NEGATIVE IMAGES

I have been playing around with negative images on Paintshop.  I love the effect of it on these photographs - all the warm orangey-brown colours of the Atlas moth have turned into shades of blue/turquoise and the effect is ethereal and night-like - very suitable for the subject of moths!  I have used the top image as a background for some moth-based artwork, and I found that using a transfer gel creates a more elusive and a less dominant image.  

Page from sketch book using transfer gel and negative image photograph

                                                             

Steampunk art

I'd never heard of Steampunk art until I read an article on it recently - it's a genre that gained prominence in the 1980's, and inspiration from authors such as H.G Wells and Jules Verne. It involves a setting where steam power is still used, but includes elements of science fiction/fantasy - a Victorian vision of futuristic innovations.  I love the mix of the old and the new,  and the opposition of nature mixed with engineering.

I decided there and then I wanted to do a piece of Steampunk art work, or rather, my watered-down version of it!  I finally found a use for the bag of watch and clock bits I've been unable to part with for the last few years!  So....I got it out of my system and here's the result - not Steampunk art exactly but two pieces loosely inspired by Steampunk art.

'Mechanical Moth 1' - mixed media collage

 'Mechanical Moth 2' - mixed media collage