Yellow Brick Road
C Type edition of 9
The sumptuous glossy images that define the work of Claridge & Lilius are the result of two independent artists from divergent disciplines coming together and combining the best of their respective creative and technical skills. The large-scale high-resolution photographic prints of the finished works are the end product of a long and complex set of processes. They are the direct result of a painter and photographer working in harmony to produce a unique vision of colour and form.
Somewhat unassumingly the process starts out as little more than a 2”square being marked out on to Claridge’s palette. Into this area the painter starts work on a miniature oil painting. Sometimes this is based on a collection of colour sketches worked out beforehand, equally however he may let his mood take him and allow the brush to lead his hand. Once happy with a composition the finished oil painting is mounted vertically and it is at this point that the painters’ work is done and the two artists disciplines cross over.
A medium format camera loaded with an extra fine grain slide film and fitted with a macro lens attached to a set of extension tubes is brought into position millimetres from the surface of the still wet oil paint. It is at this point that possibly the most key decisions are made between the two artists as they decisively adjust the lighting and viewfinder to exactly create the composition that will ultimately be blown up 40 times the size of the original painting. Any mistakes made at this point will of course be 40 times worse in the final print!
When both are happy with what they see through the viewfinder Lilius takes over and makes all the appropriate and necessary adjustments for exposure, depth of field, direction of light and of course focus. He has to be incredibly precise in all these manual calculations. In macro photography these factors are absolutely crucial to the final result and any misjudgement will render the shot worthless.
Once the film is wound on and sent to the developer the agonising wait to see the results begins. The images are shot on slide film to ensure sharpness and colour reproduction of the highest quality. As soon as the slides can be reviewed the best shots are selected and then sent to be drum scanned which creates a huge digital file of incredible quality. This enables Claridge and Lilius to review the image for the fist time at a large scale. Any digital manipulation is kept to an absolute minimum. Only the removal of dust particles and the refinement of the crop are done digitally. The primary purpose of drum scanning the slide is to enable C Type printing at a scale and quality that would be impossible if done manually. Digital C-prints are photographic prints made by exposing a sheet of Type-C photographic paper to light inside of a light jet printer.
As the prints emerge from the printer it is a moment of incredible tension and excitement as for the first time the finished work is revealed and the depth, richness of color and fine detail present themselves on the glossy paper.