Shahrukh Khan's successor (Spoilers)

Shahrukhs successor "Red" the cockatoo, Postcard 44/366

May I introduce you to "Red" the cockatoo, the bookmakers best bet on Shahrukh Khan's successor. In case you don't get it, in Bollywood films it is always extremely windy, even if you are in a perfectly normal british house, the hair of the actors and actresses is always flowing nicely in the wind. And yes he doesn't look happy. This is not something you should do with an aninmal (or person)!

Weeeell, so this is what happens when I adhere to my new motto: Just do it and then keep going. My intention was the following postcard, but instead I ended up with "Red".

Postcard 45/366

Have a great new week!

Illustration Friday: Fluid

Postcard 14/366

What a creative day! I've been enjoying drawing all throughout the day and just a few minutes ago, I've finished my first ever illustration on a topic, for Illustration Friday. As it says on their website: "Illustration Friday is a weekly creative outlet/participatory art exhibit for illustrators and artists of all skill levels". I wanted to take part for a few weeks now, but didn't. This weeks topic is "fluid" and I thought it is a perfect fit for my stuff.

Postcard 15/366

Nevertheless I've wanted to do something special and came up with the "Fluid Fountain".

"Fluid Fountain"

It was fun to draw this.

Illustration Workshop with Aljoscha Blau

On January 21st I attended a workshop on illustration hosted by the Berlin-based illustrator Aljoscha Blau (http://aljoschablau.com/). In short: It was amazing. For the longer version read on.

It was one of the events that our local artists supply offers regularly. Therefore all the materials we might have needed were included and I could hardly wait to try them. In the end we worked with Gouache. It was quite interesting to try it and I found that I don't like it. I think watercolor/aquarelle is more my thing, not that I have tried it recently, but the colors seem to be more luminous than Gouache.

So after Aljoscha had introduced us to illustration in general and showed us different styles, he showed us how to prepare the paper.

Afterwards he demonstrated the succession of steps to get to an illustration. We wanted to see him inventing a "Fishfrog" (No, not a pollywog!) and this is what he came up with (drew) in a matter of seconds.

After masking it (a technique completely new to me), he created the background for the "Fishfrog".

After the Gouache had dried, and we had started with our own illustrations, he further created and painted the unmasked "Fishfrog".

The finished "Fishfrog".
On the left side of the paper he showed us some effects of the Gouache.

Naturally, the time flew by in a moment and I guess all of us attendees could've watched Aljoscha illustrating for hours on end. It's absolutely fascinating to see the process. And it is also exhilarating to illustrate myself.

Over the brim and out of the bucket - A Story with Photographic Illustration

First a tentative glance over the brim. Oh, the wonders to see and experience. 'Okay, time to overcome the anxiety and leave the bucket!'

A last glance at safety, at the world I know so well. 'Do I really want to do this? To leave the place I know so well? The walls, with all their cracks and splinters?'

Hanging in the air, one leg outside feeling for the ground, the other still in the bucket, still in assumed safety, undecided...thoughts racing...feelings fighting each other...hanging...thinking...feeling: anxious, frustrated, exhilarated, daring, impatient, scared, wobbly... And then.. my foot brushes something...sound footing. That makes the decision for me. I take my other leg out of the bucket and let go of it.

My both feet touching the ground, standing there on the ground for the very first time. And for the very first time looking from the outside at my bucket. It seems so small...but it felt big enough when I was in there... so small, my world had been sooo small...

Starting to look around, without even noticing it taking the first steps away from my bucket. And then I look back and ... was this really all I knew? It is so small compared to the whole world.

Just turning the next corner, there are new sights to see, odours to smell and flavours to taste.

The open road stretches out before me, with endless possibilities. To tell you the truth I'm a bit anxious, cause I can only see the next few steps. But wait what is that other feeling? Excitement? Exhilaration? Joy? A mixture of all of them. The open road beckons me:
'Come along. Take one step at a time and I'll show you wonders that you haven't even dreamt of.'

'Well then...'

And I start walking...

Concentrating on the bigger picture - A photographic illustration

For years I've been concentrating on the details, shutting out the big picture. The reason? I felt like I could control the minutiae, but not the big picture. However, yesterday I realized, that I got lost in the details and through that destroyed the big picture I've been trying to create. (Well, this realization had already been simmering under the surface for quite a while. It often surfaced when I pondered my skin troubles. But I didn't fully realize that it encompasses all other areas of my life too.)

For example I did this with my skin, obsessing over blackheads but not getting the overall skin care dialed in. The daily "end" result: "Streuselkuchen"-Skin (no, this isn't medical term). Same goes for my drawings, obsessing over little mistakes, that won't be recognized, until you take a magnifying glass. Food? Same story. Applications? What do you think?

So, yesterday I've decided to concentrate on the big picture instead of the minutiae.

This is the reason for this series of photographs they illustrate this journey from the minutiae (not even seeing the water because of all the weeds) to the big picture (the open sea of possibilities or in this case the open lake, the Neusiedler Lake in Austria to be exact). I think I'm currently somewhere

in between. Not completely free, but I can see my way and more, the weeds are on the sidelines, but sometimes still getting in the way. It is as Mark Twain said: “A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time.”

Do you fall into the minutiae trap sometimes? How do you get out?