Just Sharing: Knotted Up

[Tom Robbins]

Explored the fading color and texture of an ordinary utility pole recently.

Tom Robbins Knotted Up​

I didn't see it at the time, but noticed something resembling The Scream when viewing the results on the PC.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Tom,

I have a liking to your selection of unique natural patterns. This is another finding that has an attractive central pattern that does indeed seem like a face, almost a gargoyle! If this is near you, then perhaps you might take it either early or later in the day and see if it has a different appearance. This is an interesting find!

Asher

 

[Rachel Foster]

I was wondering how it would look in black and white.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Intention of the artist: low saturated low contrast colors of wood in the bright sun.

Hi Rachel,

Tom has apparently chosen a pale coloring to deliver the feel that he wants. So I don't think this will work as well in B&W. The array of light earth tones is what give this a special gentle richness will be lost in a monochrome.

I personally feel it's too sun-drenched and would like to consider something bolder here, (but that's, perhaps,not the picture intended). Still, a good B&W rendition with compartmentalization, might be blended with the original to derive an abstraction which could be even richer.

Imagine this is at sunset and one removes the colors? The same, to my mind applies here.

Asher

 

[Tom Robbins]

Hi Rachel and Asher,

Thanks for your comments and the interesting ideas.

The little scene was spotted around noon on a cloudless day. The aspect that initially caught my eye was the weathered texture of the wood. The thing that hooked me was the vestiges of sienna color remaining on the surface of the pole. Given enough time, wood exposed to sunlight turns to silver. This slow change is similar to photographic film, don't you think? The weathered surface texture provided just enough protection from direct sunlight to allow the shaded nooks to retain traces of their original wood color.

At any rate, the high noon sun may not have been the best lighting for the subject. A reflector was used to ease the shadows, though that's hard to believe with this web version of the thing. The pole isn't going anywhere for a couple decades, so I'll keep an eye on it under different lighting conditions as the seasons roll by.

 

[Rachel Foster]

I'll look forward to seeing the effect of different lighting on the image.

 

[fahim mohammed]

Hi Tom,

Could you do this at night with a flashlight from different directions? I am just curious how it would turn out. In color or bw. eeekkk!

To me this is pale and a could use a little sharpening. But then that might not have been your intention!

Best.