Photo Editing in Real Life

Yesterday was a glorious day in the chronicles of the Jabberwocky. The kind of day which, if we were in a musical, would have been a song. If we had been starring in an 80s film, it would have been a montage and if we’d been in ancient Greece, it would have been endless, perplexing epic poetry.

As with all things, it began with starting the van, much to the obvious delight of the neighbors, at 9 am on a Sunday morning. We needed to get it clean before our army of Jabberwocky enthusiasts arrived to give the Beast its true colour. After trundling to the local pressure-washer and back the Beast was arranged in a nest of tarpaulins to steam in the sunshine while we gathered our tools, our thoughts and our beer.

I had imagined the sanding would take longest, but having armed the lucky few who got there early with paper the job was done in less than two hours. This meant we had time for a thoughtful lunch and some refreshment, while the conversation drifted around photo editing (as often exhibited on this blog), and I recieved much expert advice on how I could create a realistic green effect, using various picture tools, on a yellow van. At the time, full of lunch and largely ready for a siesta, these seemed like reasonable concerns, and it took quite some time to work out why we needn’t have had the entire debate.

Lunch over we seized the afternoon, took up paint brushes, and gave the Beast deep brunswick green. The paint was an enamel designed for coaches, with the secondary function of getting everywhere. The gloopy green goodness gradually spread as we laboured through the afternoon, and by tea time the Jabberwocky was finished. I’m fairly convinced that the Beast is now probably bullet proof, weather-proof and able to camoflage itself in a row of 1980s german police vans (accoring to several German friends), and I think that it looks just right. To prove it here is a picture of the Beast as it is today, real-life-photo-shopped to perfection in its magnificent new coat.

Thank you to the 16 adults, one toddler and a dog who made it happen. One day we will look back on this day as a moment in history. Or just a really nice sunny day one Spring Sunday – I think both work.