Renlish

Dugite - a living shadow.

“Pussy cat, pussy cat
Where have you been?”

“I’ve been to London
To visit the Queen.”

“Pussy cat, pussy cat
What did you there?”

“I frightened a little mouse
Under her chair.”

(Even when writing about my cats, I manage to get something about London in there.  Obsessed. I tells ya.)

Twilight in July

Her eyes the glow-worm lend thee,
The shooting stars attend thee;
And the elves also,
Whose little eyes glow
Like the sparks of fire, befriend thee.

No Will-o’-the-Wisp mislight thee,
Nor snake or slow-worm bite thee;
but on, on thy way,
Not making a stay,
Since ghost there’s not to affright thee.

Let not the dark thee cumber;
What though the moon does slumber?
The stars of the night
Will lend thee their light,
Like tapers clear, without number…

– Robert Herrick

The Regent’s Park, London, 2006

“More than once did Elizabeth, in her ramble within the park, unexpectedly meet Mr. Darcy. She felt all the perverseness of the mischance that should bring him where no one else was brought, and, to prevent its ever happening again, took care to inform him at first that it was a favourite haunt of hers. How it could occur a second time, therefore, was very odd! Yet it did, and even a third. It seemed like wilful ill-nature, or a voluntary penance, for on these occasions it was not merely a few formal inquiries and an awkward pause and then away, but he actually thought it necessary to turn back and walk with her.”  — Pride & Prejudice, chapter 33.

I’ve got to get back to the UK. I enjoyed myself so much there – and Scotland too for that matter.

More info on The Regent’s Park here.

Grasses at the estuary, Port Lonsdale.

On the 29th of this month, it will be the first anniversary of the wedding of the manbeast and I.  It’s been an interesting year.  Foregoing the honeymoon, we opted to use the rest of the cash left over from the wedding to put towards a new house.  With a little help from Mrs E (my mum), we were able to purchase the wonderful castle we now live in. We’re still getting used to its quirks but it’s home. It’s ours.  And the bank’s.

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Full list of stock credits can be found on my deviantART page.

Another for my Dragon Worlds series.  Been working on this one for a while. Still not entirely happy with it.  I think it’s because it’s in portrait orientation rather than landscape. It’s not quite as epic as I was hoping it to look and I think the lack of background is the reason why.  Feel free to leave your opinions. I really can’t fix this without starting from scratch and that’s something I’m not really inclined to do unless I’m particularly inspired to revisit Photoshop and battle the dragons again.

Full stock credits can be found on my deviantART page.

The Washer of the Ford
There is a lonely stream afar in a lone dim land:
It hath white dust for shire it has, white bones bestrew the strand:
The only thing that liveth there is a naked leaping sword;
But I, who are a seer am, have seen the whirling hand
Of the Washer of the Ford. » Continue Reading…

I absolutely adored London.  It was big and dirty and scary.  It has the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the Churchill Museum (which I adored), the Brittish Museum (which was unfortunately filled to the brim with school kids). I loved the muffins and juice we got from the little cafe right nextdoor to the hostel we stayed in. I loved the fact that we were right across the road from Shepherds Bush station.  I even adored how people got really narky when you didn’t stand to the right on the escalators but didn’t actually say anything to you until they managed to get past and then they’d only grumble and insult you under their breath. I loved being in the shadow of Big Ben. I loved walking through Regents Park even though Allison and I were trying to find London Zoo.  I love how English people don’t know how to queue.  London is fun.

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This began life as a design for a friend’s photography business however it seemed to take on a life of it’s own and by the time I finished the logo, it was nothing like what we had discussed or where I had initially wanted the design to go.  So, to that end, I created a “fake” business (my apologies to any real photography businesses called “Blue Lotus”, if you like this we can talk) and let the design speak for itself rather than trying to make it fit a completely different concept.

The above, of course, is the front of the business card.  I achieved a sort of “cool zen” with the colours and the minimalist design.

Sorry Tam! Soooo not what I was thinking for Talisman Photography.

For the the first part of the assignment, we had to design a logo. The second part was designing stationary; A4 letterhead and  and letterhead follower, compliment slip, business card and business envelope.

PS – Illustrator causes me no end of heartache!

Just getting back into the swing of things and practicing some new techniques in Photoshop.   Almost got the painterly effect going (though that wasn’t the aim).  Below you can see a picture of the after/before comparison.  All the details as to the stock providers and a bigger version of this image can be found on my deviantART account, and the image “Nereid”.