Weekend away

After a rather photograph filled weekend away I've discovered that I've used up all my flickr allowance for this month. Plan B is to share the rest here so these are the "best" of the photos I took on a trip to Argyllshire (except for these ones that made it onto Flickr before the space ran out).

Hopefully I'll have more flickr allowance next month when normal service is sure to resume!

Best Before

Last night was my final illustration class. I completed my illustrated book of Nancy Somerville's poem, Best Before. I've submitted it to the Art Studies Student Exhibition at ECA so all going well it should be on display at the Art College from 16th - 23rd April.

Also seen here is one of the images from the book done as a relief print from my weekend course. I hope in the next few weeks to complete the remainder of the illustrations in the same style.

And finally, I made the badges very quickly in the class yesterday. Now I want a badge maker!

Printing weekend

roller
Originally uploaded by designjr

I've been very busy over the weekend taking an introductory print making class at Edinburgh Printmakers with Leena Nammari (www.leenanammari.co.uk/) who knows so much about printing.

My prints are still drying in the studio but once I get these back I'll be putting them here for all to see. In the meantime as is the way of things these days you can see my photos if you click on the roller photo.

Animation

While working on my Etsy shop I discovered the animations of Katie Armstrong. I decided they were so cool I'd share them. I don't yet know how to put video on here but if you click on this link you'll find her.

I especially like Goodbye Sorrow. It's amazing what a difference slowing a song right down can make. I'm looking forward to seeing the website again once it's finished getting its hair done!

Clansmen

Clansmen
Originally uploaded by designjr

A bit of sports photography was the order of the day today. People are not usually the subject of my photos nevermind action shots so it was definitely a learning experience. I think the results look ok but I was eying up other peoples cameras with big zoom lenses. It would have been better to get close ups without putting myself in danger!

Sweet tooth fairy

Last night as my baking obsession kicked in I had an idea! I am a regular baker and like to share the baking (for obvious reasons). As a result I'm often asked for recipes for things so I thought why not share them with my blog readers.

This week I baked chocolate and hazelnut biscotti (they all got eaten before I thought about taking a photo so I illustrated them instead). The recipe was adapted from Good Food magazine. I'd love to see the results if anyone tries these out, I could even put your photos on here!

Ingredients:
2 medium eggs, 100g caster sugar, 250g plain flour, 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, 1 teaspoon citrus peel, 25g chopped hazelnuts, 25g roughly chopped dark chocolate

Method:
Beat the sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Mix together the rest of the ingredients then fold the flour mixture into the eggs and sugar.

On a floured surface shape into a sausage and then flatten. The dough should be roughly 3cm high.

Transfer onto a baking sheet covered with greaseproof paper. Cook for 30 minutes at 180C or until golden brown.

Chop the dough into 1cm thick slices and return to the baking sheet cut side up. Put them back in the oven at 160C for 10-15 minutes until crisp. Cool on a wire rack.

I'm told that if you prefer them a little chewier you can leave out the last cooking stage!

cup cake bonanza

I'm getting the feeling that some extensive cake baking is on the horizon. In anticipation of a cupcake baking and decorating session tomorrow I've been doing my homework. I found the following amazing sites all about food and most importantly baking:- Whisk the Pantry, Baking Obsession, Milk & Honey, Honey & Jam to name but a few (I have been "working" on this for a while!)

Type Camp - Buffalo, New York

I'm so excited I've just paid my deposit for Type Camp in Buffalo, New York this summer! (yes, it has already been pointed out to me that I am a special sort of dork but I'm ok with that.)

One whole week spent working with type "...ink under your fingernails, cast your own lead type, and even use power tools to kern letters." - how cool does that sound? :-D

Right, I'm off to start packing...

Update

Sorry folks, I have been very bad at updating my blog recently. As well as photography I've been busying away with illustration and web design and not letting you see any of the results. Here's a wee sneak preview of my illustration work for a book I'm creating. All going well the real deal will be available to view at Edinburgh College of Art in April.

However it is with fighting talk that I am starting my day today, I'm determined that I'm going to finish my website really soon (this week maybe) and I think the more people that are expecting it the more likely I am to finish. Well, that's the idea anyway!

So grand unveiling of my website coming soon...

Roll up, roll up!

It's been a long wait but I've finally got the film developed from my SLR. The results are...well it depends how you look at it!

The camera definitely still works and doesn't need cleaned but the photographer needs to work on focus and basically learn how to take a decent photo. Nonetheless here's the best ones (they're few and far between and Alasdair took one of them) completely unadulterated in photoshop except the cormorant one which has been cropped.

I got two free films when I got them developed and I will definitely be out practicing some more so stay tuned.