Inki spills

Tongariro Alpine Crossing - Moments of sheer hell and beauty

nobody@vox.com(Colormonkey) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 03:52:06 -0700

This weekend, a group of 10 of us pulled into the Plateau Lodge in National Park and got settled into the evening. We had met earlier in Taupo and had a beer at a lake side pub. The sun was still shining perfectly. This was when we met the others, the new people who we had not met yet, they seemed pretty animated and were good fun.

So we arrived, and settled in at the table for full on vegetarian pasta made by Jenny and David. Yum, after which we tucked into a nice cake that Catherine had brought with. We all went to bed early since the shuttle to Tongariro Crossing was leaving extra early at 6 am to get us out of the bad weather which would later approach. We woke up on time, surprisingly and everyone was ready, I felt like a snow goer since I had every type of protection on, snow jackets, seal fur (fake) jackets, thermal underwear, long sleeve tops, beanie, scarf, buff and whatever other warm thing I could think of.

Bags packed with loads of food, wouldn't want to be caught without something to eat otherwise two steps in and I would be starving. We started off as a group and then gradually we lost six people in the clouds and they left us behind to our own devices. Slow and steady and sometimes very unhappy and challenged, we slowly worked ourselves through the course. We walked up to the saddle, it started to get very windy, and we all had to put on out jackets that the previous stretch had striped from our bodies. There finally came a loo. A long drop, but do not dare to not use it as 11 km later or there abouts is the next one! The clouds started to come in over the top of the mountains and there was a fine mist dewing on our clothing. Then it turned to a soft irritating drizzle and that meant that when we got to the awesome stuff it was, well lets say, white and puffy and well cloudy, and we saw nothing. We missed the red crater, well we saw where it was but not what it looked like, we found the three emerald lakes and completely missed the blue lake, because that was covered too, by cloud.

We stopped for a lunch of hot dogs and lollies, and ate under a rock while people passed us by and this is when we realised we'd missed the blue lake completely!

We trudged along, all the while the toilets being the primary motivator to get to the hut, finally, relieved, we went on to find some very murky volcanic water, stenching of sulphur. This was on private land and we weren't allowed off the track. Finally on the last stretch we got a txt message telling us that the others where at the hut and we thought they had climbed a mountain, and were now behind us. We tried to reschedule the shuttle so that they could catch it later.

We rushed throught the forest, where a river had stollen our footpath for a bit and then frustrated finally coming out of the end and we realised that the bus had left without us and poor old Erick had run to catch it only to be 2 minutes late for the bus. We sat in the rain, waiting for the others, waiting for the shuttle and finally it came. By this time I was very tired and not really able to move.

We hopped in the bus, went home and we took a really very welcome shower, and then promptly plomped onto the couch and didn't move. After a short nap, we went to the station restaurant and we had really good food while real trains would go by and the entire restaurant would vibrate. We ate the best steak I have ever eaten, since I was in desparate need of protein for the poor muscles, it was a sure winner. We went home, climbed into bed and woke up next morning and made pancakes, with limited tools and a warped pan.

We then hopped in the car and drove like banshees home to Auckland. We stopped for lunch for 30 minutes at the The Thirsty Weta. We couldn't really climb out of the car without looking like geriatrics!

We are back and we are stiff but it was worthwhile and I did it!

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My butterflies have hatched!

nobody@vox.com(Colormonkey) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 02:44:04 -0700

We came home to a blackend chrystalis. Two hours later we had a fully fledged butterfly. Pictures speak louder than words so I will show you a picture. if you look carefully you can see the other butterfly at the back. This is the part where ideas take flight!

IMG_0512

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Paint your world with Bravia

nobody@vox.com(Colormonkey) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:22:48 -0700

SONY BRAVIA Advert

This is a great advert for high definition colour on an HD tv screen. It's so very whimsical and enjoyable to watch. There is a show on TV called Myth Busters and this was the one thing they tried to prove. The wanted to prove that if a paint bomb exploded in a house, would it paint all the walls? Well, no. Not really but it does have a very high visual impact.

I think when one wants to advertise a product that deals with something a vibrant and as fun as colour, one has to look for new fun avenues to express it. Bravia has also done an advert with bunnies and balls and there is so much that they can use. The question remains, why use the clown at the end. It is obvious that someone messed with the sprinkler system. Perhaps the clown is a larger than life colourful character that gets people to laugh and enjoy the joke with them. Or perhaps he could be the colour representative for the Bravia TV.

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NZ vs Namibia (colour swatches)

nobody@vox.com(Colormonkey) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:54:08 -0700

Comparisons

These are two very differing landscapes with different times of year. Even though the Namibia picture appears warmer it is taken in winter. The colours dictated are rich red earthy tones and deep browns. New Zealand, is a much softer palette with the darkest colour being a deep navy blue/midnight black.

I did this to show a difference in the visual influences in the way we create. We grow up with certain palettes in our immediate surroundings. I grew up in Africa, so I have that rich, bright sun touched colour palette, and now I have moved to New Zealand where the sky is almost alway foggy, and colours are always tinted with the white of the clouds.

I am enjoying this experiment because it shows me what people fail to realise about the deep rooted colour palettes with carry with us.

This way of working, using a colour photograph can assist with the selection of colours for a brochure or any other printed material that uses the picture for instance. If you use colours that will create harmony, since the picture is natural, and even if it isn't a natural environment, use the colours and sights, the rich textures to create your work.

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Caterpillar colour swatches

nobody@vox.com(Colormonkey) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:50:15 -0700

Caterpillar-colours

Previously, I referred to drawing from the environment to acquire a certain palette relating to where you live and play. This picture was taken in my garden and then I used the colour-picker on Photoshop to collect and retract a variety of swatches that work well together, as they do in nature.

The colours you will see are on both the caterpillar and the leaves and background. Something about all the colours here just works. They all fall into the same types of colour ranges, for example the yellow, mustard yellow and cream, and then you have the greens.

Taking colour from around you environment makes you notice that you don't notice everything. On the caterpillar's face, you can see some orangy spots, but they are actually that shade of sludgy mud.

Have fun finding the colours that work well on paper because they work well in nature.

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Life cycles

nobody@vox.com(Colormonkey) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:56:41 -0700

There are caterpillars on the plant outside my house. We will not squash them, because we are more interested in the metamorphisis taking place. These caterpillars are the yellow and black caterpillars that create the most gorgeous Monarch butterflies.

We have been watching them for some time now, and they have basically been eating the entire tree. There are very few leaves left and they are chomping away like there is no tomorrow. There is one hanging curled in upside down in the process of turning into a chrysilus (pupa). These little green pods house the butterfly inside in its development stage. They are beautiful, they have a gold thread across the green pods. Inside, there is a butterfly which breaks free after a couple of weeks, after development and then stretches and dries it's wings and flies away and starts all over again.

I have included a couple of videos, I also have some photographs of the caterpillers, inbetween stages and the chrysilus. There were also aphids on the plant, and where there are aphids there are ladybugs. No adult lady bugs to be found but I managed to find 2 larva stage ladybugs.

Now you have to notice these things, basically stop and smell the roses, and with us we are watching carefully. I think what astounds us is that these caterpillars are always in a life cycle. Like these caterpillars, every work of art also starts off as an egg, an idea being incubated, it comes out, you gather everything you need, this is where you munch and munch until you eventually have to go into a "pod" and the end product, although it's taken weeks to get there, is something beautiful, something graceful, majestic and vibrant.

I will keep you all updated on our little life cycle's process.

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Illustrations - A brief overview

nobody@vox.com(Colormonkey) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:09:22 -0700

These illustrations were done using Photoshop.

I had a visual reference to create these.

I usually start off using a thin brush and do an outline which gets changed as the picture evolves.

Using layers, I then add snippets of colours starting from the most basic underlying colours and build the item up using a variety of shades and not forgetting to look at the reflections and textures on the objects.

Layer by layer, I add a vast array of colours to eventually get that 3D effect. Experiment with brushes and see which effect you get the most from it.

Throw in a few reflections and light using black with a variety of opacities for the shadows and white for the highlights.

(C) Please note that these pictures are copyrighted and can only be used with the permission of the artist. The images may not be reproduced in print, web or any other image making process including photocopies, digital applications and screen printing.

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Think about it

nobody@vox.com(Colormonkey) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:43:11 -0700

When I start to design a logo, I need to start thinking about what message it needs to send out. I want to create something that truly gives the idea it needs to communicate.

I reckon it would be better to sit down and mind map all the connections with that brand or company, even if it is just an icon, you'll need to do this to get the best results. Another thing to do is to draw all the doodles you can draw and then pick one of the better ones and refine it until it can become something amazing.

Sometimes life just kind of catches you and you end up just doing things in a sweep, you have to take that time necessary to create choice products at the end of the day. I prefer to take my time on something and do it properly than returning to it over and over to get a finished product.

Think about it. Don't overlook the little things.

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Colour my world

nobody@vox.com(Colormonkey) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:39:49 -0700

Isn't it interesting how ignorant we are of our surroundings? Why don't we notice the minor details and if we can't notice the minor details, why don't we notice the bigger ones?

IMG_4374 copy

I have come to realise how ignorant I am with regards to my environment. I have just moved country, been living here for a year and I have picked up on a few things. In New Zealand, the natural environment has a very big role in the designs that happen. For instance the pahutakawa's on the Southern Motorway's concrete walls.

I was just at a recruiter and she made an interesting mention that the Australian design is so much more desolate, dry, scorched, just like their surroundings. They use the red earthy colours and the deep blue sky and all the shades inbetween. Living in New Zealand, is a different environment. It is a little island in a remote place with soft cloudy skylines and a plethora of green and chocolaty rich browns. The sky line offers a pastel artwork reminiscent of a Monet. Everywhere you look there is a open area of water, which ranges from a deep blue, to turquoise, to a soft white foam. If you look at the beaches, you get Piha charcoal volcanic colour to the white purity of Pakiri Beach not too much further up North.

From now on, I am going to try to echo the environment in my designs.

Look around you and notice the colour.
You'll be surprised!

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