14

It's been a while, but I've been out taking photos again around the city, and I feel well and truely back in the saddle. I went out with Amy from work on Wednesday night, and after a slow start (by me at least) I soon found my flow again. Considering this has been the worst July on record (surely!) we were blessed with a beautiful evening, and we made the most of it. Walking from the office, we headed down past St. Pauls, over the bridge and then turned left (instead of the more favoured right) and off towards docklands. There was plenty to see on the way, including an exhibition of large, wooden guitars by Tower Bridge. As well as getting some great shots, we also had a great laugh and a few drinks - That's what living in London in the summer's all about...




As always, there's a load more on Flickr.

As the old saying goes...

You wait ages for a train...


...And then two come along at once!

(Inspired by Dave Gorman)

Life Drawing - Pt. 7

I know what you're thinking - "Surely Ben, you can't have attended Life Drawing two weeks in a row could you?!..." Well, crazy as it sounds, it's true. And not only that, it seems to be two fairly successful weeks as well! Hurrah! We started off the session with about 12 quick (starting at 30 seconds, and progressing up to 15 minutes) poses before the break, and then two or three longer ones afterwards. Strangely, I found for once that I actually liked my quicker drawings, and the did seem to help me relax for the longer ones which was nice. I think the Bright Eyes/Broken Social Scene/Ben Gibbard (fairly) chilled soundtrack helped as well. I might stick with that in the future.

Anyway, see what you think...

New Hipfans Banner

My recent Hip-based image for The Travelling Sketchbook has now been made into another banner for Hipfans.com. Personally, I think it's one of my favourites that I've done!

Life Drawing - Pt.6

Here's some more life drawing from last night. Again, it's been a while since I've been (I don't think I've managed more than about 2 or 3 consecutive weeks yet - Not good!). However, depsite that, I had a good session, and produced some drawings that I was really pleased with. Everything seemed to be stacked in my favour as well: We had a female model (I still maintain that women are much nicer to draw than men. This isn't from a "blokey" perspective either - I know a lot of girls who feel the same), we also spent the whole night doing longer poses, which after I'd warmed up worked out well. I even remembered to take paints and things along, so I got to do some nice, theraputic, water colour work as well.

As a side note, Bright Eyes and The Album Leaf seem to make a good, relaxing musical backdrop...

The Travelling Sketchbook

I have finished my Hip themed image for the Travelling Sketchbook project. I hope you like it! There's a bit more information about it on the official Travelling Sketchbook Blog.