Surfer - sand raking

In my last post I showed you my first attempt at sand raking. I had used simple cirles to make a more complex shape and this kind of technique is perfect for when you can simplify your artwork in this way. I figure that that is how the crop circle guys do it and that is why they are usually geometric patterns. For this one I wanted to try the next level up and do an actual drawing.

It started with the sketch above of a surfer. The area around Bundoran is known for it's surfing with some of the biggest waves in the world. It has actually hosted a few world championships over the years. That Atlantic coast can be really something and to see these guys trying to ride it with their boards takes a special kind of crazy.

I thought my image would be quite apt and would be a good test of trying to grid up a picture.

I overlayed a grid of squares on the design and then stringed off a grid on the beach 30 x 30 meters, Each square was 2 meters in size. This took bloody ages and also a lot of string.

Then it was simple enough to just draw out the lines and rake the dark areas like a big monotone paint by numbers.

Why bother

Again, my same issue with not having a high vantage point or one of those non-existent drones (This was 2010) meant that it was really difficult to see what it was. It felt like more just an exercise to do what I did and of course the surfers on the beach that day were none the wiser to what I was making.

I could see the above image from a little hill close by and it was enough for me to know that I did something that looked OK. Of course the tide wiped the canvas clean again a few moments later. I packed my bags and my assistant and I drove home with this being the best image I got of the drawing. It was archived away until now when I am writing this post.

I was nearly not going to post this as, well, the image is crap and it would just be me talking you through it and not having anything interesting to show but then I thought I would try some photo software and see if I could do something to make it worthy of your attention. I stretched out the image and...

Voila !!

There you go. Using this simple transform you can now see what it looked like from a bird/ drones eye view. I was so excited I even made a lickle Gif to mark the occasion. Maybe I will add photo manipulator to my resume and go work for ILM.

So there you go. Over the last few days I have been getting excited about sand raking again and want to try and deform the grid I lay on the beach so that the image looks correct from one vantage point, have not worked that out exactly just yet. Or, better still just go buy a drone and have my very own eye in the sky. I think If I ever do make some money from Hive that will be the first thing on my shopping list.

alt

Ps

Thanks for reading. I use PeakD to document my work as an ephemeral Sculptor of sand, snow and ice, amongst other things. This will hopefully give it a new life on the Hive Blockchain. Below you will find some of my recent posts.