Month: July 2022

I started reading a book about light in art. I am only a couple of chapters in, but it motivated me to try some experiments.

The next two combine two patterns in different ways.

Third one. This one with hot colors.

Expanding the background and dimming the foreground.

This is a very small step closer to the elusive target I have been chasing. Two of these simple patterns are combined. The two patterns are different, but not too different. In the case the shapes are similar, scale is different and colors are complementary.

Continuing with yesterday’s motif. Different color, rotated slightly, with a strong horizontal / vertical, orthogonal bias.

I have been saying that I find it more difficult to start with a specific intent than with a general or open intent. It seems obvious, after writing the words, the latter should be easier, it is shooting at a bigger target.

There is more to it than that. There is a compounding effect. When I try and fail when shooting for a specific target, what I feel is mainly failure. It is not instantaneous. The first try fails, I see what is missing, or needs improvement, it is just an expected step in the development process. But each step starts to feel like failure and that drains my energy and desired to continue.

On the other hand, with an open intent, there are still a lot of failures. But quite often the failure points to one or more new paths to explore. “That is unexpected, but I can work with it.” This builds energy and gets the creative juices flowing.

When I have something specific in mind that I want to create. I can get close, but then cannot quite get over the finish line. Now, usually that almost-there result is good, but it is not exactly what I had in mind. I put in a lot of effort to get the last little bit, fail to do so, and then quit in frustration.

To be clear, this is not the only way, or even the typical way, to create something. Most often, there is a less specific final goal. I want this feature, and maybe these colors and this rough layout. The other details in my mental picture are less specific. Often just placeholders to be decided later.

Today’s picture, as with almost all in this series, is an example of the alternate development process.