‘The Passionate Artist ‘ Production Day 3

Up at 6 am to catch the light and find a few magic spots. Been working on the script and trying to get the balance right so theres at least 20 minutes of painting and 8 minutes of story telling. I want this show to be one that shows ‘how to do’ yet be as entertaining as possible…with a ‘no holds’ barred type delivery from me. We also want it to be the very best in camera work with shots that are ‘painterly’ and ‘special’ in some unique way. Editing will be likewise. We don’t see the time at the easel as pedestrian either as most such moments seem doomed to be by the very nature of whats being done. But I’m going to wind myself up for these and show you close up exactly what I am doing with the paint and the brush and what I think as I do it. So expect something quite different.

Now today we had a new assistant turn up unexpected to lend a hand and advise on the finer points of shooting in the jungle. He had a tendency to get in the way more than help but we found that a few red ants sprinkled around him made him reposition so we could get on with the job at hand.

Looks like we have got the opening to the show done and its got the bang we want along with the challenge to view whats following. That’s always a hard part to get right because it can either make or break where the audience is for the next 30 minutes…with me or elsewhere! Doing these shows is not a straight forward a…to z process .They’re done like a jig saw with maybe the 23rd minute being the first then the 6th minute next and so on.It all depends on the script, the weather, the crew, the props and so on. Its a real case of good teamwork and everyone agreeing on the best next move.

This is really working. I’ve just seen the opening rough cut and it looks fantastic. Thanks to Jock and Mai who helped with moving gear, setting up and makeup. More tomorrow.

I’ve also been working on the magnifier for artists. This has been ‘blowing wind up my skirt’ for years. See there’s nothing out there except the one I bought about 100 years ago for a Hasselblad camera that fits the artists need. It cost way over $100 though! An artist magnifier is a special piece of gear- it must have the right magnification so you can see where you are going next (3X) in the photo, be able to view and hold the photo at the same time with one hand, must work off natural light and should adjust to whatever your eye condition is. And it must be affordable.

It looks like I’ve got it knocked on the head by redesigning and modifying a few on the market already but designed for other purposes. But the catch is I need to make up a 2000 to get the price down under $20! But I think I’ll go ahead with this.

I’ll let you know in the next weeks. I’ll also post on my site and on You Tube how you use this and exactly what such an aid can do to improve your painting. It gave me a huge edge years ago when my wheels were stuck up to the axle in mud!

More later,

Happy painting…….