The theme for this month's art challenge is my favourite colour combination: Blue and gold. Lifeforms or livery, technology or fashion, whatever your chosen subjects from the Star Trek Universe, blue and gold must be the featured or prominent colours. And I want to see that gold glittering and gleaming!
Despite coming up with this month's Art Challenge theme, I didn't have a clue what I was going to do until rather late in the game. I had an idea to do a map vaguely similar to the one I did back in 2019 - and even got as far as mocking up a little gold Oberth - but I couldn't (and still can't) envisage the finished article, so I moved onto something else. Here's how far I got with the map:
I might finish it off at some point, but I probably won't. Anyway, you came for cut-outs, so here they are - as fashioned over the weekend of 24th/25th July - a pair of Andorians with a selection of gold ribbon that I've acquired over the years:
Despite the forecast promising overcast skies the next day (just like the weekend), every working hour was blue skies and sunshine out of my window. When at last it was time to shut down the blasted laptop, a haze of cloud appeared. Because of course it did. Anyway, I managed to get down to the beach and take a few photos of this Andorian thavan and [his] shei (just in case there were no more nice days for the rest of the month) - this one is one of the better ones:
Oh, I made their hair out of little, downy feathers I collected on a walk, and the frisbee is one of the rings from the aborted map idea.
Here they are again at just gone 7:00 in the morning. Jadzia and Worf made it to the beach this time, too (along with "Big Bird") - well, I had to make up for last month's lack of beach action.
I must admit, I'm really pleased with how it came out. For a very rushed photoshoot (down on the beach before work on Friday 27th) with only about a metre or so of sand between the waves and the sea wall (the photo makes it look like there's quite a bit of beach, but there's not - the Andorians "enjoyed" a surprise paddle!), I think it looks pretty good.
However, it's no good for the challenge as the blue and gold are too subdued because of the bright, morning sun behind them. I went down to the beach Saturday evening with the hopes of getting a shot with the sun in front, but it was far too cloudy. And, even more annoyingly, far too people!
As the weather hasn't cooperated with evening jaunts down to the beach over the past couple of days, I had to resort to tinkering with the latest photograph in order to brighten things up a bit. But it hasn't really worked as I can't get their gold beach-wear to gleam. Instead, I've had to rely on the sunlight glittering on the sea for the gold part of the theme:
That's it for another month. I wonder what August will bring?
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May 2020 - Princessium and the Po
April 2020 - Into the Arboretum
March 2020 - Brighter Future
August & September 2019 - here are the links to their existence on the TrekBBS: And it was *this* big! & Under the Sea... (August 2019), and Spytember (September 2019)
July 2019 - Blue Food (and the warm up: Baby Plastic Sperm Whales...)
June 2019 - Boldly Go in Infinite Diversity
May 2019 - (the leaked final scene) X Marks The Spot, and the main attraction: Treasure Map
April 2019 - Oops-A-Daisy!
March 2019 - Disco78
January 2019 - Caught Red Handed
October 2018 - Anomalous T-Shirt
September 2018 - Two Soups
August 2018 - Wild Things (and its prequel: Seeing Double)
July 2018 - Revenge of the Baby-Sat
June 2018 - Making Money
March 2018 - Murder On The Dancefloor
February 2018 - Narwhal in a Spacesuit
December 2017 - Unfinished Business
November 2017 - Let's See Your OC!
October 2017 - Celebrate Good Times, Come On!
July 2017 - Walk Like An Egyptian
June 2017 - Foreign Relations
May 2017 - Driven to Distraction
February 2017 - Of Prophet's Tears and Verteron Nodes (plus the warm up: The Celestial Temple Cries Golden Tears)
December 2016 - "Did the plan fail, Edward?"
November 2016 - Winter Solstice
October 2016 - Twisted October: Star Trek Art Challenge
Blue aliens in beachwear? I haven't (Tom Daley et all excepted) even seen a pink human in beachwear this year... Jx
ReplyDeleteI know! Blasted weather... I don't really like the sun/heat as I get hot extremely quickly and burn easily, but we're being denied the one thing it is good for - namely, exposing sculpted physiques!
DeleteMy super-hot jogger went past the other day in a hoodie! What a disappointment...
Getting gold to gleam in photographs is always tricky - you can find yourself at a very odd angle to the rest of the world, albeit only briefly. Anyhow, the cutouts look wonderful!! I think the last pic has an element of Micheal Bentine's Potty time - which I used to love.
ReplyDeletePlease tell me there isn't going to be a Star Trek Olympics?!! I have had my fill of sport this year.
Sx
I had to look up Potty Time - I see what you mean! I don't do the voices for my cut-outs, though (although I have talked to them on occasion...).
DeleteNo. No Star Trek Olympics. I haven't seen any of the normal Olympics so far (thankfully), but I am watching the cricket - albeit sporadically.
This is fascinating. One day, they will do a retrospective on this work in a museum. Those photos on the beach are stunning. There's something very exciting about this... and it's not that it's Star Trek related, although that will be the big appeal for some. It's your passion... on display and the skill with which you operate and create. Bravo.
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you uptonking! Although, I rather think that the museums need to have got to a point when they've dispayed almost everything else, and are scrabbling around for something else.
DeleteI do keep all the creations I come up with, so I'm going to have to do something with it all one day...
This is so cool! You're very talented! Did you actually take these to the beach as cutouts? Or did you take the pictures separately and photoshop the aliens into the beach scene? Either way, I really like it and it looks great!
ReplyDeleteHa ha hah! Photoshop?! I can barely work MSPaint!
DeleteNo, these cut-outs are taken out-and-about for their photoshoots, preferably where people are not so that I don't feel like a complete berk while I'm posing them and taking their photos. But, thank you!
P.S. As crimes to sideboards go, your latest is rather lovely!
DeleteI was an accessory to the crime, as it was a reblog. I didn't even notice until I saw your comment. It should be back to normal now. :)
DeleteI'm up for a rousing game of groyne hoopla. Did the sea wash away their footprints or did they glide?
ReplyDeleteYou know, I'm really annoyed about the lack of footprints. I thought about it as I was walking down to the beach, but forgot by the time I got there. I did them for those Wild Things, Koromandis and th'Thanticar back in 2018, though.
DeleteBloody tourists.
ReplyDeleteI'll be glad when Summer's over, Mago.
DeleteDid you hear on the news that the constabulary are after the person who's been filming porn on Cromer beach? I won't tell them for a small consideration.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally is your energetic field blue and gold?
My field is a shameful blush pink at the mo! I'll send you a real cowpat for your trouble (not like those fake ones you sent down with the charabanc).
DeleteThey're fab even though they're Star Trek-related.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Very Mistress. One day, perhaps I'll do some non-Trek cut-outs. Maybe I could do us? Cut-out Blogorati - there's an idea...
DeleteI was going to share this as a blog post on my page, but Blogger won't let me create a new post. (I'm very frustrated at the moment!) At any rate, I read about these ghost ponds of yours: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/01/norfolks-rediscovered-ghost-ponds-offer-up-trove-of-long-lost-plants
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, I looked up some ghost ponds a few months ago after a I read an article on the BBC about them. There are quite a few contenders around here that could do with being brought back to life.
DeleteSpeaking of, I hope some life can be injected into Blogger to resurrect it, too!