philinthecircle.com Blog

This picture is a culmination of a few different ideas. For starters the final picture is on a piece of film that is 14×17 inches.

How the picture was made: I first did a drawing that was in the negative. I then held that drawing against the film in a dark room. I held a lighter in front of the piece and turned it on for two seconds. The light went through the paper where there was not a drawing and exposed the film. Towards the right of the picture you can see that there is a blurry spot. This part is there because the paper was slightly away from the film and the light could criss cross and cause blurring. Here are a couple more photos.

above: this is actually at the end when I was removing the drawing from the film, but you can see part of the drawing that was exposed to the film.

above:  here you can see the drawing that was on the “outside” and was drawn lightly enough that it did not make it onto the film.  I like this idea a lot, making a drawing and showing that drawing but it is only part of the story, a stopping point before the final picture.

above: I held the film with one hand and wedged it against my body so my other hand was free to hold the lighter. So the shadows ended up as part of the picture.
This piece was fun because it was quick and utilized some very different materials. I have exposed film via x-ray before, but never done it directly like this.

gotta run, I have a piece I will make through the course of the night and I hope to have finished by morning.

Phil

well it is kind of hard to utilize fire when it’s windy and raining.  hmmm…. I’m not sure what to do now.  I spent some time prepping for a piece and went out today to try to finish it up and found myself battling wind that would not allow for a piece to be burned.  So now it is all just sitting at home and I hope to finish it up this week on a calm morning.  We’ll see I guess. 

I am putting together another detailed piece that I hope will come together over the course of a night next weekend.  It will also be outside so I’m at the mercy of the rain and wind. 

This is a problem I have never run into because all of my stuff is so regulated.  If there is ever a uncontrollable item then I just wait, but this weekly project doesn’t really allow for much waiting. 

gotta run.

ahhhhhh finally this piece is done! And it looked just as I envisioned.

I figure once a month or so I will spend the extra time to make one of these projects more involved than the others. I really like the idea for this piece but I knew I would have to put a lot of effort in to make it a better image, glad I did.

My folks were visiting this week so I roped them into helping me color match heads. great fun, hahahaha. I had help from people at work too which was quite nice. I had started actual construction on the piece Thursday morning and knew I would have to work super hard to get it done. So when I got off from work that night I came home and worked all night until 9am. My dad and I then went out and lit it on fire. There was a bit of concern that the garage might burn down. But I got really lucky because there was absolutely no wind at the time so the burn went very smoothly.

I really like the idea of fire for this month. I’m going to come up with ways that fire is involved in the image or meaning behind the piece. Not just as a way to destroy the piece.

Here is my outdoor setup for the burn that you don’t get to see in the video or other photos. Just the board and some fabric hanging 4 feet back. In hindsight I should have had the sheet go higher because the flames often got above the fabric which I couldn’t use in the final picture, so I had to cut the top off.

Here is the back of the piece. As I worked the piece leaned backwards because I didn’t pay enough attention to keep it straight up and down. So I had to find some way to hold the head of the guitar up, hence the stick. On the bottom you can see I covered the back with glue, then I changed and started putting the glue inbetween the matches instead of on the back. In the video you can see this change because on the right side of the video when the piece is almost finished you can see what looks like spider webs hanging off of it, that is from the glue gun.

anyway, hope you all enjoyed it. I have the next piece planned and just need to execute it later today or tomorrow morning. I’ll get back to normal timing this week. No more delays for this month. The next piece will be quite a departure for me from normal.

As always I put together a 8×12 photograph of this piece. If you want to take a peak at it click here. I will sign the photo if ordered before 8-19-07.

So I’m writing this a week later.  Not because I’m getting behind, but because I’m soooo busy.  It’s hard to balance all of this with the rest of my life.  But I’m getting it done.

The picture made of leaves.  I had this piece planned out and I knew it was going to look a little rough.  But I was kind of rushed and I couldn’t put the time in that I needed.  Part of me regrets this but at the same time, it’s about making a piece each week, not necessarily making a wonderful piece each week.  I hope it turns into a wonderful piece but there will occasionally be flukes and I don’t aim to hide them.

The leaves used in this piece are bright red on one side and then the other side is that light reddish color.  I used enough leaves to create a couple feet of the piece.  Then I took the leaves from the top and placed them at the bottom and just ran through the whole picture.  I took photos and placed them together to make the final piece.  And yes I did keep the leaves.  I liked the process of making the picture quite a bit and I may utilize the leaves in something in the future.  So here is the piece.

The final picture I personally am not happy with at all.  Is it horrible? no.  but it is definitely the lowest quality piece I have ever posted on my site.  But I won’t hide it.  I want others to see that not everything turns out the intended way. Here is a close up.

I like this picture more than the final piece.  I think the leaves have a great color against the grass.  Again I may use them again some day.  Oh I took a couple pictures of me working on it.

The picture above actually shows how far I went.  I figure it was about forty feet or so.

Here is the link to the video I posted.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yL-Qag4TpE  The blog service won’t let me put it in here, so I guess you will just have to cut and paste.
Anyway, I’m working on this weekends picture.  I love the idea so much that I am putting extra time into it.  I want it to be the extra leap beyond the others.  I have started a new theme which I will tell you all about next time.  It is going to be a fun month.  This month it will be fun to watch the pieces to “goodbye”

all for now

phil