Cormorant Collage

I take photographs of weathered urban surfaces. Things like rusty metal and flakey paintwork. It's all around our urban spaces but we tend to wear blinkers that prevent us seeing its beauty. One of the features of this weathering that I have noticed over the years is how the patterns it produces are very natural. With a little close gazing it is easy to see dramatic mountain landscapes and intricate coastal scenes buried within the corrugated metal or stratched-up paintwork. There are trees and meadows and just about any other natural element you could imagine, all tucked away in the forgotten/ignored corners of our towns and cities.

I love the photographs in themselves but recently started using them to make collaged creations of wildlife in recognition of the naturalness of the weathered patterning. The cormorant above was the first one I came up with in this style. I am pleased with it and still can't quite believe that the clouds in that sky were just the remains from advertisements that had been glued to a blue wall then later ripped off. To me they look like I must have painted them myself.

The land in the distance is a photo of an old wall, dank and moldy from years of exposure to rain but hidden from the sun. The cormorant's body came from a photo of years' of build-up of oily residue on the outside of a street-vendor's cooking corner - an ugly little spot until you lean in close for a view of that detail. I took the photo in the morning well before the cook arrived to start the evening's cooking so didn't have to explain what I was doing. There is also some drippy paintwork, rust and cracking plaster work in this final image.

I created it using Photoshop and a vague plan of the final outcome. It looked a bit too flat until I thought of adding the splashing water which makes it much more dynamic and adds depth. One of the key aspects of creating it was being careful with how the patterns and shapes were positioned. For example, the curved yellow line that gives the bird a throat pattern is not a random placement, and neither is the dark rust in the foreground water that gives a sense of the cormorant's reflection.

I have also made this into a physical collage by printing out the original photographs of weathered textures then cutting them up and sticking them together on a stretched canvas. I like it but have decided that I do not like the way it wraps around the sides of the frame. I did this following the advice of collage-makers on Youtube and quite enjoyed the process of working out how to get it right but to me it looks too much like a coffee-table book in wrapping paper that I intend to give to someone as a gift. I might do another version with the full image on the front with an edge and the sides painted blue as a frame. However, the thought of cutting out and sticking down all those fiddly little drops of water puts me off the idea for now...

Cheers!