Simon's Blog

Jessica and running out of RAM…

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Guthlac

I have an ancient iMac that helps me produce all my digital output and just recently it has started to run out of puff when working with some of the very large files and new software. In a very real way my creative efforts mirror this problem and I don’t seem to be able to create images with pencil and camera at the same time: One users up all of my creative juices to the detriment of the other. This leaves me feeling I have neglecting the other. So I made the painting of Jessica as a direct result of my photographic work – the image had been started a couple of weeks ago and then I abandoned it. yesterday I came back to it and managed to finish it off.

In the meantime I visited the ever rewarding Hidcote Manor. Life is hard.

Posted in Apple Pencil, Digital Painting, Gardens, Summer | Tagged Apple Pencil, Archive, Bee, Digital Painting, Flowers, Hidcote Manor, Procreate, woman | Leave a comment

Eastern Boys and…

Posted on August 14, 2018 by Guthlac

Jessie’s Girl?

Posted in Apple Pencil, Art, Digital Painting | Tagged Apple Pencil, Digital Painting, Procreate, woman | Leave a comment

Banging a Fan Boy Drum…

Posted on August 10, 2018 by Guthlac

I’m afraid I’ve become a particular kind of bore – an Apple Fanboy. I can’t help myself when I see the quality of the images that the latest iPhone helps create. These were taken yesterday at the Pia Camil exhibition at the Nottingham Contemporary. To say that the light was challenging is an understatement yet the camera came through with flying colours.

Now I’m sure that the latest Samsung can produce images just as good – but I don’t use a Samsung and so all I can write about is the iPhone. It is coming up to 10 years since I bought my first iPhone and much of that journey has been documented on this blog. I suspect I may well get around to making a book to celebrate this decade.

Posted in iphone, Photography | Tagged iphone, Iphone 8 plus, iphoneography, Nottingham Contemporary, photography, Pia Camil | Leave a comment

All in a morning’s….

Posted on August 5, 2018 by Guthlac

I never really understood just how much Ernst Haas has influenced my photography until really quite recently.

Posted in Jubilee Park, Photography, Summer | Tagged Blue Sky, Dawn, Ernst Haas, Jubilee Park, photography | Leave a comment

Teaching an old dog…

Posted on August 1, 2018 by Guthlac

For reasons I have no intention of going into here I have just bought myself a new camera and lens – not an entirely unheard of pattern of behaviour on my part. However at the same time my rather ancient copy of Adobe Lightroom stopped working – I don’t think the two are connected but you never know (Is that just a little bit too much InfoWars?). The upshot of this is that over the past few days I have been trying to master upgrades to my technology. Now this isn’t a problem it is just that I wasn’t expecting to have to do this all at once. Oh and there were problems with the Adobe licensing which meant having contact with the aforementioned software support system (They were actually very helpful but nonetheless added to complexity of the situation yesterday).

Posted in Gardens, Jubilee Park, Macro, Photography, Summer | Tagged Adobe Lightroom, Flowers, Jubilee Park, photography, photoshop, River Soar, Seed | 1 Comment

Hater’s goin’ play play play

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Guthlac

Feeling much better today…still had time make a painting – 3/4 finish I think?

Posted in Apple Pencil, Art, Digital Painting | Tagged Apple Pencil, Digital Painting, portrait, Procreate, woman | Leave a comment

Breathe…

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Guthlac

Getting old is really shit! I am told that my body is no older than 7 years as cells are constantly being replaced – its my DNA is just screwed up as over the years it picks all sort of crap. Well let me tell you it can keep all that crap!

To top all this I just can’t believe what the President of the USA has just done – sided with a foreign country over the one he is supposed to be leading. Hasn’t helped my mood but then again I always thought he was an idiot so I guess we are getting exactly what I expected. Doesn’t make it any easier.

Posted in Apple Pencil, Art, Digital Painting | Tagged Apple Pencil, Digital Painting, portrait, Procreate, sketch, woman | Leave a comment

And there we are….

Posted on June 25, 2018 by Guthlac

If there is one thing that I have learnt from watching Westworld is that the self appointed experts on the Internet who who give previews and reviews of each episode haven’t got the first clue what they are talking about. Entertaining, in parts, yes but hardly informative. It seems we might have to wait until 2020 to find out what the next season has to offer – perhaps.

Posted in Apple Pencil, Art, Digital Painting, Graphic Art | Tagged Apple Pencil, Digital Painting, portrait, Procreate, sketch, Westworld | Leave a comment

She’ll got exposure…

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Guthlac

There was a time, not too long ago, when I would write a lot about the current political situation then it struck me – what is the point? I don’t mean that nobody listened – I always took that as a given – no what is the point when things are so mixed up that trying to make sense of anything now is a fool’s task. Now I am probably a fool, I certainly have done many foolish things in my life, but the situation we now find ourselves in even a fool wouldn’t recognise; Brexit, Trump and world slowly going off it’s hinges have I missed anything? Probably but I no longer care. Instead I’m just going to stick to making art in my own way and if the many Outlook followers I now have will just have to live with that.