"Starling Fight" Artwork: SMaP Entry

One of my own artworks-from-urban-decay called "Starling Fight" as an entry to this week's SMaP contest.

Over the years I have developed this style of art where I take macro photographs of weathered urban surfaces such as rusty metal or cracked paintwork and use Photoshop to add some wildlife.

The process of weathering always produces effects with a natural feel, usually with patterns that repeat but do so with great variation. This makes them look fascinating but also reflects the natural world - think of the repetition-with-variation in snowflakes or tree branches or sand-dunes or even bird feathers, for example.

It was this resemblance to nature that gave me the idea to produce wildlife art that in effect forces the viewer to look at these urban decay patterns in the same way I do. To see them in a new light.

When I take the photograph I am just trying to create a good composition and the idea for a wildlife scene usually only comes later as I look at the image on my computer. In this case the flaky paint had a dynamic feel with little pieces apparently flying around that made me look for something dynamic. The blue colours hinted of sky with the red suggesting anger and therefore the idea of birds fighting in flight came to mind. It was then a process of working out the exact composition.

Technically, the trick is to blend the wildlife into the background. There are several ways to do this, the most obvious here is how the upper starling is clearly behind some of the red flakes of paint making it appear as though it is within the paintwork itself.

My favourite kind of wildlife art or photography is where something is happening but the outcome is unclear. I have no idea why they are fighting and although one of these starlings seems to have the upper hand exactly what happens next is up to our imaginations.