Negative of yesterday's post Monochrome #5.

You might think this was inspired by a Soundgarden song (youtube). But it is nothing so deep. It is just a mechanical transformation of the previous piece.

Lonely, Isolated.

This is Monochrome #3, with the fuzzy white dot either smaller or farther away.

I never tried using this as a template for finished art work. Maybe someday. There are some pieces where the main central figure is small. For example Bugs #6, and Bugs #12. But the surrounding space is not empty. The little figure is supported by the thin designs in the background. Bugs #9 has a mostly empty background, but the little bit of background design still supports, lifts up, and frames the small central figure.

It is not that I have a policy against creating art that evokes feelings of loneliness or isolation. Rather there is a compulsion to fill up the empty space, and as a result nothing is ever lonely.

As mentioned in Monochrome #1, many of these images arose from a now abandoned order and chaos series. As part of that series I asked what would happen if some dots were removed from a regular grid. What does the boundary between order and chaos look like. Or, in this case the boundary between random and not-random.

In this one you may notice symmetry from a flip across the lower left / upper right diagonal. The other diagonal teases at a similar mirror symmetry, but it is not there.

You may also see hyperbolic (Hyperbola) curves in the upper right and lower left quadrants. That is by design. So this one is not-random, although it is clearly closer to the random/not-random boundary than an obvious wall-paper type pattern of dots.

This one gets close to the random/not-random boundary.

There are several places with four or five consecutive dots. There is one place with seven dots on a diagonal. You would not expect this from a collection of random dots at this approximately 20% density.

That does not mean that there is a pattern. It is fun to try to discover a pattern. You start to see a pattern, and then it fades away.

Another random/not-random array of dots, similar to the previous post.

Consecutive dots, whether horizontal, vertical or diagonal seems to be the key ingredient. These lines are about the only thing that works. If I try to build, for instance, a section of a circle, or alternating dot/no-dot, it takes too much space and the image immediately jumps firmly to the not-random side of the ledger.

More not-really-random dots. Variable sizes, and some are stretched.

The number of different sizes are limited. The stretching is limited to the orthogonal directions. The larger sized items are more rare.

Initially the image seems rather busy. The additions generate more interest than just same sized dots. By limiting the addition to just a few patterns, there is a competing simplicity.

I made several of these, with various feature rules. More or fewer sizes, more or fewer orientations. I like this one the best. I also find it depends on my mood. Sometimes I like the simpler ones, sometime the more chaotic ones.

Continuing with the variations. This time many of the dots are stretched along elongated sine waves, and everything is tilted about 30 degrees.

Normally I do not like the wall paper type of repetition. I think it is palatable here. It provides a pattern that is easily grasped.

A spiral in the center.

I tried to move the spiral center off the canvas center, but that did not seem to add interest. So this time I stayed with my initial dead-center instinct.

Similar to Monochrome #13. Less density and the spiral is off-center.

No more words from me. If you have been following along you can add your own. I feel that I am either repeating myself or just stating the obvious at this point.

Here the focus is provided by the illusion of a singularity or event horizon in the upper right.

What? You decide.