Volume 9–3 (Low Res).pdf

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Color
abstractions,
experiments,
manipulations
Like a blank canvas to a traditional artist, a blank
monitor to a computer artist can be either intimidating
or an invitation to plunge into a joyous adventure.
Some artists are adept at simulating traditional
techniques on the computer. Some welcome it as an
aid in simplifying and speeding up conventional
processes. Others, like the artist whose work is represented
here, see the computer as a unique tool with
a character all its own. The work on these pages was
created in the course of experiments with a variety
of computer options. No pre-existing graphics were
used. The work was solely a dialogue between the
artist and the computer.
One small horizontal dash was the start of this
pattern. By cycle painting, the artist created a series
of multicolored dashes arranged in a vertical line,
which he chose as his "brush." Writing with this
brush horizontally across the field, he established a
pattern of vertical, overlapping strokes which provided
depth and grain.
This abstraction started with a cross-hair — two
thin intersecting lines in the middle of the screen.
The artist then selected the cycle paint option which
reproduced the lines in a continuous stream of colors
as long as he held the electronic pen pressed down
on this option. These multi-colored bands then
became his "brush," which he manipulated to create
the design form. Repeating the form elsewhere in
the frame, as he did at the bottom, is called"writing
the brush." The strong grid lines of the pattern were
smoothed off in some areas by horizontal blurring.
This strong free-form pattern started with a
vague, amorphous shape of high color value. Using
judicious horizontal and vertical blurring, and by
manipulating the color map to achieve high contrasts,
the artist achieved the textural effect and
illusion of depth.