Consider This...

Here is a short animation I made using Videoscribe. On Twitter today the RSPCA (@RSPCA_official) were kind enough to tweet that it is a "great video with an important message." 

Truly Remarkable Animations

This is a highly imaginative adaptation of the Victorian phenakistiscope method of animation. For a little more on the phenakistiscope click here. 

Sand Art

Way back when, at a time when the BBC still had the good taste to include magic shows as part of their output, Paul Daniels would include unusual acts as part of his show; one of those acts was sand art.

Fortunately these days, the internet provides access to examples of sand art.  Ilana Yahav is a world renowned sand artist appearing on television from Europe to the Far East. Of course due to British television companies' perverse stand, in complete contradiction to the rest of the world, to avoid broadcasting any act that might come under the label of variety we're unlikely to see her on British television. (Years ago, the then person in charge of the BBC who said that 'variety is dead' further demonstrated the 'accuracy' of his knowledge of public opinion by also saying that Doctor Who was unpopular and cancelled the show, apparently with the view that it would never be aired on our screens again. Hmm.)

Anyway, below is a video of Ilana's work entitled One Man's Dream. Ilana Yahav's website can be found at http://www.sandfantasy.com/

Updates on Projects

The question that I have received most is ‘Why have you stopped uploading videos of your work?’ I have not stopped making the videos, they simply have not been uploaded yet. The reason for the delay is that I have been using different methods of filming other than time lapse photography and the results require more time in editing them into short videos. The reason for the change was to obtain a better quality of picture in the videos. The camera and software being used had a setback of a low resolution when in time lapse mode. It is a bit of an oddity considering all the other modes have a high resolution.

I have tried editing together a series of photographs for several oil paint portraits and the results are okay. Because the paintings take more than one day, it is a reasonable method to use but it is of no use when concentrating on a drawing or ink sketch which can be finished in an hour or two. It is too much trouble to get the right amount of photos, it interrupts my concentration and prolongs the task in an unacceptable way.

For these reasons, the time from the picture being completed and the video of the work being uploaded is now much greater.

Another reason, as far the project The Dead is concerned, is that the videos have been held back until after this year’s Remembrance Day. Although it was explained that the project is for Remembrance Day 2010, based on only one video from the project being made available there has been continual questioning from people regarding its use this year. Therefore, as stated above, no more videos from that project will be uploaded until sometime in November.

The only other piece of news is that the project Magicians has been given a longer time scale for completion due to the list of portraits required being lengthened.

Portrait of Romany, Diva of Magic

About the Sketches

A number of people on Youtube have asked me about my sketches of magicians. Two questions keep being asked: 'Why Magicians?' and 'Why are some shown in old age?'

There's one answer to both questions. These sketches are for an exhibition which is to be themed. All the sketches are drawn in ink. All the sketches are of magicians that have appeared on British television. Some of the magicians will have two portraits done of their appearance on a 'past' and 'present' basis. Most of the portraits done so far are 'in the present' portraits; the exception is Wayne Dobson whose portrait is a 'in the past' portrait.

One question, only asked by a few people, is 'are reference photos used?' The answer is yes. However, I don't attempt to replicate one photo. I have a small number of photos showing the facial expressions of the person in question, I choose one for the pose and then incorporate whatever 'character' I can see in the facial expressions of all the photos. For example, in the David Berglas portrait, the photos I used showed that he has a 'lazy' eyelid on one eye. Not a flattering detail but if I 'corrected' it in drawing a portrait it would undermine any attempt of presenting a resemblance of Berglas. These things are the 'distinguishing marks' that make each of us recognizable in even the simplest of cartoon drawings. That's where I had a problem with Wayne Dobson's portrait as a young man. His features were very symmetrical and so I had very little to use to increase the individuality of the sketch to highlight that it is Dobson.

Only one person asked me 'why are the sketches being filmed as they are being drawn?' Partly, it's a sort of video diary of the project progressing. Partly, it's for the tentative plan that under each portrait in the exhibition will be a small screen repeatedly showing the portrait being drawn. (Whether the latter will happen I don't know.) And partly, to publicise the project. Not all the videos will appear on Youtube. One has already been held back.

I hope this has been of help. I'm happy to answer any further questions. Please contact me at john.helvin@googlemail.com and replies will be posted here to the most prevalent questions.

Sketch of Robert Harbin

Although the end credits say 'time lapse photography', this is more of an animation. I didn't use the time lapse setting on the camera; instead I took photographs at various intervals during the drawing of the sketch. So the regular, automatic intervals of time lapse was not used. So is it strictly still a time lapse film? Also, I used only the one sheet of paper and not various cells of the sketch appearing - so is it strictly still an animation? Who knows?

The quality of image is slightly better. The detail can be increased even more and I may attempt this on a future video.