I started out with a vague plan. The main point was to be organized. I would list things to try, try those things, record and document the results. Then I would further pursue the ideas I liked best.

As usual, I am easily distracted and often head down the proverbial rabbit hole. So instead of a pseudo-scientific organized study of variant ideas, the result is a collection of distractions.

I do not have time to start over while this blog remains idle. So I will try to impose some organization while posting what I have.

It has been a week since my last post. I need to get started again.

The story so far: In Monochrome Minimalism I explored simple white on black shapes. In Monochrome Minimalism #2 I listed some ideas about how to enhance the monochrome shapes. Then in Experiement 2023.1 I explored a few of those ideas.

In this Experiment 2023.2 series I continue with those experiments.

Adding texture to a mix of Experiment 2023.1 #15 and Experiment 2023.1 #16.

This is an experiment in shifting color planes in Experiment 2023.1 #15. Simple mis-aligned rgb planes looked too cheap. Here I make the size of the shift proportional to the intensity of the color, and then blend in the original.

Inverting colors in Experiment 2023.1 #14 Resulting in a white background.

Increasing color saturation in Experiment 2023.1 #13.

This series started with various decorations, mainly colorings, of simple shapes. I moved away from the simpler wispy, ghostly shapes adding sharp lines/outlines. This one has a little of each.

The next few posts feature and assortment of digital manipulation of this base image.

High contrast, with colorful thin lines separating smaller regions. This one seems a long distance from where the series started. Yet, I think I can trace the steps that led from there to here.

I am not going to list those steps, nor am I going to continue down this path today. But this is definitely going into my "revisit" pile, and may become the start point in a future series.

Similar shape as with Experiment 2023.1 #10. This one feels like a neon party.

Here is one with an ominous and ghostly feel.

After the previous image Experiment 2023.1 #8 I wanted to mix in more holes.

You might expect the spirals to rush towards, or emanate from, a black hole or point of infinite depth in the center. In fact, that is something I would normally do. Here I have put some dots and holes at that focal point.

This represents the evolution of the universe, the center is the origin. In the distance past the fundamental forces where unified, over time one than another split off and became a separate force. Each time this happened the universe underwent substantial macro changes.

OK, I made that story up after staring at the image trying to figure out how I felt about it. I put the holes and dots in the center just to do something different. Initially it felt out of place. But after the origin of the universe analogy, it felt perfect.

Another "chop and paste" image. Same idea as Experiment 2023.1 #6

I am not in love with either of these. But the series is about experiments, and this one is in the experiment notebook. There are other situations where I especially like chopping up and mixing up things.

Here is a "chop and paste" version. Each "puzzle piece" has a different brightness.

I have three monitors on my computer. Each from a different manufacturer. All mid-range, no bargain basement or super high-end. The image looks different on each monitor. The center monitor, where I do most of my work, is the darkest. Features show up in the black areas on the other monitors.

When I noticed this, I spent way too much time trying to adjust the monitors, trying to get some consistency. No success.

I choose not to waste thoughts, philosophical or practical, on what is the "true" image. Or what it means when you and I are likely seeing different things.

Brightening things up a little bit.

Most of the comments from Experiment 2023.1 #3 apply here as well. So I will not repeat them.

A dash of color is added to the previous image.

The color is independent of the underlying shape. By that I mean there were two distinct steps. First creating the black and white image Experiment 2023.1 #2 and then adding the colors.

The color is added digitally. But you could image putting random colors on a transparency and then laying the transparency over the b/w image.

For most of these I continue with white on black background. Depending on the intensity of the white, the result is either shadowy, dark, ominous (low intensity), or bright, exciting, attention grabbing (high intensity).

This is the first piece in a series of experiments to enhance simple monochrome shapes. The starting points are similar to the items in the previous series Monochrome Minimalism.

Here, and in most of the posts that will follow, I use spray paint effect to add texture to the too-smooth shades in the simple shapes of the previous series.

The spray paint variant was not the list of experiments described in Monochrome Minimalism #2. But it is an easy, gentle way to get started messing thing up.