The brief here was to arrange a composition that indicates human presence in some way without actually including the figure and to think about creating an atmosphere that has an element of mystery.
This obviously references you-know-what. Except instead of California blue skies and a pristine pool, we have the polar opposite. Based on a derelict lido at Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria – never been but it caught my eye in a Google image search for UK lidos – all boarded up and graffitied. The lines in the foreground point directly at the mystery ghostly plastic chair. Can of beer and cigarette added for extra seediness.
I left the sky unfinished because it felt oddly right the way it was. I twixted and tweened about whether to include watery reflections in the … water – or to leave it as an expanse of flat colour. I chose the latter. I wanted a dirty green – did I go too dark? – maybe; bears no relation to the sky – but kinda works all the same.
Below are some digital ideas, working toward the final composition.
