The original:
The brief:
The idea of creating a floating piece of land was raised by Scott earlier this week, and it's one that intrigued me.
Of course, the idea of castles in the air has been around for centuries, perhaps most notably realised by Rene Magritte in 1959. His version had a stark, weighty quality that made it all the more surreal; what I'm after is something that looks altogether more plausible.
Your castle is here. Can you make it float? Use as much or as little of the hill as you need. Or, if you prefer, choose your own building.
Finished work:
Click on images for larger version.
The original:
The brief:
A slightly more technical Challenge this week, after last week's flights of fancy.
Here's a flag I photographed a few months ago. It was outside a military airbase, and the blue serves to indicate something or other - not sure what, sometimes it's red, sometimes it's green.
The important thing about this flag, though, is that it has no design on it. And that's what I want you to remedy: I'd like you to place your own country's flag onto this one, making the result as convincing as you can.
Not easy, this one. I don't think there's any quick way of doing this. But can you make your flag look real?
Finished work: (this is the flag of Derbyshire - my spiritual home!)
As usual, click to view bigger.
The original:
The brief:
This Sunday is Mothers' Day here in the UK, and of course I'll be taking mine out for lunch. But where should we go? Can you picture the scene?
I'm not giving you any pictures of my mother, of course. But you can assume that she looks something like me, so here's the mugshot I used in the latest edition of the book.
I have a feeling I'm going to regret this...
Finished work: (not exactly following the brief but, hey, you've got to rebel occasionally!)
Click to view full size.
The original:
The brief:
I spent some time in London's National Maritime Museum over the weekend, which has a wide range of entertaining and interesting seafaring artefacts. I was taken with the construction of this display case, which has been made to look as if it's constructed of rusted metal and ship's planking.
The object inside, though, is rather dull, and the walls (this was the children's gallery) are overpowering. Could we come up with a better setting, and a more interesting exhibit?
Finished work:
The original:
The brief:
This innovative poster hoarding on London's Oxford Street doesn't seem to be doing its job very well - everyone's ignoring it. What can we do to make it more impressive? Surely there must be some way of capturing the attention of passers by?
Finished work: (NB: no fish were harmed in the creation of this picture!)
The original:
The brief:
I had to meet a colleague from overseas recently, and could think of no better meeting place in central London than the cafe in the Great Court at the British Museum. This features a recently completed glass roof covering what was previously a windy courtyard, transforming it into a beautiful indoor space: everywhere you look, you want to take a photograph.
Of course, it really comes into its own when the sun comes out, at which point... well, what would this scene look like on a sunny day?
Finished work:
The original:
The brief:
I dropped into London's National Gallery this week, and in the entrance hall they had this rather splendid model of the building, located on the north side of Trafalgar Square (Nelson's Columns is out of shot to the right).
The thing is, though, that the street we're looking at here has been pedestrianised since the model was built. Can you bring the scene up to date? Or can you think of a better use for this street? And can you make the model look more like real life?
Finished work:
He wanted realism - it's England so there must be rain!
