secret smile

Little secrets, little gifts

to give someone a gift of happiness and not wanting anything in return is a beautiful thing.

to give a friend a secret note, to bring a smile to their face.

Heart made of sound- video

Softlightes - Heart Made of Sound from missha on Vimeo.

This one is amazing. The epic amount of words to be animated and thought of. an idea for each one and an idea for the musical parts and how they'd be represented. Some of my favorite parts where the guess who game, the slinky, the ice cubes, the sound part that is burnt. it's all goooooooddd.

Same director and same band as the previous post.

Wonderful Dreamy music video

The Softlightes - The Microwave Song from epb21 on Vimeo.

This is an amazingly dreamy song that transports me to a dream land. The video is equally dreamy and I love the use of light and colour.  The backgrounds, everything is amazing. At first I thought the singing hands were just daft and took the piss abit but after a while I loved them, they made me laugh and think of all kinds of wacky things.

The director is 'Kris Moyes' 

I will be posting another music video he's done for them in the next post but you should really check out the website and the rest of his work. plus all the videos on the website are good quality and better than the compressed ones on vimeo or youtube. This particular video benefits from better quality visuals.

Sunday morning childish antics

Todays' (is that correct grammar?) random childish thing I did was, as I walked to the shop there were lots of paving in the layout of a brick wall. You know, disjointed an all. Well I walked over these pavings and tried to place my foot in the middle of them and made sure it didn't go over the edge where the mortar is that sticks them all together. So lots of silly walking down the street, it was a sunday morning so nobody around, however a lot of towering apartment buildings are around so I'm sure someone looked down on me and thought that I looked a tad weird. ah well. Then I pretended they were all alive and made sounds for each one of them, imagine you stepped on a person and they'd make a sound wouldn't they?

" eep, eek, uuh, ug, aarr, oi, ou, ouch, ggrrr, fuk, gerr orf me ya fatty, honk, beep, squeak ".

If ya can't do something like that on a sunday, then life would be a bit dull me thinks.

light

i look back, i see pain, i see mistakes, i see wasted time

i look forward, i see only mist, searching for a light

Thursday socks

Thursday strolls on by. feeling blue, feelings confused. my socks are confused by other socks.
my week is starting to go downhill. i don't know what to do

Wednesday socks

Wednesday arrives. these feet have me done well. took me to a few great places. great laughs. mid-week, targets not met, could my working feeting let me down from here.

Tuesday socks

tuesday is here and so far, so good. slight hangover, but my toes are still tingling for trotting around.

Monday socks

Monday comes, i'm feeling good. It's a new day at the start of a new week. got me new socks on, i'm 'gonna rock em'.

escaping sand

grains of sand

passing through our hands

impossible to contain

time runs away from us

our life passes in a flash

oh how we try to get back the years

feverishly running around

you can't stop life escaping us

you can't stop death becoming us

the sand will disappear

your hands will be empty

enjoy, savour, embrace life while you still have it

regrets only open the gates wider

share your sand with others

share your love with others

i'll share if you will

wheres wally

I saw a fella today dressed just like wally from wheres wally. in this shopping centre in leeds. had the walking stick an binoculars an everything. i spyed a lady up on a balcony photographing him and giving him instructions by waving her arms around. everyone was amazed by this vision, i don't think many of them saw the lady up above so was a bit startled to see some random fella dressed as wally. i guess it was an art project.

it was enough to make my tea drinking habit more interesting

contextual study - Irina Rozovsky

Unlike other blogs that merely show some pretty pictures and nowt else, I on the other hand go into a bit more depth.

Granted, its a bit self-involved why i do this, because I do this to learn more about contextual writing. Also i do this just because i can and i enjoy looking at photography and other peoples work, then analyses it and responding to it.

This first image, is wonderful, it's the photographers mother and she's reaching up, she has a welcoming smile. kind of like, "come down from there dear, it's alright, mothers' here."

The second image is a great example of a moment caught. The picture really gives the viewer a strong indication what might be on this old chaps mind. disapproval - busy thoughts - power - malice.

The third image............"chocks away old chaps" hahaa. This bird is going for it, duhduhdahhhhh pigeon dive.  this is such perfect timing it's unreal, or it's a fantastic fluke. either one, it's great. I also wonder if the poor bird has just suddenly died and fell off that little wall.

The final image is very dreamy, full of scope. it's conjours up images in my mind of ufo's, space, wise old sage, promised land, utopia, heaven and oddly enough that giant turtle in terry pratchett's discworld novels that carries the whole world on it's shell.

check out the website of this russian photographer Irina Rozovsky

connected language

when worlds collide

when two or more people connect and start their own way of communicating, their own language.  a way of exploiting words, changing them, creating new meanings and significance. We have that on a regional scale with regional slang and sayings but when it's on a more intimate level, it's more fun. i like it when you talk to a person and other people around ain't got a clue what your jabbering about. 

connections...however tangible should be looked after.....that is was holds us all in place.

we wouldn't want to wobble all about now would we?

certainly not I.

well i've met someone like that. in the most mundane of spaces......a lift.

"I am over the distant aubade of the neon blue moon, that you like my language" - gemma pallett

Recent prints - sneak peak

A sneak peak at some recent prints of mine. this relates back to an earlier post about 'screen printing blues'.

these prints took bloody ages to do, due to things breaking and going wrong.

i am working on words, sayings and what not.

the BIG DRAW preparation day

Preperation for the BIG DRAW commences.

the big draw, apprantly it is a national event but i only know what we do at our uni. This year's theme is 'beyond the line'

so my tutor Andrew Wilson-Lambeth came up with the idea of having wooden cubes made up and painted black. For us to draw the outside of letters with any shapes and decoration that we thought of.

The plan was to film it and animate it and make a font from it.

Here are our efforst so far. more photos and perhaps a video will be posted later when the big draw happens.  Out of the pictures I drew the 'G' and the 'F'.

in total I drew 'G', 'F', 'X', 'M' and 2.

I am all for this event, art taking place in public spaces, we take over the main library. the idea of annoying boring library staff and students pleased me, in a twisted satyrical way.

the drugs don't work

Currently listening too -

'the drugs don't work' - by the verve

so many things are drugs or could be classified or justified as drugs.

coffee / ciggies / booze / paracetamol / asprin / multi-vitamins / pill for this / pill for that / pill for stress / pill for your joints / pill for your bladder / pill for depression / pill for that hole inside you / pill for your heart / pill for your blood pressure / pill for your fat belly / pill for your nerves / smoke for your nerves / work / success / goals / ambitions / acceptance / on and / on and / on and / on and / on

SILK SCREEN BLUES

screen printing blues -

i normally love the process / right from printing the film out, exposing the screen, washing it, drying it, prepping your paper / mixing inks, then aligning your artwork, taping off the screen, turning on the suction, printing a proof out, checking it, then printing /

push squeedgy left to right -

pull screen up slightly - 

flood coat right to left - 

pull screen all the way up - 

check print - 

place in drying rack -

repeat

However this week i have had two posters to print out. which is nowt, but the film machine broke, the inks were wrong ( i mixed them a bit naff like), the silk screen was old and old artwork came through.

in total this all took 3 days.......... 3 DAYS!!!!

so i have the screen printing blues. i will not be printing there for a while. i'll draw letters for a bit.

simple pleasures

i was walking down the street today in town, a fashionable lady was in front of me and she had big clip-pity clop-pity shoes on and the noise her shoes was fairly loud so i tried to walking in time with her so the noise my feet made added to her clip-pity clop-pity.

NO IDEA WHY

it amused me

font ideas

flow - movement - direction - beginning - end - middle is the journey - water particles flow and follow a smoother direction - air particles are erratic - they judder - spread with their environment - lines flow down stream - lines/flowing/ink/paint/water could be mapped out with lines - a stencil font could be constructed and set up to be put in the path of the flowing water/ink/paint and the strands of ink could be used to make a font.

shape of things to come - more ideas

life in stages / life in bits / life in shatters / life in strands / we are stuck together / strands of rope fray / we are all together in this life / in these bits / in these shatters / in the strands / in this glue

 a banner / wave your banner for your rights / for your beliefs / your mantra / your motto / your mould 

work under it / fight under it / maybe your work is your fight / or your fight is your work / same difference / no

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

ideas for a possible book.

wordball }

links / tenuous links / web / connected / spirals / life / pain / learning / home / old memories / same old place / same old faces / world seems far away / sheltered / need to get out / outside / out there / out where? / in the cold / exposed / vulnerable / enemies / small minded / small world / no roads / no direction / directionless / lack of / without / sat in a room full of people / people all around me / alone / disconnected / disjointed / invisible / vernacular / home born / nostalgic / home pain / dystopic / bad place / journey through / running away / running from / destination unknown / drifting / 

} This book is about the power of words, the emotions, the story, the journey.

inspired by alan fletcher and his books.

Where to go

Where to go from here. 

I have the next uni year ahead of me, so many paths will open up, so many oppurtunites too take. Which ones though?

Creativity is tough to work through, I need to start from somewhere, start from a seed.

ME

There is me, screen printing me random poster. 

ooohh I can't wait to get back to the screen print table. woooo.

I don't know but, some huge green sticker must of fallen down over my face, just as my mate was taking the picture.....it's a mystery. 

new website

I have a new website. at last.....

I have been working full time all summer and been to tired to work on my site and when i got a week off I had enough energy to get in done in a week, and that is with poor coding skills. wwooo get me.

WHY? - stills

These images below or snaps from my new project. Just a little short film. not really a film, I've got no idea what to call it, moving image I guess. It is just a little off shoot of my 'why?' publication. Questioning aspects of life. I took a series of photographs of me and my friend Phil Lazenby sticking up the posters that I screen printed and the idea came from there really. Even though it's a very short piece of footage, I am finding it very difficult to edit and structure because I have no experience in such matters. It's all fun though.

oblivion

To oblivion and back
to reach further than I ever have before
to be surrounded by niether light or dark

this is the unkown
my window to oblivion
my portal to nothing

this could be my future
I think I'll stay inside a while
safe for now

Foot Project

Here is a sneak peak at an ongoing project of mine. At moment it is called the foot project, not a very glamorous name but I haven't given it much thought so far.


It's a continuous photographic project that capturing my feet and the ground. Our feet are our primary source of transportation, according to not very official internet research, we walk on average between 40,000 and 115,000. which is a lot in my book. They get wear and tear, smelly socks, shoes, fashion items, pedicures, toenail polish and more. They are the unsung heros of travel. They interest me.

Floors, ground, surfaces is what feet travel on, they come in all shapes and sizes too. Different colours, different textures, some man-made, some natural.

I am currently not sure of why I started this or where it'll go or lead me or end up. hopefully this project will take me to different places, just like me feet.

If you see this and interested in the cncept, please feel free to e-mail your pictures of your feet too. chris@chris-to-pher.com

posttypography

post typography

these guys are great. they are designers who have a passion for typography and what to focus their work around it. which makes me feel quite vindicated, as typography is my passion and where all my ideas spawn from.
i think their volume of work is to a high standard and there is a good range of aesthetics coming through. their influences are quite apparant: push pin studios, saul bass, also in some of the type compositions i'm getting a feel of russian posters and some of the hand drawn work is of a simular humor and stlye of james victore.
i found there manifesto a bit pretentious because it stated quite clearly what they was against and how much they wanted to distant themselves from it all but left little to explain what direction they wanted to head in and what they was for.

i do admire their will to do something different and as an aspiring graphic designer this gives me more determination to do things my way and my language.

latest picking

this is a good interview with michel beriut. for those who don't know of his work, he worked for tibor kalman and pentagram. also he was in the helvetica film getting a bit carried away with the font and buying cola.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid711933027/bctid1366496264