I've got a bit hacked off lately with trying to find particular versions of particular images on my computer; I use photography and Photoshop extensively as a supplement to my sketchbook but its all got a bit chaotic, so here I am, lounging on my bed in the dark with my headphones on, listening to music and having a tidy up. I have stumbled upon a cache of stuff I'd forgotten about, art work from before when I experimented with 3d modelling and CGI (this was back in the 90's but some of it stands up surprisingly well), an old web site I ran and best of all the stuff I did when I taught myself Photoshop.
Some of it is just simple colour correction, sharpening and retouching, but some of it isn't. I used to have a whale of a time making composite images, which was great because I learned a lot. I couldn't see the links between images on a screen, but give me a pile of catalogues, books and magazines and I could easily spot the rhythms, related perspectives, quality of light and analogous shapes necessary to pull this work off. I would find a couple of sources, scan them, then get masking, layering, airbrushing and generally making them fit together. I particularly enjoyed doing a series I called Celebrity Furniture where I would make a hybrid between, you guessed it, a piece of furniture or electrical appliance and a celebrity of the day. They made me laugh so I considered sticking them online but the internet wasn't then what it is now.
Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you the great and the good circa 1999 as you have never seen them before:
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| Patrick Stewart models a wall clock from the 1999 Argos catalogue |
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| The beautiful Gail Porter wears a screen from a book of Art Nouveau furniture |
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| Keanu Reeves and the unknown fireplace |
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| New for 1999 from Hoover: The Stephen Baldwin |
I lost interest and Mr Baldwin is only half done as a result, although they all betray my then beginner-level skills. Other subjects were the Kylie Minogue armchair, The Queen Elizabeth II table lamp and the Buzz Lightyear dresser:
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