Transmission II

 In working between working on the Maunsell project I had the opportunity this week to finish Transmission II. I have been working on this piece for several months and it will form part of a triptych alongside Transmission  and finally Transmission III which will hopefully be completed in the Autumn. The Triptych is based on the lovell telescope at Jodrell bank.

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www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/.../LovellTimelaps...

Getting started

The images below are my early representational drawings of the sea forts. These studies allowed me to start to understand the form, tone, textures and scale  and how if could represent them. They were drawn on a smooth fabriano paper which allowed me to achieve a greater range of tone with the graphite.

Sea fort study

Sea fort studies

Quick pencil study

As I was drawing the sea forts I was becoming increasingly aware of the graphic forms and textures within them. The pieces below are a more abstract approach to the subject. I have started to break the image down to more basic graphic forms used to form a composition in which to add texture and surface qualities related to the original drawings completed earlier.

Shape studies

 

Abstract form

Detail

Detail

Although by no means resolved I feel there could be potential and aim to take some of these images into the etching process.

Source of Inspiration

The Shivering Sands and Redsands Maunsell Sea Forts were built in 1942 at Northfleet, Kent and are six-eight nautical miles off the East Kent coast. They were created as anti-aircraft and observation platforms to disrupt  the German Luftwaffe on bombing runs to London.
The design and manufacture of these platforms was also the early  fore runner for the oil platforms of today.

The forts are visible from the Kent and Essex coastlines. They were  de-commissioned in the 1950's,

but were brought, briefly back into use in the 1960s by pirate radio stations.  The forts have stood derelict and disused since then acting as a reminder of the past conflict.

Project Redsand has been established to secure the future of the Forts and the group are working towards the listing of the Redsand Towers as a National Monument and Heritage site. Late last year I was able to visit the site by fishing boat  and board the towers for a couple of hours. I was fascinated and inspired by these futuristic and brutal  looking structures. I managed to do a series of quick pencil studies and record video and sound from the top of one of the platforms. I then plan to use this reference to create a new body of work inspired by my trip to the Maunsell seaforts.