Diana Mini Big ❤

I got my first roll of film back from my diana mini yesterday. All in all I'm pretty happy with the results. I don't think I like the film, but I have a whole range of different ones to try. You can switch between formats (square and rectangle) so the negatives are pretty messy. This meant that a few of the images didn't make it onto the disc the lab gave me.
This was my set up to try and digitise the negatives. I followed a process along the lines of this to compensate for the orange cast and to invert the image. I'd previously tried to shoot them using white sky as backlighting, but this left a very blue tinge to the images. So I needed pure white.

The only problem with this set up was that the closeness of the negative to the screen left the grid-like pattern on my digital image. (below)

This one below is much smoother because I photographed it about 20cm from the monitor, but it's blurry. I need a holder to keep it still, so my focus is sharper.

Some funky double exposed images.

Sketchbook

I made a series of scrap/sketch books a number of weeks ago. The concept was one I'd seen demonstrated by Traci Bautista who does funky, urban inspired art and bookmaking. So I've taken a pile of photocopies of my work, along with coloured paper, watercolour paper and some b&w photocopies and bound them using my zutter bind-it-all. 

It's actually been really liberating. I made sure I had lots of colour and lots of different sized pages. So now when have an idea or want to draw something, I open up to a little page that is just the right size and off I go.  It has also enabled me to make it a work in progress and I've been sticking in things: yoga stickers, festival flyers, cider bottle labels, lyrics. fun!

Ocean inspired collage in the background. Sketch inspired by camping trips down south to Denmark, one of Maddie Joyce's camping adventures and, well, all this.

Desert Lefts

Beach in My Backyard

Psychodelic 60s page - Sandtracks

Beach in My Backyard

Drawing Down the Moon

I've been beavering away drawing and filling my sketchbook. These are the first paintings I've finished on this theme. I'm a bit bummed because the watercolours I've used let me down a bit. They didn't deal with being diluted for a wash and became grainy. I've ordered some winsor newton cotman's half pans from the UK. I've done another drawing but don't want to finish it til I get the new paints.

We spent the weekend down in Margaret River watching the finals of the Drug Aware Pro. Kelly Slater got knocked out before we arrived, along with Mick, and Taj lost his quarter final. The swell died and the finals were a real struggle, waiting for waves. Courtney Conologue was great to watch. Couldn't believe that everyone left after the men's event finished and didn't bother to watch the women's finals. Says something about people's interest in surfing. I'd hoped it would be more equal. Pretty sad.

We've finally had some rain after the longest Summer we've ever had. It is very welcome. The image below is inspired by our last girls surf trip up north, back when it was 40 degrees.

Backyard Bliss

In the Zone

So something has happened. Maybe it's the change in season. Maybe it's this moon, but I finally have some ideas cranking and I feel like they're taking me somewhere!

About a year ago I had a total epiphany realising I could combine my art and my surfing. Kind of obvious, I know... But there are so many super super surf artists out there. I'm just blown away at the endless number of ways people find of drawing waves! What can I bring that is new? So I've really struggled to figure out how to make it mine. My style.

When I was painting my first surfboards I was trying to think about what surfing in Australia is like. How are the images and culture different? What's unique? So that's been rattling around in my head for a few months. Answers are now starting to fall out.

I'm drawing and painting and even have ideas for how to incorporate my textile work in a way that I think will work!

How do you find your own style? What's your point of difference? What is the unique thing you love about the place that you depict in your art?

Watercolour course - final week

 

Here's my finished painting with details added and the tones in the car darkened. Getting the right balance with light and dark has been a challenge. Plus figuring out what to try to paint in and what to leave out.

This painting was inspired by a photo by photographer, Ryan Tatar. His photos have a wonderful retro feel and are often themed around surf culture in California.
Click through on the images below to visit his flickr photostream.

Booty!

 

My goodies have finally arrived in the mail. My Diana mini (bottom left) was bought off ebay and it took a few weeks to arrive. The rest of the booty arrived in about 3 days from Lomography! I have a veritable rainbow of film to experiment with. I can't wait to finish my first roll of film and see how it turns out. Today I've been photographing negatives (my camera is far superior to my old scanner) and trying to get decent positive images with it. Still working on that...

Watercolour course - Part 2

We did flowers this week. I'm not totally thrilled with what I did, but I learned something. I like some of the poppies in the image below. I had fun working wet-in-wet and trying to create light and shadow by adding water.

This one was really just to play around with salt. meh.

This one I started in week 3 and have almost finished. I'm really happy with it and am stoked that I managed to draw a car. I spent a lot of time drawing before I got into painting. Since this photo I've touched up a few things and made some shadows darker.

This is the original photo by Ryan Tatar that I've worked from. He takes wonderful photos and you should check his retro world out here.

Watercolour Course Part 1

I've completed 3 weeks of my watercolour course now and it's been great. I've certainly learned a lot and it's really good to have the time allocated each week to practise.

These are still lifes from week one. The idea is to concentrate on tone, shades of light and dark.
Week 2: below. Still life and working wet-in-wet. At the start of week 4, I'm now finally starting to see when I can use wet-in-wet and when I can use wet on dry.

 
Week 3: above and below. I was so knackered but made myself come anyway. I'm actually really happy with my ghost gum and plan to have a go at painting some more trees. I really like the sky in the one below, but there are a few random things about it. That's called learning though, I guess. Each time I've completed a painting I've learned something. 

I've almost finished the piece I started in Week 4. I spent a lot of time working on the drawing and didn't finish it in class. There were plenty of times where I thought I'd bitten off more than I could chew. But I've surprised myself and am actually really pleased with how it's progressing. Who knew I could draw a car?!

This is a shot from our trip up to Gnaraloo last year. With any luck we'll get up there again this year.

I'm sure the swell can't be far away. It is now officially the hottest Summer we've ever had in Perth. This Summer's average maximum has been 32C. Compound that with the fact that we missed Winter last year, because we spent it in the Northern Hemisphere, and you can see why I'm getting excited about uggboots and surfing in the rain.

In the meantime, we've done our 4WD course and managed to score a compressor, so I'm primed for some 4WDing and have my fingers crossed that things look good this weekend for a surf trip to Derrs.

Green Head Getaway

Our latest adventure took us 3 hours north of the city to a little place called Green Head. The weekend, in celebration of a friend's 30th was super relaxing. The highlight was definitely the trip out on her dad's boat to a little offshore island to visit the locals...

 

Turns out they were pretty friendly!

  

Welcoming committee

We made it up pretty late Saturday night so enjoyed a magical nap here after frolicking with the sea lions. The Sou-wester was finally in and was very welcome.

 

Side trip on the way home... Apparently the dreaming stories of the local aboriginal people tell that the pinnacles were the bony hands of giant spirits buried under the ground. Their fingers are stretching towards the sky, looking for something to grab onto to pull themselves free of the earth.

Easy to see why it is a sacred place. 

Waiting for Winter

First Day of Winter from Hannah Katarski on Vimeo.

Winter 2010

Those were the days...

When every wave was big,

When riding the foam was the most fun you could ever have,

and the shape of the wave didn't make any difference at all...

 

The world is wide now

and full of waves. 

Good shape is hard to find,

but the search can reward life-

defining moments,

breath-taking experiences

and memories for flat days.

What a wonderful journey we've started on.