This is in the next of the slideshow series of creating alcohol ink and digital "common art" as a coping mechanism during the SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 pandemic. This set uses visuals from prior alcohol ink scans...to create new shapes based on the learning of how to apply vector masks in Adobe Photoshop 2021. Ideally, unique shapes would have been used, but at this moment of busyness, those will have to be created and applied in another time.
4. Sleet
⢠This is the latest in the slideshow series of alcohol ink âcommon artâ as a
way to cope with the SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 pandemic.
⢠At the time of the prior slideshow, I received the second of the Moderna
vaccines. I had a light fever for a day but was totally able to function and
carry out all duties. The arm was sore at the injection site for days after,
but it was minimal pain.
⢠It felt like a metamorphosis of sorts after a year and a third of caution and semi-
lockdown and social distancing and masking.
⢠I know to be grateful.
⢠For the next while I plan to still engage in all the above to keep those
around me safe.
⢠Also, I donât care to be a âbreakthroughâ case.
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5. Sleet (cont.)
⢠It strikes me that coming out of an enforced âfast,â it is not wise to
gorge (although that is the prediction of some experts about how
humanity might respond). At least one is predicting a âroaring 1920sâ
partying outpouring and release.
⢠As people, we have such a hard time recognizing risk and danger.
⢠We have such a hard time extricating ourselves from our own obsessions.
⢠In game theory, a âdominatedâ play is a losing hand, an unjustifiable
position, a play that paces a person into a place without recourse.
Letâs not.
⢠People can be talked out of extraordinary advantage.
⢠They can act out of non-self-interest and irrationality as has been shown in a
large body of economics research.
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6. Sleet (cont.)
⢠âSleetâ is a play on the idea of water and inhospitable weather. So
much of the present moment still feels inhospitable.
⢠Then, in late April, we actually got a snowstorm and snow / icy surfaces.
⢠Where I live, it is not only weather that can be unpredictable. Alcohol
ink is a mercurial form full of surprises, even over time.
⢠The pigments in alcohol ink do mute from the wet state, but after the drying,
they seem to be âlight fastâ over time.
⢠The inks contain an internal forcing function because of their fast drying.
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7. Sleet (cont.)
⢠My current struggles with âalcohol inksâ and âdrip playingâ are still
many of the same ones.
⢠I am still striving for sparsity and not going overboard. I am still struggling
with applying too much rubbing alcohol to the inks and flooding the space
and ending with erased details.
⢠I am still struggling with impatience and fast results when I should learn the
brushstroke techniques with alcohol inks.
⢠It is very hard to start with an idea and build to that concept. It is
easier to play with the inks and see if an idea emerges. Someone
with more control could start with a concept and build to that
concept.
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8. Sleet (cont.)
⢠As long as I am learning, I am okay with âmisfiresâ that I end up
recycling. (The synth paper is a #5 plastic.) My intention for each
work is for something interestingâŚbut still also somewhat aesthetic.
My purpose is not for purely decorative work, ever.
⢠In future rounds (each slideshow âepochâ), I will use brushes and
other tools to move the ink before it dries and freezes in place.
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9. Sleet (cont.)
⢠The digital salvaging of the alcohol ink âcommon artsâ pieces benefit
with each new learning in the digital image editing software.
⢠Of late, the ability to use pre-defined shapes as âpathsâ for visual
cutouts means various flower and other shapes. Overlapping these
can result in cool visual effects, as may be seen in this slideshow.
⢠This new approach has breathed new life into former âcommon artâ scans,
too.
⢠The technical power in digital image editing often goes unappreciated
because the interface is so straightforward, and the computer does the heavy
lifting.
⢠So hereâs to âre-use.â Most of the visuals here are based on former scans of
former alcohol ink works.
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10. Sleet (cont.)
⢠Many of my best works in the alcohol ink space come from accidents
and experimentation. Many of my best works in the digital image
space come from iterating until some interesting result occurs.
⢠For digital imagery, it is possible to go for âendless recursionâ and keep
working one visual to another for different cool ideas along the way.
⢠I finally learned about vector masks, so here are a few here. (These give a
sense of âfinishâ or ârefinementâ on top of the alcohol ink âcommon art.â)
⢠This experimentation is about staying mentally limber.
⢠It helps to keep with a series of experimentations by numbering these
and seeing which ones work best. In most cases, though, one work is
all there is behind the concept and the effort. There is no more road
after #1 (at least for that moment).
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11. Sleet (cont.)
⢠Every visual âinspirationâ feels like a little spark of excitement, but
some do not bear out to something workable.
⢠And then for works that seem to have value, that value may or may
hold over time.
⢠What charms me right now might not charm anyone else (or the future me
looking at the work with a more critical eye).
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12. Sleet (cont.)
⢠When drawing something visually, one is âselling an idea,â and there
has to be enough of the original object or phenomenon and the
cultural story to evoke the thing.
⢠When depicting, there is always something of fiction, fancy, pretend, and
illusion.
⢠Conversely, one has to control for accidental (non-intentional) forms
that occur; otherwise, viewers will assume that the form is purposeful
and will interpret that as such.
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