These hazel catkins were the earliest sign of things to come I could identify at the outset of the new year—lovely long tassels with their acidic yellow-green pollen. To create these images for The Kick-About No.149, I scanned the catkins face-down on the scanning bed, but then laid two layers of organza down on top of them as an in-scan backdrop. I left the lid of the scanner up, and scanned the images in the dark. The resulting scans were then inverted digitally, with the catkins themselves then ‘un-inverted’, to return them to their natural state. It was all bit trial and error, but I got to these illustrative results in the end.



3 responses to “Catkins (2026)”

  1. Stunning Phil! I love the way you debunk these ideas that turn out to be so effective! They really look like old illustrations painted painstakingly by hand.

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    1. Cheers Big Fella – scanners do interesting things with depth and detail

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      1. I’ll have to invest in one!

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