blog.NewTangled.com

Spray Fan 1 (detail)

The image posted shows a detail of the surfer performing a hardcore cutback… this was inspired by a pic I saw in September 2008 Surfers Path Magazine of Dan Malloy riding a Bonzer, since reading that article I want to try one of those gizmo’s… a more efficient thruster!!  Dating back to the days before the thruster!!

I’n this design I’ve tried to capture the motion of the surfer showing the carved wave and spray fan almost as a vector field.  I’ve aimed for lots of motion and energy in the picture, throwing paint at the canvas and where possible using fast directional strokes of the pen and brush.

The colours I’ve chosen are hot and cold, high contrast and of a limited pallet.  I was aiming for a simple colour scheme to create a bold high impact image.  I wanted to create a design that was a perfect accent colour for a room, and a strong statement of speed and power.

The execution of the image is leaning towards a street art feel, blocks of colour, graf style curves, stencil work, tagging.

The Celtic work is freehand over a concept sketch framework.  It forms a single line and depicts a single human Zoomorphic surfer.  The following you tube is a rough cut of a time-lapse film I made of the final stages of the painting.  Other bits of the film (and eventually a edited and set to music version can be found on my videos page)

Little barrels right here!!! Love this, nearest I get is a Putsborough barrel :-/

When I first launched my site someone asked me “what’s Algorithmic Art?  I’d like to click on that and hyperlink to a glossary”… well I don’t want to chuck someone out of my site and straight onto a wiki and a glossary is a bit dry to write… hence a blog!

OK, I’m going to talk briefly about maths, 1 paragraph, promise

An algorithm usually a mathematical expression referring to a sequence of steps to figure something out eg. working out the average (mean) of something…

1. add up all the data
2. divide by the number of data elements…

Now before I induce a coma, end of overly simple maths!

So it follows that algorithmic art is a sequence of steps to produce a piece of art.  Here’s a fundamental algorithm for drawing a Celtic tangle.

1. Create a grid
2. Join the dots on the grid to form a network
3. Check that no more than 2 line cross at any point
4. (optionally) check the knot is good, ie forms 1 line or has a long path with ‘no rings’ or short loops
5. Draw lines in parallel with the network lines (leaving gaps near the intersections)
6. Remove the network lines
7. Interlace the knot lines

Simple.  As each step is completed in turn the picture is revealed to the artist as much as the artist is creating it.

There are additional steps that can be applied to this process to create different designs… in time I’ll blog on these I’m sure!!

In the art world an Algorithmist (or algorithmic artist) is someone who creates art from a computer process often involving pseudo random variables (numbers generated by the computer which are very nearly random).  I would argue actually Algorithms are prevalent in art (and many human activities) … maybe it’s fair to say some other examples of Algorithms in art are:

• Photo stencilling: Take photo, cut stencils, choose colours, paint
• Wood carving: 2D design, mark outer edges of wood, cut in (along grain?), fine carving, sanding, varnish
• Impressionist painting: all strokes small and in same direction?
• Young British Artists:  think of outrageous idea, produce art, get response, if outrageous enough continue at step 2, else go-to step 1  (If Data off star trek was a Young British Artist ;-))

Perhaps these are techniques rather than algorithms???  To me an algorithm is a way of describing a mathematical technique to manipulate the world around us.  So why not describe art methods as Algorithms?

This is my first ever blog entry!!  The new websites coming on OK, long way to go though.  Should really do some more artwork but tinkering with the website is proving way to addictive at the moment.  Am going to pick up the freehand Celtic tangle I started work on Saturday now.  See video:

Am most of the way through interlacing this, next up I will make the template and paint it up.  Am planning on a really hot colour scheme, bright reds and oranges as a contrast to the other fully worked up pieces I’m displaying on the site. 

This is also a smaller piece, I’m working on the theory that a smaller piece will be easier for a shop to find space for, cheaper to produce, so I’ll be able to price it into the impulse buy bracket.  If a person is unsure about a piece of art then a smaller less costly work is a fairer thing to punt on right???