Wallace Koopmans Artlog

While having an idea is great, if you are going to share it with others at some instant you have to put it out there.  Well I have an idea and that is to create some images that are comprised entirely of buttons.  The idea of going straight into some monumental work without figuring out how it will all come together is not likely to come close to my vision.   To start off I thought I would do a small scale piece.  So what did I learn?  I need to work on a larger scale.  Each button is like a pixel and the more pixels the more detail.  The other thing is that perhaps I was a bit too subtle with the button in relation to the background.  No not any particular button but the button that is made from the other buttons.  “Fascinating” you say yes “Fastening” I say.

As far as piles of rubble go this one smells pretty good.  It has that aged wood smell of an old building only intensified by the fracturing and the light rain.  This  image  came about when the excavator was going to relocate so I moved to this side and placed my Pentax PC35AF against the fencing.  It’s difficult to ensure the fence doesn’t obscure the lens because it’s viewfinder is not through the lens, but with care and luck I was able to capture the moment that created this composition.

I have thousands of buttons that I want to use to create some paintings, that part is great.  What isn’t great is that I am hindered by the lack of a subject.  I’ve thought about how we have become so disconnected from our clothes and their manufacture.  I was reminded of this while looking at an old photography of my grandmother darning a sock.  I’ve considered also the history of textiles and it’s relationship to women, but am I right to tackle that?   I do have one image in mind that I will likely do to help develop how I will use the buttons and the amount of effort required, which I suspect will be considerable.

Having completed my small water colour rough and having in mind how I wanted the image to look I forged ahead with an oil painting.  In the first image you can see the under-painting where I have laid out the composition and tones.  After that had dried and I found the time to paint (seemingly the most difficult thing lately) I began to paint more directly.  The next stage will be to make a few corrections and to do some transparent passages over the water.  After that I intend to add some small details to strengthen the sense of scale.

I recently had my Canon QL17 with me when  returning from a social function and I had two exposures left on the roll.  The other one is of  me driving so we will just leave that one where it is.  The other one is this one.  I waved at the security guards as I drove past, I think the shirt and tie confused them,  turned around took this exposure and drove away.  I have post processed this image but to be fare that is really to make it match better how I perceive it.  One thing about a camera it doesn’t record  how something makes you feel.  But even someone who doesn’t see this as a cold industrial edifice can’t help but be slightly swayed by the cool tones I’ve enhanced