There Was Movement at the Station, for the Word Had
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There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around That the colt from old Regret had got away, The Man From And had joined the wild bush horses - he was worth a thousand pound, So all the cracks had gathered to the fray. Snowy River All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and far Had mustered at the homestead overnight, For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are, And the stockhorse snuffs the battle with delight. There was Harrison, who made his pile when Pardon won the cup, The old man with his hair as white as snow; But few could ride beside him when his blood was fairly up - He would go wherever horse and man could go. And Clancy of the Overflow came down to lend a hand, No better horseman ever held the reins; For never horse could throw him while the saddle girths would stand, He learnt to ride while droving on the plains. And one was there, a stripling on a small and weedy beast, He was something like a racehorse undersized, With a touch of Timor pony - three parts thoroughbred at least - And such as are by mountain horsemen prized. He was hard and tough and wiry - just the sort that won’t say die - There was courage in his quick impatient tread; And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eye, And the proud and lofty carriage of his head. But still so slight and weedy, one would doubt his power to stay, And the old man said, “That horse will never do For a long a tiring gallop - lad, you’d better stop away, Those hills are far too rough for such as you.” So he waited sad and wistful - only Clancy stood his friend - “I think we ought to let him come,” he said; “I warrant he’ll be with us when he’s wanted at the end, AIRVOLUTION 1 For both his horse and he are mountain bred. AIRVOLUTION1 The following article is a big one folks but rather than just show you a bunch of photos of the finished project, we have provided an extensive step by step of the entire production. The article is about a recent airbrush project by Tony Vowles. Each section of the article delves into a different aspect of the project and we hope you find what follows interesting. AIRVOLUTION2 The Man From Snowy River Project A person from a country town in Victoria; Peter Jolly from Benalla, rang Tony recently and asked for assistance in organising a car to be airbrushed with an artwork with a Man From Snowy River theme. He had the specific intention of it being used to create awareness about Beyond Blue’s support services in helping people in rural regions suffering from depression. This article is about Peter Jolly and his ambition to make a difference. AIRVOLUTION3 It can be very hard to get good photographs of cars with complex artworks like this one. While the photos could be better, you will get the idea. Its best if we get Tony to tell the story from here. Tony Vowles . I do very little commercial airbrushing at all. My favourite word when asked to airbrush is “no” and my favourite phrase is “I don’t do commercial airbrushing - but I have many many students that can help you.” But in this case Peter had already approached several Airbrush Venturi students and they had all declined. Once Peter explained AIRVOLUTION4 The Man From Snowy River Project that the whole project was about creating awareness of Beyond Blue and that they had a proper budget for the project and a proper window of time for its production, I agreed to take on the job personally. But most importantly, Peter was a nice guy . genuine. I took it on because I have been working on the development of the new Custom Paint Master Classes where people learn to airbrush whole cars in a 10 day period. The project was a serious research exercise where I could document the entire process and check all the systems that we teach. AIRVOLUTION5 Did I say that I am extremely reluctant to do commercial airbrushing? I assume all customers are going to be I started with this photo, removed the background, including through the glass and digitally replaced the glass and took the “a pain in the arse” until proven that shadow of a studio photo of a car to complete the look. they are willing to be as organised and professional in their dealings as they expect of me. In Peters case he had gone to a lot of effort, taking photos and developing the concept, so I had a good feeling about the project but still was not willing to go ahead until I could develop a clear idea of what would be involved and then give him a price. I am so paranoid about having problems with clients that I am not willing to be creative once I start airbrushing a clients artworks. I do the This is one of the major aspects to our creative stuff on Photoshop, print off Custom Paint Master Class, the use of the concept and if the client approves Photoshop to fully develop the creative it, they sign the back. I don’t start until design process BEFORE the students they have signed off on the photoshop begin airbrushing. It completely stops the concepts and paid 50% in advance. horrible doubts that you have when you are airbrushing the artwork about whether the So for me everything has to be fully client is going to like the job and if you are formed on Photoshop before I will even going to get paid. quote on a job. I risk going to a lot of effort only to have the job fall through, I must say that Peter was a dream to deal with but I prefer this to the alternatives. from start to finish. He really trusted me. AIRVOLUTION6 The Man From Snowy River Project Initially Peter had wanted me to use stills from the movie, (some shown here). I started with this photo, removed the background, including I literally told him that the photos were through the glass and digitally replaced the glass and took the shadow of a studio photo of a car to complete the look. “shit” and suggested that we start with the poem . make the poem the feature and build images around them that told the story accurately. What Peter didn’t know was the fact that I absolutely love this poem. I have been reading it out loud to my children since they were little. This poem is a part of my life, it is embedded in who I am. So when it came to creating this artwork it meant a lot more than just “a job”. This was a once in a lifetime project. I didn’t just enjoy this project, I loved it. I have had quite a number of people express all sorts of opinions about the boldness of the poem and the muted “bluish” colour scheme, as if they were not thought through. Quite the opposite, if anything I ‘over-thought’ the design of this artwork. The photos will show how much thought went into the design of the artwork. AIRVOLUTION7 heading Once I had created a clean studio look for the base concept images, the next step was to look at where to place the design. Peter had already told me that he wanted it to start behind the front wheel arch, run around the back of the car and end at the same point on the other side. I have this thing about “honour the steel”. When I do custom paint, I am very careful to use the design to reinforce the contours of the car, to make sure that the design does NOT camouflage the shape of the car . something that I have seen all too often. The two design placement photos (below) show what I went to Peter with first. Every step of the way, I asked Peter for his opinion. I never go to a client with a finished design concept!! I work with them from the very beginning. Again, this means more work at the start, but if everything goes well, it saves a huge amount of time later . and goes along way to earning the trust and respect of the client. Peter and I agreed at every step, which was wonderful. On the next page you will see the final shape we all agreed upon. AIRVOLUTION8 The Man From Snowy River Project Right from the start two things were very clear in my mind: 1. The poem had to be the main feature of the whole artwork concept. I wanted the poem to really be in-your-face. People don’t read poems any more. I purposely wanted to try and make people read it. “Words” matter!! I spend most of my life in either research of writing up the results of my research into course structures and student guidance. Words are my life. 2. I needed a way to break up the story; that I would need the poem to create the division in the visual story line. Without a “divider” then it would have been much harder. There are 13 stanzas to the poem. Grouping them in pairs was the only realistic groupings that I could think of. If I tried to fit more, then the text would have been minute and at even two stanzas, this size caused huge problems and required heavy condensing and very tight kerning.